Sphodrias

Sphodrias (d. 371 BC) was a Spartan general during the Spartan Hegemony over Greece. As governor of Thespiai in 378 BC, he made an unsuccessful attack against Athens without any order from Sparta. He was put on trial for this act, but unexpectedly acquitted, thanks to the support of the two Spartan kings, Cleombrotus I and Agesilaus II. This acquittal greatly upset Athens which rapidly concluded an alliance with Thebes against Sparta as a result.

Sphodrias later died at the battle of Leuctra against Thebes in 371 BC.

Life Sphodrias was a Spartan officer from the circle of the Agiad king Cleombrotus I (r. 380–371), who likely used his influence to appoint him harmost (military governor) of Thespiai in Boeotia, in central Greece. In a night of March 378, Sphodrias attempted to take control of Piraeus—the harbour of Athens—during a surprise night attack, while a Spartan delegation was precisely in Athens to conduct negotiations. Sphodrias could logically count on the votes of Cleombrotus and his friends, but the decisive support came from Agesilaus, who had already been king for more than 20 years and was probably the most senior member of the Gerousia (as the gerontes had to be older than 60 to be elected), and by far the most influential. The two kings being in agreement, they and their supporters could outweigh any third group in the Gerousia.

Two ancient sources discuss Agesilaus' motivations. Plutarch tells that Sphodrias' son Kleonymos was the beloved of Agesilaus' son Archidamus (later king between 360–338), who convinced his father to spare Sphodrias, but this was probably a slur against Agesilaus and not the main reason. G. E. M. de Ste. Croix writes that the oliganthropia—the dwindling number of Spartan citizens—already took alarming proportions, and Agesilaus refused to contribute to the problem.