Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/766

Rh 752 LEONIDAS. Leonidas went into exile to Tegea.* When the misconduct of Agesilaus, the uncle of Agis, had led, not long after, to his restoration (b. c. 240), he listened to the entreaties of Cheilonis, and spared the life of her husband, Cleombrotus, contenting himself with his banishment ; but he caused Agis to be put to death, though he owed his own life to the protection he had afforded him in his flight to Tegea. Archidamus, the brother of Agis, fled from Sparta: Agiatis, his widow, was forced by Leonidas into a marriage with his son, Cleomenes ; and it seems doubtful whether the child Euryda- midas, lier son by Agis, was allowed to bear the name of king. At any rate the whole of the royal power (such as it was, in a selfish oligarchy, of Avhich he was the tool) remained with Leonidas ; and Plutarch tells us that he utterly neglected public affairs, caring for nothing but a life of ease and luxury. He died about b. c, 236, and was succeeded bv his son, Cleomenes IIL (Plut. A(/is, 3, 7, 10—12, 16—21, Cleum. 1—3; Paus. iii. 6; Clinton, F. H. vol. ii, p. 217 ; Droysen, Hcllenismus, vol. ii. pp. 295, 296, 384, «&c., 445.) [E. E.] LEO'NIDAS or LEO'NIDES (Aewi^^Sas, Ae- wv/Stjs), historical. ]. A general of the Byzantines, Avho, when the citizens, during a siege of their town, flocked to the taverns instead of manning the walls, established a number of wine-shops on the ramparts themselves, and so kept his men, with some difficulty, at their posts (Ael. V. H. iii. 14 ; Athen. X. p. 442, c). He may have been the same Leonides whom Athenaeus mentions as a writer on fishing (Athen. i. p. 13, c). 2. A noble youth, a citizen of Heracleia on the Pontus, was one of those who put to death the tyrant Clearchus, B. c. 353. He is also called Leon. [Leon, No. 1, p. 741, b.] 3. A kinsman of Olympias, the mother of Alex- ander the Great, was entrusted with the main superintendence of Alexander's education in his earlier years, apparently before he became the pupil of Aristotle. Leonidas was a man of austere character, and trained the young prince in hardy and self-denying habits. Thus, he would even ex- amine the chests which contained his pupiPs bed- ding and clothes, to see whether Olym.pias had placed any thing there that might minister to lux- ury. There were two excellent cooks (said Alex- ander afterwards) with which Leonidas had fur- nished him, — a night's march to season his breakfast, and a scanty breakfast to season his dinner. On one occasion, when Alexander at a sacrifice was throwing large quantities of incense on the fire, have conquered the country where it grows." Alexander sent him afterwards from Asia 600 talents' weight of incense and myrrh, "that he might no longer be penurious" (so ran the message) "in his offerings to the gods." (Plut. Alex. 22, 25, Reg. et Imp. ApopL Alex. 4, 9.) It may be questioned whether the rough discipline of Leonidas was not carried further than was altogether beneficial to Alexander's character (see Plut. Alex. 7 ; Thirl- wall's Greece., vol. vi. p. 90, note 3). 4. A general of Antigonus, who, in B. c. 320, repressed by a skilful stratagem the revolt of 3000 his daughter Cheilonis accompanied him thither. See Plut. Agis^ 17. LEONIDAS. Macedonians in Lycaonia (Polyaen. iv. 6). It is possible that he may have left the service of Anti- gonus for that of Ptolemy, in which case he may be identified with the one immediately below. 5. A general of Ptolemy Soter, who sent him in B.C. 310 to dislodge from the maritime towns of Cilicia the garrisons of Antigonus, which, it was alleged, the treaty of the preceding year required him to withdraw. Leonidas was successful at first, but Demetrius Poliorcetes, arriving soon after, de- feated him and regained the towns (Diod. xx. 19). Suidas tells us (s. v. Arffi-^rpios 6 'Avriyovov) that Ptolemy, after having restored freedom to the Greek cities, left Leonidas in Greece as governor. He may perhaps be referring to Ptolemy's expedition to Greece in B.C. 308, with the professed object of vindicating the liberty of the several states there (see Diod. xx. 37 ; Plut. Dem. 15), and the name Leonidas may be intended for Cleonidas. But the whole statement in Suidas is singularly con- fused. [E. E.] LEO'NIDAS or LEO'NIDES, literary. 1. Of Tarcntum, the author of upwards of a hundred epi- grams in the Doric dialect. His epigrams formed a part of tlie Garland of Meleager. In Brunck's Ana- leda, some of the epigrams ascribed to Leonidas of Taren turn belong properly to Leonidas of Alexandria; and on the other hand, some, which are found in other parts of the Anthology, should be restored to Leonidas of Taren tum. Jacobs {Anth. Graec. vol. xiii. pp. 909, 910) points out the necessary cor- rections ; and Meineke {Deled. Poet. A7ith. Graec. pp. 24 — 52) has re-edited and re-arranged the epigrams of this writer, the number of which he makes 108. The epigrams are chiefly inscriptions for dedicatory offerings and works of art, and, though not of a very high order of poetry, are usually pleasing, ingenious, and in good taste. Bernhardy not unhappily characterises them as being "in a sharp lapidary style" (Grundriss. d. Griecli. Liu. vol. ii. p. 1055). All that we know of the poet's date is collected from his epigrams, and the indications are not very certain. He seems, however, to have lived in the time of Pyrrhus (Jacobs, I. c. ). From one of the epigrams ascribed to him (No. 100, Br. and Jac, No. 98, Meineke), and which may either have been written after his death, or by himself for his own epitaph, we learn that he was born at Tarentum, and after many wanderings during which the Muses were his chief solace, he died and was buried at a distance from his native laiid. 2. Of Alexandria, was born, as he informs us [Ep. 8), on the banks of the Nile, whence he went to Home {Ep. 27), and there taught grammar fi/r a long time without attracting any notice, but ulti- mately he became very popular, and obtained the patronage of the imperial family. His epigrams show that he flourished under Nero, and probably down to the reign of Vespasian. In the Greek Antho- logy, forty-three epigrams are ascribed to him, but sorne of these belong to Leonidas of Tarentum. The epigrams of Leonidas of Alexandria are of a very low order of merit. Several of them are dis- tinguished by the petty conceit of having an equal number of letters in each distich ; these are called tcrdi|/7j^a eiriypafxiuLaTa. (Jacobs, Anih. Graec. vol. xiii. pp. 908 — 909 ; Meineke, Prolusio ad utrius- que Leonidae Carviina., Lips. 1791 ; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. iv. pp. 479—480.) 3. Of Byzantium, the son of Metrodorus, who
 * ' be more sparing of it," said Leonidas, " till you
 * It is erroneously stated, in Vol. I. p. 691, that