Famous Men of Greece · Ch. XXX · Unit 9: After Alexander and the fall of Greece
36. Cleomenes III
Goal: Your child can tell how Cleomenes tried to bring back the old Spartan ways of Lycurgus, and what happened in the end.
You'll need
- A notebook or paper and colored pencils
- Play dough or clay rolled flat on a tray, and a pencil or stick
What's in the book
About a hundred years after Alexander, young Cleomenes is called home by a note on a wax tablet to marry Agiatis, widow of good King Agis, whom Cleomenes's father had put to death. Agiatis tells him Agis's hopes. As king he divides the land again as Lycurgus had, and Sparta grows strong, until the Macedonians crush it. He dies a prisoner in Egypt.
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
Ask: What were the laws of Lycurgus? (Land shared out fairly, simple food at public tables, hard training.) Today's king wanted them back.
Read the chapter together
Read pages 254–260 aloud, or let your child read and help with the hard names.
Narration
Close the book. Ask your child to tell the story back in their own words, from the beginning. Don't correct as they go; just listen. If they get stuck, use a prompt:
- How did Cleomenes find out he was to be married?
- Why did he think Agiatis would never love him?
- What had King Agis wanted to do for Sparta?
- What changes did Cleomenes make as king?
- What ended his hopes?
Make a wax tablet
Greeks wrote quick notes on tablets coated with wax, using a pointed stick. Flatten play dough on a tray and write the king's message with a pencil point. Smooth it out to "erase."
"Leonidas the king to Cleomenes: Come back to the palace the moment you have read this note."
Talk it over
Ask:
1. How had Sparta changed since the days of Lycurgus?
2. Why did the people like Cleomenes's new laws?
3. Cleomenes said he wished he could have made the changes without bloodshed. Can good changes be made in a bad way?
Afterwards
Your child compares Lycurgus and Cleomenes: what was the same about what they wanted?
Tip
The chapter includes the murder of Agis, Cleomenes killing the ephors, and, in the last lines, Cleomenes taking his own life. Preview pages 256–261; with a younger child you can tell the ending simply as "he died a prisoner in Egypt."
Answers to the book's problems
1. Luxury had weakened it; the men were no longer warriors and no one obeyed the old laws. 2. He and his father-in-law gave up their own lands first, and every Spartan once more had land enough for his family. 3. Let your child think it through.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.