The Federalist Papers - Alexander Hamilton [330]
p. 121. When Lacedaemon was brought into the league byPhilopoemen…: Philopoemen (c. 253–182 BC) was a statesman and general of the Achaean League. He defeated the Spartans at Mantinea (207 BC) and eventually brought Sparta into the league (192). His demilitarization of Sparta was extremely unpopular and led to friction with Rome, which, although nominally an ally, attempted repeatedly to influence the internal policies of the league. While attempting to put down a revolt by Messene, Philopoemen was captured and killed.
p. 121. it was attended with an abolition of the institutions and laws ofLycurgus…: By tradition, Lycurgus was the first lawgiver of Sparta. Although ancient accounts differ, he is generally thought to have ruled in the seventh century BC and to have established Sparta’s eunomia (good order), a series of strict regulations designed to foster military prowess, social stability, and economic austerity.
p. 121. after the renovation of the league byAratus…: Aratus (271–213 BC) was a statesman of Sicyon, a city of ancient Greece located in the Peloponnese to the west of Corinth. Aratus expelled the tyrant Nicocles and joined his city to the Archaean Confederacy. Under his influence, the Confederacy followed a policy of opposition to Macedon until the growth of Spartan power and defeat at the hands of Cleomenes III forced it to request Macedonian assistance. Later, Aratus resisted Philip V’s anti-Roman policy. Philip was rumored to have arranged Aratus’s death.
p. 122. kings of Egypt and Syria, who, as successors ofAlexander…: Alexander III, "the Great" (356–323 BC), was one of the greatest military leaders in history. Upon succeeding his father, Philip II, as king of Macedon and Hegemon of the League of Corinth, Alexander quelled any doubts as to his own abilities by defeating and utterly destroying the city of Thebes. From the firm foundation of a pacified Greece, he launched the campaign of world conquest that his father had envisioned before his assassination. From 334 BC, when he departed Greece with an army of about 50,000 men, until his death in 323 BC, he conquered the entire Persian empire and many of the surrounding regions, reaching as far as Egypt in the west and northern India in the east. His death—attributed variously to fever or poison—put an end to plans of further conquest, and resulted in the partition of the conquered regions among his leading generals.
p. 122. This policy was defeated byCleomenes…: Cleomenes III was king of Sparta from 235 until 222 BC. Social reformer and aggressive promoter of Spartan power, he expanded Spartan territory in Arcadia at the expense of the Aetolian and Achaean Confederacies. His success provoked Aratus (of the Achaean Confederacy) into negotiating for military aid from Antigonus III of Macedon. The latter routed Cleomenes’s army in 222 and thus set in motion the chain of events that would result in the entry of Roman forces as a counterweight to Macedonian power.
p. 123. though weakened by internal dissensions and by the revolt ofMessene…: Messene was a city in the territory of Messenia in the southwestern portion of the Peloponnesus bordering Laconia. Spartans from Laconia conquered Messenia by 620 BC and reduced the inhabitants to the status of helots, or publicly owned slaves. The ever-present threat—and occasional outbreak—of revolt on the part of these Messenian helots fostered the development of the Spartan military state. In 369 BC, with the help of Epaminondas of Thebes, Messenia won independence from Sparta. To secure the Messenian victory against a Spartan resurgence, Epaminondas founded the stronghold city of Messene. At a later date (182 BC), Messene was incorporated by the anti-Macedonian Achaean Confederacy, which in turn fell victim to Rome.
p. 123. one of its members, being joined by theAetolians…: The Aetolians were inhabitants of a rugged region in west-central Greece who remained politically and economically backward into the fifth century BC. After 370 BC, the various towns in Aetolia were unified