What is Demaratus?
'''Demaratus''' ({{lang-el|Δημάρατος}}) was a co-[[king]] of [[Sparta]] from 515 until 491 [[BC]]. He succeeded his father [[Ariston]] as king. In 491 Demaratus and his co-king [[Cleomenes I]] became bitter rivals. Cleomenes plotted to have his kinsman [[Leotychides]] replace Demaratus as king.<ref>James Romm; Herodotus, ''Histories'' (Indanapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2014), p. 328</ref> Cleomenes [[bribe]]d the [[Oracle of Delphi]] to say that Demaratus was not actually the son of Ariston.<ref>Sara Forsdyke, ''Exile, Ostracism, and Democracy: The Politics of Expulsion in Ancient Greece'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005), p. 297</ref> Demaratus lost his kingship. But he still held a position as a [[magistrate]] in Sparta. After being ridiculed by the king over no longer being a king himself, Demaratus went into [[exile]]. He went to [[Darius I of Persia]] who gave him [[city|cities]] to rule over.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/demaratus |title=Demaratus; king of Sparta (from at least as early as 510 B.C.E.) who took refuge with Darius I. |author=<!--Staff writer(s)--> |date=December 15, 1994 |publisher= ENCYCLOPÆDIA IRANICA |access-date=1 December 2014}}</ref> Demaratus later went with king [[Xerxes I]] on his [[invasion]] of [[Greece]] in 480 BC. He warned Xerxes not to [[wikt:underestimate|underestimate]] the Spartans before the [[Battle of Thermopylae]]. == References == {{reflist}}{{history-stub}} [[Category:Kings of Sparta]] [[Category:490s BC deaths]]