Quite Mad Indeed Cleomenes was able to invade strong rival enemy cities like Argos; and even bribe the Pythia at Delphi to try to remove his co-king from reigning in Sparta. However, one thing that he was most known for was his supposed madness. There are many reasons that try to explain Cleomenes’ insanity, but one that Sparta particularly claims to be true is that he became addicted to the Scythian’s culture of drinking undiluted wine. The reasoning behind this claim is purely a cover up for the state of Sparta to explain away Cleomenes’ madness rather than to admit that he was truly insane. The only thing that Spartiates needed to do in life was to be skilled and courageous in battle. In fact, this facet was so crucial that the Spartan state held the right to determine a baby’s validity at birth in order to ensure Sparta’s future with strong healthy males. Therefore, the state claimed to have made the correct decision upon raising …show more content…
In a Spartiate’s eyes, he was always right. In addition, that meant that the king, Cleomenes in this time, was even more so entitled to act however he willed and be justified. However, according to Herodotus, Cleomenes, from childhood, was a slightly deranged youth. Nevertheless, according to Spartan tradition, he assumed the throne after his father passed. Cleomenes had made unreasonable decisions, like overthrowing the position of the co-reigning Spartan king, Demaratos, in order to secure military backing from Leotychidas. Cleomenes stood by the pact he made with Leotychidas, even if it meant he had to bribe the Pythia at Delphi in order to remove Demaratos from power, which was unthinkable. Sparta’s archrival, Argos, at one point, was about to be taken over, however Cleomenes had a vision, maybe he was delusional, at the Temple of Hera that somehow convinced him that he should not take