Archidamus II was a king of
Sparta who reigned from approximately
469 BC to
427 BC. He was of the
Eurypontid dynasty. His father was
Zeuxidamus (called Cyniscus by many
Spartans), who died before his father,
Leotychidas, after having his son, Archidamus.
Leotychides, when Zeuxidamus was taken from him, married a second wife, named Eurydame, the sister of
Menius and daughter of
Diactorides. By her he had no male offspring, only a daughter called Lampito, whom he gave in marriage to his grandson Archidamus. He ascended the throne after his grandfather, Leotychidas II, was banished around
476 BC after being accused of
bribery.
Archidamus was one of the kings of Sparta in the years preceding the
Peloponnesian War. His coolness and presence of mind are said to have saved the Spartan state from destruction on the occasion of the great
earthquake of
464 BC, but this story must be regarded as at least doubtful.
During the negotiations that preceded the Peloponnesian War, he did his best to prevent, or at least to postpone, the inevitable struggle, but was overruled by the war party. He invaded
Attica at the head of the Peloponnesian forces in the summers of
431, 430 and
428, and in
429 conducted operations against
Plataea. He died probably in
427 BC, certainly before the summer of
426 BC, when we find his son
Agis II on the throne.
