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Sphodrias () (d. 371 BC) was a general during the Spartan hegemony over Ancient Greece. As governor of Thespiae in 378 BC, he made an unsuccessful attack against Classical Athens without any order from Sparta. He was put on trial for this act, but unexpectedly acquitted, thanks to the support of the two Spartan kings, Cleombrotus I and Agesilaus II. This acquittal greatly upset Athens which rapidly concluded an alliance with Thebes against Sparta as a result.
Sphodrias later died at the battle of Leuctra against Thebes in 371 BC.
Sphodrias was thus recalled to Sparta by the Ephor to be tried before the Gerousia, the Spartan senate, which also served as supreme court. Fearing the influence of Agesilaus in the Gerousia, he fled and was judged in absentia, therefore implicitly admitting his guilt. However, against all odds, Sphodrias was acquitted. It is the only recorded time in ancient Greek and Roman history that someone judged in absentia for a capital charge was still acquitted.Ste. Croix, Origins of the Peloponnesian War, p. 134, mentions both Greek and Roman history.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 136, only considers Greek history. Sphodrias could logically count on the votes of Cleombrotus and his friends, but the decisive support came from Agesilaus, who had already been king for more than 20 years and was probably the most senior member of the Gerousia (as the gerontes had to be older than 60 to be elected), and by far the most influential. The two kings being in agreement, they and their supporters could outweigh any third group in the Gerousia.Ste. Croix, Origins of the Peloponnesian War, pp. 134, 135.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 137.
Two ancient sources discuss Agesilaus' motivations. Plutarch tells that Sphodrias' son Kleonymos was the beloved of Agesilaus' son Archidamus III (later king between 360–338), who convinced his father to spare Sphodrias, but this was probably a slur against Agesilaus and not the main reason.Plutarch, Agesilaus, .Ste. Croix, Origins of the Peloponnesian War, p. 135. A contemporary and friend of Agesilaus, Xenophon has the same story but further writes that the king thought that it was not in Sparta's best interest to condemn a good soldier.Xenophon, Hellenica, .Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 136, 137. G. E. M. de Ste. Croix writes that the oliganthropia—the dwindling number of Spartan citizens—already took alarming proportions, and Agesilaus refused to contribute to the problem. Paul Cartledge suggests that Agesilaus intervened in favour of Sphodrias to make the other king Cleombrotus "under a deep personal obligation to himself". Thus, Agesilaus favoured reinforcing his own position within Sparta over a diplomatic conciliation with Athens, which joined Thebes against Sparta as a result of the spectacularly unjust verdict. It was also a direct cause of the creation of the Second Athenian League in 378.
The case of Sphodrias presents several similarities with that of Phoebidas, another Spartan officer that acted on his own initiative to take the Cadmea, and was likewise acquitted during his trial by Agesilaus.
Sphodrias, as well as his son Kleonymos and king Cleombrotus, died at the battle of Leuctra against Thebes in 371.Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 137, 138.
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