n a charge of conspiracy. Escaping from
prison he tried to raise a revolt, but the attempt failed and to avoid
capture he put an end to his life. Both as general and as politician
Cleomenes was one of Sparta's greatest men, and with him perished her
last hope of recovering her ancient supremacy in Greece.

See Polybius ii. 45-70, v. 35-39, viii. 1; Plutarch, _Cleomenes;
Aratus_, 35-46; _Philopoemen_, 5, 6; Pausanias ii. 9; Gehlert, _De
Cleomene_ (Leipzig, 1883); Holm, _History of Greece_, iv. cc. 10, 15.
(M. N. T.)

CLEON (d. 422 B.C.), Athenian politician during the Peloponnesian War,
was the son of Cleaenetus, from whom he inherited a lucrative tannery
business. He was the first prominent representative of the commercial
class in Athenian politics. He came into notice first as an opponent of
Pericles, to whom his advanced ideas were naturally unacceptable, and in
his opposition somewhat curiously found himself acting in concert with
the aristocrats, who equally hated and feared Pericles. During the dark
days of 430, after the unsuccessful expedition of Pericles to
Peloponnesus, and when the city was devastated by the plague, Cleon
headed the opposition to the Periclean regime. Pericles was accused by
Cleon of maladministration of public money, with the result that he was
actually found guilty (see Grote's _Hist. of Greece_, abridged ed.,
1907, p. 406, note 1). A revulsion of feeling, however, soon took place.
Pericles was reinstated, and Cleon now for a time fell into the
background. The death of Pericles (429) left the field clear for him.
Hitherto he had only been a vigorous opposition speaker, a trenchant
critic and accuser of state officials. He now came forward as the
professed champion and leader of the democracy, and, owing to the
moderate abilities of his rivals and opponents, he was for some years
undoubtedly the foremost man in Athens. Although rough and unpolished,
he was gifted with natural eloquence and a powerful voice, and knew
exactly how to work upon the feelings of the people. He strengthened his
hold on the poorer classes by his measure for trebling the pay of the
jurymen, which provided the poorer Athenians with an easy means of
livelihood. The notorious fondness of the Athenians for litigation
increased his power; and the practice of "sycophancy" (raking up
material for false charges; see SYCOPHANT), enabled him to remove those
who were likely to endanger his ascendancy. Having n