Cleombrotus I (died July 6, 371 BC) was a Sparta

Sparta

Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

n king of the Agiad line, reigning from 380 BC until 371 BC. Little is known of Cleombrotus' early life. Son of Pausanias, he became king of Sparta

Sparta

Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

 after the death of his brother Agesipolis I

Agesipolis I

Agesipolis I was the twenty-first of the kings of the Agiad dynasty in ancient Sparta.Agesipolis succeeded his father Pausanias, while still a minor, in 394 BC, and reigned fourteen years. Upon the death of Pausanias, Agesipolis and his brother, Cleombrotus I, were both placed under the...

 in 380 BC, and led the allied Spartan-Peloponnesian army against the Thebans under Epaminondas

Epaminondas

Epaminondas , or Epameinondas, was a Theban general and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greek city-state of Thebes, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a preeminent position in Greek politics...

 in the Battle of Leuctra

Battle of Leuctra

The Battle of Leuctra was a battle fought on July 6, 371 BC, between the Boeotians led by Thebans and the Spartans along with their allies amidst the post-Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the neighbourhood of Leuctra, a village in Boeotia in the territory of Thespiae...

. His death and the utter defeat of his army led to the end of Spartan dominance in ancient Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Cleombrotus was succeeded by his son Agesipolis II

Agesipolis II

Agesipolis II , son of the king Cleombrotus I, succeeded his father and reigned as Agiad King of Sparta. His rule was exceedingly brief, from, at most, 371 until his death in 369 BC. He was succeeded by his brother Cleomenes II....

. His other son was Cleomenes II

Cleomenes II

Cleomenes II was Agiad King of Sparta from 369 to 309 BC. The son of Cleombrotus I, he succeeded his brother Agesipolis II. He was the father of Acrotatus I, the father of Areus I, and of Cleonymus, the father of Leonidas II....

.

Further reading

• J.K. Anderson, Military Theory and Practice in the Age of Xenophon, London, 1970