According to Diodorus (xi. 48) Leotychides reigned twenty-two, his successor Archidamus forty-two years. The total duration of the two reigns, sixty-four years, we know to be correct, for Leotychides came to the throne in 491 and Archidamus (q.v.) died in 427. On this basis, then, Leotychides’s exile would fall in 469 and the Thessalian expedition in that or the preceding year (so E. Meyer, Geschichte des Altertums, iii. § 287). But Diodorus is not consistent with himself; he attributes (xi. 48) Leotychides’s death to the year 476–475 and he records (xii. 35) Archidamus’s death in 434–433, though he introduces him in the following years at the head of the Peloponnesian army (xii. 42, 47, 52). Further, he says expressly that Leotychides ἐτελεύτησεν ἄρξας ἔτη εἴκοσι καὶ δύο, i.e. he lived twenty-two years after his accession. The twenty-two years, then, may include the time which elapsed between his exile and his death. In that case Leotychides died in 469, and 476–475 may be the year in which his reign, though not his life, ended. This date seems, from what we know of the political situation in general, to be more probable than the later one for the Thessalian campaign.
G. Busolt, Griech. Geschichte, iii. 83, note; J. B. Bury, History of Greece, p. 326; G. Grote, History of Greece, new edition 1888, iv. 349, note; also abridged edition 1907, p. 273, note 3. Beloch’s view (Griech. Geschichte, i. 455, note 2) that the expedition took place in 476, the trial and flight in 469, is not generally accepted. (M. N. T.)
LEOVIGILD, or Löwenheld (d. 586), king of the Visigoths,
became king in 568 after the short period of anarchy which
followed the death of King Athanagild, whose widow, Goisvintha,
he married. At first he ruled that part of the Visigothic kingdom
which lay to the south of the Pyrenees, his brother Liuva or
Leova governing the small part to the north of these mountains;
but in 572 Liuva died and Leovigild became sole king. At this
time the Visigoths who settled in Spain early in the 5th century
were menaced by two powerful enemies, the Suevi who had a
small kingdom in the north-west of the peninsula, and the
Byzantines who had answered Athanagild’s appeal for help by
taking possession of a stretch of country in the south-east.
Their kingdom, too, was divided and weakened by the fierce
hostility between the orthodox Christians and those who professed
Arianism. Internal and external dangers alike, however,
failed to daunt Leovigild, who may fairly be called the restorer of
the Visigothic kingdom. He turned first against the Byzantines,
who were defeated several times; he took Cordova and
chastised the Suevi; and then by stern measures he destroyed
the power of those unruly and rebellious chieftains who had
reduced former kings to the position of ciphers. The chronicler
tells how, having given peace to his people, he, first of the Visigothic
sovereigns, assumed the attire of a king and made Toledo
his capital. He strengthened the position of his family and
provided for the security of his kingdom by associating his two
sons, Recared and Hermenegild, with himself in the kingly office
and placing parts of the land under their rule. Leovigild himself
was an Arian, being the last of the Visigothic kings to hold
that creed; but he was not a bitter foe of the orthodox Christians,
although he was obliged to punish them when they conspired
against him with his external enemies. His son Hermenegild,
however, was converted to the orthodox faith through the
influence of his Frankish wife, Ingundis, daughter of King
Sigebert I., and of Leander, metropolitan of Seville. Allying
himself with the Byzantines and other enemies of the Visigoths,
and supported by most of the orthodox Christians he headed
a formidable insurrection. The struggle was fierce; but at
length, employing persuasion as well as force, the old king
triumphed. Hermenegild was captured; he refused to give
up his faith and in March or April 585 he was executed. He was
canonized at the request of Philip II., king of Spain, by Pope
Sixtus V. About this time Leovigild put an end to the kingdom
of the Suevi. During his last years he was engaged in a war
with the Franks. He died at Toledo on the 21st of April 586 and
was succeeded by his son Recared.
LEPANTO,[1] BATTLE OF, fought on the 7th of October 1571.
The conquest of Cyprus by the Turks, and their aggressions on
the Christian powers, frightened the states of the Mediterranean
into forming a holy league for their common defence. The main
promoter of the league was Pope Pius V., but the bulk of the
forces was supplied by the republic of Venice and Philip II. of
Spain, who was peculiarly interested in checking the Turks
both because of the Moorish element in the population of Spain,
and because he was also sovereign of Naples and Sicily. In
compliment to King Philip, the general command of the league’s
fleet was given to his natural brother, Don John of Austria.
It included, however, only twenty-four Spanish ships. The
great majority of the two hundred galleys and eight galeasses,
of which the fleet was composed, came from Venice, under the
command of the proveditore Barbarigo; from Genoa, which
was in close alliance with Spain, under Gianandrea Doria;
and from the Pope whose squadron was commanded by Marc
Antonio Colonna. The Sicilian and Neapolitan contingents
were commanded by the marquess of Santa Cruz, and Cardona,
Spanish officers. Eight thousand Spanish soldiers were embarked.
The allied fleet was collected slowly at Messina, from
whence it advanced by the passage between Ithaca and Cephalonia
to Cape Marathia near Dragonera. The Turkish fleet which had
come up from Cyprus and Crete anchored in the Gulf of Patras.
It consisted in all of 273 galleys which were of lighter build than
the Christians’, and less well supplied with cannon or small arms.
The Turks still relied mainly on the bow and arrow. Ali, the
capitan pasha, was commander-in-chief, and he had with him
Chulouk Bey of Alexandria, commonly called Scirocco, and Uluch
Ali, dey of Algiers. On the 7th of October the Christian fleet
advanced to the neighbourhood of Cape Scropha. It was
formed in the traditional order of the galleys—a long line abreast,
subdivided into the centre or “battle” commanded by Don
John in person, the left wing under the proveditore Barbarigo,
and the right under Gianandrea Doria. But a reserve squadron
was placed behind the centre under the marquess of Santa Cruz,
and the eight lumbering galeasses were stationed at intervals in
front of the line to break the formation of the Turks. The
capitan pasha left his anchorage in the Gulf of Patras with his
fleet in a single line, without reserve or advance-guard. He was
himself in the centre, with Scirocco on his right and Uluch Ali
on his left. The two fleets met south of Cape Scropha, both drawn
up from north to south, the land being close to the left flank of
the Christians, and the right of the Turks. To the left of the
Turks and the right of the Christians, there was open sea. Ali
Pasha’s greater numbers enabled him to outflank his enemy.
The Turks charged through the intervals between the galeasses,
which proved to be of no value. On their right Scirocco outflanked
the Venetians of Barbarigo, but the better build of the
galleys of Saint Mark and the admirable discipline of their
crews gave them the victory. The Turks were almost all sunk
or driven on shore. Scirocco and Barbarigo both lost their lives.
On the centre Don John and the capitan pasha met prow to prow—the
Christians reserving the fire of their bow guns (called di
cursia) till the moment of impact, and then boarding. Ali Pasha
was slain and his galley taken. Everywhere on the centre the
Christians gained the upper hand, but their victory was almost
turned into a defeat by the mistaken manœuvres of Doria.
In fear lest he should be outflanked by Uluch Ali, he stood
out to sea, leaving a gap between himself and the centre. The
dey of Algiers, who saw the opening, reversed the order of his
squadron, and fell on the right of the centre. The galleys of the
Order of Malta, which were stationed at this point, suffered
severely, and their flagship was taken with great slaughter.
A disaster was averted by the marquess of Santa Cruz, who
brought up the reserve. Uluch Ali then retreated with sail and
oar, bringing most of his division off in good order.
The loss of life in the battle was enormous, being put at 20,000 for the Turks and 8000 for the Christians. The battle of Lepanto was of immense political importance. It gave the naval power of the Turks a blow from which it never recovered, and put a stop to their aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean. Historically the battle is interesting because it was the last example of an encounter on a great scale between fleets of galleys and also because it was the last crusade. The Christian powers of the Mediterranean did really combine to avert the ruin of Christendom. Hardly a noble house of Spain or Italy was not represented in the fleet, and the princes headed the boarders. Volunteers came from all parts of Europe, and it is said that
