Cleonymus (Ancient Greek: Κλεώνυμος) was a member of the Spartan royal family of the Agiad dynasty.
Unable to successfully fight off their opponents, the Tarentines reached out to their mother city, Sparta, for assistance.
[2] According to Diodorus Siculus, Cleonymus raised such a large army that the Lucani immediately concluded peace.
[3] Probably in the next year (302 BC) Cleonymus returned to the Italian peninsula and – according to Livy – first conquered a city called Thuriae, the location of which is uncertain, but might be Turi in Apulia.
From the mouth of the Meduacus (now Brenta River) he sailed upstream to the territory of Patavium (now Padua) and raided the nearby villages.
Deeply offended, Cleonymus left Sparta and, in 272 BC, persuaded Pyrrhus to back his claim to the Spartan throne.