There were 5 and they were elected from five tribal communities. In the beginning they had a king and the gerousia supervisory role and prevented strict control of power of the few. The oldest of five ephors was magistrate eponymos. Their mandate lasted a year and each year they elected a new ephors. From the 5th century they had an executive role of their Assembly decision and could call a meeting and the gerousia and made suggestions.
They had the right to make the final decision if the two kings could not agree. They had the legislative power that enabled them to accuse anyone even kings. Their supervisor role amplified so much during the time that it destroyed the prestige and authority of kings. Ephors were able to control the private life of the monarch and limited their powers in command of the army, because two ephores accompanied the king to war.
They started wars and assembled the peace. They were responsible for the upbringing of the youth were at the forefront of the Spartan diplomacy. They had a secret police Crypteia — was established in the 5th century.
BC in order to control helots , which was monitored by the Lacedaemonian, Spartiates , helots and Perioikoi communities. Ephors had numerous officials under its administration: monitoring of physical activity, supervision Spartan kitchen, market surveillance, control of the private life of women and others.
Peloponnesian alliance — Spartans in 6th century BC organized the powerful Peloponnesian alliance, Simah, in which Corinth, Epidaurus, Megara, Aegina and other cities in the Peloponnese and around it joined.
The members of the Peloponnesian League were autonomous. They were committed only in the case of war against a common enemy to give a certain number of soldiers and recognize the Spartans supreme military command.
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Gothic cathedrals May 16, They were the chief priests of the state, and maintained contact with Delphi, the sanctuary that exercised great authority in Spartan politics. Over time, royal prerogatives were curtailed further until, aside from their service as military generals, the kings became mere figureheads. For example, from the time of the Greco Persian Wars, the kings lost the right to declare war and were shadowed in the field by two officials, known as ephors.
Civil and criminal cases were also decided by ephors, as well as a council of 28 elders over the age of 60, called the gerousia. The gerousia discussed high state policy decisions, then proposed action alternatives to the damos —a collective body of Spartan citizenry, who would then select one of the options by voting. Unique in ancient Greece for its social system, Spartan society was completely focused on military training and excellence.
Its inhabitants were classified as Spartiates Spartan citizens, who enjoyed full rights , Mothakes non-Spartan, free men raised as Spartans , Perioikoi free, but non-citizen inhabitants , and Helots state-owned serfs, part of the enslaved, non-Spartan, local population. Structure of Spartan society: Spartan society was highly regimented, with a clearly delineated class system. Typically only men who were to become Spartiates underwent military training, although two exceptions existed to this rule.
For example, the Athenian general Xenophon sent his two sons to Sparta as trophimoi. Additionally, sons of a Helot could enroll as a syntrophos if a Spartiate formally adopted him and paid his way. If a syntrophos did exceptionally well in training, he could be sponsored to become a Spartiate. Likewise, if a Spartan could not afford to pay the expenses associated with military training, they potentially could lose their right to citizenship.
Spartiates were actually a minority within Sparta, and Helots made up the largest class of inhabitants of the city-state. Helots were originally free Greeks that the Spartans had defeated in battle, and subsequently enslaved. In contrast to populations conquered by other Greek cities, the male Helot population was not exterminated, and women and children were not treated as chattel.
Instead, Helots were given a subordinate position within Spartan society more comparable to the serfs of medieval Europe. Although Helots did not have voting rights, they otherwise enjoyed a relatively privileged position, in comparison to slave populations in other Greek city-states.
The Spartan poet, Tyrtaios, gives account that Helots were permitted to marry and retain half the fruits of their labor. They were also allowed religious freedoms and could own a limited amount of personal property. Up to 6, Helots even accumulated enough wealth to buy their own freedom in BCE. Since Spartiates were full-time soldiers, manual labor fell to the Helot population who worked as unskilled serfs, tilling the Spartan land or accompanying the Spartan army as non-combatants.
Helot women were often used as wet nurses. Relations between Helots and their Spartan masters were often strained, and there is evidence that at least one Helot revolt occurred circa BCE. Many historians argue that because the Helots were permitted such privileges as the maintenance of family and kinship groups and ownership of property, they were better able to retain their identity as a conquered people and thus were more effective at organizing rebellions.
Over time, the Spartiate population continued to decline and the Helot population grew, and the imbalance in power exasperated tensions that already existed.
Female Spartans enjoyed status, power, and respect that was unequaled in the rest of the classical world. Spartan women, better fed from childhood and fit from exercise, stood a far better chance of reaching old age than their sisters in other Greek cities where the median life expectancy was Unlike Athenian women who wore heavy, concealing clothes and were rarely seen outside the house, Spartan women wore dresses peplos slit up the side to allow freer movement, and moved freely about the city, either walking or driving chariots.
Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Ancient Greece and the Hellenistic World. Search for:. Learning Objectives Distinguish key differences between Athens and Sparta. Given its military preeminence, Sparta was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars, and defeated Athens during the Peloponnesian War.
Sparta functioned under an oligarchy of two hereditary kings. Unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, Spartan society focused heavily on military training and excellence. Spartan women enjoyed status, power, and respect that was unequaled in the rest of the classical world.
The dominant military power in ancient Greece. Key Takeaways Key Points Sparta was an oligarchic city-state, ruled by two hereditary kings equal in authority. Spartan society was largely structured around the military, and around military training.
Inhabitants were classified as Spartiates Spartan citizens, who enjoyed full rights , Mothakes non-Spartan, free men raised as Spartans , Perioikoi free, but non-citizen inhabitants , and Helots state-owned serfs, part of the enslaved non-Spartan, local population.
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