Monday, 30 November 2020

Spartan Government: The Gerousia: Body of Elders

 Origins

  • The Gerousia was the oligarchic element of the constitution as written in the Politeia of the Spartans by Xenophon
  • According to Plutarch, it came as part of Lycurgus' attempt to safeguard the state by 'allaying and qualifying the fiery genius of the royal office'
  • It was more likely the result of a conflict between the kings and nobles about the time of the first Messenian War
Membership
  • There were 28 members plus the 2 kings (30 in total)
  • Membership was restricted to Spartans over sixty years of age, who were therefore no longer liable for military service
  • It was a body of elders who held their office for life - and it was regarded as a reward for merit
Highly Honoured Position
  • Members were elected by the Spartiates in the assembly
  • It is not certain whether the candidates were from noble families or whether 'the best families' mentioned by Aristotle meant those of wealth and renown
  • Membership of the council was highly honourable and a much sought-after office
  • Plutarch states that they had to be 'the best and most deserving men past sixty years old'
Selection Process
  • Selection was done by acclamation (shouting and clapping) and Plutarch describes in some detail the procedures for this
    • The candidates were brought in one by one - their order of appearance being decided by lot
    • In an adjoining room, selected people listened to the loudness of the shouting for each candidate
    • The results were recorded in order
    • Once the successful candidate was declared, he was taken in triumphant procession around the city to all the temples - he attended a special banquet and he was honoured in verse and song
  • Aristotle disapproved of this method and called it 'childish'
Functions: Preparing Bills
  • The Gerousia was a probouleutic body - this meant it prepared and deliberated on bills to be presented to assembly for voting
  • If it was not happy with the assembly's vote on an issue it could decline to accept it, by adjourning - in which case the bill would not be passed
Functions: Criminal Court
  • The gerontes (members of the gerousia), kings and ephors acted as a court of justice for criminal cases
  • They tried cases of murder and treason, and imposed penalties ranging from death to banishment and fines
  • This select body of elders exerted a great influence in political affairs
Source Activity
Aristotle
Plutarch
Xenophon
  • List the functions of the Gerousia that the sources discuss
  • What does each source state about the election process of the Gerontes?
  • What qualities did the members of the Gerousia have according to each source? What position do the sources imply they had within Spartan government/society? (i.e are they respected?)
  • Plutarch
    • Roles/Responsibilities
      • "with control over death and loss of citizen rights, and the most important matters generally"
      • "sweeping authority in the state"
    • Election Process
      • Assembly was gathered to vote, some men were placed in a room as independent observers, candidates are selected by lot and presented before the assembly who cheer their preferred candidate, the observers listen to the shouts and note which they think is the loudest, and the loudest shout is the winner - trying to ensure anonymity among the candidates, and the election is fair
      • After the candidate is selected he is paraded to all the sanctuaries of the gods followed bt young men and women who sang their praise. They were then taken to their mess and given double portions as a sign of the city's respect. The Gerousia member would then gift his extra portion to the woman who he held in the highest esteem. presenting it as a mark of distinction - she is then also praised by the women
    • Qualities of the Gerousia, position in Sparta
      • Chosen "not as the swiftest of swift, or the strongest of the strong, but the best and wisest of the good and wise" - military prowess is no longer relevant, but intelligence and character are prized above all
      • "merits regarded as most outstanding"
      • "lifelong reward for his merits"
  • Xenophon
    • Roles/Responsibilites
      • "supreme judges in capitol cases in which they produce more respect for old age" - punished those who commit fraud, theft or harm towards those in their communities
    • Election
      • "by placing the election towards the end of life he ensured that they continued to exercise virtue into old age"
      • "he did not take into account physical infirmity or poverty"
      • "The contest of the Gerousia is correctly regarded as the most important a man can enter" - because the contest is about "nobility of character" rather than physical strength
  • Aristotle
    • Roles/Responsibilities
      • "lifelong supreme power to decide important cases"
      • "exempt from scrutiny even from the ephors" - Aristotle condemns this unaccountability
    • Election Process
      • "the way in which the choice is made is childish" - referring to acclamation (the shouting and clapping)
    • Qualities/Characteristics
      • "It is known that even the lawgiver himself has no confidence in them as good men"
      • He suggests they are corrupt because they are open to "bribes" and "favouritism"
      • It is questionable whether people so advanced in old age should be given lifelong appointments "the mind grows old no less than the body"
  • Evaluation: The soures are vague about the specifics of their power. Why?
    • Because political bodies like the Gerousia were quite common in the Greek world. The sources do not feel the need to describe their power in detail

Monday, 23 November 2020

Spartan Government System: The Ephorate

 Origins

  • The Ephorate was a board of five ephors who were the chief magistrates and administrative officials in Sparta
  • The word 'Ephor' means 'overseer'
  • The origin of the office is unknown and controversy on the subject has continued among historians, who have put forward several theories
Historian Theories
  • The ephors were originally priests and astrologers
  • The ephors were created by the kings to carry on government while they were away at war
  • The ephors were originally connected with the five villages and may have been chiefs who became advisers to the kings
Power in the 7th Century (BC)
  • It was not until the 7th century that the ephorate won their great political power
  • This slowly increased until they had taken over the main powers of the kings
  • They had formidable powers as representatives of the people
Election Process
  • Any Spartan over the age of thirty could stand for the office
  • Elected by the assembly annually by acclamation - exchanging oaths with the king each month
  • Took office at the full moon - after the autumnal equinox
  • Upon appointment they would issue a proclamation to all citizens to shave their moustaches and obey the laws
Monthly Oaths
  • The monthly oath was taken to uphold the office of the kings as long as they behaved in accordance with the laws
  • They shared some of the powers with the kings and they were also empowered to depose them
Main Functions: Represented the Principle of Law
  • The Ephorate had eight main functions:
    • Checks on the kings (overseers)
    • Dealing with foreign policy
    • Dealing with army
    • Control over magistrates
    • Supervision over training
    • Krypteia
    • Dealings with the Gerousia (apparently 7 and 8)
No.1 - Checks on the kings
  • As representatives of the people and a democratic element they were expected to:
    • Keep a check on the kings - at home and abroad accompanying them on campaign
    • Summon the kings before them for misdemeanours
No.2 Foreign Powers
  • They dealt with foreign embassies
  • According to Xenophon - before foreign representatives could enter Sparta they had to halt at the border and wait the permission of the ephors
  • Once in Sparta, envoys made their proposals or demands to the ephors - who would then decide of they should go before the assembly
No.3 Dealing with the Army
  • If war was declared, the ephors decided which age classes should go
  • They issued orders mobilising the army
  • They gave instructions to the generals and recalled them if they failed
No.4 Controlling Magistrates
  • Their power over lesser magistrates was great
  • At the end of a magistrate's year in office he gave an account of himself to the ephors - who decided if any punishment was in order
No.5 Supervised Training
  • Had total control over training and discipline of the young
  • Any misconduct was reported to the ephors and Spartan youths were given a regular physical examination
  • The ephors also chose the three captains of the elite corps of the Spartan army
No.6 Krypteia
  • The Krypteia (secret police organisation) was under orders from the ephors
  • It has been portrayed as a tyrannical and vicious weapon - used to murder helots indiscriminately
  • Plutarch and Aristotle both make mention of the role played by the Krypteia and the removal of the helot population
  • This was a unique feature to Sparta, never adopted by other Greek States
Plutarch and the Krypteia
"The magistrates dispatched privately some of the ablest of the young men into the country from time to time armed only with their daggers... in the daytime they hid in out-of-the-way places and there law close, but in the night issued out into the highways, and killed all the helots they could light upon"

Aristotle and the Krypteia
"Upon entering office the ephors used to declare war on the helots - so that they could be massacred without offending the gods"
- In other words declaring them public enemies allowed them to be killed with impunity

Krypteia Membership
  • More probably a body of eighteen to twenty year old youths - at the disposal of the ephors for special service
  • Membership formed part of the training of the youths in that they:
    • Served for two years
    • Provided a useful method for removing undesirables - specifically helots
No 7&8 - Dealing with the Gerousia
  • The ephors summoned and presided over sessions of the Gerousia and the Assembly and initiated legislation
  • With the Gerousia - they acted as a court of criminal justice and carried out punishments
  • They were criminal judges in cases involving perioikoi and they constituted the supreme civil court
Limitations of the Ephorate
  • Answerable to the public body
  • Despite the ephors' great powers - they were subject to certain restrictions
    • They were elected for one year only
    • When they became private citizens once again they could be called to account for their actions in an audit by their successor
    • They could not be re-elected
  • Thus, they were both democratic and oligarchic
Eponymous Nature
  • One Ephor was always "eponymous" - his name was used at Sparta to signify the year. E.g: Thucydides treats the treaty of 421BC as follows:
    • "This peace shall take beginning from the 24th of the month Artemisium, Pleistolas being ephor at Sparta, and the 5th of Elaphebolium, after the acount of Athens. Alcaeus being archon" 5.19
Activity
Xenophon, 4, 8, 11, 13, 15
Aristotle, "Ephors"
Plutarch, Lycurgus, 7
  • Xenophon
    • "Like tyrants or presidents (referees) at the games they punish an offender as soon as the offence is detected" - he uses the word tyrant but not in a negative sense. He is comparing them to referees at a game, ensuring the game is fair
    • They call up the age groups for campaign
    • They have the "right to inflict punishments at will", to "require immediate payment of fines" and "to depose magistrates during their term of office"
    • They had to be present at any sacrifices to Zeus - they take no part unless the king invites them
    • They were the only ones to sit when the kings were in attendance and took a monthly oath to the city of Sparta alongside the kings - that the ephors swear to allow the kings to rule, so long as the kings abide by the rules
    • "Needless to say by watching each man's conduct they exercise a restraining hand on all"
    • The Spartans realised that obedience is vital to the city, in the army and the home - when called upon by the ephors the Spartans would run
    • During the education process any boys who fought amongst themselves would have to appear before the ephors
    • Ephors would routinely inspect the boys to check their progress
    • Attended meetings of the Gerousia
    • They picked the hippegretai, who then chose 100 men themselves, and once approved they became the Hippeis - the king's bodyguard
  • Aristotle
    • "excessive, virtually that of a tyrant"
    • "Even the Spartan Kings were forced to curry favour from them, and this has caused further damage to the constitution, for an aristocracy turned into a democracy"
    • Democratic in the sense that any Spartan over the age of 30 can stand for the ephorate, and are voted in by the people
    • Tyrannical - because they overstep the jurisdiction assigned to them
    • Because they are selected from among the entire population they are "open to bribes"
    • "Independently control most of the important business"
    • The ephor being open to the people "kept them quiet" and "whether this is due to the lawgiver or good fortune is unclear, but suits the circumstances very well"
    • Two ephors accompanied the kings on campaign - "the king's greatest enemy"
    • "Supreme power of jurisdiction"
  • Plutarch
    • After Lycurgus' reforms, the Spartans realised that Oligarchy was the most dominant form of government in Sparta and imposed the ephorate as a curb on the undiluted oligarchy
    • Plutarch implies that the ephorate is a democratic process
    • Introduced 130 years after Lycurgus during the reign on Theopompus
  • How and why do Xenophon and Aristotle differ in their opinions of the Ephorate
    • Both say essentially the same thing about the Ephors. Both call them tyrants and both say the Ephors had incredible sway and influence over Spartan policy
    • Xenophon
      • Describes the Ephorate in a positive light ("they had a restraining hand over all" and they were like referees at the Olympics calling out any misgivings)
      • Xenophon lived and wrote at the end of the Peloponnesian War in the late 5th century BC
        • Many of Athens; intellectuals at this time were laconophiles
        • On his campaigns as a mercenary commander, Xenophon endeared himself to the Spartan King Agesilaus and later moved to Olympia in the Peloponnese to serve as a Spartan ambassador
        • There is strong evidence to suggest that his sons went through the agoge
    • Aristotle
      • Says their power was excessive. They were open to corruption and bribery and they gave the common people an undue influence over political matters
      • Aristotle was not an Athenian, but he moved to Athens and studied under Plato in the 4th Century BC
        • At this stage, Sparta had crumbled under internal disorders, as well as a succession of military defeats
        • The rose-tinted view of Sparta had been shattered and Aristotle made a clear break from his intellectual predecessors by viewing Sparta through a critical lens

Tuesday, 17 November 2020

Spartan Kings: Dual Kingship

Overview
  • The executive office was divided between two men [Basileis]
  • The two kings were both:
    • Co-operative and competitive with one another
    • Equal in authority
    • Served as a mutual check on the power of the monarchy
  • Sparta was never without a leader - and therefore avoided what the Greeks called "anarchy" absence of leadership or of the government
The Agiad and Eurypontid Royal Families
  • Coalition of two distinct tribes - each with its own chief or king - sometime in the 9th century BC
  • One tribe lived around Sparta - its kings belonging to the clan of the Agiads
  • The second tribe was probably from Southern Laconia - where the Eurypontids were the leading clan
  • When the two houses decided to join politically - the kings were given equal powers under the constitution
  • Gradually over time the kings' powers were restricted
Functions: Military
  • The kings were supreme commanders of the army - only one was selected to lead a campaign the other was to stay in Sparta supervising domestic issues
  • According to Herodotus this law originated about 507 BC - when Cleomenes and Demaratus were joint commanders of an expedition against Athens. There was a difference of opinion between the two commanders, and:
  • "this divergence of policy gave rise to new law in Sparta. Previously both kings had gone out with the army, but this was now made illegal and it was further provided that one had to remain in the capital"
Military Cont
  • The kings normally had the right to declare war - but never did so - and in the field they had the absolute right of deciding life and death
  • Two ephors accompanied the king and kept close supervision on his leadership during the war
  • If a campaign was a failure the king could be recalled to Sparta and heavily punished
  • The king was also accompanied by a bodyguard of 100 picked men, and inclusion in this guard was the greatest honour
Functions: Religions
  • Intermediaries between the gods and men - held their office as long as the gods were pleased
  • If anything went wrong the king was to blame - every ninth year the ephors looked in the skies for a sign of the gods' approval or disapproval
  • The kings were chief priests of Zeus Lacedaemonios and Zeus Uranios - the gods of their respective families
  • Every month they offered solemn sacrifices to Apollo for the city
  • "On the first and seventh days of every month each king is given a full grown animal to offer in sacrifice in the temple of Apollo, also a bushel of barley meal and a Laconian quart of wine"
  • Before leaving for a campaign the king sacrificed to Zeus - if the omens were favourable the army could proceed to the frontier - where more sacrifices were performed for Zeus and Athena
  • Fire from these sacrifices was carried with the king and army throughout the entire campaign
  • Kings appointed two Pythioi - to consult the Oracle at Delphi and to present them with the Pythia's directions
  • The pythioi were responsible for the safe keeping of all the oracles
Functions: Judicial
  • Kings had limited judicial duties:
    • Decided on marriages for orphaned heiresses
    • Had control over all matters concerning highways; and
    • The adoption of children
The Kings: Activity - Responsibilities and Duties
  • Religious
    • Herodotus
      • The Kings were the heads of two priesthoods, Zeus Lakedaimonios and Zeus Uranos
      • They could each choose two pythioi who consulted the oracle at Delphi and sat with the king at meals
      • The kings take charge of the oracles received from Delphi
    • Xenophon
      • The kings could choose their sacrificial victims and were offered a pig from every litter
    • Aristotle
  • Military
    • Herodotus
      • Had the right of making war against whatsoever land they please. When they go on expeditions the kings shall go out first and return last - no man should hinder this decision
      • "Absolute authority" on campaign
    • Xenophon
      • The King should lead the army on any foreign campaign
      • When there's no battle expected the king marches from the front, when the enemy are met the king serves between two regiments
      • The regimental commanders eat with the king, so that, since they are always present, they may take a larger part in any necessary deliberations
    • Aristotle
  • Constitutional (Political)
    • Herodotus
      • Kings were permanent members of the Gerousia (28 elected and the two kings)
      • If the kings were not able to attend the meetings of the Gerousia then a Gerontes (member of the Gerousia) who was closest in relation to the king would vote in his stead - they would have an extra vote to count for the king's vote
        • We can infer that the King's votes in the Gerousia were equal to the other members'
      • In charge of roads
    • Xenophon
      • Each king had enough land that they had enough to sustain themselves, but not so much that they were rich
      • "they do not greatly exceed the position of a private citizen" - Lycurgus did not want to encourage "a tyrannical attitude" in their kings
      • On campaign two ephors accompany the king - watched each man's conduct and exercised a restraining hand on all
    • Aristotle
      • "They regarded disagreement between the two kings as making stability in the state"
        • Offers wider perspectives if they have opposing viewpoints
        • It avoids a tyranny that could be established were the kings to work together
      • Because even Lycurgus "does not believe it possible to produce kings of the first quality" they restrict their powers
      • This is why they used to send their "personal enemies" as ambassadors referring to the ephors
  • Judicial (Legal)
    • Herodotus
      • The Kings decides whether a maiden inherited her father's land, also decided on who she was betrothed to if this had not already been decided
      • If a Spartan wishes to adopt another Spartan it is voted upon by the Kings and the Gerousia
    • Xenophon
      • When on campaign the king solely focuses on military issues - lawsuits are referred to the hellanodikai (judges), applications for money to the treasures, and any booty is handed over to the auctioneers
    • Aristotle
  • Other Privileges and Perks
    • Herodotus
      • When a king dies a horse announces the death, women go about striking their copper kettles, a man and woman from each household must go into mourning. No political meetings for ten days. Thousands of Perioikoi and Helots would be forced to attend the funeral. The Spartans had a tradition of praising that king as the "best they ever had"
      • At all sporting events they have special seating reserved for them
      • 100 picked bodyguards attend the king on campaign
    • Xenophon
      • When a king dies, they are honoured not as men, but as heroes
      • When on campaign the king and his entourage are maintained at public expense - the members of his mess, doctors, prophets, musicians, the commanders of the army and any volunteers
      • The king had his own mess
    • Aristotle

Friday, 6 November 2020

Spartan Government

 Spartan Branches of Government

  • Dual Kingship
  • The Gerousia
  • The Ephorate
  • The Assembly
View of the Government
  • Philosophers and observers praised the Spartan form of government
  • Disagreement came when trying to figure out what to call it - Oligarchic/Democratic
  • Unlike some Greek states Sparta retained the hereditary kingship
Political Terms
  • Oligarchy:
    • A form of government where political power effectively rest with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royalty, wealth, family, military powers or occult spiritual hegemony
  • Democracy:
    • A form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system
  • Tyranny:
    • One who has taken power by their own means as opposed to hereditary or constitutional power
Difficulty in Classification
  • Aristotle:
    • Could not decide if it was a democracy or a tyranny
  • Plato:
    • Described it as a happy mixture of democracy and oligarchy
  • Cicero:
    • Called it a 'mixed constitution'
Oligarchic Form of Government
  • No doubt the Spartan government was an oligarchic one. Why?
  • The number of enfranchised Spartans was very small and this privileged body of Spartan peers ruled a huge population of perioikoi and helots
  • Sparta always favoured oligarchic rule - particularly in allied states
Oligarchy mixed with Democracy
  • Democratic aspects:
    • The institution of the assembly
    • The institution of the Ephorate
  • Democratic, but who for?
    • The system was democratic if you were a full Spartiate. If you were not a full citizen then democratic rights were practically nil
Spartan Constitution
  • Spartiates
    • Fairly well-balanced constitution - one which avoided some of the weaknesses of the radical form of democracy found in Athens
    • "for four-hundred years and more, until the end of the Peloponnesian War, the Lakedaemonians have had the same constitution, through which they have been able to bring about change in other states" - Thucydides 1.18

The Helots and Spartans Source Work

 Plutarch, Lycurgus, 28

  • "Krypteia, assuming this really was one of Lycurgus' innovations...killed any helot whom they caught"
  • "Killing the helots who stood out for their physique and strength"
  • "By day they would disperse to obscure spots in order to hide and rest. At nigh they made their way to the roads and killed any helots who they came across"
  • Plutarch doubts that they were a Lycurgan invention, suggesting they may have been introduced later when Spartan and helot tensions were at an all time high. Their main purpose was to instil fear into the helots, acting as a deterrent
  • "Thucydides tells us how those helots who had been singled out by the Spartiates for their bravery were first crowned as if they had been granted freedom, and made a round of the sanctuaries of the gods; but then a little late they all vanished - over 2000 of them"
  • This took place after the Spartans' loss at Pylos and Sphacteria in 425 BC (Plutarch is referring to Thucydides 4.80) - suggesting the helots could be particularly rebellious in times of crisis in Sparta, and that the Spartans could pre-emptively murder helots to deter revolts
  • "Aristotle makes the further notable point that immediately upon taking up office the ephors would declare war on the helots, so that they could be killed without pollution"
  • By declaring war, they turn the helots into enemy combatants rather than murder victims, the Spartans considered themselves in perpetual war with the helots
  • "Spartiates' treatment of the helots was callous and brutal"
  • "They would force them, for instance, to drink quantities of unmixed wine and then they would bring them into messes to show the young men what drunkenness was like"
  • "They would also order them to perform songs and dances which were vulgar and ludicrous, while excluding the, from ones fit for free men"
  • "There is nothing to match even the freedom of the free-men at Sparta or the slavery of the slave"
  • The constant mistreatment and degrading of the helots dehumanised them in the eyes of the Spartans, helping them justify their harsh treatment
Aristotle, The Helots
  • Helots offered Spartan freedoms from essential tasks
  • Helots were "on the lookout for any mischance that might befall their masters"
  • Sparta's hostile neighbours often invited helots to revolt (think Athens in the Peloponnesian War)
  • The Spartans mistrusted them and deliberately subjected them to harsh treatment to keep them subdued
  • Aristotle believes if the Spartans had been less brutal in their treatment then the helots would not be so rebellious
  • They had a relationship which can ultimately be defined as uneasy
Thucydides, 1.128
  • The Spartans suffered from the "Curse of Tenarus"
  • "Spartans had in the past raised up some helot suppliants from the Altar of Poseidon, and had taken them away and killed them"
  • The Spartans believed the earthquake in 464 BC was because of their mistreatment and killing of these helots at the altar of Poseidon
  • Shows even the Spartans had moral questions about their mistreatment of the helots
Aelian, D31
  • "Kallikratidas and Gylippos and Lysander were called mothakes at Lakedaimon"
  • Some of the slaves of the wealthy were, by the fathers, "sent along with their sons to train alongside them in the gymnasia" and "to mingle in the boys' agoge". These were termed the mothakes, and those boys would eventually be given Lakonian citizenship
  • Aelian is likely misunderstanding that mothakes could also be boys whose fathers could not pay their mess dues, and were likely the ones given citizenship, not the helots. Lysander and Gyllipus were not former helots!
Phylarcos, D30
  • "The mothakes are foster-brothers of the Lakedaimonians. For each of the boy-citizens, as their individual circumstances allow, have one, or two, or in some cases more foster-brothers. So the mothakes are free, though not actually Lakedaimonians, but still share exactly the same education. They say that Lysander who fought the Athenians as sea was one of these, though he became a citizen through his courage
  • Similar to Aelian, Phylarcos is misunderstanding that mothakes could also be Spartan boys who's fathers could not pay their mess dues and so were sponsored by another family. Lysander is an example of this type of mothakes, not the helots who were adopted as "foster-brothers"
Strabo, D35
  • "For the Lakedaimonians held them as state-slaves in a particular way, assigning certain settlements for them and particular duties"
  • State owned slaves, as opposed to privately owned as elsewhere in the ancient world
Kritias, D40
  • "Right of killing first" - seem to be treated almost as animals
  • "Most enslaved and most free are in Lakedaimon" - Contrast of Spartiates with helots to emphasise their mistreatment
  • "because of mistrust towards these helots a Spartiate at home takes out the handle of his shield. Not being able to do this on campaign because of the frequent need for rapid action, he goes about always carrying his spear since this would make him superior to his helot who might revolt but with only a shield"
  • "They have also devised locks which they think would be too strong for any helot attempt"
  • Whole relationship is based on a mutual mistrust and living in constant fear of each other
Myron of Priene, D41
  • "Lakedaimonians treated the helots with the upmost arrogance: they imposed on the helots every demeaning task leading to their complete humiliation"
  • "the helots received a set number of beatings irrespective of any wrongdoing"
  • "if any of them should overstep how they thought a slave should appear, they set death as the penalty"
Plato, D42
  • "In addition there is the so-called krypteia, which is amazingly physically demanding as regards endurance: in winter they go without shoes or blankets; they look after themselves without servants, and spend night and day wandering about the countryside"
  • Plato doesn't actually specify the Krypteia was a killing exercise like Herakleides Lembos or Plutarch does, and he is contemporary, unlike the other two, which makes this very confusing. Is he telling us of a Krypteia before they introduced the helot killing? Was it more secretive in the 5th century BC?
Herakleides Lembos, "School of Aristotle", D43
  • "It is said that Lykourgos also introduced the krypteia. In accordance with this institution even now they out by day and conceal themselves, but by night they use weapons to kill as many of the helots as is expedient"