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"

Helots and Perioikoi: The Effect on Sparta

 Oliganthropia = a decline of population

(480 BC) Herodotus 7.234 - Damaratus informs Xerxes after Thermopylae

"O king," said Damaratus, "the Lacedaemonians altogether are many in number, and their cities are many. But what you would know, I will tell you: there is in Lacedaemon a city called Sparta, a city of about 8,000 men"

Thucydides 5.68 - tries to calculate their number based on the combatants at Mantinea

"Such were the order and the forces of the two combatants. The Lacedaemonian army looked the largest, though as to putting down the numbers of either host, or of the contingents composing it, I could no do so with any accuracy. Owing to the secrecy of their government the number of the Lacedaemonians was not known, and men are so apt to brag about the forces of their country that the estimate of their opponents was not trusted. The following calculation, however, makes it possible to estimate the numbers of the Lacedaemonians present upon this occasion. There were seven companies in the field without countin the Sciritae (perioikoi), who numbered six hundred men: in each company there were four Pentecostyes, and in the Pentecosty fout Enomoties. The first rank of the Enomoty was composed of four soldiers: as to the depth, although they had not been all drawn up alike, but as each captain chose, they were generally ranged eight deep: the first rank along the whole line, exclusive of the Sciritae, consisted of four hundred and forty-eight men."

Perioikoi Activity

Read through the "Unit 8: The Perioikoi" section of the Spartan Society Booklet

1. Look at the map of the Perioikoi sites and of the roads into and out of Laconia, what crucial passes did the Perioikoi control?
• Tegea, guarded the Kleissoura pass
2. What duties did the Perioikoi have to perform for the Spartans? What benefits did they receive in return?
• Commanded all passes into Laconia, including waterways
• Contributed half the forces to the Spartan army - sometimes even to the chain of command
• Managed most of the trade and craft in Laconia - since the Spartans felt those tasks were beneath them
• Possiby constructed the armour for the Spartans
• High chance that they contributed to keeping the Helot population at bay
3. How closely could the Spartans watch over the Perioikic communities? What incentives might they offer Perioikoi to make sure they remained loyal?
• The Spartans governed them with a hands off approach
• Their communities were autonomous - they conducted their own domestic affairs and elected their own leaders
• Their only restriction was that they were unable to decide their own foreign policies
• Some Perioikoi could make lucrative economic gains through trading on behalf of the Spartans
• Shared some religious ceremonies with the Spartans - Promaekeia
4. What was the main harbour of Sparta?
• Gytheion on the southern coast of Laconia

Military Use of the Perioikoi and Helots

• The Battle of Pylos - "After the Peloponnesians pulled back from Attika, the Spartiates themselves and the perioikoi who lived closest went immediately to help at Pylos" - Thuc 4.8
• The Battle of Mantinea - "On this occasion the left wing was held by the skiritai, who always have this privilege (unique in the Lakedaemonian army) of operating on their own as a unit" - Thuc 5.67
• The Battle of Plataea - "Ten Thousand Lakedaemonians held the right wing: of them, five thousand were Spartiates, who were guarded by thirty-five thousand Helots - seven serving each man" - Herodotus 9.28
• The Battle of Mantinea - "This finally spurred them into action, and they mustered all their forces - Lakedaimonians and Helots alike - to go to their aid with the largest force they had ever assembled" - Thuc, 5.64
• Brasidas' Northern Campaign - "On this occasion too they were willing enough to send out about 700 of them as hoplites with Brasidas, though the rest of the army was mercenaries from the Peloponnese"

The Effect of the Perioikoi and Helots on Sparta's Foreign Policy

• Difficult to judge based on the limited available evidence we have
• No sources internal to Sparta that can be used to gauge how far the Helots and Perioikoi were troublesome for the Spartans on a regular basis
• However, we do have two key moments where we are able to judge this affect, when the insurrections were so bad that they influenced the outside world:
• The Spartan Earthquake of 464 BC
• The Conspiracy of the Inferior, Cinadon, in the 380s BC

Helots and Perioikoi in Revolt

Spartan Earthquake, 464 BC

Thucydides, 1.101-3

Diodorus Sicilus, E63

1. What factors caused the revolt?
• Thucydides
• Spartans were in the process of preparing to attack Athens when an earthquake struck
• Helots in Messenia and some perioikoi who lived near Mount Ithome revolted and occupied the mountains
• Diodorus
• Helots revolted after the earthquake
• Earthquake killed around 20,000 Lakedaemonians and the city of Sparta was badly damaged
• The Helots took advantage of the high number of dead to revolt
2. How were the Spartans able to subdue the revolt?
• Thucydides
• The Spartans asked Athens for assistance, but the Spartans feared the Athenians might empathise with the helots and help the revolt, so they dismissed them
• Helots and Spartans came to an agreement ' the Helots would leave the Peloponnese in exchange for their freedom
• Diodorus
• Archidamus took quick action ' grabbed his armour and led the Spartiates out of the city and into the countryside
3. Based on the account, how serious a threat was this revolt for the Spartans?
• 
  

Conspiracy of Cinadon, 380s BC

Xenophone, Hellenica

1. What factors caused the revolt?
• Cinadon was an inferior in the late 380s BC
• His motive was "to be inferior to none in Sparta"
• He took his conspirators to the Agora and pointed out the massive disparity between the few dozen Spartans vs 4,000 others
2. How were the Spartans able to subdue the revolt?
• The plot was brough to the attention of the ephors, who were greatly alarmed
• The ephors drew Cinadon out of the city for fear of an uprising, and arrested him in the countryside
• He was tortured until he revealed the names of his co-conspirators
• The conspirators were rounded up, and dragged through Sparta under lashes and spears
3. Based on the account, how serious a threat was this revolt for the Spartans?
• Though the conspiracy was small, the Helots and Perioikoi would "gladly eat them (Spartans) raw"

Spartan Society: The Spartiates

 "Agesilaus ordered the allies to sit down with each other all mixed-up, and the Spartans on their own by themselves. Then he told the potters to stand up, then the blacksmiths, carpenters, builders and each other craft. And so all the allies stood up except a few, but none of the Spartans, for they were not allowed to work in or learn a manual trade" - Plutarch, Agesilaus, 26

Spartan Citizenship

• Both mother and father had to be Spartan citizens
• The child was inspected for any ailments/deformities (the weak were killed)
• Agoge - men had to go through this training school from 7-30 years old
• After training - had to be accepted into a syssitia - like a fraternity - had to be unanimously accepted

Characteristics of Spartan Society

Spartan society can broadly be defined by a unique set of codes and characteristics that all Spartans were expected to adhere to:

1. Equality between the Homoioi (meaning peers or equals)
2. Frugality and an austere lifestyle, shunning material pleasures
3. Leisure and bonding between the Homoioi, enjoying the privileges of a citizen
4. Conformity and Obedience to the state and its laws
5. Discipline and Self-Sacrifice on behalf of Sparta, the state is more important than the individual
6. Independence a an individual in Sparta

The Interactions of Spartan Society

• Spartan society was predominantly a public one
• More specifically it was one in which social bonding equality and friendly competition was promoted enthusiastically in the forms of:
• Music
• Singing and Dancing
• Ritualised Hardship
• Organised Games and Fights
• Public Messes

Music

• The Spartans harboured an enjoyment of music
• Dancing to the flute or the lyre was done by both sexes alike; however most of these dances represented/simulated:
• Battles
• Military Drill
• Wrestling
• Wild Animal Hunts
• Religious Aspects
• Plutarch states that their songs:
• "had a life and spirit in them that enflamed and possessed men's minds with an enthusiasm and ardour for action"

Singing and Dancing

• Choral and dancing competitions were held annually
• Festival of Gymnopaediae - all male Spartans competed - whole battalions of soldiers both old and young sang for their prowess and courage, and of deeds yet to be performed

Ritualised Hardship

• Notorious endurance contest - flogging the youths at the altar of Artemis Orthia
• Frequently boys died during this ceremony - but a statue of honour was erected to the boy who endured the longest
• It may have tied in with initiation and the shedding of blood as a bond between man and god

Organised Games and Fights

• Once a year two teams - representing Lycurgus and Heracles - were chosen to face each other in combat
• They met on an island in a river; having first sacrificed a pup and watched a fight between two boars
• Aim of the fight - drive the opposing team into the river
• There were no rules - kicking, eye-gouging and biting were allowed
• Annual ball game - teams of fifteen - sole object possession of the ball at the end of the game by any method

The Public Messes

• The public meals have been called by a variety of names:
• Syssitia or Syssition
• Phiditia or Phitidion
• Plutarch - stated that the meals were devised by Lycurgus to strike a blow at luxury
• Xenophon - maintained that Lycurgus invented them, by bringing people out in the open, in order to prevent poor behaviour and failure to obey orders

Unique or Not?

• The two views held by the sources are in fact incorrect
• Such meals were not unique to Sparta alone and were in fact of ancient origin
• They were basically military messes with approximately fifteen members [half a company]
• Later they lost their military character

Citizenship Dependent on Membership

• Membership of the mess was a prerequisite for Spartan citizenship:
• "Each of the mess-mates took in his hand a bit of soft bread, and when a servant came along with a bowl upon his head, then they cast it into this without a words, like a ballot, leaving it round as it was if he approved of the candidate, but if he disapproved, squeezing it tight in his hand first. The spoiled bread represented the same as a spoiled ballot. And if just one such is found in the bowl, the candidate is not admitted to the mess, because they wish all its members to be congenial to each other" - Plutarch, Lycurgus, 12

Compulsory Attendance

• The meals were held [possibly in tents] in a large, open space by the side of the Hyacinthine Way
• Attendance was compulsory every day among Spartan peers
• The evening meal was always eaten there
• The only acceptable excuse for nonattendance were
• Sickness
• Hunting expeditions
• Public sacrifices

Contributions

• Each peer was bound to make a monthly contribution of grain, fruit and wine from the produce of his Kleros
• The messes also enabled young Spartans to:
• Listen to conversations of their elders; and
• Learn of the honourable deeds performed by Spartans for their state
• Furthermore - the public nature of the meals put a restraint on indecent language, bad conduct and drunkenness

Spartan Society: Activity

1. Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus, points 8-10, 12, 24
2. Xenophon, Constitution of the Spartans, points 5,7
3. Kritias: Fragment D60

Find as many examples of the following

• Equality between Spartans
• Frugality and Austerity
• Discipline, Conformity and Obedience
• Leisure, Bonding and Comradery

Equality Between Spartans

• Plutarch - Lycurgus ordered all Spartiates to pull all their land together and redistribute it. 9,000 plots for the Spartans, 30,000 for the perioeci - not mentioned by any fifth century source. Plutarch erroneous here. He's referring to a third century king called Agis who wanted to redistribute the land. Agis claimed that Lycurgus had done the same before. This is why only sources dated after his rule mentioned it
• Each kleros provided enough to sustain each Spartiate and their family
• With their equal landholdings they would seek to be first "only in merit"
• Plutarch + Xenophon - he outlawed currency and replace it with iron bars
• Plutarch - deliberately weakened to be worthless (vinegar was poured on the iron)
• Xenophon - Searches were made for hidden currency
• Greed dissipated
• Plutarch - each member of a mess hall contributed equal portions from their kleros, which was then redistributed equally
• Kritias - in the mess halls all Spartans drank from the same cup
• Plutarch - even the kings had to follow the rules - example of Agis

Frugality and Austerity

• Plutarch - Lycurgus decided that "just this amount of food would suffice for their fitness and health, and they would need nothing more"
• Xenophon - food was proportional to the work put in
• Plutarch - "possessions won no advantage because there was no public outlet for their wealth"
• No merchants, no pimps or prostitutes, or teachers of rhetoric
• Removed all craftsmen who were considered useless
• Kritias - Contrasts the moderate behaviour of the restrained Spartans in the mess hall vs the indulgent Athenians
• Plutarch and Xenophon - Spartans were forbidden from carrying torches, which encouraged them not to drink excessively and helped them to learn to navigate through the dark
• Plutarch - Made helping one's companions more honourable than money driven
• Plutarch - mess halls the "finest reform" and an "attack on luxury"

Discipline, Conformity and Obedience

• Plutarch - example of King Agis being punished for not attending messes - shows that even the kings had to obey the law
• Xenophon - "living at home led to considerable neglect of duty" - so by instituting public messes they could check for disobedience"
• Plutarch - Unanimous voting decisions for mess-hall entry forced the Spartans to conform
• Xenophon - Age groups were mixed - which allowed younger Spartans to learn from the old and vice versa, and soothed generational divides and conflicts
• Plutarch - "they viewed themselves as part of their community rather than as individuals" + "they lived a prescribed lifestyle and devoted themselves to communal concerns"

Leisure, Bonding and Comradery

• Plutarch - The Spartans were encouraged to take and give out jokes in equal measures. Plutarch says that the ability to take criticism is a very Spartan quality
• Plutarch - Women were encouraged to take part in athletics such as javelin and discus throwing
• Plutarch - they spent most of their time choral dancing, taking part in festivals and feasts, hunting expeditions, physical exercise and conversation
• Kritias - Contrasts the Athenian symposia with the Spartan syssitia, emphasises the Spartan peers bonding
• Plutarch - Sexual relationships were open. Lovers' quarrels elsewhere became friendly rivalries
• Plutarch - in the mess halls witnessed "political discussions" and "the kind of entertainment appropriate for free men"
• Kritias - In Sparta the free are the most free, and the slaves are the most enslaved

Inferiors: Activity

• Xenophon, Constitution of the Spartans, 9
• Plutarch, Lycurgus, 15
• Thucydides, 5.34
• Herodotus, 7.229-232 (right at the back of the reader after the Thermopylae section)

Make a list of the various ways an inferior was treated in Sparta, making sure to refer to which specific source refers to which specific bit of info

• Xenophon:
• Tresantes ("Tremblers") - Outcasts from their mess halls, disgraceful to be paired with them in athletic competitions
• Forced to live without their wives, and still subject to the same punishments as unwedded bachelors
• Were not allowed to display happiness in public
• If a younger person entered the room they would be forced to give up their seats
• They would be resigned to the most ignominious position in the chorus
•  Plutarch:
• Men who remained unwedded past their prime were forced to parade naked in the Agora, in the middle of winter. They had to sing a degrading song about how their punishment was just
• Barred from the Gymnopaedia - an important festival in Sparta
• Anecdote of the distinguished general who a younger Spartan refused to give up his seat for "because you have no son who will give their seat to me"
• Thucydides
• Neodamodes - The Helots who had fought with Brasidas were freed and could live where they liked
• Tresantes - Spartans who surrendered at Sphacteria in 425BC were deprived of citizenship and barred from political and economic rights. However, their rights were eventually restored
• a) is the punishment not as severe as Xenophon claims?
• b) could the Spartans no longer punish Tresantes as harshly due to their declining numbers?
• Herodotus
• Aristodemus and Pantites - the two survivors of Thermopylae - 480-479 BC
• Both were excused from battle because of an eye infection
• Pantites ran back to the battle and died with the 300, but Aristodemus loitered to delay joining and returned home alone after
• If both had returned to Sparta, they would have been excused, but because one ran back to the battle and one didn't, Aristodemus was punished as a tresantes
• No Spartan would speak to him; he was reproached as a social outcast
• Ostracised from Spartan life
• Nicknamed Aristodemus the coward
• However, he redeemed himself at Plataea by charging alone into the fray, but the Spartans called him reckless. Jealousy?
• Shows that inferiors still served in the army
• By charging he would've broken the formation, endangering his comrades

Criticisms of Spartan Society

Read the following sections of Aristotle's "Criticisms of the Spartan Constitution" in the Politics

• Property
• The land passed into few hands, and others naturally lost out
• Though the land could sustain 30,000 infantry, the real number was 1,000
• Monetary transactions were outlawed, but property and possessions were allowed to be gifted to one another
• Women could also inherit property. By Aristotle's period 2/5 of all land was owned by heiresses
• Common Meals
• Each Spartan was meant to contribute equal portions to their mess, but because of the wealth disparity, many could not make their contributions
• Contributions were necessary for Spartan citizenship, so many were barred from becoming full citizens
• Anything but democratic
• Should have been run at public expense
• Further Criticisms
• The Spartans were so focused on war that they did not know how to live in leisure
• No money in the treasury for public expenditure because there was no money
• It is a state where everyone is poor, but greedy
• Naval command had become another kingship

Outline the criticisms Aristotle makes of Spartan society, how it was organised and the arrangements put in place

Sources

5th Century:

• Herodotus, Thucydides, Socrates, Plato, Xenophon, Kritias - the latter four were Laconophiles

4th Century:

• Aristotle

2nd Century:

• Diodorus, Polybius

1st Century AD:

• Plutarch

Plato, Xenophon and Kritias were students of Socrates. Plato, in turn, taught Aristotle

Different Groups Within Spartan Society

 Spartiates

• Original Dorian conquerors of Laconia - the Spartiates never numbered more than 10,000
• Privileged social class, holding all political power
• All equal under the law and all subjected to the same training and discipline
• Forbidden to engage in farming, trade and industry. These were done by Helots and Perioeci
• There were rich and poor Spartiates, but there is some controversy over the existence of a nobility
• Full time soldiers owing total obedience to the state
• The state supported them by giving them an allotment of public land (Kleros) and of Helots
• Lived by a high code of honour that involved courage, loyalty, endurance and obedience

Women

• Emancipated - mingled freely with men and shared their sports, but were excluded from holding public office and did not have the right to vote
• Did not spin or weave - regarded these tasks as fit only for slaves
• Trained to be fit companions, and mothers of warriors and heroes
• Known for natural beauty, strength and grace - forbidden from wearing jewelry, cosmetics and perfume
• Grew up in physical freedom, but modest and careful of health
• Very wealthy, as numbers of men declined in the 5th century, two-fifths of the land came into their hands

Perioeci

"Dwellers around" or "Those on the periphery" - Perioeci were not unique to Sparta

• Dorian in origin - lived in approximately 100 scattered communities in the area controlled by Sparta
• Their villages served as a wall or "buffer zone" against escaping Helots
• Autonomous (self-governing) in their own communities - had local citizenship; owed allegiance to Sparta
• Had no say in formulating Spartan policy
• Were not permitted to marry Spartiates
• Chief contribution to the Spartans was economic - engaged in trade and industry
• Spartan Kings' revenue came from their estates in the lands of the perioeci
• All adult male perioeci were expected to serve as hoplites alongside Spartiates, although not involved in training
• If involved in a case with a Spartiate, were brought before the ephors for trial

Inferiors

Neither slaves nor citizens

• Partheniai
• Illegitimate offspring of Helot mothers and Spartiate fathers
• Neodamodes
• Helots, who for some courageous act or service to the state were given freedom
• Mothoces
• Sons of helots often 'adopted' as playmates of Spartan boys - shared training
• Tresantes
• Spartan peers - cowards who lost citizenship - not necessarily permanently

Helots

• Pre-Dorian inhabitants conquered by Spartans - some Messenians may have been part-Dorian
• State-owned serfs lived with families on lands of Spartiates - could not move without government permission
• Main duty was to supply a fixed amount of produce annually to Spartan masters - free to make a profit once upkeep of Spartans paid for
• Politically and legally had no rights whatsoever - only the state could free them or dispose of them
• Often acted as servants to Spartan soldiers during war - also served as light-armed skirmishers in battle
• Constant threat to Spartan security - were discontented and rebellious; outnumbered the Spartiates approximately 20:1
• Often treated harshly - from time to time killed by the Krypteia to keep them under control; always under suspicion
• A few freed for bravery or service to the state, but had no civic rights - termed neodamodes - however, it was dangerous to show too much bravery

Lyrcurgus: Man or Myth?

 Spartan Society

Spartan society consisted mainly of five different groups:

• Spartiates:
• The main group of the Spartan society. The men who guarded and defended the society
• Spartan Women:
• Equal to the Spartan men and the mothers of warriors
• Perioeci:
• The dwellers on the periphery of Spartan society
• Inferiors:
• The four groups in Spartan society who for some reason were outcasts
• Helots:
• The slave population for the Spartiates, they were feared by the Spartan community due to their rebellious nature

Lycurgus: The questions that should be asked...

1. Who was Lycurgus?
2. Why is he important to Spartan society?
3. What role did he play for the development of Spartan society?
4. Why do historians find Lycurgus problematic?
5. What do the sources say about Lycurgus?
6. How far can we trust the sources on Lycurgus' existence

The Man

So who was Lycurgus?

• (700 BC?-630 BC) he was [supposedly] the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, who established the military-oriented reformation of Spartan society in accordance with the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi
• All his reforms were directed towards the three Spartan virtues: equality (among citizens), military fitness and austerity

Historian Views

• He is referred to by ancient historians Herodotus, Xenophon, and Plutarch
• It is not clear if this Lycurgus was an actual historical figure; however, many ancient historians believed that Lycurgus was responsible for the communalistic and militaristic reforms which transformed Spartan society
• The most major of his reforms was known as The Great Rhetra. Ancient historians place him in the first half of the 7th century BC

The Great Rhetra

I.

Oh! thou great Lycurgus, that coms't

to my beautiful dwelling, Dear to

Jove, and to all who sit in the halls

of Olympus, Whether to hail thee a 

god I know not, or only a mortal,

But my hope is strong that thou a

god wilt prove, Lycurgus.

II.

Cravest thou Arcady? Bold is thy

craving. I shall not content it.

Many the men that in Arcady

dwell, where food is the acorn.

They will never allow thee. It is not

I that am ungenerous, I will give

thee to dance in Tegea, with noisy

foot-fall. And with the measuring

line mete out the glorious

campaign.

III.

Level and smooth is the plain where

Arcadian Tegea standeth; There two

winds are ever, by strong necessity

blowing, Counter-stroke answers

stroke, and evil lies upon evil. There

all-teeming Earth doth harbour the

son of Atrides; Bring thou him to

thy city, and then be Tegea's master.

IV.

These oracles they from Apollo

heard, And brought from Pytho

home the perfect word; The heaven-

appointed kings, who love the land,

Shall foremost in the nation's council

stand; The elders next o them; the

commons last; Let a straight Rhetra

among all be passed

Plutarch points out in his biography of Lycurgus that:

"One can say absolutely nothing on Lycurgus the Lawgiver which is not prone to controversy: his origin, his travels, his death, and finally the development of his laws and constitution give rise to very different historical accounts"

Lycurgus activity:

1. What claims are made regarding the time period for when Lycurgus lived by
1. Aristotle
• Same time as Iphitus and was his partner in instituting the Olympic truce
2. Eratosthenes and Apollodorus
• He lived a great many years before the First Olympiad
3. Timaeus
• Two Lycurguses at different times who were confused as the same. The older one might have lived close to Homer's time
4. Xenophon
• In the time of the Heraclids (first kings)
2. Who does the poet Simonides state as the father of Lycurgus?
• Prytanis
3. What occurred under the rule of Sous?
• Helots first became slaves and Sparta expanded in to new territory
4. How did the kingly line of Eurypontids come about?
• Named as such after Sous' son, Eurypon, who courted popularity and ingratiated himself with the masses, thereby being the first to relax the "excessively autocratic character of the kingship"
5. How did Sparta come to be a society "gripped by lawlessness and disorder"?
• Ingratiating himself with the masses led to a "bolder attitude on the part of the people" - some succeeding kings were detested for ruling the people by force, while others were "merely tolerated" because their role was either partisan or feeble
6. How, according to Plutarch, did Lycurgus' father die?
• Died from being struck by a chef's cleaver while trying to break up a fight
7. What is the Spartan word for the guardians of kings without fathers?
• Prodikoi
8. How did Lycurgus mislead the wife of Polydectes?
• She was pregnant with the late king's baby, and she told Lycurgus that she would abort the baby on the condition that he would marry her. He told her he would dispose of the child as soon as it was born. He sent observers and guards to be present at the birth and ordered them to bring the child straight to him if it was a boy. When the boy was brought to him, he presented the baby to the magistrates he was dining with and declared him as the king
9. What was the name of the newly born King of Sparta?
• Charilaus
10. Who made the accusation against Lycurgus and why?
• The king's mother felt injured by Lycurgus. Once, her brother Leonidas accused Lycurgus of wanting to become king. By his slander, Leonidas laid the ground for accusing Lycurgus of a plot, should any harm come to the king
11. Where did Lycurgus travel to and what did he learn at each place?
• Crete - where he studied the forms of government and took note of the laws he admired, with the intention of bringing them home and putting them to use
• Asia - he went to compare the frugal, tough way of life in Crete with the extravagance and luxury of Ionia, and to observe the contrast in the ways of life and government. Ionia is also where he allegedly first encountered the poems of Homer
• Egypt - he learned of the Egyptian separation of the warrior class from the others - he carried this over to Sparta
12. Who were the Gymnosophists?
• Indian philosophers who pursued asceticism to the point of regarding food and clothing as detrimental to purity of thought
13. Why were the kings NOT reluctant to see Lycurgus return?
• They hoped that with his presence they would receive less offence from the people
14. What was the first intention of Lycurgus upon his return to Sparta?
• To sweep away the existing order and to make a complete change of constitution
15. What were the words of the Oracle?
• The oracle called Lycurgus "dear to the Gods" and "a god rather than a man" - he had asked for a Good Order, and she declared that the gods granted this and promised that his constitution would be by far the finest of all
16. When Plutarch makes mention of "God" by the Oracle, who is he referring to?
• Lycurgus
17. Who was Arthmiades?
• Arthmiades is generally named as the one who was particularly associated with Lycurgus in all his operations, and who collaborated with him in formulating legislation
18. Why did King Charilaus seek refuge in the Bronze house?
• King Charilaus thought that the whole action was being concerted against him
19. According to Plato, what was Lycurgus' first innovation? What was it a combination of? What was it intended to fix?
• The institution of the Elders. Its combination with the king's arrogant rule, and the right to an equal vote on the most important matters, produced security and at the same time sound sense
• It was intended to fix the instability of the state, as at one moment it would incline towards kings and virtual tyranny, and at another towards the people and democracy
20. Why, according to Aristotle, were the 28 elders introduced? What is Plutarch's theory on this?
• This number of Elders was instituted because two of Lycurgus' thirty leading associates panicked and abandoned the enterprise
• The total should be thirty when the two kings are included

What the Sources Say...

Theory 1:

• A war veteran - who, with the support of his comrades, managed to become regent or tutor to the Spartan King Charilaus

Theory 2:

• In his beginnings, many of his laws were opposed, particularly by the wealthier men. They collected in a body against Lycurgus, and came to throwing stones, so that he was forced to flee and make sanctuary

Story to link to Theory 2:

He outran all but one, a young man who was known for his haste and ill mannered temperament, named Alcander. When Lycurgus stopped running and turned to see if he was followed, Alcander came up close and hit him in the face with a stick, causing great distress to Lycurgus' eye

Upon showing his damaged face to the protesters, they felt great shame and served Alcander to be punished at Lycurgus' will in order to make amends. Alcander's sentence was to serve as Lycurgus' servant and through that period of time, upon learning the greatness of Lycurgus and his dedication to the people, Alcander eventually became one of Lycurgus' biggest supporters

Institutions

Lycurgus is credited with the formation of many Spartan institutions integral to the country's rise to power

1. He created the sussita/syssitia, the practice that required all Spartan men to eat together in common mess halls
2. His most important addition to Spartan culture was the development of the agoge. The infamous practice took all healthy seven year old boys from the care of their mothers and placed them in a rigorous military regiment
3. More dubiously, Lycurgus is prescribed with forbidding the use of any tools other than an axe and saw in the building of a house

Establishments

Among the reforms attributed to Lycurgus are:

1. The establishment of the gerousia and assembly;
2. The substitution of iron money for gold and silver coinage;
3. The requirement of eating in commons and living (for men under the age of thirty) in rough-hewn barracks;
4. The destruction of the city walls to promote martial skill;
5. Re-dividing Spartan land and forcing it to be worked by Helots; and
6. The system of government that divided power between the King, the Spartan citizenry, the Gerousia, and the Ephors, all in order to establish within his people a free-mind, self-dependence, and temperance

So Legend Says...

According to the legend found in Plutarch's Lives and other sources, when Lycurgus became confident in his reforms, he announced that he would go to the Oracle at Delphi to make a sacrifice to Apollo

However, before leaving for Delphi, he called an assembly of the people of Sparta and made everyone, including the kings and senate, take an oath binding them to observe his laws until he returned. He made the journey to Delphi and consulted the oracle, which told him that his laws were excellent and would make his people famous

He then disappeared from history

One explanation was that being satisfied by this he starved himself to death instead of returning home, forcing the citizens of Sparta to keep his laws indefinitely.

Bertrand Russell states that he is a mythical person of Arcadian origin - his name meaning "He who brings into being the works of a wolf"

Year 2: Introduction to the Greek State: Sparta

 The Greek Polis

• Self governing autonomous society

Features

1. The acropolis - stronghold of community life
2. The town and city were built around the acropolis
3. The villages and countryside
4. The people of the city and countryside
5. The political, cultural, religious and economic life

Structure of Population

• Citizens [adult males] 43,000
• Women and children - 129,000
• Metics [foreign craftsmen] 28,000
• Slaves - 115,000

Citizenship Restrictions

• Adult males - varied depending on the city i.e: Athens = 18yrs; Sparta 30yrs
• Usually both parents had to be born in the city; sometimes only one was necessary

Obligations and Responsibility

• Every citizen was expected to take his political responsibility seriously and to take pride in the affairs of the polis
• This evoked strong feelings of patriotism
• Difficulties - joint union of the Hellenes

1. Geographical location
2. A need to be free and independent
3. Relations marked by commercial jealousies and rivalries, shifting alliances and interstate wars

Forms of Government

1. Monarchy [governance by kings]
2. Aristocracy [group of nobles]
3. Timocracy [group who owed their political power to wealth]

Overthrown Governments

• On many occasions the oligarchies were overthrown and a tyrant would seize control for a short time
• A tyrant would bring with him many benefits before being overthrown himself and replaced by another form of government, either:
• Oligarchy [where a select elite dew control political power] or
• Democracy [where all citizens have the right to vote, to make laws and be elected to official positions]

Sparta: Prehistory

• Sparta is heavily attested in the mythological canon
• Supposedly the first settlement was made by Lacedaemon, a son of Zeus and the nymph Taygete. He married Sparta, the daughter of Eurotas
• These names would then be co-opted by the Spartans - the city would be Sparta, the country Lacedaemon, the fertile river that flowed through the city Eurotas and the impassable mountains that protected the city Taygetos
• Sparta is central to the Trojan Wars. Helen of Troy was originally Helen of Sparta, and it was the Spartan King Menelaus who together with his brother Agamemnon led the Greeks to war
• The Dorian Invasions of the 11th Century BC brought down the Mycenaean civilisation, and with it Sparta slipped into the Dark Ages alongside the rest of Greece
• Herodotus and other classical scholars claim this had been prophesised, as the son of Heracles (Heraclidae) would return to claim their rightful lands
• The next major events attested in Sparta were their invasions of Messenia, and the enslavement of the Messenian population, who became the Helots
• Around the same time, tradition attests that a legendary lawgiver, Lycurgus, brought a sweeping new set of regulations to the Spartan way of life
• The Spartans collectively prescribed themselves to Lyrcurgus' regulations, focused on military training and personal excellence
• Sparta was born

The Poleis of Sparta [Lakedaemonia]

• Sparta itself was not a traditional city but was a collection of 5 villages:
1. Limnai
2. Pitana
3. Kynosaura
4. Mesoa
5. Amyklai
• The city was skirted by Mt Taygetos to the West and Mt Parnon to the East
• The river Eurotas flowed through the valley, providing rich, agricultural land

"Suppose the city of Sparta to be deserted, and nothing left but the temples and the ground-plan, distant ages would be very unwilling to believe that the power of the Lacedaemonians was at all equal to their fame. Their city is not built continuously and has no splendid temples or other edifices; it rather resembles a group of villages, like the ancient towns of Hellas, and would therefore make a poor show" - Thucydides 1.10

DVD Questions

1. What two things are the Spartans famous for?
• Frugality and fighting
2. What was the aim of the Spartan way of life?
• To create the perfect state
3. What was Sparta the first Greek city to do?
• To define the rights and duties of its citizens
4. What city did Agamemnon rule over?
• Mycenae
5. What percentage of land in Greece cannot be farmed?
• 70%
6. What mountains lied to the west of Sparta?
• Taygetos Mountains
7. What temple was built to honour "the legendary king and his wayward wife"?
• Menelaion, in honour of Menelaus and Helen
8. What did the city states of Greece in this period all have in common?
• They were governed by a set of mutually agreed laws and customs
9. How many kings did Sparta have?
• Two
10.  Who were the kings of Sparta supposedly descended from?
• Heracles
11. What does the word "Periocoi" mean?
• Those who live around
12. What does the word "Helot" translate into?
• Captives
13. How was slavery different in Sparta different than elsewhere in Greece?
• The Spartans enslaved other Greeks
14. Who was Tyrtaeus?
• A Spartan soldier and poet
15. Who served as the hoplites in Ancient Greece?
• The citizens
16. Why was hoplite warfare a "team effort"?
• The Phalanx, co-ordination, discipline and trust were vital
17. When were the Messenians finally enslaved by the Spartans?
• 650 BC
18. What was the aim of the Spartans after they had conquered Messenia? What would they model their society on?
• To create a utopia, modelled on the Hoplit

Sources for Ancient Sparta

• One key issue when studying Ancient Sparta is that they did not have a tradition of recording their history
• There are scant fragmentary papyrys from the 6th century of Spartan poets such as Tyrtaeus and Alcman, but that's about it
• Archaeology of Ancient Sparta has also only recently been conducted in any systematic fashion, and what we have found is minimal (there is a reason for that, but we'll get to that later)
• We are therefore left with one option: to use the wealth of written evidence about Sparta from their main rivals: Athens

Plutarch

• One chief source for Sparta is the historian/biographer/philosopher Plutarch
• He wrote a "biography" of Sparta's legendary lawgiver, Lycurgus, that transcends into a broad sociological study of Classical Sparta
• Plutarch was not a contemporary, wring around 120 AD, 500 years after the fall of Classical Sparta
• At this stage, Sparta was a popular tourist destination, where Romans would visit the city to see "Spartans" re-enact traditions from their glorious past - Plutarch himself says he visited Sparta as a tourist
• By this time Sparta had received wide academic study from other Greeks and the Romans, and Plutarch was able to draw upon this tradition to write his work. We know he used contemporary writers such as Xenophon, Thucydides, Aristotle and Plato

Xenophon

• Xenophon lived and wrote at the end of the Peloponnesian War in the late 5th century BC
• He was an Athenian and a student of Socrates, alongside Plato and Alcibiades
• Many of Athens' intellectuals at this stage were laconophiles - literally "Spartan Lovers" - they interpreted the failures of the Athenian democratic system through contrasting them with the seeming impervious system of the Spartans
• Following the Peloponnesian War, Xenophon served as a commander of a mercenary company known as the "Ten Thousand", who accompanied Cyrus the Younger in a civil war against  his brother, Artaxerxes II
• On his campaigns Xenophon endeared himself to the Spartan King Agesilaus and he later moved to Olympia in the Peloponnese to serve as a Spartan ambassador
• He almost definitely visited Sparta, and there is strong evidence his sons went through the agoge, Sparta's harsh educational programme
• His work, the "Politaea of the Spartans" is a systematic appraisal of most aspects of Sparta's society

Aristotle

• Aristotle was not an Athenian, but he was born in Stagira in Northern Greece
• However, he moved to Athens and studied under Plato in the 4th century BC
• At this stage, Sparta had crumbled under her own internal disorders, as well as a succession of military defeats
• The rose-tinted view of many laconophiles in Athens had therefore been shattered, and Aristotle made a clear break from his intellectual predecessors by viewing Sparta through a critical lens
• His work is a series of lecture notes that he delivered to his students

Other Sources

• Thucydides and Herodotus - both contemporaries to Classical Sparta who provide invaluable details
• Plato and Critias - two other students of Aristotle who made important philosophical notes on the Spartans
• Polybius - a second century BC Greek historian who interprets Sparta through a constitutional framework
• Tyrtaeus and Alcman - the two Spartan writers who offer us a sliver of a glimpse into the real Sparta
• Aristophanes - whose plays provide stereotype Spartans that show us how other Greeks viewed the Spartans
• Archaeology - to corroborate everything