Sparta Flash Card #16 : Artisans, helots
Historian
Evidence
helots
Xenophon
...helots, who were promised freedom and were led garlanded round the
temples, disappeared, and nobody ever found out what had happened to them.
Some person or persons evidently had second thoughts. Xenophon, who was no
enemy to Sparta, illuminated helot attitudes in his description of an episode
called the “Kinadon affair,” which happened at the very beginning of the 4th
century; it...
Xenophon (430-354 BCE) was an Athenian aristocrat who grew up during
the Peloponnesian Wars and witnessed the defeat of Athens. He blamed
Athens' defeat in 404 BCE on the weakness of its democratic system of
government, and became a supporter of the Spartan system of rule by
oligarhy. Xenophon went on to join 10,000 other Greek mercenaries in the
Persian army and fought in the eastern part of the Persian Empire, where he
eventually became the commander of the Greek troops. Afterwards, he fought
for Sparta for five years, and received an estate near Olympia as his pension
when he retired.
Definitions
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demagogue: In the Greek world, a demagogue was a leader who
obtained power by persuading people rather than by inheriting power
from an ancestor. Such a leader was considered illegitimate by
members of noble families, but in Greek history, a demagogue was
not necessarily a bad ruler.
democracy: a system of government whereby all members of the
community are sovereign. In practice, the right to participate in
government was often restricted by gender, age, property ownership
or place of birth. (see sovereign)
oligarchy: system of government where power is shared by a small
group. In ancient Greece, the oligarchy was composed of the
wealthiest citizens.
polis: social concept in ancient Greece that referred to the people who
inhabited a city-state
sovereign: possessing the right to exercise political power
Background
Unlike the Persian Empire, which became the largest centralized state in the
Relationship
to other
Syllabus dot
points
Intercommunicating Zone between 500-400 BCE, the Greeks became
organized into relatively small city- states, peopled by what the ancient
Greeks referred to as the "polis." The polis consisted of all people who, by
reason of birth or luck, were citizens of the valley, but it did not include all
residents, since wars and commerce brought others into the valley. The word
"polis" might be translated as "members of the community." It identified
those families who had the right to participate in political and economic
decisions. As a result of the Persian invasions of 490 and 480 BCE, the Greek
city-states organized themselves into a defensive alliance called the "Delian
League." Athens was the strongest naval power among the Greek city-states
and it contributed the most men and ships to the naval effort. Sparta was the
strongest of the land military powers, and it played a dominant roll in the
organization of the army. The other city-states each contributed what they
could to the alliance, which meant in practice that those near the coast
provided ships and sailors while those from the interior provided soldiers,
food and other forms of wealth to support the navy.
Although the Greeks were outnumbered by the Persians in both campaigns,
they used their knowledge of geography and the winds to position their forces
and gain victories. They had no way of knowing after the defeat of the second
invasion that the Persians would not return, so they kept the Delian League in
existence. Skirmishes with remnants of the Persian forces continued for
another thirty years and seemed to confirm that they still posed a danger.
As long as there was a Persian threat, the Delian League operated fairly
smoothly. But as time passed and the Persian raids subsided, other Greek
city-states resented the fact they were expected to make payments to resist an
invasion that never came. Resentment was particular strong among interior
states who believed that the Delian League became a device that enabled
Athens to tax everyone else. As resentment mounted, two factions developed
around Athens and Sparta, and their rival social and political organizations
developed into ideologies that influenced politics in every city-state. Athens
maintained only a part-time military organization, directed by councils of its
citizens, many of whom were traders and artisans. Sparta maintained a fulltime military with generals for leaders. The Spartan population contained a
higher percentage of free farmers and slaves.
The first war between Athens and Sparta, fought from 459- 445 BCE, ended
in a draw. The second war between 431-404 BCE became known as the
Peloponnesian War and was described in great detail by an Athenian general
named Thucydides. This second war involved all of the Greek city-states, and
ended with a Spartan victory and the total destruction of Athens. Sparta
emerged unchallenged as the most powerful Greek city-state by the beginning
of the fourth century BCE, but the other Greek city-states came to resent the
Spartans as much as they had resented the Athenians. In 371 BCE, Thebes led
a coalition of Greek city-states that conquered Sparta, and fighting erupted
periodically between the Greek city-states for the next forty years.
Questions
1. How did the Spartan treatment of the defeated town of Mantinea make
their control of the conquered people secure?
2. Did Xenophon think that the Spartans were successful in Mantinea?
Explain your answer
Sparta: Government and classes
Sparta had a highly unusual system of government.
Two kings ruled the city, but a 28-member 'council of elders' limited their powers.
These men were recruited from the highest social class, the aristocratic Spartiates.
Rather like medieval knights, the Spartiates were a class of military professionals
who lived most of their lives in communal barracks. Rarely seeing their wives and
children, their lands were farmed by slaves, leaving them free to pursue to the arts
of war.
Beneath this highest class was a middle class, called the Perioeci. Made up of a
farmers and artisans who were the descendants of those peoples whom the
Spartans had first conquered, the Perioeci paid taxes and could serve in the army,
but had no real political rights.
At the bottom were the helots: a slave class descended from those peoples who had
resisted subjugation by Sparta. Because the helots were constantly rebelling, the
Spartans attempted to control them by forming a secret society that annually
murdered any helot suspected of encouraging subversion.
BP 8. Sparta
Sparta was unique among the Greek city-states because of the rigid program
of military indoctrination it instilled in its populace.
Supposedly founded by Heracles, in Mycenean times the Spartanís were ruled
by King Menelaus, who beseiged and defeated Troy (check). Archaeologists
and historians believe Sparta was founded by the Dorian Greeks, who
invaded the Pelopennese around 1000 BC.
Sometime around 650 BC, Sparta was thoroughly reorganised, according to
legend by Lycurgus, who came to power after Sparta was defeated by its
neighbour Argos. Lycurgus turned Sparta from an elitist aristocracy into a
broad-based oligarchy dedicated to warfare. By 500 BC it had conquered
almost all of the surrounding territory and dominated the Pelopennese.
Ruled by two kings, twenty-eight elders and a council, Spartans were
divided into three classes. At the top of the hierarchy were the Spartiates, a
class of military professionals who lived most of their lives in communal
barracks, and whose lands were farmed by serfs, leaving them free to pursue
to the arts of war. Beneath them were the Perioeci; a class of artisans and
craftsmen made up of those peoples whom the Spartans first conquered.
They paid taxes and could serve in the army, but had no real political
rights. At the bottom were the helots; serfs descended from those peoples
who had resisted subjugation by Sparta. Constantly rebelling, the
Spartans attempted to control the helots by forming a secret society that
annually murdered any helots suspected of encouraging subversion.
Inward-looking and self-sufficient, the Spartiates were the most feared
warriors in all Greece. They lived an austere life, despising any sort of
luxury, in a city that contained neither walls, nor grand buildings.
Famous quotes and anecdotes associated with the Spartans:
A Sybarite, who ate at a public mess once remarked: "Now I know why the
Spartams do not fear death."
Asked what was the greatest benefit Lycurgus conferred on his countryman,
King Agesilaus replied "Contempt of pleasure."
"Come back with your shild - or on it" was supposed to be the parting cry of
mothers to their sons. Mothers whose sons died in battle openly rejoiced,
mothers who sons survived held their head in shame.
An old man wandering around the Olmpic Games looking for seat was jeered
at by the crowd until he reached the seats of the Spartans, whereupon every
Spartan younger than him, and some that were older, stood up and offered
him their seat. The crowd applauded and the old man turned to them with a
sigh, saying "All Greeks know what is right, but only the Spartans do it."
Objectives: Students will be able to
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locate Sparta and Athens on a map of Greece
locate information from the text [BP 8 Sparta, BP 32 Populace of
Athens] to complete a chart showing differences between Sparta and
Athens
determine in which city-state they would rather live in and give
reasons why
tell advantages and disadvantages of the lifestyle and government of
each city-state
Let's Compare (at the time of Pericles, about 475 B.C.) Rough
Draft - Incomplete
ATHENS
SPARTA
Government
Limited democracy:
Approximately 40,000
men were citizens. No
political power from
women, children, metics
(Greek free non-citizens),
and slaves (about 40,000)
Oligarchy: two kings, 28
elders, and a council (how
many?) Less that 10,000
citizens (B9)
Population
Approximately 140,000
?
Political
organizations
Council of 500;
paid jury service
3 classes: Spartiates (military
professionals), Perioeci
(artisans and craftsmen),
helots (serfs descended from
those peoples who had
resisted subjugation by
Sparta who were constantly
rebelling).
Social Structure
Allies
Delian League (with
Athens clearly the most
Peloponnesian League:
powerful: taxed and
protected other city-states:
Military strength Strong navy
Strong army, best fighters on
land
Life style and
values
Militaristic values. Children
raised to be "Spartan" - get
along with almost nothing.
Role of women
Kept in home, no
Could participate in
participation in sports,
sports; treated more as
politics. Wives considered
equals
property of her husband.
Cultural
art, architecture, drama and
achievements
literature, philosophy,
science, medicine, etc.
Other?
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rauhn/H102_13.doc