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The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478–404 BC

Spartiates, perioikoi and helots

  • 3 things to know
  • Component Group 1

Overview

Recall questions on the homoioi and the conditions of full citizenship, the kleros and mess contributions, why Spartiates could not farm or trade, the perioikoi and their economic role and lack of rights, how helots differed from slaves and what they owed, the Messenian helots, helots on campaign, and the evidence of Herodotus, Strabo and Tyrtaeus.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What did the Spartiates call themselves, and what did the name claim?

Key term

State the conditions a man had to meet to hold and keep full Spartiate citizenship.

Key term

What did a Spartiate have to hand over to his mess each month?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What did the Spartiates call themselves, and what did the name claim?

    Model answer

    They called themselves the homoioi, the similars or equals, claiming that every full citizen shared the same upbringing, the same mess and the same standing before the law.

  2. 2

    State the conditions a man had to meet to hold and keep full Spartiate citizenship.

    Model answer

    He had to be born of Spartiate parents, complete the agoge, be elected to a common mess and go on paying his contribution to it, and obey the laws and discipline of the city.

  3. 3

    Explain what a kleros was and say who worked it.

    Model answer

    A kleros was the allotment of land that supported a Spartiate and his mess dues, and it was farmed for him by the helots settled on it.

  4. 4

    What did a Spartiate have to hand over to his mess each month?

    Model answer

    He had to provide fixed quantities of barley, wine, cheese and figs, together with a small sum of money for extras, out of the produce of his land.

  5. 5

    Why was a Spartiate forbidden to farm, trade or practise a craft himself?

    Model answer

    He was expected to be a full-time citizen and soldier, and manual work and money-making were thought to be incompatible with training, mess life and readiness for war.

  6. 6

    Describe who the perioikoi were and where they lived.

    Model answer

    The perioikoi, the dwellers around, were free inhabitants of the towns of Laconia and Messenia who ran their own local affairs but belonged to the Spartan state.

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