THE BEECHMONT CREST GUIDE TO ANCIENT GREECE
How did the Spartans govern themselves?
Sparta’s government was primarily an oligarchy, but it included democratic elements.
Sparta had two kings, who came from two different families. But these monarchs did not have absolute power. They shared power with each other, and they also had to answer to council of elders, or gerousia. Members of the gerousia were all male citizens over the age of sixty. There were twenty-eight of them. These elders were elected to the gerousia, and they served for life.
Below the gerousia was another assembly, the apella. The apella consisted of all male citizens over the age of thirty. The apella voted on proposals that originated in the gerousia. Members of this body also elected the elders who served on the gerousia.
To complete the system of checks and balances, the Spartans created a judicial position called ephor. At any given time, there were five citizens serving in this role. Ephors were citizens over the age of thirty. They were elected to serve one-year terms. Ephors possessed considerable clout. An ephor could bring charges against anyone in Sparta—including one the city-state’s kings.
Sparta was therefore not as much of a totalitarian state as a modern-day dictatorship like North Korea. Sparta’s elaborate system of checks and balances prevented any one individual from becoming absolute dictator over the polis. This did not make Sparta any less absolutist—but at least it was not a one-man dictatorship.
To preserve the purity of the Spartan ethos, the government enforced various isolationist measures. Foreigners were discouraged from visiting Sparta. Outsiders would likely bring ideas that could upset the Spartan system.
The Spartan government also discouraged pursuits that had no direct relationship to the military. As a result, the Spartans did not make significant achievements in art, literature, and philosophy. Nor did they leave much architecture. The Spartan leadership regarded most aspects of culture as frivolous and possibly corrupting.