THE BEECHMONT CREST GUIDE TO ANCIENT GREECE
Why was Spartan society so extreme?
The Spartans did not arbitrarily set out to create a militaristic society where no one ever had any fun. Rather, Sparta’s unique customs were derived from necessity—as the Spartans perceived it. Sparta’s livelihood was based on conquest and subjugation; so the Spartans literally had to be oppressive in order to eat. (This fact does not justify the Spartan system, but it does explain it.)
Sparta developed from a group of five villages in Laconia, a region in the Peloponnesus (in southern Greece). After these five villages merged into a single polis, they immediately began conquering other villages. The Spartans were soon the masters of the remaining villages in Laconia.
Conquest gave rise to a repressive caste system. At the top of the hierarchy were the citizens of Sparta. The next rung down on the social ladder was occupied by the perioikoi. The perioikoi had restricted rights; but they were not outright slaves. The perioikoi had to pay disproportionately high taxes to the Spartan state. They also served the state by performing the middle class roles that the Spartan citizen-soldiers shunned. The perioikoi were tradesmen and artisans.
At the very bottom of the ladder were the serfs, or helots, who are mentioned in the previous section. The term helot is derived from a Greek word that means “capture.” The Spartans forced the helots to toil at manual labor. Most of the helots were engaged in grueling agricultural labor.
The helots were slaves on one hand, and perpetual enemies on the other. Each year the Spartan government officially declared war on the helots. This maintained Spartan vigilance against any potential uprisings. In addition, it reinforced the idea that the helots were to be dealt with brutally, at all times.
Around 730 B.C., the Spartans launched a war against the nearby city-state of Messenia. The conquest of the Messenians took decades. When the Messenians were finally beaten, the Spartans confiscated their rich farmlands and forced the Messenians to be helots.
The Spartans were now ruling over a large number of resentful people; and they depended on these subjugated populations for food, commerce, and material goods. There have been many conquering nations in history; but there has never been a conquering nation that was so dependent on those it conquered.
The Spartans answered this challenge with their draconian societal codes. The Spartan military state evolved gradually between 800 and 600 B.C. Sparta’s rigid system of lifelong military service and training is spelled out in a series of laws called the Lycurgan Reforms. These laws are associated with the lawgiver Lycurgus. This Spartan wise man was most likely a figment of folklore, but the laws attributed to him became Sparta’s national philosophy, much like the Constitution of the United States.