How many slaves did a Spartan have?

We might never find out, but what is amazing about helots is that there were seven of them per a single Spartan. You heard it right, seven slaves per a single free citizen. What did these helots actually do? Well, they did everything a respectful Spartan would not.

What did Spartans call their slaves?

The helots were the slaves of the Spartans. Distributed in family groups across the landholdings of Spartan citizens in Laconia and Messenia, helots performed the labour that was the bedrock on which Spartiate leisure and wealth rested.

What was the percentage of slaves in Sparta?

Historians aren't sure exactly how many slaves the Greeks owned, but they usually estimate that between 30 and 40 percent of the population were slaves. Even the poorest families owned at least one slave with some wealthy families owning hundreds.

How did the Spartans treat their slaves?

Spartans, who were outnumbered by the Helots, often treated them brutally and oppressively in an effort to prevent uprisings. Spartans would humiliate the Helots by doing such things as forcing them to get debilitatingly drunk on wine and then make fools of themselves in public.

Did Sparta allow slavery?

In Sparta, there were state-owned slaves called helots. Helots were assigned to work a certain piece of land. They were also forced to give part of what they grew to the state. At times, helots outnumbered the free Spartans by twenty to one.

SPARTAN SLAVES: THE HELOTS

How did Spartans treat their wives?

Women could inherit property, own land, make business transactions, and were better educated than women in ancient Greece in general. Unlike Athens, where women were considered second-class citizens, Spartan women were said to rule their men.

Why were Spartans afraid of their slaves?

Owing to their own numerical inferiority, the Spartans were always preoccupied with the fear of a helot revolt. The ephors (Spartan magistrates) of each year on entering office declared war on the helots so that they might be murdered at any time without violating religious scruples.

What did female slaves wear?

Basic garment of female slaves consisted of a one-piece frock or slip of coarse "Negro Cloth." Cotton dresses, sunbonnets, and undergarments were made from handwoven cloth for summer and winter. Annual clothing distributions included brogan shoes, palmetto hats, turbans, and handkerchiefs.

How did Sparta fall?

In fact, the Spartan state was eventually brought down by a number of factors, including internal strife, economic decline, and foreign invasion. Sparta's military dominance came to an end with its defeat at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC.

What did female slaves do in ancient Greece?

Female slaves are known to have been occupied in woolwork and the retail trade; they were also used as wet nurses for infants and known to have worked in craft shops around the agora. Female slaves also worked as prostitutes in brothels and as concubines.

What were Greek slaves called?

The helots were an enslaved group living in the Spartan regions of Laconia and Messenia. Being collectively owned by the state rather than the possessions of individual masters, to what extent helots were subjugated rather than enslaved is disputed.

How did Spartans execute people?

In ancient Greece people condemned to death by the court were executed either by taking hemlock or by being thrown over a precipice or, finally, by death “on the board'. Poisoning of the condemned with hemlock was first practiced towards the end of the 5th century BC.

How many Greek slaves?

Estimates suggest that in Athens between 450 and 320 BCE, 80 to 100,000 people may have been enslaved, amounting to one in four inhabitants; and that by the late first century BCE in Italy alone, 1 to 1.5 million people were enslaved, representing 15 to 25 percent of the population.

Who freed the Spartan helots?

In 371, the Theban commander Epaminondas defeated the Spartans at Leuctra, and later, he invaded the Peloponnese, where he liberated the helots of Messenia.

Who freed the helots?

Epaminondas freed the helots of Messenia, and rebuilt the ancient city of Messene on Mount Ithome, with fortifications that were among the strongest in Greece.

Were the Spartans the best warriors?

Sparta became famous for its ability in warfare, and the Spartans were considered invincible warriors. Their ability to fight was only a part of why Spartans were exceptional soldiers. The most important reason was their specific ethics and training instilled in them since childhood.

Were there black Spartans?

By the mid-19th century, the Black Spartans numbered between 1,000 and 6,000 women, about a third of the entire Dahomey army. Under King Gezo's rule, female troops lived in his compound and were kept well supplied with tobacco, alcohol and slaves–as many as 50 to each warrior.

Does the Spartan bloodline still exist?

The Maniots (inhabitants of the Mani Peninsula) therefore are considered direct descendants of Spartans. Almost three thousand years ago, Greece consisted of multiple 'polis' that were mostly controlled by Sparta. Spartans, as depicted in the 2006 movie 300, were highly trained fighters.

What did Spartans do for fun?

Granted, Spartan citizens also pursued rugged pastimes such as equestrianism, but their love of poetry and dance belies a contempt of pleasure.

How often did slaves eat?

Weekly food rations -- usually corn meal, lard, some meat, molasses, peas, greens, and flour -- were distributed every Saturday. Vegetable patches or gardens, if permitted by the owner, supplied fresh produce to add to the rations. Morning meals were prepared and consumed at daybreak in the slaves' cabins.

What does potato hole mean in slavery?

"The term comes from slavery days, when slaves had to dig holes in the earthen floors of their cabins," Jones says. "It was the only place they had to keep food cool — and, in some cases, to hide it and store it." Jones says Potato Hole is where he keeps his "cool, funky stuff."

What did slaves put in their hair?

African slaves no longer had access to their natural herbs, butters and oils to take care of their hair. They resorted to bacon grease, butter, and kerosene as their moisturizers, conditioners, and shampoo.

What was forbidden in Sparta?

Except during wars, the people were not permitted to travel. Trade was discouraged. Money was made of iron bars to make economic transactions difficult. Free expression was discouraged and the arts and philosophy that flourished in nearby city-states did not occur in Sparta.

What were Spartans not allowed to do?

Spartan men were not allowed to live with their wives until age 30. Spartan society didn't discourage romantic love, but marriage and childrearing were both subject to some peculiar cultural and governmental constraints. The state counseled that men should marry at age 30 and women at 20.

How did Athens treat slaves?

Q: How were slaves in Athens treated? Slaves in ancient Greece were treated like pieces of property. For Aristotle they were 'a piece of property that breathes'. They enjoyed different degrees of freedom and were treated kindly or cruelly depending on the personality of the owner.