The subjugated slave class of Sparta, which made up the overwhelming majority of its residents, the helots did the agricultural labor which kept the Spartan state running. In practice, with the ephors, the Gerousia wielded the real political power in Sparta. It also functioned as a court, with the power to try spartiates and even the kings. The Gerousia decided what motions could be voted on by the Apella and had the power to cancel any decision of the Apella. The elected members all had to be over the age of 60.
#Spartan hoplite shield plus
The Gerousia – literally a council of old men (the members were ‘gerontes’ – literally ‘old men’) consisted of thirty members, 28 elected (by acclamation in the Apella) plus the two hereditary kings. The institution as a whole is sometimes collectively referred to as the ephorate. The ephors were also responsible for ritually declaring war on the helots every year. In practice, the ephors – not the kings – wielded the most political power in Sparta. The ephors oversaw the two hereditary Spartan kings and could even bring a king up on charges before the gerousia. The ephors were a board of five officials in Sparta, elected annually by the Apella (technically plus the two kings). The Apella did not engage in debate, but could only vote ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ The gerousia had the power to ignore the decisions of the Apella.
The Apella was presided over by the ephors and all votes were by acclamation. The Apella was the popular assembly of Sparta, consisting of all adult male spartitates over the age of thirty. This is used in modern democracies only for very lopsided (typically unanimous) votes in Classical Sparta, this was the only voting system, votes were never counted. Obviously it would be very hard to tell who had really won a close vote.
A vote held by acclamation (sometimes called a ‘voice vote’) is a vote where, instead of getting an exact count of yes and no votes, the outcome is judged by the volume of people calling out yes or no. This list may expand as I draft subsequent posts in this series. All of these terms will be defined and explained in the posts proper – this is just intended as an easy reference for the reader who is halfway through Part III and trying to remember a term from Part I. So I have made this list of terms, with definitions. In this case, however, some amount of specialized terminology for the parts of Spartan society and government is simply unavoidable. As a rule, I think a good historian ought to be able to explain themselves without needing to rely on lots of jargon or obscure terms – good history writing is clear before all else. The following post is intended as a ‘reference sheet’ of sorts for any of the difficult or obscure terminology that is going to get used in the “This.
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