Did the Spartans have slaves?

Sparta had the highest number of slaves compared to the number of owners. Some scholars estimate that there were seven times as many slaves as citizens. Q: What did slaves do in Sparta? Slaves in Sparta worked on their lands and produced agricultural products for their masters.

What happened to Spartan slaves?

Helots were ritually mistreated, humiliated and even slaughtered: every autumn the Spartans would declare war on the helots so they could be killed by a member of the Crypteia without fear of religious repercussion.

How many slaves does Sparta 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 slaves?

helot
helot, a state-owned serf of the ancient Spartans. The ethnic origin of helots is uncertain, but they were probably the original inhabitants of Laconia (the area around the Spartan capital) who were reduced to servility after the conquest of their land by the numerically fewer Dorians.

How did Spartans treat 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.

How were slaves in Sparta different from slaves in Athens?

In Sparta, there were state-owned slaves called helots. In Athens, the lives of slaves were somewhat better. Slaves were privately owned in Athens, and each new slave was welcomed into the family with a ceremony. Slaves in Athens often worked with free citizens, although they were not paid.

Did the Spartans have slaves in Sparta?

The Spartans had helots, not slaves per se. The Spartans made helots out of the original inhabitants of Laconia, Sparta’s home territory.

What are some interesting historical facts about Sparta?

Interesting Histories: Helots — The Slaves Of Sparta. We all heard of Sparta and the Spartans. The powerful city state in ancient Greece. The best warriors of the ancient world. The Spartans were brave, strong and skillful. They fought with spears and shields, wore leather underwear and had the best abs.

When did slavery start in ancient Greece?

We don’t know when slavery in general was in ancient Greece, but Spartan helots date back to 720 BC, when the Spartans conquered and enslaved their rival Messenia. Helotry would probably have been replaced by more conventional forms of slavery after 146 Bc and the beginning of the Roman period.

What happened to the helots of Sparta?

When the Spartans dominance eroded and Greece fell to Rome, helots still did not get their freedom. Instead of being slaves in Sparta, they became slaves in Rome. Their history interwove with those of the Romans slaves and soon enough their fate was forgotten and their existence faded into obscurity.