Helots were Peloponnesian Greeks who were enslaved under Spartan rule. Peloponnesos (Greek: Πελοπόννησος, sometime Latinized as Peloponnesus or Anglicized as The Peloponnese) is a large peninsula in Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Isthmus of Corinth. ... Sparta (Σπάρτη) was a city in ancient Greece, whose territory included, in Classical times, all Laconia and Messenia, and which was the most powerful state of the Peloponnesus. ...

The first helots were Laconians that Sparta defeated and conquered. The etymology is uncertain -- there have been numerous suggestions -- but the likeliest explanation is a relation to the root *ἑλ- (cf., ἁλίσκομαι "to be captured"). Sparta conquered Messenia around 640 BC–620 BC; the enslaved Messenians formed the bulk of the helots. Laconia (Λακωνία; see also List of traditional Greek place names), also known as Lacedaemonia, was in ancient Greece the portion of the Peloponnesus of which the most important city was Sparta. ... Messinia Messinia (also spelled Messenia) is a district in the Peloponnesus, a region of Greece. ... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 690s BC 680s BC 670s BC 660s BC 650s BC - 640s BC - 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC 600s BC 590s BC Events and Trends Assyrian king Ashurbanipal founds library, which includes our earliest complete copy of the Epic... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 670s BC 660s BC 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC - 620s BC - 610s BC 600s BC 590s BC 580s BC 570s BC Events and Trends 627 BC - Death of Assurbanipal, king of Assyria; he is succeeded by Assur_etel_ilani (approximate...

Helots lived in their master's household but were owned by the state; unlike ordinary slaves, their master could not declare them free. They served as agricultural and domestic slaves, and sometimes military servants as well. Spartans usually allowed agricultural helots, the backbone of Lacedemonian agricultural production, to keep excess produce.

The helots outnumbered the Spartans by some unknown ratio, maybe 10 to 1 but most probably in excess of a typical ratio between normal chattel slaves and freemen in other Greek communities. Herodotus reports (Book IX, 10) that seven helots accompanied each Spartan hoplite to the Battle of Plataea in 479 but this figure is often doubted by modern scholars. Fearing rebellion, the Spartans continually kept themselves militarily prepared to crush any uprising, and hesitated to join military campaigns far from Sparta. An annual ritual pillaging by adolescent Spartans, known as the Krypteia, also served to keep the Helots in line. According to Aristotle, the Spartan ephors annually redeclared war against the Helots to justify the use of force against them. Bust of Herodotus at Naples Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: Ήροδοτος, Herodotos) was a historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC-ca. ... Combatants Greek city-states Persia Commanders Pausanias Mardonius† Strength 110,000 Herodotus claims 250,000 (modern historians believe 80,000) Casualties unknown unknown (historical accounts of the battle are inaccurate) The Battle of Plataea took place in 479 BC between an alliance of Greek city-states Sparta, Athens, Corinth, Megara... Events End of the Song Dynasty and beginning of the Qi Dynasty in southern China. ... For the Danish youth organization, see Rebel (Denmark) A rebellion is, in the most general sense, a refusal to accept authority. ... Krypteia or Crypteia (Gr. ... Aristotle (Ancient Greek: Aristotelēs 384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, who studied with Plato and taught Alexander the Great. ... An ephor was an official of ancient Sparta. ...

In wartime helots served as light infantry and as rowers in ships. During the Peloponnesian War they also fought as heavy infantry, and helots who excelled in battle could earn their freedom. Some 2000 were freed and reputedly later assassinated. Traditionally light infantry (or skirmishers) were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. ... Map of the Greek world at the start of the Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War began in 431 BC between the Athenian Empire (or The Delian League) and the Peloponnesian League which included Sparta and Corinth. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme, First World War. ...

External links

• Livius, Helots by Jona Lendering