Lessons from Spartan Society

The Spartans were a Hellenic Tribe of Aryan people. The Hellenic people were Nordic tribes who moved south and settled Greece. The Spartans had a unique way of governing their society. They had a very martial system, which was so they could mobilize their whole male population.

The Spartans believed themselves to be descended from Herakles (Roman: Hercules). Their patron gods were mainly Artemis and Ares. They were a warrior people, and (in my opinion) the pinnacle of Aryan culture in their time. In this article I will discuss the Spartan governmental structure according to the Constitution of Sparta by Xenophon, an Athenian historian,who lived in Sparta.

Government Structure

The Diarchy

Sparta was ruled by two Kings at the same time, instead of one King. These two dynasties were the Eurypontid and the Agiad. These Kings were descended from two sons of Herakles. These sons were Eurystheres and Procles. According to the legend: Herakles sailed from Crete and conquered southern Greece. Then he gave both of his sons equal rule.

The Kings were only in charge of the military and religion in Sparta. Their responsibility was to lead the armies and consult the Oracles. The Spartans always saw themselves as foreign occupiers. They lived in constant anxiety of the Helots (the native population) rebelling and taking over.

Ephors

Ephors translates to “the overseers”. Five were chosen at random for one year terms. They had to be at least 45 years of age, and after their term they could not hold office again. The ones chosen were from an elected body of candidates. No one knows how many were elected of how random the choosing was, it could have been 5/100 or 5/1000 etc. No one knows. According to Aristotle it was a “poor man’s office.”

Their first act every year was to renew their perpetual war on the Helots. They would remind the Spartan citizenry they were not native to this land and are foreign occupiers. They would write legislation and bring it before an assembly of Spartan citizens. The legislation would be read (with no debate), and a vote would take place with the citizens. Legislation was passed Ye or Ne by majority vote.

The Ephors would also oversee the Kings and check their power. Every year the Kings would make an oath to the new Ephors, “I will reign according to the established laws of the State.” In response the Ephors would make an oath to the kings, “While you abide by your oath, we will keep the kingship unshaken.” The Ephors could charge a king with a crime by majority vote, and two Ephors would go with each king while on campaign. This was to keep an eye on them of course, but the Ephors could only act as a group of five all together. If they saw something illegal they would wait till the were back in Sparta.  

The Ephors would pick three young men from the Graduating class. Each chosen graduate would choose a hundred peers each, with questioning and scrutiny for each choice from the Ephors. At the end, the three young men would become officers and the rest would be subordinates. Altogether they were now the King’s royal guard.

At the end of their term, the Ephors would have a formal review by their successors. They had to be questioned about their decisions from the past year, which was to check their power.

Gerousia

Their name translates to “council of Elders.” The Gerousia checked the power of the Ephors. They were 28 members strong. When someone was chosen to be in the Gerousia, they were there for life. One had to be at least 60, and they were chosen by merit and accomplishments.

The Gerousia would set the voting agenda. During the voting they would sit in an adjacent building and listen to the voting. They would judge which side (Ye’s or Ne’s) were louder. They also had veto power over legislation.

The Gerousia would sit as an advisory board for the kings. Also they were a jury. Joining them would be the Kings (as honorary members) and the Ephors, adding up to a 35 member jury.

Wealth and Property in Sparta

When each male reached adulthood the state rewarded him with land and Helot Slaves. He would have gained private property from his mother as inheritance when she passed. It wasn’t rare for men to die young those days, especially because every summer they’d go off to knock heads and scuffle boots with someone else. So when he died all of his state-given property went back to the state. All of his private property would go to his wife. When she died, the property would be divided evenly between their male and female children.

Through her life, a woman would do everything to grow her property, so when her children inherited it they’d be better off than the generation before. A rich young woman would marry a rich young man, then when he died the whole cycle continued.

In Spartan society a very rich small clique of women held a lot of political power. According to Aristotle, 40% of Sparta’s wealth was owned by this small clique of women. These women were more wealthy than both Kings combined.

The Power and Downfall of Sparta

The Roman Senator Cicero loved the Spartan societal structure. He saw it as stable and efficient, especially with the balance of power between the Kings, Ephors, and Gerousia. Xenophon called it “the source of its strength.” For a time they were the major power in the Greek world. In their strongest years they could mobilize about 20,000 men. By the time of Alexander the Great they could only mobilize about 1,000 men. About 150 years later they were easy pickings for the Romans. By then they were just a backwater town left over from a more glorious time.

Why such a decline? There are records of a massive earthquake from around this time, but that doesn’t explain this much of a Downfall. The problem was perhaps their system was too stable. The system could not make the necessary reforms for their survival.

What can we learn from this?

We should learn lessons from our ancestors and apply them into the new world we will build. With their economic structure, it would be a great model for us. Of course we should disregard slavery and not apply it to our future. We should use the model of an economy based on production and labour. With all that land, that’s how they grew their property, by producing things and growing crops. This ensured that future generations were better off than the former, because the property grew in value. This is much better than the useless debt based currency we have today, which leaves future generations enslaved.

We can also learn from their governmental structure, in which each branch had their own responsibilities and were checked by one another. They avoided the “Democratic” model of popularity, lies, and irresponsibility. We should do the same. Government members should be selected and elected based on merit and accomplishments. With the kings, we can take from that strong leadership. No, we don’t need a monarchy, but we need strong leaders for our nation – leaders of the best and strongest.

The educational system is very useful. Education should always encourage physical fitness and service to your Nation. Military training for the youth would do a lot of good, teach defense, honor, loyalty, etc. The youth would become courageous men and women who will defend and preserve their nation.

What mistakes can we learn from? We should never see ourselves as foreign occupiers. Instead, we should always have a strong sense of Blood and Soil. Also, we should make systems flexible enough to make necessary reforms, so not to wither and fade out like they did.

In conclusion, we should always look back to the past and learn about our ancestors for knowledge, strength, and inspiration. Learn from their mistakes and perpetuate their successes. Their souls are a part of ours.

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