What did a Helot do?
The helots were in a sense state slaves, bound to the soil and assigned to individual Spartans to till their holdings; their masters could neither free them nor sell them, and the helots had a limited right to accumulate property, after paying to their masters a fixed proportion of the produce of the holding.
Can helots marry?
The Spartan poet, Tyrtaios, gives account that Helots were permitted to marry and retain half the fruits of their labor. They were also allowed religious freedoms and could own a limited amount of personal property.
Where did the people of the helot come from?
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. After the Spartan conquest of Messenia in the 8th century bce, the Messenians were also reduced to the status…
What was the life like for a helot in ancient Sparta?
Helots in ancient Sparta also had the benefit of being able to live as a family, a helot could have a wife or a husband, and even children. In fact the reproduction of slaves in Sparta was not as tightly controlled as in other Greek states, and it’s considered that the Helot population grew over the time they worked for the state.
What did the helots do to the Messenians?
Any Messenian that didn’t escape, move or travel to a new land would be declared a helot, a worker for the Spartan state. The future family and children of the Messenian people that become helots would find their offspring born into this new role as a servant to the might state of Sparta.
What was the purpose of a helot in medieval times?
Helots were assigned to citizens to carry out domestic work or to work on their klēroi, or portions.