Helots - Softcover

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The helots were an unfree population group that formed the main population of Laconia and the whole of Messenia (areas of Sparta). Their exact status was already disputed in antiquity: according to Critias, they were "especially slaves" whereas to Pollux, they occupied a status "between free men and slaves". Tied to the land, they worked in agriculture as a majority and economically supported the Spartan citizens. They were ritually mistreated, humiliated and even slaughtered: every autumn, during the crypteia, they could be killed by a Spartan citizen without fear of repercussion.