Editing Ephor (section)

== History ==

=== Creation ===
Two different accounts of the origins of the ephorate exist in ancient sources. The earliest account is found in the ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' of [[Herodotus]], who traces its origins to the mythical Spartan lawgiver [[Lycurgus (lawgiver)|Lycurgus]]—a version followed by [[Xenophon]], [[Plato]], or [[Isocrates]].<ref>Xenophon, ''[[Constitution of the Lacedaemonians]]'', 8, 11.</ref><ref>Plato, ''[[Epistles (Plato)|Epistles]]'', viii. 354b.</ref><ref>Isocrates, ''Panathenaicus'', 153, 154.</ref><ref>Richer, ''Les éphores'', pp. 21–24.</ref> A diverging version first appears in the ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'', written in the middle of the 4th century BCE by [[Aristotle]], who tells that the ephorate was created by the Spartan king [[Theopompus of Sparta|Theopompos]].<ref>Aristotle, ''Politics'', v. 11, 1313a.</ref> This version is then more prevalent in subsequent authors, such as [[Cicero]], and especially [[Plutarch]].<ref>[[Cicero]], ''De re publica'', ii. 33, 58; ''[[De Legibus]]'', iii. 7, 15, 16.</ref><ref>Plutarch, ''Cleomenes'', 10; ''Lycurgus'', 7, 29; ''Moralia'', 779E.</ref> Modern scholars have identified the source of the second version in a lost work written by the [[Agiad dynasty|Agiad]] king [[Pausanias (king of Sparta)|Pausanias]] after he had been forced to abdicate and go into exile in 394 BCE. In this ''logos'', Pausanias likely published Lycurgus' laws, including the [[Great Rhetra|Rhetra]], which details the different element of the [[Spartan Constitution|Spartan constitution]] ([[List of kings of Sparta|kings]], [[gerousia]], [[Ecclesia (Sparta)|ekklesia]]), but does not mention the ephors. It has therefore been suggested that Pausanias was hostile to the ephors, to whom he possibly attributed his banishment, and published the Rhetra to discredit their office.<ref>Richer, ''Les éphores'', pp. 34, 35, 42, 43.</ref> Although the contents of this ''logos'' and Pausanias' motivations remain disputed, most modern scholars think the ephors were created at the time of Theopompos, during the [[Messenian Wars]].<ref>Huxley, ''Early Sparta'', pp. 38, 39, "It is most unlikely that the Ephorate was introduced before the twenties of the eighth century."</ref><ref>Cartledge, ''Sparta and Lakonia'', p. 115; though he writes p. 117 that the absence of the ephors in the Rhetra could be the result of their unimportance at the time.</ref>

According to Plutarch, the ephorate was born out of the necessity for leaders while the kings of Sparta were absent for long periods during the [[Messenian Wars]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Plutarch • Life of Cleomenes; 10|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/cleomenes*.html|access-date=2021-12-08|website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref> The ephors were elected by the [[Apella|popular assembly]], and all citizens were eligible. The position of ephor was the only political office open to the whole ''damos'' (populace) of men between the ages of 30–60, so eligible Spartans highly sought after the position.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Figueira |first=Thomas |title=A Companion to Sparta |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2018|editor-last=Powell |editor-first=Anton |volume=1|location=Hoboken, NJ |pages=579|chapter=Helotage and the Spartan Economy}}</ref> They were forbidden to be re-elected and provided a balance for the two kings, who rarely co-operated. [[Plato]] called the ephors [[tyrant]]s, who ran Sparta as [[Despotism|despots]] while the kings were little more than generals.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Plato, Laws, Book 4, page 712|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg034.perseus-eng1:4.712|access-date=2021-11-14|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> Up to two ephors would accompany a king on extended military campaigns as a sign of control, and they held the authority to declare war during some periods in Spartan history.<ref>{{cite book|author=Nicolas Richer|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2002/2002-12-36.html|title=Les éphores. Études sur l'histoire et sur l'image de Sparte (VIIIe-IIIe siècle avant Jésus-Christ). Histoire ancienne et médiévale 50|publisher=[[Pantheon-Sorbonne University]]|year=1998|isbn=2-85944-347-9|page=636}}</ref>

Since political and economic decisions were made by majority vote, Sparta's policy could change quickly, when the vote of one ephor changed. For example, in 403 BCE, [[Pausanias of Sparta|Pausanias]] convinced three of the ephors to send an army to [[Attica]], a complete reversal of the policy of Lysander.<ref name=":222">{{Cite book|last=Ruze |first=Francoise |title=A Companion to Sparta |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2018|editor-last=Powell |editor-first=Anton |volume=1|location=Hoboken |page=323|chapter=The Empire of the Spartans (404–371)}}</ref> According to Aristotle, the ephors frequently came from poverty because any Spartan citizen could hold the position, and it was not exclusive to the upper-class. Aristotle stated that because of this they were often liable to corruption.<ref>''Pol. 1270''b 7–10</ref> There were times when the legal power of an ephor was taken advantage of, such as with [[Alcibiades]]'s use of [[Endius]], who persuaded the Spartans to allow Alcibiades to take control of Sparta's peace mission to [[Athens]] in 420 BCE.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gribble |first=David |date=2012|title=Alcibiades at the Olympics: Performance, Politics and Civic Ideology |journal=The Classical Quarterly |volume=62|issue=1|pages=45–71|doi=10.1017/S0009838811000486 |s2cid=145098635 }}</ref>

[[Cleomenes III]] abolished the position of ephor in 227 BCE, and replaced them with a position called the ''patronomos''. Cleomenes's coup resulted in the death of four of the five ephors, along with ten other citizens.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Plutarch, Cleomenes, ch. 8, sec. 1|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg051b.perseus-eng1:8.1|access-date=2021-11-14|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> His abolition of the ephorship allowed him to cement his role as king and prevent anyone from stopping his political reforms. However, the ephorate was restored by the [[Kings of Macedon|Macedonian King]] [[Antigonus III Doson]] after the [[Battle of Sellasia]] in 222 BCE.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Millender |first=Ellen |title=A Companion to Sparta |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2018|editor-last=Powell |editor-first=Anton |volume=1|location=Hoboken |page=455|chapter=Kingship: The History, Power, and Prerogatives of the Spartans' 'Divine' Dyarchy}}</ref> Although Sparta fell under Roman rule in 146 BCE, the position existed into the 2nd century CE, when it was likely abolished by [[Roman Emperor]] [[Hadrian]] and superseded by imperial governance as part of the [[Achaea (province)|province of Achaea]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kennell |first=Nigel |title=A Companion to Sparta |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2018|editor-last=Powell |editor-first=Anton |volume=1|location=Hoboken |pages=643–662|chapter=Spartan Cultural Memory in the Roman Period}}</ref>