Editing Helots (section)

=== Helots and ''klēroi'' ===
Helots were assigned to citizens to carry out domestic work or to work on their ''klēroi,'' or portions. The ''klēroi'' were the original divisions of Messenia after its conquest by Sparta.<ref>[[Sarah B. Pomeroy]] et al. ''Ancient Greece''. Oxford University Press, 1998: pp. 68 & 148.</ref> Various sources mention such servants accompanying this or that Spartan. [[Plutarch]] has Timaia, the wife of King [[Agis II]], "being herself forward enough to whisper among her helot maid-servants" that the child she was expecting had been fathered by [[Alcibiades]], and not her husband, indicating a certain level of trust.<ref>Plutarch. ''Life of Agesilaus'', 3, 1.</ref> According to some authors, in the 4th century BC, citizens also used [[Personal property|chattel]]-slaves for domestic purposes. However, this is disputed by others. Some helots were also servants to young Spartans during their ''[[agoge]]'', the Spartan education; these were the μόθωνες / ''móthōnes'' (see below). Finally, helots, like slaves, could be artisans or tradesmen.<ref>Lévy, p. 119.</ref>
{{Slavery}}

They were required to hand over a predetermined portion of their harvest ({{lang|grc|ἀποφορά}} / ''apophorá''), with the helots keeping the surplus. According to Plutarch, this portion was 70 [[Ancient Greek units of measurement|medimnoi]] of barley for a man, 12 for a woman, as well as a quantity of oil and wine corresponding to an amount reasonable for the needs of a warrior and his family, or a widow, respectively.<ref>Plutarch. ''Life of Lycurgus'', 8, 7 and 24, 2.</ref> The existence of the ''apophorá'' is contested by [[Tyrtaeus]]: "Secondly, though no fixed tribute was imposed on them, they used to bring the half of all the produce of their fields to Sparta.... Like asses worn by their great burdens, bringing of dire necessity to their masters the half of all the fruits the corn-land bears."<ref>Apud Pausanias 4, 14, 4–5.</ref> Pausanias is describing the period immediately after the first Messenian War, when conditions were probably more severe.<ref>Lévy, pp. 120–121.</ref> Also, since taking a percentage of the produce would have required constantly overseeing the helots, it is unlikely such a tax could be implemented upon the relatively distant Messenia. With Tyrtaeus being a poet, the amount might well have been a poetic figure of speech, similar to the modern "half a kingdom". In fact, it is debated whether the quote refers to helots in the first place, since Tyrtaeus' description of the Second Messenian War refers to enemy phalanxes, indicating the first war could have ended with the Messenian people becoming a vassal state of Sparta rather than helots.<ref>L. G. Pechatnova, ''A History of Sparta (Archaic and Classic Periods)''</ref>

Having paid their tribute, the helots could often live rather well; the lands of [[Laconia]] and Messenia were very fertile, and often permitted two crops per year.<ref>Lévy, p. 121.</ref> It seems they could enjoy some private property:<ref name="C141">Cartledge, p. 141.</ref> in 425 BC, some helots had their own boats.<ref>Thucydides. ''History of the Peloponnesian War'', 4, 26, 6.</ref> A certain amount of wealth was achievable: in 223 BC, 6,000 helots purchased their freedom for 500 [[Ancient drachma|drachmas]] each, a considerable sum at the time.<ref>Plutarch. ''Life of Cleomeles'', 23.</ref>