Editing Ephor (section)

==Legal power==
[[File:Sparta Ephoren (WMH 11-1861-62 S 48 LLoeffler).jpg|thumb|1862 imagining of the ephors]]
The ephors held numerous duties in legislative, judicial, financial, and executive matters.{{cn|date=April 2024}} Following [[Lycurgus of Sparta|Lycurgus]]'s "Asteropus" in 620 BCE (increase in the power of the ephorate), the ephors became the ambassadors of Sparta.<ref name=":32">{{Cite journal|last=Sahlins |first=Marshall |date=2011|title=Twin-born with greatness: the dual kingship of Sparta |journal=Journal of Ethnographic Theory |volume=1|issue=1|pages=63–101|doi=10.14318/hau1.1.003 |s2cid=170346238 }}</ref> They handled all matters associated with foreign relations, including the creation of treaties with foreign powers<ref name=":12">Millender, E. (2001). Spartan Literacy Revisited. ''Classical Antiquity,'' ''20''(1), 121–164. {{doi|10.1525/ca.2001.20.1.121}}</ref> and meeting with emissaries to discuss foreign politics. They held power within Sparta by also acting as the Presidents of the assembly and the justices of the supreme civil court as well as controlling army composition.<ref name=":32" /> The ephors needed a majority vote to make decisions binding and minority or dissenting decisions were not accepted by the assembly.<ref>Xenophon, ''[[Hellenica]].'' 2.3.34</ref>

According to [[Plutarch]],<ref>''Life of Lycurgus'', 28, 3–7.</ref> every autumn at the [[crypteia]], the ephors would ''[[pro forma]]'' declare war on the [[helot]] population so that any Spartan citizen could kill a helot without fear of blood guilt. This was done to keep the large helot population in check.<ref>Xenophon, ''Constitution of Sparta'' 15.6; Xenophon, ''Hellenica'' 2.3.9–10; Plutarch, ''Agis'' 12.1, 16.2; Plato, ''Laws'' 3.692; Aristotle, ''The Politics'' 2.6.14–16; A.H.M. Jones, ''Sparta''</ref> Plutarch also stated that every eight years the ephors would watch the skies on a moonless night. If shooting stars occurred, it was up to the ephors to decide whether one or both of the kings had transgressed in his dealings with the gods. A transgression could include any behavior that dishonored [[Twelve Olympians|the Greek pantheon]]. Unless the oracle from Delphi or Olympia stated otherwise, the ephors had the ability to depose the offending king or kings.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Millender |first=Ellen G.|title=A Companion to Sparta |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2018|editor-last=Powell |editor-first=Anton |volume=1|location=Hoboken, NJ |page=463|chapter=Kingship: The History, Power, and Prerogatives of the Spartans' 'Divine' Dyarchy}}</ref> Plutarch also stated that the ephors tried cases involving contracts among citizens. He further reported that each ephor specialized in a different type of disputed contract.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Van Wees |first=Hans |title=A Companion to Sparta |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2018|editor-last=Powell |editor-first=Anton |volume=1|location=Hoboken |page=212|chapter=Luxury, Austerity and Equality in Sparta}}</ref>

According to Pausanias, the ephors served with the Gerousia on the Supreme criminal court of Sparta. This included presiding over treason, homicide, and other offenses that carried serious punishments. These punishments included exile, death, and disfranchisement.<ref>Pausanias. ''Description of Greece.'' 3.5.2</ref>

Ephors had the authority to summon and preside over the assembly's regular meetings in the fifth century BCE.<ref>Thuc. 1.67.3</ref> Initially this power was only assigned to kings in early years. However, with the passing of the [[Great Rhetra]] regular meetings became mandated. By the late sixth century BCE, the ephors had acquired this authority to oversee the assembly and could use this power against the kings of Sparta. For example, they used this authority to force King [[Anaxandridas II]] to change his conjugal arrangements to their advantage. King Anaxandridas' wife was barren but he refused to divorce her so the ephors forced him to marry a second wife to provide heirs.<ref>Hdt. 5.40.1</ref>

Two ephors were always sent on military expeditions to ensure the king acted in line, and if not, could put the king on trial.<ref name=":422">{{Cite journal|last=Esu |first=Alberto |date=2017|title=Divided Power and Eynomia: Deliberative Procedures in Ancient Sparta |journal=The Classical Quarterly |volume=67|issue=2|pages=353–373|doi=10.1017/S0009838817000544 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Many kings were put on trial by the ephors, including [[Leotychidas]], who was found to have accepted a bribe from the Thessalians during his military expedition to [[Thessaly]].<ref name=":422" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Lupi |first=Marcello |title=A Companion to Sparta |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2018|editor-last=Powell |editor-first=Anton |volume=1|location=Hoboken |page=282|chapter=Sparta and the Persian Wars 499–478}}</ref>
[[File:SpartaGreatRhetra.png|thumb|A diagram of the [[Spartan Constitution]]]]

The ephors, along with the [[Gerousia]], held the majority of the power within the Spartan government, as the two kings had to consult either with the ephors or the Gerousia in almost any official matter. The ephors also held power over the [[Helots]] and the [[Perioeci]]. They controlled the [[Crypteia]], the secret police who repressed the [[Helots]], and they were even able to sentence [[Perioeci]] to death without a trial.