Harmost
A Harmost ( Greek ἁρμοστής harmostḗs ) was a Spartan commander to control and occupy certain areas. Harmosts were used during and after the Peloponnesian War and gained their greatest importance as a result of this war. Used to protect the Spartan interests, they guarded conquered or fallen poleis with a garrison of neo-daughters , allies and mercenaries . By being able to pursue unauthorized politics, it was possible that harmosts subjugated the population and enriched themselves.
Sources
Thucydides first mentions 412 BC. The office of the Spartan Harmostes. Most of the mentions date from the Peloponnesian War. At Xenophon you can find some information about the organization and structure of the Harmosten office.
The office of harmost
The harmosts were subject to popular election in Sparta, but could also be appointed and used by kings, officials, generals or nauarchs . Mainly wealthier citizens were eligible for the office. Also Perioeci could take over some military leadership. The harmosts formed a new authority alongside the political organs of Sparta. The office was limited to one year, but a repeat was possible. A fixed number of 20 harmosts is mentioned in the Pindar scholias, so it is assumed that the office was probably introduced in the 7th century. With the peace negotiations in Sparta and the subsequent defeat at Leuktra , the deployment and with it the appointment of Harmosts was ended both politically and in reality.
The tasks
Harmosts were first used in 423 BC Used as garrison commanders in some cities outside the Spartan polis area, especially in Thrace, Ionia and Boiotia and the Aegean islands. As military leaders they appear increasingly in the years of the Spartan expansion of power, so that harmosty was a special phenomenon when the expansion of Sparta was greatest. Until the end of the Peloponnesian War, the Harmosts retained their military function and were later, due to foreign policy efforts of Sparta, increasingly used as supervisors to control allied or conquered poleis. They acted independently among themselves and were accountable to the institutions in Sparta. Harmosts were also used in 405/404 BC. Stationed in the cities of Ionia and Asia Minor to intervene in the internal order of the Poleis and to act as a pillar of oligarchic governments. The Harmosten was subject to a precisely defined area, which could usually cover a city or a political territory, but also larger city groups. The system of harmosts was sometimes supplemented by the political preference given to oligarchies in the respective city-states. The so-called decarchies, "commissions of ten" for the creation of oligarchic constitutions, played a role here, but the decarchy system was largely abolished in the 390s. Garrisons and harmosts were important in the Spartan-Persian War (400–394 BC) and in the Corinthian War (395–387 BC).
The governors appointed by the Thebans were also referred to as harmosts .
literature
- Victor Ehrenberg : Sparta (history). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume III A, 2, Stuttgart 1929, Sp. 1373 ff.
- Charlotte Schubert : Athens and Sparta in Classical Times. A study book. Metzler, Stuttgart et al. 2003, ISBN 3-476-01940-3 .
- Raimund Schulz : Athens and Sparta (= compact history. Antiquity. ). Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2003, ISBN 3-534-15493-2 , p. 129 f.