Gerusia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Gerusia (also Gerousia , Greek γερουσία gerousía , German 'Senate' ) was originally a council of elders in ancient Sparta . It was an assembly of 28 male citizens of Sparta, the Gérontes ( γέρων gérōn , German 'the old man' ), who were required to be at least 60 years old, plus the two kings . Through the Great Rhetra ( Plutarch ), the Gerusia was upgraded to a permanent and central state organ in the 7th century. According to Aristotle , the " beautiful and the good " were existentially tied to the gerusia. Although there were no official admission restrictions other than age, it remained an exclusive body.

The Gerusia formed one of the three institutions of the Spartan constitution, alongside the Ephors , the five leading officials, and the Apella , the popular assembly. The appointed members were elected for life by the popular assembly. This choice was made by the volume of applause and shouts that the incumbent Gérontes received. The election was thus given a group dynamic character in which the articulations of the individual citizens could be controlled or manipulated by influential people.

The Gerusia was regarded as a (preliminary) advisory body. Her competencies extended to political and procedural areas. The Gerusia deliberated which motions were to be submitted to the popular assembly and which were not. Thus she was involved in all state-supporting business and binding decisions. Their position in the Spartan constitution is comparable to that of Areopagus in Athens . It was particularly important for the criminal justice as well as for the capital processes, which were punished with the death penalty , exile or the loss of civil rights ( Aristotle , Plutarch ). The cases were conducted in collaboration with the ephors. The corruptibility of the Gerusia is confirmed by traditional processes. As early as the 7th century, the gerusia was able to submit proposals to the popular assembly (Plutarch). The geronted also had the right to revoke or prevent decisions of the people's assembly. With their preliminary counseling and prevention skills, the Geronts formed an important interface in the Spartan state.

However, the gerusia does not appear frequently in the traditions of the Classical Period (500–336 BC). Aristotle criticizes the Spartan gerusia in the 4th century in the strongest possible terms and, in addition to the age of the geronts, which in his opinion is far too old, also criticizes the “childish” selection process.

literature