Hypomeiones

Hypomeiones were a legally and politically disadvantaged population group in ancient Sparta .

General

In Sparta of the classical period (490–323 BC) the Hypomeiones were “minorities”, Lacedaemonian citizens who were impoverished and therefore no longer take part in the men's societies, the Syssitia , even after their Klaros, the genetic material, was sold and thus lost full citizenship as a Spartiat . The Hypomeiones lost their political rights. Also due to the impoverishment of some of the full citizens, there were only around 1,000 to 1,500 Spartan hoplites left in the 370s, while a century earlier 8,000 hoplites could be sent into the field.

They included a multitude of different groups that had very different social statuses. They can be divided into the parties of Hypomeiones , Mothakes , Nothoi , Synthophoi and others. The few sources come mainly from Xenophon , who as an Athenian himself lived temporarily in Sparta, as well as from Thucydides and Aristotle . Only in the Kinadon conspiracy do the minorities find a certain importance.

At Xenophon

Xenophon coined the term Hypomeiones. This means Spartians who have lost their full citizenship. But even here there are very different groups. On the one hand the "tremors", known as Tresantes . These remained full citizens, but were despised and avoided by everyone else. The "tremors" lost their honor in battle, either because they ran away in battle or because they suffered defeat. In the military state of Sparta, this was the greatest disgrace a soldier could suffer. This is also shown by the fact that even later heroic deeds could not restore the reputation. The Hypomeiones also included those who, as boys , had not completed the difficult training in the agoge . So he could not count among the equals. Even later there was probably no possibility for them to be accepted into the community, as the agoge was a kind of basic requirement for this.

Most of the Hypomeiones, however, made up impoverished former Spartians. They were not personally despised by the community, but since they could no longer raise the contributions to the daily communal meals, the syssitia , they automatically withdrew from full citizenship. Marriage and the division of inheritance allowed some families to accumulate ever larger estates in Sparta while others became utterly impoverished. These were finally forced to sell their property and thus no longer had a basis to raise their share in the long term. Membership in a Syssitie was a prerequisite for full citizenship. If a man was able to raise his membership fees again, he became a full citizen again. It can be assumed that this was extremely rare.

Mothakes

Another group of Hypomeiones were the Mothakes . The Nothoi also belong to them. These are children whose father was a full citizen, but the mother was not. They can also be children of the impoverished. The mothakes were usually placed alongside a real son of the same age of a full citizen and went through the agoge with him. During their training they were called syntrophoi. A boy could have more than one of these comrades or none at all. If the father or the family had enough property to leave the Mothax an inheritance, the Mothax could also take part in the meals and thus become a full citizen. The Mothakes stayed with their comrades assigned to them; in combat, where they stood side by side, and in all other life situations as well. The full citizen also had to take on a certain legal responsibility for this. The Nothoi, poor and without real estate, were less connected to a full citizen. But they could possibly be accepted into the rank of full citizen through distinctive bravery in battle, in which they participated voluntarily.

As already mentioned, the minorities find their greatest attention in the Kinadon conspiracy. This event was recorded by Xenophon in the Hellenica . Kinadon was presumably an impoverished full citizen who was not satisfied with his situation. He managed to find supporters for an uprising among the minorities. But the conspiracy was exposed prematurely and the instigator was convicted.

What they all have in common, however, is that they had no political rights. They had no influence on the decisions of the state and were subject to a different jurisdiction.

What is certain is that the impoverishment of many Spartans ultimately played a major role in the downfall of the polis . As can be read in Aristotle (Politics 1270a 29–32), the number of citizens capable of fighting decreased between about 480 and 370 BC. From 8,000 to 1,500 hoplites . The lack of full citizens ( oliganthropy ) was also a consequence of the decline in the birth rate and war losses. Since more and more were descending at the same time, there was mainly only one direction in this development. Reforms to improve this situation in the 3rd century failed.

swell

Xenophon : Hellenika . Gisela Strasburger (ed.), Munich 1988.

literature

Karl Christ (ed.): Sparta (= ways of research. Vol. 622). Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1986, ISBN 3-534-08809-3 .
William G. Forrest: A History of Sparta. 950-192 BC Norton, New York NY et al. 1969.
Stefan Link : The Sparta cosmos. Law and Customs in Classical Times. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1994, ISBN 3-534-12273-9 .
Raimund Schulz : Athens and Sparta. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2003, ISBN 3-534-15493-2 .
Lukas Thommen : Sparta. Constitutional and social history of a Greek polis. Metzler, Stuttgart et al. 2003, ISBN 3-476-01964-0 .