√ Economy of Sparta: Land ownership: agriculture, kleroi, helots | iitutor

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https://www.iitutor.com An important element in the restructure of Spartan society that has been attributed to Lycurgus was the redistribution of land among the Spartiate and peroikoi population. These allotments of land were called kleroi. These allotments of land, were farmed by the helots. The agricultural produce of the kleroi was the basis of the Spartan economy. The produce of the kleroi was also the basis of Spartan citizenship. That is because each Spartiate was obliged to contribute to his mess. The mess is the syssition. Failure to contribute to the mess would result in loss of citizenship rights. This system of land ownership and agricultural production by the helot population underpinned the entire Spartan way of life. This system of land ownership and agricultural production by the helot population underpinned the entire Spartan way of life. The question of land ownership in Sparta is an issue of some controversy. According to the ancient sources, there was equality among Spartiates in their ownership of land which had been distributed and controlled by the state. Plutarch in his Life of Lycurgus, states that they would all live; in equal terms with one another with the same amount of property to support each other. They would seek to be first only in merit. But there is conflicting evidence on this issue. Hodkinson: He is a modern scholar who argues that the ownership of landed property in Sparta was never equal and became more unequal over time. He suggests that the great divisions in Spartan society between rich and poor were due to the growth of private estates. As Aristotle reveals, the land was divided through inheritance and bequests. Women also came to play a significant role in Spartan society. Because as heiresses, they controlled many of the estates. The widening gap between rich and poor caused social problems in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. The number of Spartiates rapidly declined throughout the 5th century B.C. Spartiates who lost their kleroi or were unable to contribute to the mess lost their rights as equals and were known as hypomeiones (inferiors). The Inferiors is one of the unsolved. Mysteries of Spartan society. How did these men live if they had no land from which to draw income? In 398 B.C. this group was involved in a plot to overthrow the government.