HelotEilotes

When the Dorians settled the Greek mainland and the Peloponnesian Peninsula in the eleventh century BCE, the pre-Dorian inhabitants were either displaced or enslaved; these slaves became known as helots and name has come to mean Serf.

The helots lived in the south-central Peloponnesian Peninsula and were quickly made into chattel by the Dorian descended Spartans; the helots were bound to the land and were owned by the state; they were not allowed to intermarry with the Spartans and were forced into military service as part of their servitude; although they were greatly outnumbered by the helots (15-1), the Spartans ruled the pastoral helots with ease.

It wasn’t until circa 716 BCE that the Spartans became intensely militaristic and so, between the eleventh and the eighth centuries, the Spartans dominated the helots through economic manipulation and political exclusion; however, after 716 BCE, the Spartans became the stereotypical militants that differentiated them from the other Greek states and the helots served the state under the sword and lash.