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Deed
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For the reality television series, see The Deed. For the British cargo ship, see SS Deed. For the English cricketer with the surname Deed, see Jack Deed.
Look up deed in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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v
t
e
A deed (anciently "an evidence") is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions, sealed. It is commonly associated with transferring (conveyancing) title to property. The deed has a greater presumption of validity and is less rebuttable than an instrument signed by the party to the deed. A deed can be unilateral or bilateral. Deeds include conveyances, commissions, licenses, patents, diplomas, and conditionally powers of attorney if executed as deeds. The deed is the modern descendant of the medieval charter, and delivery is thought to symbolically replace the ancient ceremony of livery of seisin.[1]
The traditional phrase signed, sealed and delivered refers to the practice of seals; however, attesting witnesses have replaced seals to some extent. Agreements under seal are also called contracts by deed or specialty; in the United States, a specialty is enforceable without consideration.[2] In some jurisdictions, specialties have a liability limitation period of double that of a simple contract and allow for a third party beneficiary to enforce an undertaking in the deed, thereby overcoming the doctrine of privity.[3] Specialties, as a form of contract, are bilateral and can therefore be distinguished from covenants, which, being also under seal, are unilateral promises.
Contents
[hide]
1 Requirements
2 Deeds of conveyance
2.1 General and special warranty
2.2 Bargain and sale deed
2.3 Quitclaim deed
2.4 Deed of trust
2.5 Deeds as alternatives to bankruptcy
2.6 Sanad
2.6.1 Sanad of adoption
3 Structure
4 Recording
4.1 Joint ownership
4.2 Joint tenants with rights of survivorship vs. joint tenants in common
4.3 Pardon as deed
4.4 Title deed
4.5 Difference between a deed and an agreement
4.6 Wild deeds
5 See also
6 References
Requirements[edit]
At common law, to be valid and enforceable, a deed must fulfill several requirements:
It must state on its face that it is a deed, using wording like "This Deed..." or "executed as a deed".
It must indicate that the instrument itself conveys some privilege or thing to someone.
The grantor must have the legal ability to grant the thing or privilege, and the grantee must have the legal capacity to receive it.
It must be executed by the grantor in presence of the prescribed number of witnesses, known as instrumentary witnesses (this is known as being in solemn form).
In some jurisdictions, a seal must be affixed to it. Originally, affixing seals made persons parties to the deed and signatures optional, but seals are now outdated in most jurisdictions, so the signatures of the grantor and witnesses are primary.
It must be delivered to (delivery) and, in some jurisdictions, accepted by the grantee (acceptance).[4]
Conditions attached to the acceptance of a deed are known as covenants. A deed indented or indenture is one executed in two or more parts according to the number of parties, which were formerly separated by cutting in a curved or indented line known as the chirograph.[5] A deed poll is one executed in one part, by one party, having the edge polled or cut even, and includes simple grants and appointments.
Deeds of conveyance[edit]
General and special warranty[edit]
Main article: Warranty deed
The original 1636 Indian deed creating the State of Rhode Island signed by Native American Chief Canonicus to Roger Williams
In the transfer of real estate, a deed conveys ownership from the old owner (the grantor) to the new owner (the grantee), and can include various warranties. The precise name and nature of these warranties differ by jurisdiction. Often, however, the basic differences between them is the degree to which the grantor warrants the title. The grantor may give a general warranty of title against any claims, or the warranty may be limited to only claims which occurred after the grantor obtained the real estate. The latter type of deed is usually known as a special warranty deed. While a general warranty deed was normally used for residential real estate sales and transfers, special warranty deeds are becoming more common and are more commonly used in commercial transactions.
Bargain and sale deed[edit]
Main article: Bargain and sale deed
A third type of deed, known as a bargain and sale deed, implies that the grantor has the right to convey title but makes no warranties against encumbrances. This type of deed is most commonly used by court officials or fiduciaries that hold the property by force of law rather than title, such as properties seized for unpaid taxes and sold at sheriff's sale, or an executor.
Quitclaim deed[edit]
Main article: Quitclaim deed
A so-called quitclaim deed is (in most jurisdictions) actually not a deed at all—it is actually an estoppel disclaiming rights of the person signing it to property.
Deed of trust[edit]
In some jurisdictions, a deed of trust is used as an alternative to a mortgage. A deed of trust is not used to transfer property directly. It is commonly used in some states — California, for example — to transfer title to land to a “trustee”, usually a trust or title company, which holds the title as security ("in escrow") for a loan. When the loan is paid off, title is transferred to the borrower by recording a release of the obligation, and the trustee's contingent ownership is extinguished. Otherwise, upon default, the trustee will liquidate the property with a new deed and offset the lender's loss with the proceeds.
Deeds as alternatives to bankruptcy[edit]
Deed of arrangement – document setting out an arrangement for a debtor to pay part or all outstanding debts, as an alternative to bankruptcy; (Australian law).[6]
Deed of assignment – document in which a debtor appoints a trustee to take charge of property to pay debts, partly or wholly, as an alternative to bankruptcy; (Australian law).[6]
Sanad[edit]
A sanad issued by the governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh during the British Raj
See also: Doctrine of lapse
Sanad, also spelt as sunnud, was a deed granted to the rulers of native princely states in British India confirming them in their ruling position in return for their allegiance to the British Raj.
Sanad of adoption[edit]
Since the extinction of the royal bloodline would be a ground for annexation of a principality by the British,[7] some rulers were also granted sanads of adoption. Devised as a reward for loyalty to British rule in India, especially after the Indian rebellion of 1857, such deeds gave a ruler the right to adopt chosen heirs from local noble families in case of lack of direct issue.[8] Among the rulers that were given Sanads of adoption, Takht Singh, Jaswant Singh of Bharatpur, as well as the rulers of Nagod State, Samthar State and the Chaube Jagirs are worth mentioning.
Structure[edit]
The main clauses of a deed of conveyance are:
Premises
Parties clause – sets out the names, addresses, and descriptions (vendor/purchaser, grantor/grantee, transferor/transferee) of parties
Recitals – narrates in chronological order the previous ownership of the property being conveyed, starting with the earliest deed of title down to the contract of sale the conveyance gives effect to
Testatum – a command to witness which acknowledges the payment and receipt of the consideration and signals the beginning of the operative part; usually begins with "Now this Deed witnesseth"
Operative part
Operative clause – vendor gives effect to the contract of sale by conveying his interest in land to the purchaser
Parcels clause – clause detailing the location and description of the property being conveyed
Habendum – clause indicating the estate (freehold, etc.) or interest to be taken by the grantee[9]
Tenendum – "to have and to hold", formerly referring to the tenure by which the estate granted was to be held, though now completely symbolic
Redendum – reserves something to grantor out of thing granted, such as a rent, under the formula "yielding and paying".
Conditions
Warranty – grantor warrants the title to the grantee
general: when the warrant is against all persons
special: when it is only against the grantor, his heirs and those claiming under him
Covenants – binding limitations or promises
Conclusion (or eschatocol) – execution and date
Testimonium (Scotland: testing clause) – attests to the due execution of a deed or instrument.
Examples:
England & Wales: In Witness Whereof, the parties to these presents have hereunto set their hands and seals.
Ireland: In Witness Whereof the parties hereto have hereunto set their hands and affixed their seals [the day and year first herein written].
Scotland: IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents, consisting of this and the preceding pages, are subscribed by [me] at [place] on the [day] day of [month] Two thousand and [year] in the presence of [name] of [address].
Recording[edit]
Main article: Recording (real estate)
Usually the transfer of ownership of real estate is registered at a cadastre in the United Kingdom. In most parts of the United States, deeds must be submitted to the recorder of deeds, who acts as a cadastre, to be registered. An unrecorded deed may be valid proof of ownership between the parties, but may have no effect upon third-party claims until disclosed or recorded. A local statute may prescribe a period beyond which unrecorded deeds become void as to third parties, at least as to intervening acts.
Joint ownership[edit]
Ownership transfer may also be crafted within deeds to pass by demise, as where a property is held in concurrent estate such as "joint tenants with right of survivorship" (JTWROS) or "tenants by the entirety". In each case, the title to the property immediately and automatically vests in the named survivor(s) upon the death of the other tenant(s).
In most states joint tenancy with the right of survivorship requires all owners to have equal interests in the property, meaning upon sale or partition of the property, all owners would receive an equal distribution of the proceeds.
Joint ownership may also be by tenants in common (TIC). In some states, joint ownership is presumed to be as tenants in common unless the parties are married and the deed so states or the deed sets for joint tenants with right of survivorship. Upon death, the decedent's share passes to his or her estate.
A life estate is the right to use, possess and enjoy the property for a period of time measured by the natural life of a person or persons. When all life tenants are dead, the remainderman holds full title.
Joint tenants with rights of survivorship vs. joint tenants in common[edit]
When deeds are taken as joint tenants with rights of survivorship (JTWROS) or joint tenants in common (TIC), any co-owner can file a petition for partition to dissolve the tenancy relationship. JTWROS deed holders always take the property in equal shares; therefore, if the partnership is dissolved through partition, the proceeds must be equally distributed between all of the co-owners without regard to how much each co-owner contributed to the purchase price of the property. No credits would be allowed for any excess contributions to the purchase price. For example, if A and B co-own property as JTWROS and A contributed 80% of the purchase price, A and B would still receive equal distributions upon partition. On the other hand, TIC deed holders may be granted at partition a credit for unequal contributions to purchase price. During either partition, credits may be awarded to any co-owner who may have contributed in excess of his share to the property expenses after taking deed to the property. Credits may be allowed for utilities and maintenance; however, credits for improvements may not be allowed unless the improvements actually added substantial value to the property.
Pardon as deed[edit]
In the United States, a pardon of the President was once considered to be a deed and thus needed to be accepted by the recipient. This made it impossible to grant a pardon posthumously. However, in the case of Henry Ossian Flipper, this view was altered when President Bill Clinton pardoned him in 1999.
Title deed[edit]
The United Kingdom, England and Wales operate a 'property register'. Title deeds are documents showing ownership, as well as rights, obligations, or mortgages on the property. Since around 2000, compulsory registration has been required for all properties mortgaged or transferred. The details of rights, obligations, and covenants referred to in deeds will be transferred to the register, a contract describing the property ownership.
Difference between a deed and an agreement[edit]
The main difference between a deed and an agreement is that the deed is generally signed by only one person / party. Examples of a deed are deeds of hypothecation for creating charge on movable properties in favour of the banks/financial institutions etc.
An agreement by its name suggests that there should be at least two parties signing/approving the same. Examples of an agreement are agreement to sale, loan agreement etc.
At common law, ownership was proven via an unbroken chain of title deeds. The Torrens title system is an alternative way of proving ownership. First introduced in South Australia in 1858 by Sir Robert Torrens and adopted later by the other Australian states and other countries, ownership under Torrens title is proven by possession of a certificate of title and the corresponding entry in the property register. This system removes risks associated with unregistered deeds and fraudulent or otherwise incorrect transactions. It is much easier and cheaper to administer, lowering transaction costs. Some Australian properties are still conveyed using a chain of title deeds – usually properties that have been owned by the same family since the nineteenth century – and these are often referred to as 'Old System' deeds.
Wild deeds[edit]
A deed that is recorded, but is not connected to the chain of title of the property, is called a wild deed. A wild deed does not provide constructive notice to later purchasers of the property, because subsequent bona fide purchasers cannot reasonably be expected to locate the deed while investigating the chain of title to the property. Haupt has stated that
Because title searching relies on the grantor/grantee indexes, it's possible that a deed won't be discovered even though it was recorded. "Example: Atwood sells his land to Burns, but Burns does not record his deed. Burns later sells the land to Cooper, and Cooper records her deed. But because the previous deed (the deed from Atwood to Burns) was not recorded, Cooper's deed is outside the chain of title. In a title search, someone looking up Atwood's name in the grantor index would find no indication that Atwood conveyed the property, and nothing would lead the searcher to Cooper's deed." A deed that is outside the chain of title is called a wild deed. The general rule is that a subsequent purchaser is not held to have constructive notice of a wild deed. In the example, Cooper's title is unprotected against subsequent good faith purchasers. Suppose Atwood were to fraudulently sell the same property to another person, Dunn. A court would rule that Dunn has good title to the property, not Cooper.[10]
A wild deed has been described as a deed "executed by a stranger to the record title hung out in the air like Mahomet's coffin."[11] Mahomet is an archaic spelling of Muhammad. There is a legend that the Prophet Muhammad's coffin was suspended without visible supports, from the ceiling of his tomb, just as a wild deed just hangs there, not touching the chain of title.[12]
See also[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Deed
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Deeds.
Look up deed in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Covenant (law)
Deed poll
Grant deed
Quitclaim deed
Warranty deed
References[edit]
Jump up ^ O'Connor, E. Rory (1987). The Irish Notary. Dublin: Professional Books. p. 83.
Jump up ^ "Contract under Seal Law & Legal Definition". USLegal.com. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
Jump up ^ Griffiths, Andrew (2005). Contracting With Companies. London: Hart Publishing. p. 7.
Jump up ^ Rogers, Henry Wade (1 January 1881). "Delivery and Acceptance of Deeds". Yale University. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
Jump up ^ Stimpson, Frederic Jesup (1881). "Deed". Glossary of Technical Terms, Phrases, and Maxims of the Common Law. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. p. 108.
^ Jump up to: a b "Glossary". Law Handbook Online. Archived from the original on 18 September 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
Jump up ^ Great Britain India Office. The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908.
Jump up ^ Malleson, G. B. (1875). An historical sketch of the native states of India (1984 Delhi reprint ed.). London.
Jump up ^ Rapalje, Stewart; Lawrence, Robert L., eds. (1883). "Habendum". A Dictionary of American and English Law. Jersey City, N.J.: F.D. Linn. p. 589.
Jump up ^ Haupt, Kathryn J. (2007). Washington Real Estate Fundamentals. Rockwell Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 1-887051-41-4.
Jump up ^ Poladian v. Johnson , 85 So. 2d 140, 141 (Supreme Court of Florida 1955).
Jump up ^ "Mahomet". Infoplease.com. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
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Helots
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Sparta

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The helots (/ˈhɛləts, ˈhiːləts/; Ancient Greek: εἵλωτες, heílotes) were a subjugated population group that formed the main population of Laconia and Messenia, the territory controlled by Sparta. Their exact status was already disputed in antiquity: according to Critias, they were "slaves to the utmost",[1] whereas according to Pollux, they occupied a status "between free men and slaves".[2] Tied to the land, they primarily worked in agriculture as a majority and economically supported the Spartan citizens.
The number of helots in relation to Spartan citizens varied throughout the history of the Spartan state; according to Herodotus, there were seven helots for each Spartan at the time of the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC.[3] Thus the need to keep helot population in check and preventing rebellion was one of the main concerns of the Spartans. Helots were ritually mistreated, humiliated and even slaughtered: every autumn the Spartans would declare war on the helots so they could be killed by a member of the Crypteia without fear of repercussion.[4][5][6] Uprisings and attempts to improve the lot of the helots did occur, such as the Conspiracy of Cinadon.
Contents
[hide]
1 Etymology
2 System
2.1 Treatment by Spartans
2.2 Status
2.3 Helots and klēroi
2.4 Demography
2.5 Emancipation
2.6 A special case: mothakes and mothones
3 Revolts
3.1 The Pausanias plot
3.2 Massacre at Taenarus
3.3 Third Messenian War
3.4 Athenian outposts
4 See also
5 References
6 Sources
7 External links
Etymology[edit]
Several theories exist regarding the origin of the name "helot". According to Hellanicus, the word relates to the village of Helos, in the south of Sparta.[7] Pausanias thus states, "Its inhabitants became the first slaves of the Lacedaemonian state, and were the first to be called helots".[8] This explanation is however not very plausible in etymological terms.[9]
Linguists have associated the word with the root ϝελ-, wel-, as in ἁλίσκομαι, halískomai, "to be captured, to be made prisoner". In fact, some ancient authors did not consider the term ethnic, but rather an indication of servitude: Antiochus of Syracuse writes: "those of the Lacedaemonians who did not take part in the expedition were adjudged slaves and were named helots",[10] while Theopompus (fragment 122), cited by Athenaeus (VI, 416c), states, "...and the one nation called their slaves helots and the others called them penestae..." [11]
In all of these texts, the christening of the group as helots is the central and symbolic moment of their reduction to serfhood. By this name they are thus institutionally distinguished from the anonymous douloi (slaves).[12]
Certainly conquest comprised one aspect of helotism; thus Messenians, who were conquered in the Messenian Wars of the 8th century BC, become synonymous in Herodotus with helots.
The situation seems less clear in the case of the earliest helots, who, according to Theopompus, were descended from the initial Achaeans, whom the Dorians had conquered. But not all Achaeans were reduced to helotism: the village of Amykles, home of the Hyacinthia festival, enjoyed special status, as did others.
Contemporary authors propose alternative theories: according to Antiochus of Syracuse, helots were the Lacedaemonians who did not participate in the Messenian Wars; for Ephorus of Cyme, they were the perioeci ("dwellers in surrounding communities") from Helos, reduced to slavery after a failed revolt.
System[edit]
Treatment by Spartans[edit]
From at least the classical period, the number of Spartans was very small in comparison to that of the helots. In a celebrated passage, Thucydides stresses that "most Spartan institutions have always been designed with a view to security against the Helots".[13] Aristotle compares them to "an enemy constantly sitting in wait of the disaster of the Spartans".[14] Consequently, fear seems to be an important factor governing relations between Spartans and Helots. According to tradition, the Spartiates always carried their spears, undid the straps of their bucklers only when at home lest the Helots seize them, and locked themselves in their homes.[15] They also took active measures, subjecting them to what Theopompus describes as "an altogether cruel and bitter condition".[16]
According to Myron of Priene, an anti-Spartan historian[17] of the middle 3rd century BC:
They assign to the Helots every shameful task leading to disgrace. For they ordained that each one of them must wear a dogskin cap (κυνῆ / kunễ) and wrap himself in skins (διφθέρα / diphthéra) and receive a stipulated number of beatings every year regardless of any wrongdoing, so that they would never forget they were slaves. Moreover, if any exceeded the vigour proper to a slave's condition, they made death the penalty; and they allotted a punishment to those controlling them if they failed.[18]
In keeping with the laconic phrasing of the ephors, this may simply have been a requirement that if a person keeps slaves, they must be clothed, beaten irrespective of whether or not it is deserved, on penalty of death for the owner - perhaps anti-slavery ideals dressed in the language of sarcasm.
Plutarch also states that Spartans treated the Helots "harshly and cruelly": they compelled them to drink pure wine (which was considered dangerous —wine usually being diluted with water) "... and to lead them in that condition into their public halls, that the children might see what a sight a drunken man is; they made them to dance low dances, and sing ridiculous songs..." during syssitia (obligatory banquets).[19] However, he notes that this rough treatment was inflicted only relatively late, after the 464 BC earthquake.
Some modern scholars advocate a reevaluation of ancient evidence about helots. It has been argued that the kunē was not actually made of dogskin,[20] and that the dipthera (literally, "leather") was the general attire of the poor peasant class.[21] The obligation of masters to prevent Kwashiorkor (fatness) amongst their helots is deemed implausible: as the Spartiates lived separately, dietary intake could not be rigorously controlled;[22] as manual labour was an important function of the Helots (for example, being used to carry their master's arms and armour on campaign), it would make sense to keep them well nourished.[22] Besides, the rations mentioned by Thucydides[23] for the Helots on Sphacteria are close to normal.[24] Myron's evidence is interpreted as an extrapolation from actions performed on symbolic representatives.[25] In short, Grote writes that "the various anecdotes which are told respecting [Helot] treatment at Sparta betoken less of cruelty than of ostentatious scorn".[26] He has been followed recently by J. Ducat (1974 and 1990),[27] who describes Spartan treatment of the Helots as a kind of ideological warfare, designed to condition the Helots to think of themselves as inferiors. This strategy seems to have been successful at least for Laconian Helots:[28] when the Thebans ordered a group of Laconian helot prisoners to recite the verses of Alcman and Terpander (national poets of Thebes), they refused on the grounds that it would displease their masters.[29]
Other modern scholars consider then, "although the details may be fanciful, [Myron's evidence] does reflect accurately the general Spartiate attitude towards helots".[17] It has also been stressed that contempt alone could hardly explain the organized murder of Helots mentioned by several ancient sources.[30] According to Aristotle, the ephors annually declared war on the Helots, thereby allowing Spartans to kill them without fear of religious pollution.[31] This task was apparently given to the kryptes, graduates of the difficult agoge who took part in the crypteia.[32] This lack of judicial protection is confirmed by Myron of Priene, who mentions killing as a standard mode of regulation of the Helot population. Thus, 2,000 helots were massacred in 425 BC in a carefully staged event:
"The helots were invited by a proclamation to pick out those of their number who claimed to have most distinguished themselves against the enemy, in order that they might receive their freedom; the object being to test them, as it was thought that the first to claim their freedom would be the most high spirited and the most apt to rebel. As many as two thousand were selected accordingly, who crowned themselves and went round the temples, rejoicing in their new freedom. The Spartans, however, soon afterwards did away with them, and no one ever knew how each of them perished."[33]
Thus Paul Cartledge claims that "the history of Sparta (...) is fundamentally the history of the class struggle between the Spartans and the Helots".[34]
Status[edit]
Helots and klēroi[edit]
Helots were assigned to citizens to carry out domestic work or to work on their klēroi, or portions. The klēroi, were the original divisions of Messenia after its conquest by Sparta.[35] Various sources mention such servants accompanying this or that Spartan. Plutarch has Timaia, the wife of King Agis II, "being herself forward enough to whisper among her helot maid-servants" that the child she was expecting had been fathered by Alcibiades, and not her husband, indicating a certain level of trust.[36] According to some authors, in the 4th century BC, citizens also used chattel-slaves for domestic purposes. However, this is disputed by others. Some helots were also servants to young Spartans during their agoge, the Spartan education; these were the μόθωνες / móthōnes (see below). Finally, helots, like slaves, could be artisans or tradesmen.[37]
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They were required to hand over a predetermined portion of their harvest (ἀποφορά / apophorá), with the helots keeping the surplus. According to Plutarch, this portion was 70 medimnoi of barley for a man, 12 for a woman, as well as a quantity of oil and wine corresponding to an amount reasonable for the needs of a warrior and his family, or a widow, respectively.[38] The existence of the apophorá is contested by Tyrtaeus: "Secondly, though no fixed tribute was imposed on them, they used to bring the half of all the produce of their fields to Sparta.... Like asses worn by their great burdens, bringing of dire necessity to their masters the half of all the fruits the corn-land bears."[39] Pausanias is describing the period immediately after the first Messenian War, when conditions were probably more severe.[40]
Having paid their tribute, the helots could often live rather well; the lands of Laconia and Messenia were very fertile, and often permitted two crops per year.[41] It seems they could enjoy some private property:[42] in 425 BC, some helots had their own boats.[43] A certain amount of wealth was achievable: in 223 BC, 6,000 helots purchased their freedom for 500 drachmas each, a considerable sum at the time.[44]
Demography[edit]
Helots lived in family units and could, at least de facto, contract unions among themselves.[45] Since helots were much less susceptible than other slaves in Greek antiquity to having their family units dispersed, they could reproduce themselves, or at least maintain their number.[42] Probably not insignificant to begin with, their population increased in spite of the crypteia, other massacres of helots (see below), and losses in war. Simultaneously, the population of Spartiate citizens declined.
The absence of a formal census prevents an accurate assessment of the helot population, but estimates are possible. According to Herodotus, helots were seven times as numerous as Spartans during the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC.[46] The long Peloponnesian War drained Sparta of so many of its citizens that by the time of the conspiracy of Cinadon, the beginning of the 4th century BC, only forty Peers, or citizens, could be counted in a crowd of 4000 at the agora (Xenophon, Hellenica, III, 3, 5). The total population of helots at that time, including women, is estimated as 170,000 – 224,000.[47]
Since the helot population was not technically chattel, their population was reliant on native birth rates, as opposed to prisoners of war or purchased slaves. Helots were encouraged by the Spartans to impose a eugenics doctrine similar to that which they, themselves, practiced. This would, according to Greek beliefs of the period, ensure not only genetic but also acquired favourable characteristics be passed along to successive generations. Tempering these selective factors was the crypteia, during which the strongest and fittest helots were the primary targets of the kryptes; to select soft targets would be interpreted as a sign of weakness. This theoretically removed the strongest and most able potential rebels while keeping the general populace fit and efficient.[citation needed]
What is more, the Spartans used helot women to satisfy the state's human personnel needs: the 'bastards' (nothoi) born of Spartan fathers and helot women held an intermediary rank in Lacedaemonian society (cf. mothakes and mothones below) and swelled the ranks of the citizen army. It is difficult to determine whether these births were the results of voluntary liaisons (at least on the part of the father) or part of a formal state program. Girls born of such unions, serving no military purpose, were likely abandoned at birth and left to die.[48]
Emancipation[edit]
According to Myron of Priene, cited by Athenaeus,[49] the emancipation of helots was "common" (πολλάκις / pollákis). The text suggests that this is normally associated with completion of military service. The first explicit reference to this practice in regards to the helots occurs in Thucydides (IV, 26, 5). This is on the occasion of the events at Sphacteria, when Sparta had to relieve their hoplites, who were besieged on the island by the Athenians:
"The fact was, that the Lacedaemonians had made advertisement for volunteers to carry into the island ground corn, wine, cheese, and any other food useful in a siege; high prices being offered, and freedom promised to any of the helots who should succeed in doing so".[33]
Thucydides reports that the request met with some success, and the helots got supplies through to the besieged island. He does not mention whether or not the Spartans kept their word; it is possible that some of the helots later executed were part of the Sphacterian volunteers.[citation needed]
The second such call came during the Theban invasion of Laconia. Xenophon in Hellenica (VI, 5, 28) states that the authorities agreed to emancipate all the helots who volunteered. He then estimates that 6,000 heeded the call, leading to some embarrassment for the Spartans.
All the same, in 424 BC, the 700 helots who served Brasidas in Chalcidice were emancipated, and they were henceforth known as the "Brasidians". It was also possible to purchase freedom, or achieve it by undergoing the traditional Spartan education. Generally, emancipated helots were referred to as "neodamodes" (νεοδαμώδεις / neodamōdeis): those who rejoined the δῆμος / dễmos (Deme) of the Perioeci.
Moses Finley underscores that the fact helots could serve as hoplites constituted a grave flaw in the system. In effect, the hoplite system was a strict method of training to ensure that discipline was maintained in the phalanx. The Spartans gained considerable reputation as hoplites, due to tactical capabilities developed through constant training. In addition to this military aspect, to be a hoplite was a key characteristic of Greek citizenship. To introduce helots to this system thus led to inevitable social conflict.[citation needed]
A special case: mothakes and mothones[edit]
Phylarchus mentions a class of men that were at the same time free and non-citizens: the μόθακες / mothakes, who had undergone the 'agoge, the Spartan educational system.[50] Classical historiography recognizes that the helots comprised a large portion of these mothakes. Nevertheless, this category poses a number of problems, firstly that of vocabulary.
The classical authors used a number of terms which appear to evoke similar concepts:
μόθακες / mothakes: a connotation of freedom, Phylarchos affirmed that they were free (eleutheroi), Claudius Aelianus (Varia Historia, 12, 43) that they could be citizens;
μόθωνες / mothōnes: a connotation of servility, the word designates slaves born to the home;
τρόφιμοι / trophimoi: pupils, adopted children, whom Plutarch classified among the xenoi (strangers);
σύντροφοι / syntrophoi: literally, "they who were raised with", that is to say, milk-siblings, given by Phylarchus as equivalent to mothakes;
παρατρέφονοι / paratrephonoi : literally, "those who were fed near you", signification rather different from the preceding (this word also applied to domestic animals).
The situation is somewhat complicated by a gloss of Hesychios of Alexandria which attests that mothakes were slave children (δοῦλοι / doũloi) raised at the same time as the children of citizens. Philologists resolve this quandary in two ways:
they insist on reading μoθᾶνες / mothãnes, as a hapax for μόθωνες (Arnold J. Toynbee);
the hypothesis that douloi has been interpolated by a copyist who confounded mothakes and mothônes.
In any case, the conclusion needs to be treated carefully:
the mothônes were young servants charged with domestic tasks for young Spartans during their education (Aristotle, I, 633c), they remained slaves on reaching adulthood;
the mothakes were an independent freeborn group of helots.
Revolts[edit]
The Pausanias plot[edit]
The first helot attempt at revolt which is historically reported is that provoked by general Pausanias in the 5th century BC. Thucydides reports:[51]
Besides, they were informed that he was even intriguing with the helots; and such indeed was the fact, for he promised them freedom and citizenship if they would join him in insurrection, and would help him to carry out his plans to the end.[33]
These intrigues did not however lead to a helot uprising; Thucydides indeed implies that Pausanias was turned in by the helots (I, 132, 5 - ...the evidence even of the helots themselves.) Perhaps the promises made by Pausanias were too generous to be believed by the helots; not even Brasidas, when he emancipated his helot volunteers, offered full citizenship.[52]
Massacre at Taenarus[edit]
The massacre of Cape Taenarus, the promontory formed by the southernmost tip of Taygetus, is also reported by Thucydides:[53]
The Lacedaemonians had once raised up some helot suppliants from the temple of Poseidon at Taenarus, led them away and slain them; for which they believe the great earthquake at Sparta to have been a retribution.[33]
This affair, recalled by the Athenians in responding to a Spartan request to exile Pericles—who was an Alcmaeonid on his mother's side—is not dated. We know only that it happened before the disastrous earthquake of 464 BC. Thucydides here is the only one to implicate the helots: Pausanias speaks rather about Lacedaemonians who had been condemned to death.[54] Nor does the text allow us to conclude that this was a failed uprising of helots, only that there was an attempt at escape. Additionally, a helot revolt in Laconia is unlikely, and Messenians would not likely have taken refuge at Cape Taenarus.[55]
Third Messenian War[edit]
The uprising coincident with the earthquake of 464 BC is soundly attested to, although Greek historians do not agree on the interpretation of this event.
According to Thucydides,[56] the helots and perioeci of Thouria and Aithaia took advantage of the earthquake to revolt and establish a position on Mt.Ithome. He adds that most of the rebels were of Messenian ancestry—confirming the appeal of Ithome as a historical place of Messenian resistance—and focuses attention on the perioeci of Thouria, a city on the Messianian coast. Conversely, we can deduce that a minority of the helots were Laconian, thus making this the one and only revolt of their history. Commentators such as Stephanus of Byzantium suggest that this Aithaia was in Laconia, thus indicating a large-scale uprising in the region. The version of events given by Pausanias is similar.
Diodorus Siculus (XI, 63,4 – 64,1), probably influenced by Ephorus of Cyme, attributed the uprising equally to the Messenians and the helots.[57] This version of events is supported by Plutarch.[58]
Finally, some authors make responsibility for the uprising with the helots of Laconia. This is the case of Plutarch in his Life of Cimon:[59] the helots of the Eurotas River valley want to use the earthquake to attack the Spartans whom they think are disarmed. The intervention of Archidamus II, who calls the Lacedaemonians to arms, simultaneously saves them from the earthquake and the helot attack. The helots fold, but revert to open warfare joined by the Messenians.
It is difficult to reconcile these versions. It is nevertheless clear that in any case the revolt of 464 BC represented a major traumatic event for the Spartans. Plutarch indicates that the Crypteia and other poor treatments of the helots were instituted after this revolt. If there is any doubt in these affirmations, they at least underscore the immediate Spartan reaction: allies are gathered and war ensues with the same Athens that would be faced later in the Peloponnesian War.
Athenian outposts[edit]
During the same war and after the capitulation of the Spartans besieged in Sphacteria, the Athenians installed a garrison in Pylos composed of Messenians from Naupactus. Thucydides underlines that they had hoped to exploit the patriotism of the latter in order to pacify the region.[60] Though the Messenians may not have triggered full-blown guerrilla warfare, they nevertheless pillaged the area and encouraged helot desertion. Sparta was forced to dedicate a garrison to controlling this activity; this was the first of the ἐπιτειχισμοί / epiteikhismoí ("ramparts"), outposts planted by the Athenians in enemy territory.
The second such outpost was at Kythera. This time, the Athenians set their sights on the helots of Laconia. Again, pillaging and desertion did occur, but not on the scale hoped for by the Athenians or feared by the Spartans: there was no uprising like that which accompanied the earthquake.
See also[edit]
Penestae
Slavery in Ancient Greece
Neodamodes
Trophimoi
Perioeci
Sciritae
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Apud Libanios, Orationes 25, 63 = Frag. 37 DK; see also Plutarch, Li hi Lycurgus 28, 11.
Jump up ^ Pollux 3, 83. The expression probably originates in Aristophanes of Byzantium; Cartledge, p.139.
Jump up ^ Herodotus. Histories, 8, 28-29.
Jump up ^ Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus, 28, 3–7.
Jump up ^ Herakleides Lembos Fr. Hist. Gr. 2, 210.
Jump up ^ Athenaeus, 657 D.
Jump up ^ Hellanicos, Frag. 188 J.
Jump up ^ Trans. by W.H.S. Jones and H.A. Ormerod (1918), Accessed: 11 June 2006. Pausanias. Description of Greece, 3, 20, 6.
Jump up ^ P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, s.v. Εἵλωτες.
Jump up ^ Geography Trans. by H.L. Jones (1924), Accessed: 11 June 2006. Apud Strabo 6, 3, 2.
Jump up ^ Athenaeus of Naucratis. Yonge, C.D., Editor. The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned, of Athenæus. Accessed: 11 June 2006.
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Jump up ^ Trans. by Cartledge, Annex 4, p. 299; The sentence can also be translated quite differently: "as far as the Helots are concerned, most Spartan institutions have always been designed with a view to security" (ibid.). Thycydides 4, 80, 3.
Jump up ^ Politics 1269 a 37-39.
Jump up ^ Critias, Frag. B 37; see also Xenophon, Rep. Lac. 12, 4.
Jump up ^ FGH 115 F 13.
^ Jump up to: a b Talbert, p. 26.
Jump up ^ Apud Athenaeus, 14, 647d = FGH 106 F 2. Trans. by Cartledge, p.305.
Jump up ^ Life of Lycurgus 28, 8-10. See also, Life of Demetrios, 1, 5; Constitution of the Lacedemonians 30; De Cohibenda Ira 6; De Commmunibus Notitiis 19.
Jump up ^ The word κυνῆ / kunễ is used in Greek literature, especially by Homer in the Iliad, to mean a helmet; in Athens, and in the Odyssey (XXIV, 231), it also means a leather or skin hat.
Jump up ^ Pollux (7, 70) defines it as a "thick chiton with a hood". Ducat (1990), p. 114; Lévy, p. 122.
^ Jump up to: a b Ducat (1990), p. 120.
Jump up ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War, 4, 6, 1.
Jump up ^ Ducat (1990), p. 120. The besieged Spartan hoplites on Sphacteria received two khoinikes of barley flour, two kotyloi of wine and an unquantified portion of meat. The helots were on half-rations. An Attic koinix is 698 gr. which, according to calculations (L. Foxhall and H. A. Forbes, "Sitometria: The Role of Grain as a Staple Food in Classical Antiquity" in Chiron Number 12 (1982), pp. 41–90), was far from miserable: it corresponds to 81% of daily nutritional needs for a moderately active man, according to FAO standards. Complemented with the wine and meat, it can be considered as close to normal, given that the fighting had subsided and that the said helots were only attending to their domestic duties.
Jump up ^ Ducat, pp. 119-121.
Jump up ^ Quoted by Cartledge, p. 151.
Jump up ^ Partially followed by Lévy, pp. 124–126.
Jump up ^ Lévy, p. 12, with a warning that this evidence should not be worked too hard.
Jump up ^ Plutarch. Life of Lycurgus, 28, 10.
Jump up ^ P. Cartledge, review of Ducat (1990), Classical Philology, Vol. 87, No. 3 (July 1992), pp. 260-263.
Jump up ^ Aristotle, frag. 538 Rose = Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus 28, 7 = frag. 538 R.
Jump up ^ Herakleides Lembos, Frag. 370,10 Dilts = Frag. 538 Rose.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. London, J. M. Dent; New York, E. P. Dutton. 1910. Online at the Perseus project. Accessed: 11 June 2006.
Jump up ^ Cartledge. Agesilaos and the Crisis of Sparta, p. 13.
Jump up ^ Sarah B. Pomeroy et al. Ancient Greece. Oxford University Press, 1998: pp. 68 & 148.
Jump up ^ Plutarch. Life of Agesilaus, 3, 1.
Jump up ^ Lévy, p. 119.
Jump up ^ Plutarch. Life of Lycurgus, 8, 7 and 24, 2.
Jump up ^ Apud Pausanias 4, 14, 4–5.
Jump up ^ Lévy, pp. 120-121.
Jump up ^ Lévy, p.121.
^ Jump up to: a b Cartledge, p.141.
Jump up ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War, 4, 26, 6.
Jump up ^ Plutarch. Life of Cleomeles, 23.
Jump up ^ Tyrtaeus, Frag. 7.
Jump up ^ Herodotus. Histories, 8, 28-29.
Jump up ^ Paul Cartledge, Agesilaos and the Crisis of Sparta. London: Johns Hopkins University, 1994, p. 174.
Jump up ^ (in French) J. Tregaro, "Les bâtards spartiates" ("Spartan Bastards"), in Mélanges Pierre Lévêque, 1993.
Jump up ^ Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists, VI, 271F.
Jump up ^ Apud Athenaeus, 6, 271e.
Jump up ^ Thucydides, 1.132, 4.
Jump up ^ Ducat (1990), p.130.
Jump up ^ Thucydides, 1.128, 1.
Jump up ^ Pausanias, 4, 24, 5.
Jump up ^ Ducat (1990), p.131.
Jump up ^ Thucydides, 1.101, 2.
Jump up ^ Diodorus Siculus, 11.63, 4-64,1.
Jump up ^ Plutarch. Life of Lycurgus, 28, 12.
Jump up ^ Plutarch. Life of Cimon, 17, 8.
Jump up ^ Thucydides, 4.41, 2-3.
Sources[edit]
Cartledge, Paul. Sparta and Lakonia. A Regional History 1300 to 362 BC. Routledge, New York, 2002 (2nd edn). ISBN 0-415-26276-3
Ducat, Jean:
(in French) "Le Mépris des Hilotes", in Annales ESC, Number 29 (1974), p. 1451–1564
(in French) "Aspects of Helotism", in Ancient Society, Number 9 (1978), p. 5-46
(in French) Les Hilotes. Athènes : École française d'Athènes, Bulletin de correspondence hellénique, suppl. XX, 1990. ISBN 2-86958-034-7
(in French) Finley, Moses. "Sparte et la société spartiate", Économie et société en Grèce ancienne, Seuil, "Points Histoire" collection, 1984. ISBN 2-02-014644-4
Garlan, Yvon:
(in French) "Greek slaves in time of war", in Actes du Colloque d'histoire, Besançon, 1970
(in French) Slaves in Ancient Greece, La Découverte, coll. "Textes à l'appui" collection, Paris, 1995. ISBN 2-7071-2475-3
(in French) Lévy, Edmond. Sparte : histoire politique et sociale jusqu’à la conquête romaine. Seuil, "Points Histoire" collection, Paris, 2003. ISBN 2-02-032453-9
Oliva, Pavel. Sparta and her Social Problems, Academia, Prague, 1971
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Spartan Women, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002. ISBN 0-19-513067-7
Talbert, R.J.A. "The Role of the Helots in the Class Struggle at Sparta", Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, Vol. 38, No. 1 (1st Qtr., 1989), p. 22-40.
Plutarch, Lycurgus 28
External links[edit]
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Helots.
Helots by Jona Lendering
A Prosperous Economy: Spartiates, Perioikoi, And Helots In One Of The Richest City-States Of Ancient Greece
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Helots&oldid=814998663"
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https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helote
Helote – Afrikaans
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Heloten – Alemannisch
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Ilotes – Catalan
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Heloten – German
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values: Είλωτες – Greek

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https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilota
Ilota – Spanish
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https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilota
Ilota – Basque
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https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilotes
Hilotes – French
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https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilota
Ilota – Galician
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https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heloti
Heloti – Croatian
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Helot – Indonesian
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Iloti – Italian
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values: הלוטים – Hebrew

values: Илоттор – Kyrgyz

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https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heloten
Heloten – Dutch
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Helotene – Norwegian
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Heloci – Polish
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Hilotas – Portuguese
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Heloti – Slovenian
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sl
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https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heloti
Heloti – Serbo-Croatian
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Helootit – Finnish
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Heloter – Swedish
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Helotlar – Turkish
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