Women and Slaves
Women lived the same life as men. They wore plain clothing, no jewelry, cosmetics, or perfume. They were expected to be physically fit and ready to fight. A wife was expected to look over her husband's property when he was at war. Spartan women had rights that many other greek women did not have. They were free to speak, they could own and control their own property, and they could even marry again if their husband was at war for a long time.
Spartan slaves, helots, were those who were conquered at war. In Sparta there was many more helots then their were citizens. The people of Sparta were afraid that the helots would revolt, and this meant the people treated them harshly. Sometimes the government demanded war so that they could kill the helots in a legal way. The Spartan government asked the helots to choose their best fighters, and once they were chosen those helots would be set free as a thanks for fighting. Two thousand helots were chosen. The Spartan killed every single one of them just to be sure there would be no future helot leaders. Though the helots were treated harshly they did have some rights. They could marry whenever they wanted and to whoever they wanted, they could pass their names down to their children, they could sell extra crops after they gave their master his share, and if they saved enough money they could buy their own freedom.
Women lived the same life as men. They wore plain clothing, no jewelry, cosmetics, or perfume. They were expected to be physically fit and ready to fight. A wife was expected to look over her husband's property when he was at war. Spartan women had rights that many other greek women did not have. They were free to speak, they could own and control their own property, and they could even marry again if their husband was at war for a long time.
Spartan slaves, helots, were those who were conquered at war. In Sparta there was many more helots then their were citizens. The people of Sparta were afraid that the helots would revolt, and this meant the people treated them harshly. Sometimes the government demanded war so that they could kill the helots in a legal way. The Spartan government asked the helots to choose their best fighters, and once they were chosen those helots would be set free as a thanks for fighting. Two thousand helots were chosen. The Spartan killed every single one of them just to be sure there would be no future helot leaders. Though the helots were treated harshly they did have some rights. They could marry whenever they wanted and to whoever they wanted, they could pass their names down to their children, they could sell extra crops after they gave their master his share, and if they saved enough money they could buy their own freedom.