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GCSE Classics · key term
An unfree agricultural population under Spartan control whose work on estates supported Spartan citizens; helots could also be required to undertake military duties.
Used by OCR
Paper 5
Revise: The Spartan Command Structure and Non-Citizen RolesThe perioeci, also called perioikoi, were free inhabitants of communities under Spartan control. They were not full Spartan citizens and had no political rights in Sparta. Their position was therefore different from both the privileged Spartiates and the unfree helots.
Do not describe the perioeci as helots: the perioeci were free non-citizens, whereas helots were an unfree labouring population.
Explain military importance through a connection: helot farming supported citizen soldiers by freeing them from agricultural work.
Use specific wartime contributions: Herodotus describes lightly armed helots at Plataea, while Thucydides describes helots delivering provisions to Sphacteria.
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