Ancient writers admired Sparta's government for its stability. While other Greek cities swung between tyranny, oligarchy and democracy, Sparta kept essentially the same constitution for centuries. Its system was unusual: it combined kings, a council of old men, elected officials and an assembly of citizens.
Two kings
Sparta had two kings at the same time, from two royal families, the Agiads and the Eurypontids, each claiming descent from Heracles. The kingship was hereditary. The kings' most important role was military command: one king usually led the army on campaign. They also held religious duties, performing sacrifices on behalf of the city, and had judicial roles in certain matters, such as family inheritance and public roads. Having two kings divided power, and the kings often disagreed, which may have prevented either from becoming a tyrant.
Spartan kings were honored in life and in death. When a king died, the whole community mourned in elaborate ceremonies, which Herodotus compared to the customs of Persian and other foreign peoples.
The council of elders
The gerousia, or council of elders, consisted of twenty-eight men over the age of sixty, plus the two kings. Members were elected for life. The method of election, as Plutarch describes it, was unusual: candidates walked one by one through the assembly, and judges shut away in a nearby building listened to the loudness of the shouting for each, choosing the man who received the loudest acclaim. The gerousia prepared proposals for the assembly and served as a high court for serious cases, including those that could lead to death or exile.
The ephors
Every year the citizens elected five ephors, whose name means “overseers.” Any Spartan citizen could be elected, but no one could serve twice. The ephors held great power. They presided over the assembly and the council, supervised the education of the young, oversaw the conduct of citizens, and could even prosecute and put the kings on trial. Two ephors traveled with a king on campaign to watch over him. Each month the kings and ephors exchanged oaths: the kings swore to rule according to the laws, and the ephors swore on behalf of the city to uphold the kings' position as long as they did so.
The ephors also played a darker role. According to Aristotle, as quoted by Plutarch, each year when they took office the ephors formally declared war on the helots, so that killing a helot would not bring religious pollution.
The assembly
Adult male citizens met in an assembly, often called the apella. It elected the ephors and elders and voted on matters such as war and peace. Unlike the Athenian assembly, it did not usually debate; ordinary members could not propose motions. Votes were usually taken by shouting, and the presiding official judged which side was louder. On one famous occasion in 432 BCE, described by Thucydides, an ephor who could not tell which shout was louder made the citizens physically separate into two groups, and the majority voted for war with Athens.
A mixed constitution
Greek philosophers praised Sparta as an example of a mixed constitution, combining elements of monarchy (the kings), aristocracy (the elders) and democracy (the assembly and ephors), so that each checked the others. Aristotle discussed it at length in his Politics, praising some features and sharply criticizing others, such as the ephors' power and the way the election of elders invited canvassing. Later political thinkers, including the framers of the US Constitution, were interested in the idea of a mixed constitution with checks and balances, though Sparta was only one of the ancient models they considered.
Who counted as a citizen?
Full Spartan citizens, called Spartiates or “equals,” were a small minority of the people living in Spartan territory. They had to complete the state education and contribute food to a communal mess. Below them were the perioikoi, the “dwellers around,” free people in surrounding towns who ran their own local affairs, served in the army and carried on trade and crafts, but had no say in Spartan government. At the bottom were the helots. Spartan “equality,” in other words, was equality among a privileged few.
Worked example: checks and balances, Spartan style
Imagine a Spartan king returns from a campaign accused of taking a bribe to withdraw from enemy territory. Trace how the system might respond.
- The accusation. The ephors, who watched him on campaign, bring charges.
- The court. The king is tried before a court that includes the gerousia and the ephors, and his fellow king may sit in judgment.
- The penalty. If convicted, he may be fined heavily or forced into exile. This really happened: King Pleistoanax was exiled in 445 BCE after being accused of accepting bribes to withdraw from Attica.
- The limit. Kingship remains hereditary, so his family keeps the throne.
Sparta shows that even a deeply unequal society can build institutions that limit the power of its rulers. But checks and balances among the powerful are not the same as rights for everyone. Sparta's constitution protected its citizens from tyranny while denying freedom to the majority who lived under it, a reminder that the question of who is included matters as much as how power is divided.