Role of Spartan kings

Military
1. Supreme commander of the army
2. One led the campaign, other stayed in Sparta
3. Right to declare war but never did.
4. In battle had the absolute right of deciding life or death
5. 2 ephors accompanied each king and kept a watch on him
6. Punished if campaign failed
7. Each king had a bodyguard of a hundred hand picked men
8. Aristotle refered to kings as "hereditary generals"
Religious
1. Chief priests
2. Intermediaries between gods and men. They held their office as long as gods were happy
3. If things went wrong the kings were to blame
4. Every ninth year the ephors looked in the skies for a sign of the god's approval for disapproval
5. Kings were priests of Zeus Lacedaemonios and Zeus Uranois
6. Each month they offered sacrificies to Apollo for the city
7. Before campaigns they sacrificed to Zeus. At the frontier they sacrificed to Zeus and Athena
8. Kings appointed two pythioi to consult the Delphic oracle and report on the oracle's directions
Judical
1. Decided on the marriages of orphan heirnesses.
2. Controlled all matters concerning public roads
3. Controlled all the adoption of children
4. Unable to finalise a peace treaty but could establish arrangements and conditions for ratification by the assembly.

Resource summary

	Created by PetrinaluvsJaySean over 11 years ago