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Crypteia
The Crypteia, also referred to as Krypteia or Krupteia (Greek: κρυπτεία krupteía from κρυπτός kruptós, "hidden, secret"; members were κρύπται kryptai), was an ancient Spartan state institution. The kryptai either principally sought out and killed helots across Laconia and Messenia as part of a policy of terrorising and intimidating the enslaved population, or they principally did a form of military training, or they principally endured hardships as an initiation ordeal, or the Crypteia served a combination of all these purposes, possibly varying over time. The Krypteia was an element of the Spartan state's child-rearing system for upper-class males.
Modern historians often translate "Krypteia" as "secret police"[citation needed] or "secret service", but its precise structure is debated.
Much of the debate surrounding the Crypteia comes from the differing accounts provided by the few surviving Classical texts that mention the Crypteia, and the fact that Xenophon's Constitution of the Lacedaemonians makes no mention of it.
Plutarch and Heraclides Lembus (both of whom may be using a lost work by Aristotle as a source),[citation needed] and some scholars, (such as Henri-Alexandre Wallon (1812–1904)), saw the Crypteia as a kind of secret police – a state security force organised by the ruling class of Sparta to patrol the Laconian countryside and terrorise the helots, by carrying out secret killings. Others, including Hermann Köchly (1815–1876) and Wilhelm Wachsmuth (1784–1866), saw it as a form of military training similar to the Athenian ephebia.
The ranks of the Crypteia comprised young upper-class Spartan men, probably between the ages of 21 and 30, possibly selected as "those judged to have the most intelligence."[need quotation to verify] The men were known as hêbôntes, one of the many social categories that preceded full Spartiate citizenship, and had completed their rearing at the agoge with such success that Spartan officials marked them out as potential future leaders.
According to Plato, the kryptai did not use footwear during the winter and slept without shelter. Plato describes them as being unsupervised and as depending on themselves alone for survival. Plato's description might seem to imply that the kryptai were forced to be independent, but some scholars think that they may have had attendants at certain times to watch over them.[need quotation to verify]
The duration of service in the Crypteia is also largely unknown, but it has been suggested that one year of service may have been all that was required of the men,[need quotation to verify] based on a scholion of Plato's Laws (see below).
According to Aristotle, the Crypteia were established by the legendary Spartan lawgiver Lycurgus. There is no known date associated with its establishment, however. Every autumn, Spartan ephors would declare war on the helot population which would allow them to headhunt helots without fear of punishment. The chosen kryptai were then sent out into the countryside armed with daggers with the instructions to kill any helot they encountered travelling the roads and tending to fields they deemed too plentiful. They were specifically told to kill the strongest and to take any food they needed.
Crypteia
The Crypteia, also referred to as Krypteia or Krupteia (Greek: κρυπτεία krupteía from κρυπτός kruptós, "hidden, secret"; members were κρύπται kryptai), was an ancient Spartan state institution. The kryptai either principally sought out and killed helots across Laconia and Messenia as part of a policy of terrorising and intimidating the enslaved population, or they principally did a form of military training, or they principally endured hardships as an initiation ordeal, or the Crypteia served a combination of all these purposes, possibly varying over time. The Krypteia was an element of the Spartan state's child-rearing system for upper-class males.
Modern historians often translate "Krypteia" as "secret police"[citation needed] or "secret service", but its precise structure is debated.
Much of the debate surrounding the Crypteia comes from the differing accounts provided by the few surviving Classical texts that mention the Crypteia, and the fact that Xenophon's Constitution of the Lacedaemonians makes no mention of it.
Plutarch and Heraclides Lembus (both of whom may be using a lost work by Aristotle as a source),[citation needed] and some scholars, (such as Henri-Alexandre Wallon (1812–1904)), saw the Crypteia as a kind of secret police – a state security force organised by the ruling class of Sparta to patrol the Laconian countryside and terrorise the helots, by carrying out secret killings. Others, including Hermann Köchly (1815–1876) and Wilhelm Wachsmuth (1784–1866), saw it as a form of military training similar to the Athenian ephebia.
The ranks of the Crypteia comprised young upper-class Spartan men, probably between the ages of 21 and 30, possibly selected as "those judged to have the most intelligence."[need quotation to verify] The men were known as hêbôntes, one of the many social categories that preceded full Spartiate citizenship, and had completed their rearing at the agoge with such success that Spartan officials marked them out as potential future leaders.
According to Plato, the kryptai did not use footwear during the winter and slept without shelter. Plato describes them as being unsupervised and as depending on themselves alone for survival. Plato's description might seem to imply that the kryptai were forced to be independent, but some scholars think that they may have had attendants at certain times to watch over them.[need quotation to verify]
The duration of service in the Crypteia is also largely unknown, but it has been suggested that one year of service may have been all that was required of the men,[need quotation to verify] based on a scholion of Plato's Laws (see below).
According to Aristotle, the Crypteia were established by the legendary Spartan lawgiver Lycurgus. There is no known date associated with its establishment, however. Every autumn, Spartan ephors would declare war on the helot population which would allow them to headhunt helots without fear of punishment. The chosen kryptai were then sent out into the countryside armed with daggers with the instructions to kill any helot they encountered travelling the roads and tending to fields they deemed too plentiful. They were specifically told to kill the strongest and to take any food they needed.
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