ephor

An ephor (Classical Greek Ἔφορος) (from the Greek ἐπί epi, "on" or "over", and ὁράω horaō, "to see", i.e. "one who oversees") was an official of ancient Sparta. There were five ephors elected annually, who swore each month to uphold the rule of the two Kings of Sparta, while the kings swore to uphold the law.

Herodotus claimed that the institution was created by Lycurgus, while Plutarch considers it a later institution. It may have arisen from the need for governors while the kings were leading armies in battle. The ephors were elected by the popular assembly, and all citizens were eligible for election. They were forbidden to be reelected. They provided a balance for the two kings, who rarely cooperated with each other. Plato called them tyrants who ran Sparta as despots, while the kings were little more than generals.

According to Plutarch (Life of Lycurgus, 28, 3–7), every autumn, at the crypteia, the ephors would pro forma declare war on the helot population so that any Spartan citizen could kill a helot without fear of blood guilt.^[1]

The Ephors did not have to kneel down before the Kings of Sparta and were highly considered by the citizens, because of the importance of their powers and because of the holy role they earned throughout their functions. Since decisions were made by majority vote, this could mean that Sparta's policy could change fast, when one vote of an ephor switched (e.g. in 403 BC when Pausanias convinced three of the ephors to send an army to Attica). This was a complete turnaround to the politics of Lysander^[2].

Cleomenes III abolished the ephors in 227 BC, but they were restored by the Macedonian king Antigonus III Doson after the Battle of Sellasia. The position existed into the 2nd century AD when it was probably abolished by the Roman emperor Hadrian.

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