Spartan Government: The Gerousia: Body of Elders

Question 1

What element of the constitution (as written by Xenophon) was the Gerousia?

Answer 1

• The oligarchic element

Question 2

According to Plutarch, the Gerousia came about as Lycurgus’ attempt to what? How? (Quote)

Answer 2

• Part of Lycurgus’ attempt to safeguard the state by “allaying and qualifying the fiery genius of the royal office”

Question 3

What is the Gerousia most likely the result of?

Answer 3

• Conflict between the kings and nobles about the time of the first Messenian War

Question 4

How many members of the Gerousia were there?

Answer 4

• 28 + the two kings (30 in total)

Question 5

Who could become a member of the Gerousia?

Answer 5

• Spartans over 60 years of age

Question 6

How long did gerontes hold their office? What was it regarded as?

Answer 6

• For life

- Regarded as a reward for merit

Question 7

Where were members of the Gerousia elected?

Answer 7

• In the assembly

Question 8

Were the candidates for the Gerousia from noble families? What does Aristotle say?

Answer 8

• It is not certain whether the candidates were from noble families or were simply of wealth and renown
• They were from the “best families”

Question 9

What does Plutarch tell us members of the Gerousia had to be? (Quote)

Answer 9

• “the best and most deserving men past sixty years old”

Question 10

Outline the selection process for the Gerousia (5). Who tells us this?

Answer 10

• Selection done by acclamation
• The candidates were brought in one by one - their order of appearance being decided by lot
• In an adjoining room, selected people listened to the volume of shouting for each candidate
• Results recorded in order
• Once the successful candidate was declared, he was taken in triumphant procession around the city to all the temples
• Plutarch

Question 11

What does Aristotle say about the way members of the Gerousia were selected?

Answer 11

• He called it “childish”

Question 12

Give two of the functions of the Gerousia

Answer 12

• Preparing Bills

- Criminal Court

Question 13

The Gerousia was a probouleutic body. What does this mean?

Answer 13

• It prepared and deliberated on bills to be presented to the assembly for voting

Question 14

What would the Gerousia do if it was not happy with the assembly’s vote on an issue

Answer 14

• Decline to accept it by adjourning - in which case the bill would not be passed

Question 15

What three elements of the Spartan government acted together as a criminal court?

Answer 15

• The Gerousia, Kings and Ephors

Question 16

What cases did the Gerousia try? What penalties did they impose?

Answer 16

• Cases of murder and treason

- Penalties ranging from death to banishment and fines

Question 17

Evaluate Plutarch as a source for the Spartan government. Was he contemporary? What was Sparta like during his life? Did he use any other sources?

Answer 17

• Not a contemporary, writing around 500 years after the fall of classical Sparta
• At this stage Sparta was a popular tourist destination where Romans would visit to see ‘Spartans’ re-enact traditions (Plutarch himself visited)
• He use contemporary sources such as Xenophon, Thucydides, Aristotle and Plato

Question 18

According to Plutarch, what authority did the Gerousia have? What did they have control over? (2 Quotes)

Answer 18

• “sweeping authority in the state”

- “with control over death and loss of citizen rights, and the most important matters generally”

Question 19

According to Plutarch, who were chosen to be gerontes? (Quote)

Answer 19

• “not the swiftest of the swift, or the strongest of the strong, but the best and wisest of the good and wise”

Question 20

According to Xenophon, what did the qualifying age of the Gerousia ensure? (Quote)

Answer 20

• “by placing the election towards the end of life, he ensured that they continued to exercise virtue into old age”

Question 21

Why does Xenophon refer to the contest of the Gerousia as “the most important a man could enter”?

Answer 21

• Because the contest is about “nobility of character” rather than physical strength

Question 22

Aristotle condemns the unaccountability of the Gerousia. In what way does he say they are unaccountable? (Quote)

Answer 22

• “exempt from scrutiny even from the ephors”

Question 23

What does Aristotle say is the issue with how late in life a Spartan could become a gerontes? (Quote)

Answer 23

• “the mind grows old no less than the body”

Question 24

Why are the sources vague about the specifics of the power of the Gerousia?

Answer 24

• Political bodies like the Gerousia were quite common in the Greek world so they wouldn’t have felt the need to describe their power in detail