The Spartan political system, as well as the education system, is believed to be the work of the mythical Lycurgus in the 7th century BC. AD, although Plutarch places it in the 9th or 8th century BC. J.-C. Son of a Spartan king, the latter would have gone to the sanctuary of Delphi to consult the Pythia, and would have brought back the future Spartan constitution, the Great Rhêtra (μεγάλη ρήτρα / megálê rhếtra). Probably unwritten, this constitution was drawn up after the long wars of Messenia, which weakened the aristocracy and the entire city. To allow the city to subsist, eunomia (equality of the law for all) is then instituted, supposed to resolve discontent and privileges. But unlike Athens, the eunomia is synonymous with great discipline. All components of the city make sacrifices:royalty, aristocracy, people.
Lycurgus' system brings together elements of four regimes:
* dyarchy:existence of two kings;
* oligarchy:gerousy;
* tyranny:the ephors;
* democracy:assembly (Ekklesia).
Total eunomia
It is obvious that the crisis of the seventh century BC. AD could only be solved by the creation of an army of hoplites, succeeding the warriors on horseback or in few chariots. It is the creation of this class of citizens, by the absorption of the landed aristocracy into the popular mass, which founds the εὐνομία / eunomía (from εὖ / eũ, "good" and νόμος / nómos, "the custom, the law").
This absorption has been taken very far, in order to create total equality:
* the aristocrats completely renounced their privileges:in the 6th century, the Spartan civic body numbered 7,000 to 8,000 Equals (Homoioi);
* the landed aristocracy renounced their lands, to put them in common; each receives an equal lot, the κλῆρος / klễros (“lot, inheritance”), inalienable; he cannot put it up for sale or mortgage it; this kleros is non-hereditary, cultivated by state slaves (the Helots), and the product is returned in kind to the owner, who thus feeds his family, but cannot enrich himself; it is also forbidden to trade; thus, everyone is entirely available for the only civic activity, war;
* education is the same for all (see below) and only geared towards war;
* equal political rights:all citizens participate in the Assembly.
The assembly
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The assembly is the gathering of equals. It is gathered on fixed dates.
Projects shaped by gerousia are submitted to it. It approves or not, without discussing them (no citizen speaks), the amendments proposed by the ephors. It votes on decisions by acclamation, or, much more rarely, by moving the voters, but its vote does not bind the greousy which may consider that the people have made a mistake.
It also elects the ephors and the gerontes, by a process which seems childish to Aristotle:individuals locked up in a closed place measure the intensity of the acclamations. Its actual operation is not well known to us. It is not known if all the Spartans could speak there, for example to propose a law or an amendment, or if the assembly was content to elect the ephors and gerontes.
For Aristotle, the assembly has such weak power that he does not even mention it as a democratic element of the Spartan regime.
Kings
From the reform of Lycurgus in the 7th century BC. J.-C., Sparta has two kings (arkhagétai, from archế, the command). One is part of the family of Agiades (Agiádai), the other that of Eurypontides (Εὐρυποντίδαι / Eurupontídai), two families descended, according to legend, from twin descendants of Heracles. Families cannot intermarry, and their tombs are in different places. The two kings are assumed to be equal.
Royal power is transmitted to the "nearest descendant of the closest holder of the most royal power" (Pierre Carlier, La Royauté en Grece avant Alexandre, AECR, 1984), that is to say that the son passes before the brother , that there is birthright but that the son born when the father is already king takes precedence over those for whom such is not the case. Nevertheless, it seems that the Spartans interpreted this rule of succession liberally.
The powers of the kings are essentially military and religious. In the beginning, the kings can lead the war against the country of their choice, and their power is collegial. In -506, it is the famous "divorce of Eleusis" and thereafter, the kings campaign alone. In the fifth century BC. J.-C., moreover, it is the Assembly which votes the war, and the ephors which decide on the mobilization. Anyway, the king on campaign is the commander-in-chief (ἡγεμών / hêgemốn). He takes precedence over other generals, can conclude truces, and fights in the front rank on the right wing, protected by his hundred-man honor guard, the Ἱππείς / Hippeís.
Gerousia
The gerousia (γερουσία / gerousia) is an assembly of 28 men over the age of 60, elected for life by acclamation to the Assembly, after application, and of the two kings. Chosen for their military virtue, most gerontes belong to the great families of Sparta. However, every citizen, regardless of wealth or rank, can stand as a candidate. These different selection criteria make it an instrument of conservatism.
They play an eminent political role:they are the only ones who can prepare laws and have the initiative. They have the equivalent of a right of veto over the votes of the Assembly. They manage all domestic political affairs. They judge kings. They do not report. Until the third century BC. J.-C., we do not know of any veto of gerousia.
They are also the supreme court, which judges crimes and pronounces the death penalty and the loss of civil rights.
The five ephors
The ephors (éphoroi) are a directory which constitutes real antagonists to the kings. They were present before the reform of Lycurgus. They are elected for one year by the assembly, and not re-eligible.
As their name suggests (from ὁράω / oráô, to monitor), they are responsible for monitoring the kings, split, and also the inhabitants of the city, and in particular to ensure respect for traditions. They can inflict fines, prison sentences (even to kings) and order executions (in particular, have helots executed without trial, as during the kryptia). They are also in charge of foreign affairs, carry out the decisions of the assembly (which they chair), order mobilization and take urgent decisions themselves. One of them (it is not known how it is chosen) gives its name to the year and to official documents:it is thus called the eponymous ephor. Chosen from citizens of modest extraction, they are an element of egalitarianism in Spartan society.
Their power is so great that Aristotle describes it as equal to that of tyrants (ἰσοτύραννος / isotúrannos). In fact, they are supposed to represent the people. Cicero, in The Republic, compares them to the tribunes of the plebs. Every month, the kings swear to respect the laws, and the ephors to maintain the royalty. Their power has limits:they are not re-eligible, they are subject to accountability on the initiative of their successors and can be put to death on this occasion.