Harmost ( el, , "joiner" or "adaptor") was a

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...

n term for a military governor. The Spartan general

Lysander Lysander (; grc-gre, Λύσανδρος ; died 395 BC) was a Spartan military and political leader. He destroyed the Athenian fleet at the Battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC, forcing Athens to capitulate and bringing the Peloponnesian War to an en ...

instituted several harmosts during the period of

Spartan hegemony The polis of Sparta was the greatest military land power of classical Greek antiquity. During the Classical period, Sparta governed, dominated or influenced the entire Peloponnese. Additionally, the defeat of the Athenians and the Delian League ...

after the end of the

Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of ...

in 404 BC. They were sent into their subject or conquered towns, partly to keep them in submission, and partly to abolish the democratic form of government, and establish

oligarchies Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, ...

instead. Although in many cases they were ostensibly sent for the purpose of abolishing the tyrannical government of a town and restoring freedom, they were accused of acting like kings or tyrants themselves, such that the first century AD grammarian

Dionysius The name Dionysius (; el, Διονύσιος ''Dionysios'', "of Dionysus"; la, Dionysius) was common in classical and post-classical times. Etymologically it is a nominalized adjective formed with a -ios suffix from the stem Dionys- of the name ...

thought that harmost was merely another word for "king". In the

peace of Antalcidas The King's Peace (387 BC) was a peace treaty guaranteed by the Persian King Artaxerxes II that ended the Corinthian War in ancient Greece. The treaty is also known as the Peace of Antalcidas, after Antalcidas, the Spartan diplomat who traveled t ...

the Lacedaemonians pledged to reestablish free governments in their subject towns, but they nevertheless continued to install harmosts in them. Even

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies o ...

, generally pro-Spartan, censured the Spartans for the manner in which they allowed their harmosts to govern. It is uncertain how long the office of an harmost lasted; but considering that a governor of the same kind, who was appointed by the Lacedaemonians in Cythera, with the title of ''Cytherodikes'', held his office only for one year, it is not improbable that the office of harmost was of the same duration. The

Thebans Thebes (; ell, Θήβα, ''Thíva'' ; grc, Θῆβαι, ''Thêbai'' .) is a city in Boeotia, Central Greece. It played an important role in Greek myths, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus, Heracles and others. Archaeol ...

also used the term during the

Theban hegemony The Theban hegemony lasted from the Theban victory over the Spartans at Leuctra in 371 BC to their defeat of a coalition of Peloponnesian armies at Mantinea in 362 BC, though Thebes sought to maintain its position until finally eclipsed by th ...

. There is an earlier use of the word in a scholium to

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...

's odes, but the meaning isn't explained. It's been proposed these were officials sent as overseers into the

Perioci The Perioeci or Perioikoi (, ) were the second-tier citizens of the '' polis'' of Sparta until 200 BC. They lived in several dozen cities within Spartan territories (mostly Laconia and Messenia), which were dependent on Sparta. The ''perioeci' ...

communities.''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', Perioeci
/ref>

References

Military ranks of Sparta Ancient Greek government {{AncientGreece-stub

See also

References