The neodamodes ( el, νεοδαμώδεις, ''neodamōdeis'') were helots freed after passing a time of service as

hoplites Hoplites ( ) ( grc, ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The f ...

in the Spartan army. The date of their first apparition is uncertain.

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientif ...

does not explain the origin of this special category. Jean Ducat, in his book ''Les Hoplites'' (1990), concludes that their statute "was largely inspired by the measures dictated concerning the Brasidians", i.e. the helots freed after taking part to the expedition of

Brasidas Brasidas ( el, Βρασίδας, died 422 BC) was the most distinguished Spartan officer during the first decade of the Peloponnesian War who fought in battle of Amphipolis and Pylos. He died during the Second Battle of Amphipolis while winning o ...

in 424 BC. Their existence is attested from 420 to 369 BC. They were part of Sparta's army and 2,000 of them are recorded taking part, for example, to

Agesilaus II Agesilaus II (; grc-gre, Ἀγησίλαος ; c. 442 – 358 BC) was king of Sparta from c. 399 to 358 BC. Generally considered the most important king in the history of Sparta, Agesilaus was the main actor during the period of Spartan hegemon ...

's campaign in Ionia between 396 and 394 BC. The name comes from the words νέος ''neos'', meaning "new", and ''dêmos'', meaning "''deme'' or territory". Differently from what is written by

Hesychius of Alexandria Hesychius of Alexandria ( grc, Ἡσύχιος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Hēsýchios ho Alexandreús, lit=Hesychios the Alexandrian) was a Greek grammarian who, probably in the 5th or 6th century AD,E. Dickey, Ancient Greek Scholarship (2007) ...

, who brings together the neodamodes and the

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

'' demotes'' (citizens of a

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...

), they never acquired full citizenship. The suffix -ωδης ''-ôdês'' signals only a resemblance. In truth, the only ''deme'' they joined was that of the

Perioeci 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'' ...

References

Paul Cartledge Paul Anthony Cartledge (born 24 March 1947)"CARTLEDGE, Prof. Paul Anthony", ''Who's Who 2010'', A & C Black, 2010online edition/ref> is a British ancient historian and academic. From 2008 to 2014 he was the A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek ...

, ''Sparta and Lakonia. A Regional History 1300 to 362 BC'',

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, 2002 (2nd edition) * Richard Talbert, "The Role of the Helots in the Class Struggle at Sparta", ''Historia'', Bd. 38, H. 1 (1st Qtr., 1989), pp. 22-40 * Jean Ducat, ''Les Hilotes'', École française d'Athènes, Hellenic correspondence bulletin, suppl. XX,

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, 199
see link from CEFAEL
; * Edmond Lévy, ''Sparte : histoire politique et sociale jusqu’à la conquête romaine,'' Seuil, coll. '' Points Histoire'', Paris, 2003 (). *{{in lang, it T. Alfieri Tonini, ''Il problema dei neodamodeis nell’ambito della società spartana'', ''Rendiconti dell’Instituto Lombardo'', #109 (1975), pp. 305–316 ; Social classes of Sparta Slavery in ancient Greece Slave soldiers

See also

References