{{Short description|Citizens' assembly in ancient Sparta}} {{distinguish|Apellai}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Spartan Constitution}} The '''Spartan Assembly''', was the assembly of full citizens in the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] [[Polis|city-state]] of [[Sparta]]. Its principal role was to ratify the proposals brought to it by the ''[[gerousia]]'' and the [[ephor]]s. Unlike its more famous counterpart the [[Ecclesia (ancient Greece)|Assembly]] of ancient [[Classical Athens|Athens]], the Spartan Assembly had more limited powers. Its concurrence was required for legislation, and it helped determine state policy, particularly in foreign affairs. It voted by acclamation, and whether it debated is uncertain. The Assembly had regular meetings, which were probably convened and chaired by the ephors. Its official name is generally considered to have been 'the '''Ekklesia'''',The same name used by the Athenians for their popular assembly. rather than 'the '''Apella'''' as once commonly thought.For general references, see: Gomme, Cadoux, and Rhodes 2015, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.2364 s.v. ekklēsia]; Cartledge 2015, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.571 s.v. Apellai (1)]; Rhodes 2006, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e327970.xml s.v. Ekklesia]; Welwei 2006, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e126900.xml s.v. Apella, Apellai]. ==Description== The Spartan Assembly consisted of the entire adult male citizenry, the [[Spartiate]]s.Gomme, Cadoux, and Rhodes 2015, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.2364 s.v. ekklēsia]; Cartledge 2015, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.571 s.v. Apellai (1)], which adds the qualifier "in good standing". Its total number of members is estimated to have been at least 3,000 during the fifth century BC.Andrewes 1967, p. 6; Kelly 1981, 48. It was one of the three institutions involved with decision-making at Sparta,Esu 2024, p. 125. its principal function being to ratify the proposals of the other two decision-making bodies, the ''[[gerousia]]'' (the council of elders, including the two Spartan kings), and the [[ephor]]s.Esu 2024, p. 127. For discussions of the government of Sparta, see: Esu 2024, pp. 125–151; Kennell 2010, pp. 93–114; Ehrenberg 1968, [https://archive.org/details/fromsolontosocra0000ehre/page/30/mode/2up pp. 31–47]; Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/n21/mode/2up pp. 1–20]. In contrast to its Athenian counterpart, very little is known for certain about the Spartan Assembly.Kennell 2010, pp. 111–112. Compare: Luther 2006, p. 75, which remarks on the relative rarity of mentions of the Spartan Assembly in antiquity, and notes that these may be concealed behind more general expressions such as οἱ Λακεδαιμόνοι (''Lakedaimonioi'', 'the Lacedaemonians' i.e Spartans), ἡ πόλις ('the polis') or τὸ κοινόν (''to koinón'', 'the body politic'); Esu 2024, p. 129, which notes that Sparta lacked the same "epigraphic habit" of Classical Athens. It could not, unlike the Athenian assembly, introduce legislation; it could only vote on legislation brought before it by the ''gerousia'' or ephors.Kennell 2010, p. 112. The Assembly was probably convened and chaired by the ephors and, in addition to its legislative powers, it also decided issues of war and peace, appointed military commanders, elected the ''gerontes'' (i.e. the members of the ''gerousia''), and could emancipate [[helots]].Luther 2006, p. 73; Cartledge 2015, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.571 s.v. Apellai (1)]. Decisions of the Assembly were determined by shouting (or occasionally by division), rather than the counting of votes.Cartledge 2015, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.571 s.v. Apellai (1)]; Gomme, Cadoux, and Rhodes 2015, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.2364 s.v. ekklēsia]; [[Thucydides]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.perseus-eng3:1.87 1.87.1–3]; [[Plutarch]], ''Lycurgus'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg004.perseus-eng1:26.2 26.2–3]. Whether ordinary members of the Assembly had the right to speak is unclear.Kennell 2010, pp. 111–112; Ste. Croix 1972, p. 125. ==History== ===Archaic period=== The Spartan Assembly probably existed, as an official Spartan institution, at least by the seventh century BC, and at first presumably met only when summoned. The earliest source concerning the Assembly is the [[Great Rhetra]] (c. 700 BC?). As quoted by the first-century historian [[Plutarch]], and attributed to the legendary lawgiver [[Lycurgus]], the Rhetra describes the Assembly's role in governing Sparta. According to the Rhetra, decision-making was divided among the ''archagetai'' ('kings'), the ''gerousia'' ('elders'), and the ''damos''The Doric spelling of the more familiar ''demos'', see ''[[LSJ]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3DD.H.%3Dmos1 s.v. δῆμος]. ('people', i.e. the Assembly). The Assembly had regular meetings, at a fixed time and place, during which the two kings and the ''gerousia'' could put proposals for approval before the Assembly, and the kings and ''gerousia'' could veto any enactment passed by the Assembly.Ehrenberg 1968, [https://archive.org/details/fromsolontosocra0000ehre/page/32/mode/2up p. 32]; Welwei 2006, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e126900.xml s.v. Apella, Apellai]; Gomme, Cadoux, and Rhodes 2015, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.2364 s.v. ekklēsia]; [[Plutarch]], ''Lycurgus'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg004.perseus-eng1:6.1 6.1–7.1]. For translations and discussions of the Great Rhetra, see: Esu 2024, pp. 126–127, 136–137; Nafissi 2010; Kennell 2010, pp. 45–50; Raaflaub and Wallace 2007, pp. 37–40; Ehrenberg 1968 [https://archive.org/details/fromsolontosocra0000ehre/page/32/mode/2up pp. 32–36]; Wade-Gery 1958, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/36/mode/2up pp. 37–85]. According to modern scholarship, the Rhetra did not, as Plutarch thought, ''establish'' Sparta's form of government, rather it described an existing form, see: Nafissi 2010; Esu 2024, p. 127: "Nafissi has demonstrated that the rhētra does not, in fact, outline the original foundation of the Spartan constitution; rather it is a piece of retrospective history elaborated and accepted by Archaic Spartan society". A fragment of the mid-seventh-century BC Spartan poet [[Tyrtaeus]]—using the terms "men of the people" (''dēmotas andras'') and "mass of the people" (''dēmou plēthei'')—seems also to refer to the Spartan Assembly during the Archaic period, saying that, after the kings and elders, then: {{blockquote|the men of the people, responding with straight utterances, are to speak fair words, act justly in everything, and not give the city (crooked) counsel. Victory and power are to accompany the mass of the people.Tyrtaeus [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/tyrtaeus-fragments/1999/pb_LCL258.41.xml fr. 4.5–9 Gerber]; Raaflaub and Wallace 2007, p. 38; West 1974, pp. 184–186; West 1972, pp. 151–152; [[Plutarch]], ''Lycurgus'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg004.perseus-eng1:6.4 6.4] (vv. 5–6); [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/diodorus_siculus-library_history/1933/pb_LCL340.373.xml 7.12.6] (vv. 5–9). The text translated here is five verses of a ten verse fragment of Tyrtaeus, with vv. 5–6 coming from Plutarch (with minor substitutions from Diodorus) and vv. 7–9 coming from Diodorus, see van Hilten-Rutten 2020, pp. 72–73 with n. 3.}} As reported by fifth-century BC historian [[Herodotus]], the Assembly had enough power in the mid-sixth century BC such that the threat of action by it could force the Spartan king [[Anaxandridas II]] to give in to the demands of the ephors and ''gerousia'' and take a second wife.Kennell 2010, p. 104; Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/2/mode/2up pp. 3–4]; [[Herodotus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:5.39.2 5.39.2–40.1]. ===Classical period=== By at least the Classical period, the Assembly was involved in the election of public officials.Cartledge 2015, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.571 s.v. Apellai (1)]; Luther 2006, p. 73. These included the ''gerontes'' and "very probably" the ephors.Ste. Croix, p. 130. [[Plutarch]], ''Agis'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg051a.perseus-eng1:8.1 8.1], mentions Lysander's "election as ephor" in c. 243 BC. The election of the ''gerontes'', by the Assembly, is attested in the fourth century BC.[[Aristotle]], ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg035.perseus-eng1:4.1294b 4.1294b.31]. A century earlier [[Herodotus]] had already connected the Assembly with elections, saying that for ten days after a Spartan king is buried, "there are no assemblies or elections".Luther 2006, p. 76; [[Herodotus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:6.58.6 6.58.6]. Plutarch, writing in the first century AD, places the election of the ''gerontes'', by the Assembly, in the legendary past, attributing its establishment to [[Lycurgus]].[[Plutarch]], ''Lycurgus'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg004.perseus-eng1:26.1 26.1]. Plutarch describes the procedure for these elections as follows: {{blockquote|An assembly [ἐκκλησίας] of the people having been convened, chosen men were shut up in a room near by so that they could neither see nor be seen, but only hear the shouts of the assembly. For as in other matters, so here, the cries of the assembly decided between the competitors. These did not appear in a body, but each one was introduced separately, as the lot fell, and passed silently through the assembly. Then the secluded judges, who had writing-tablets with them, recorded in each case the loudness of the shouting, not knowing for whom it was given, but only that he was introduced first, second, or third, and so on. Whoever was greeted with the most and loudest shouting, him they declared elected.[[Plutarch]], ''Lycurgus'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg004.perseus-eng1:26.2 26.2–3]. [[Aristotle]], ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg035.perseus-eng1:2.1271a 2.1271a.9–10], calls the procedure for the electing the ''gerontes'' "childish" (παιδαριώδης), see Esu 2024, p. 133; compare with ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg035.perseus-eng1:2.1270b 2.1270b.26–28], where he uses the same word to describe the [same?] procedure for electing the ephors.}} In the fifth century BC, the most notable actions of the Assembly involve war with Athens. In the 470s, a debate was held in the Assembly concerning the issue of whether Sparta should go to war with Athens for control of the sea. According to [[Diodorus Siculus]], "the younger men and the majority of the others were [at first] eager" for war, but were eventually persuaded otherwise.Wade-Gery 1958, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/64/mode/2up p. 65]; Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/4/mode/2up p. 4]; [[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/diodorus_siculus-library_history/1933/pb_LCL375.253.xml 11.50]. [[Thucydides]] describes a debate in the Assembly, in 432 BC, in which "the opinions of the majority all led to the same conclusion; the Athenians were open aggressors", and ended with the Assembly voting, by division, to declare war on Athens.Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/4/mode/2up p. 4]; Wade-Gery 1958, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/64/mode/2up p. 65]; [[Thucydides]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.perseus-eng3:1.79 1.79-87]. The Assembly is recorded as being involved in several other significant events, in the fifth and fourth centuries—most regarding the issues of war and peace (see below).Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/4/mode/2up pp. 4–8]; Ste. Croix, pp. 128–130. Other than the Great Rhetra and the Tyrtaeus fragment, no general statements concerning the Spartan Assembly are found until the fourth century BC, in book two of [[Aristotle]]'s ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]''. Aristotle describes the Spartan Assembly as having "no powers except the function of confirming by vote the resolutions already formed by the Elders [''gerousia'']".Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/2/mode/2up pp. 2–3]; [[Aristotle]], ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg035.perseus-eng1:2.1272a 2.1272a]. In a following passage Aristotle says that, unlike at [[Carthage]], where "anybody who wishes may speak against the proposals introduced", at Sparta (and Crete), the "people" must "merely ... sit and listen to the decisions that have been taken by their rulers".Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/2/mode/2up p. 3]; [[Aristotle]], ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg035.perseus-eng1:2.1273a 2.1273a]. For a discussion of this problematic passage see Wade-Gery, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/50/mode/2up pp. 51–54]. ===Historical record: 540–243 BC=== The historical record of events—as reported by [[Herodotus]], [[Thucydides]], [[Xenophon]], [[Diodorus Siculus]], and [[Plutarch]]—in which the Assembly is explicitly mentioned as being involved (or not involved)There are several other events in the historical record for which the involvement of the Assembly, although not explicitly attested, can be inferred, see: Ste. Crois 1972, p. 129; Kelly 1981, pp. 51–53. include the following: {| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto" |- ! Date !! Actions (or noted non-actions) by the Assembly |- | 540s || [[Ephor]]s threaten to convene the Assembly in order to force king [[Anaxandridas II]] to accede to their demands concerning marriage.Kennell 2010, p. 104; Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/2/mode/2up pp. 3–4]; [[Herodotus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:5.39.2 5.39.2–40.1]. |- | 480s || Consults regarding atonement for the murder of the Persian heralds sent by [[Darius the Great|Darius]]; sends two Spartan volunteers to be executed by Darius's son [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]].Luther 2006, p. 75 #1; [[Herodotus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.134 7.134]. |- | c. 475 || Decides not to go to war with Athens, after initially being "eager" for war, but finally being persuaded otherwise.Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/4/mode/2up p. 4]; Wade-Gery 1958, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/64/mode/2up p. 65]; [[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/diodorus_siculus-library_history/1933/pb_LCL375.253.xml 11.50] |- | 432 || Decides, by division, to declare war on Athens.Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/4/mode/2up p. 4]; Luther 2006, p. 76 #3; [[Thucydides]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.perseus-eng3:1.79 1.79-87]. |- | winter 418/417 || Agrees to a peace treaty with [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]].Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6]; Luther 2006, p. 76 #4; [[Thucydides]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.perseus-eng3:5.77.1 5.77–78]. |- | winter 415/414 || Agrees to aid Syracuse in its war with Athens, after being addressed by envoys from [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] and [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]], and also by [[Alcibiades]] on his own behalf.Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6]; Luther 2006, p. 76 #5; [[Thucydides]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.perseus-eng3:6.88.10 6.88.10]. |- | 405Luther 2006, p. 76 #6; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.111.xml p. 111]; compare Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6], which says the Assembly met in 404. || Decides on the terms of a peace offer to Athens, after being convened by the ephors and addressed by envoys from [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]] and [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]].Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6]; Luther 2006, p. 76 #6; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.111.xml 2.2.19–20]. |- | 403 || Dispatches a delegation to Athens to settle a dispute between two Athenian factions, after being addressed by both.Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6]; Luther 2006, p. 76, #7; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.167.xml 2.4.38]. |- | c. 402Luther 2006, p. 76 #8; compare: Unz 1986, p. 41, which suggests the summer of 401 for the Spartan king [[Agis II|Agis]]'s subsequent invasion of Ellis; Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6] ("probably in 402"). || Issues (jointly with the ephors?)See Luther 2006, p. 76, n. 17. an ultimatum to [[Elis]].Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6]; Luther 2006, p. 76 #8; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.209.xml 3.2.23]. |- | 399?Cartledge 1987, [https://archive.org/details/agesilaoscrisiso0000cart/page/164/mode/2up p. 164]. The precise date depends on the chronology of the [[Elean War]], see Cartledge 1987, [https://archive.org/details/agesilaoscrisiso0000cart/page/98/mode/2up p. 99]. 397Hamilton, [https://www-degruyterbrill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/document/doi/10.7591/9781501734915-005/html p. xvii]. || [[Conspiracy of Cinadon|Cinadon conspiracy]] dealt with "without even convening the Little Assembly".Kennell 2010, p. 112; Luther 2006, pp. 79, 81; Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/4/mode/2up pp. 4–5]; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.221.xml 3.3.8]. |- | c. 389 || Agrees to aid the [[Calydon]] [[Achaeans (tribe)|Achaeans]] against the Acarnanians.Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6]; Luther 2006, p. 76 #9; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.339.xml 4.6.3]. |- | 383 || Agrees to aid [[Akanthos (Greece)|Acanthus]] and [[Apollonia (Chalcidice)|Apollonia]], after being convened by the ephors and addressed by envoys.Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6]; Luther 2006, p. 76 #10; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL089.33.xml 5.2.11–24]. |- | 382Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6]; compare [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL089.49.xml p. 49]. || Decides to bring [[Ismenias]] to trial after being addressed by [[Leontiades]] of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]].Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6]; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL089.47.xml 5.2.33]. |- | spring 371 || Decides to make peace with Athens.Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6]; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL089.151.xml 6.3.3, 18]. |- | summer 371 || Decides that the Spartan king [[Cleombrotus I|Cleombrotus]] should march against [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]].Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6]; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL089.165.xml 6.4.3]. |- | c. 243 ||Convened by the ephor Lysander, because of a divided ''gerousia'', to consider the proposed reforms of king [[Agis IV]] involving debt cancellations and land redistribution. Although the Assembly apparently favored these reforms, the Gerousia ultimately rejected them by one vote. Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/4/mode/2up p. 5]; [[Plutarch]], ''Agis'', [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg051a.perseus-eng1:9.1 9.1] (gerousia "divided", assembly convened), [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg051a.perseus-eng1:11.1 11.1] (reforms "rejected"). |} ==Meetings== As Plutarch understood it, the [[Great Rhetra]] establishedAs noted above, modern scholarship understands the Rhetra as describing existing procedures, rather than having established new ones; see: Nafissi 2010; Esu 2024, p. 127. regular meetings of the Assembly at a fixed time and place.As Kennell 2010, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2YaGXk21zCkC&pg=PA48 p. 48], describes it, meetings of the Assembly would "no longer [be] at the whim of the kings – an important advance from Homeric practice". However, exactly when and where these regular meetings took place is unknown.Kennell 2010, p. 112. As to when meetings were held, Plutarch reports the Rhetra as saying that the Spartans shall ''apellazein'' (ἀπελλάζειν), ''horas ex horas'' (ὥρας ἐξ ὥρας). Plutarch explains ''apellazein'' as meaning the same as ''ekklesiazein'' (ἐκκλησιάζειν) 'to conduct an assembly', and is thought to be a [[denominal verb]] derived from the noun ''apellai'' (‘assembly’), with the [[Apellai]] being the name of an annual festival celebrated at [[Delphi]].Welwei, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e126900.xml s.v. Apella, Apellai]; ''The Cambridge Greek Lexicon'', s.v. ἀπελλάζω (p. 168); ''[[LSJ]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da)pella%2Fzw s.v. ἀπελλάζω]; Beekes 2009, [https://archive.org/details/etymological-dictionary-of-greek_202306/page/114/mode/1up s.v. ἀπέλλαι (p. 115)]; [[Plutarch]], ''Lycurgus'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0047%3Achapter%3D6%3Asection%3D2 6.2]. The phrase ''horas ex horas'' is a vague expression implying continual repetition of some specific time period,The word ''horas'' refers to any fixed but unspecified period of time such as an hour, day, month, year (etc.), see ''[[LSJ]]'', [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dw(%2Fra2 s.v. ὥρα]. which could be used to mean 'every year', 'every month', 'every day' (or the like),Nafissi 2010, pp. 94–95. The translation of ''horas ex horas'' used by Nafissi (and adopted by Esu 2024) is "regularly". See also: Kennell 2010, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2YaGXk21zCkC&pg=PA46 p. 46] ("from month to month"); Raaflaub and Wallace 2007, p. 37 ("from season to season"); Ehrenberg 1968, [https://archive.org/details/fromsolontosocra0000ehre/page/32/mode/2up p. 32] ("from season to season"). or, more vaguely still, 'from time to time'.So Perrin 1914's translation of [[Plutarch]], ''Lycurgus'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg004.perseus-eng1:6.1 6.1]. Although the festival of the Apellai is only attested for Delphi, based upon the widespread presence of the related month name [[Apellaios]] in Doric calendars, it was apparently a common festival among the [[Dorians]],Burkert 1975, p. 8; Nilsson 1967, [https://archive.org/details/geschichtedergri0000nils/page/556/mode/2up p. 556]; Nilsson 1906, [https://archive.org/details/griechischefest01nilsgoog/page/464/mode/2up pp. 464–465]. and from the use of word ''apellazein'', it has been concluded that the meetings of the Assembly, as specified in the Rhetra, were to be held at the same time as the Spartan festival of the Apellai was celebrated.Kennel 2010, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2YaGXk21zCkC&pg=PA48 p. 48]; Nafissi 2010, pp. 94–95; Luther 2006, pp 79–81; Ste. Croix 1972, p. 347. However, while the Delphic Apellai was celebrated yearly, the meetings of the Spartan Assembly were probably held (at least) monthly.Wade-Gery 1958, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/44/mode/2up pp. 45–46]; Burkert 1975, p. 10; Luther 2006, pp. 81, 86; Nafissi 2010, p. 94 n. 28; Cartledge 2015, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.571 s.v. Apellai (1)]. [[Plutarch]] connects the word ''apellazein'' with Apollo,Wade-Gery, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/46/mode/2up p. 46]; [[Plutarch]], ''Lycurgus'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg004.perseus-eng1:6.2 6.2]. and the Apellai is widely thought to have been a festival of Apollo.E.g. Cartledge (2015) [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.571 s.v. Apellai (1)], [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.572 s.v. Apellai (2)]; Welwei, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e126900.xml s.v. Apella, Apellai]. According to [[Herodotus]] the Spartan kings sacrificed to Apollo "at each new moon and each seventh day of the first part of the month, ... from the public store". If either or both of these dates marked the Spartan Apellai, then perhaps the new moon or the seventh (or both) were dates of the regular meetings of the Assembly.Wade-Gery 1958, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/46/mode/2up p. 46]; [[Herodotus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:6.57.2 6.57.2]. Alternatively, a late [[scholiast]] to Thucydides (1.67.3), says the Assembly met at each full moon.Kennell 2010, p. 112; Luther 2006, pp. 81, 86; Ste, Croix 1972, p. 347; Wade-Gery, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/46/mode/2up p. 46]. This scholiast is described by Ste. Crois as "a usually unhelpful source", while Wade-Gery says the comments of this scholiast "show little erudition, so that their testimony has not much weight". Although Wade-Gery says that the "meetings were surely monthly", he concludes, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/46/mode/2up p. 47]: "Whether the day of apellai was the New Moon or Full Moon or the Seventh, I see little hope of deciding." The association of the Assembly with the festival of the Apellai has suggested to scholars that, because the Apellai was an annual festival at Delphi, there was an annual meeting of the Assembly at Sparta during which the highest annual public officials were elected.Luther 2006, pp. 80–82, 86. In addition to these regular meetings, a remark by [[Xenophon]] implies that the Assembly could also meet at other times when needed, since during the crisis of the [[Conspiracy of Cinadon|Cinadon conspiracy]], he says that the [[ephor]]s did not even convene the "Little Assembly" (''mikra ekklesia'').Kennell 2010, p. 112; Luther 2006, pp. 79, 81; Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/4/mode/2up pp. 4–5]; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.221.xml 3.3.8]. Xenophon's reference to a "Little Assembly" is otherwise unknown, see Dillery, p. 199 with n. 22. As quoted by Plutarch, the Rhetra specified that the meetings were to be held "between Babyca and Cnacion".[[Plutarch]], ''Lycurgus'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg004.perseus-eng1:6.1 6.1]. Plutarch goes on to explain that: "The Babyca is now called Cheimarrus, and the Cnacion Oenus; but Aristotle says that Cnacion is a river, and Babyca a bridge. Between these they held their assemblies, having neither halls nor any other kind of building for the purpose."[[Plutarch]], ''Lycurgus'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg004.perseus-eng1:6.3 6.3–4]. However these names are otherwise unknown, and where Babyca and Cnacion "actually were is a complete mystery".Kennell, p. 112. According to the second-century AD travel writer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], the Spartan Assembly met "even at the present day" in a structure called the ''Skias'' ('Canopy')''[[LSJ]]'', [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dskia%2Fs s.v. σκιάς]. located on a road leading from Sparta's market-place, and built by [[Theodorus of Samos]] (fl. c. 540 BC).[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.12.10 3.12.10] with note. Meetings were probably convened and chaired by the ephors.Cartledge 2015, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.571 s.v. Apellai (1)]; Luther 2006, p. 73. As noted above, there are several references to the ephors convening the Assembly in the historical record. These include: the ephors' dispute with king [[Anaxandridas II]] (540s BC);Kennell 2010, p. 104; Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/2/mode/2up pp. 3–4]; [[Herodotus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:5.39.2 5.39.2–40.1]. the peace offer to Athens (405 BC);[[Xenophon]] ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.111.xml 2.2.19]. the [[Conspiracy of Cinadon|Cinadon conspiracy]] (c. 399 BC);Kennell 2010, p. 112; Luther 2006, pp. 79, 81; Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/4/mode/2up pp. 4–5]; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.221.xml 3.3.8]. the sending of aid to [[Akanthos (Greece)|Acanthus]] and [[Apollonia (Chalcidice)|Apollonia]] (383 BC); and the rejection of the proposed reforms of king [[Agis IV]] (c. 243 BC).[[Plutarch]], ''Agis'', [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg051a.perseus-eng1:9.1 9.1] (gerousia "divided", assembly convened), [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg051a.perseus-eng1:11.1 11.1] (proposal "rejected"). Thucydides' description of the Assembly's decision to declare war on Athens in 432 BC has the ephor Sthenelaidas "put the question to the assembly" as well as determine the method of voting.Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/12/mode/2up p. 13]; [[Thucydides]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.perseus-eng3:1.87 1.87.1–3]. ==Power and importance== The relative power and importance of the Spartan Assembly with respect to the kings, ''[[gerousia]]'', and [[ephor]]s is a matter of scholarly debate.Esu 2024, p. 127: There is "no consensus amongst scholars about the actual workings and the balance of power among deliberative bodies of ancient Sparta.". During the Archaic period, as set forth in the Rhetra, the decision-making procedure was probouleutic, a practice common in Ancient Greece, by which proposals were first discussed in a council, and then voted on by a general assembly. Thus such an assembly was sovereign, in the sense that the assembly's consent was constitutionally required for certain state actions.Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/n22/mode/2up p. 2]. In Sparta's case, according to the Rhetra, the Assembly could apparently also modify the proposals brought before it, subject to the possibility of their being vetoed by the ''gerousia''.Esu 2024, p. 137. According to Wade-Gery 1958, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/38/mode/2up p. 39], it is "evident" that "Plutarch conceived the Rhetra as leaving to the [Spartan Assembly] wide powers of amendment" during the Archaic period. As documented for the Classical period, the Assembly seems to have had supreme authority in foreign affairs, particularly matters of war and peace,Ste. Croix 1972, pp. 124–127. something that Ste. Croix 1972 considered unsurprising given that the Assembly was "above all the organ of the collective warriors and ex-warriors".Ste. Croix 1972, p. 127. Nevertheless, at Sparta, the probouleutic bodies (i.e. the ''gerousia'' and the ephors) exerted more direct power over political decision-making—and thus the popular assembly less—than at Athens.Esu 2024, p. 125. In particular, the right of the ''gerousia'', as described in the Rhetra, to block actions of the Assembly, could in theory have acted as a significant check on its power.Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/2/mode/2up p. 2]. [[Aristotle]] seems to have viewed the Spartan Assembly during the fourth century BC as particularly weak.According to Kelly 1981, pp. 47–48, this was the "orthodox view" of Spartan politics as represented, for example, by (p. 47 n. 1): M.I. Finley, 'Sparta', ''Problèmes de la guerre en Grece ancienne'', ed. J.-P. Vernant (Paris 1968), 143-60; D. Lewis, ''Sparta and Persia'' (Leiden 1977); and others (see p. 48 n. 3). As noted above, in his ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'', he asserts that the Assembly has "no powers except the function of confirming by vote the resolutions already formed by the Elders [''gerousia'']".[[Aristotle]], ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg035.perseus-eng1:2.1272a 2.1272a]. The verb Aristotle used for the Assembly's only power (translated above as "confirming by vote") is "συνεπιψηίσαι" which means to 'ratify by vote' (a law or resolution).''The Cambridge Greek Lexicon'', s.v. συν-επιψηφίζω (p. 1332); [[LSJ]], [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dsunepiyhfi%2Fzw s.v. συνεπι-ψηφίζω]. According to Andrewes 1967, Aristotle's phrasing in this passage and the verb used, "rather suggest that he thought the assembly was a mere rubber stamp".Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up pp. 2–3]. Some scholars have seen Aristotle's view of a weak Assembly as in conflictA conflict which Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6] calls "irremediable".–not only with the evidence concerning the Assembly from the Archaic period—but also with other reports from the fifth century through the time Aristotle is writing the ''Politics'', in the fourth.Ste. Croix 1972, p. 127. See, for example: Andrewes 1967, pp. 6–7; Wade-Gery, 1958, pp. 51–54. However, according to Ste. Croix (p. 128): "Aristotle's picture in the ''Politics'' can be accepted as substantially true, provided we make two assumptions which are eminently reasonable and probable in themselves and are not contradicted by any evidence: first, that the Spartan Assembly could merely ratify, or refuse to ratify, proposals put to it, but could not in theory introduce amendments to them, let alone new resolutions of its own; and secondly, that individual Spartiates had no absolute right to speak, but could do so only if they were invited to speak by the presiding ephor". For a discussion of Andrewes' views, and Ste. Croix's critique see Kelly 1981, pp. 48—58. A related issue is to what extent ''genuine'' debates occurred in the Assembly and who had the right to speak. Here again there seems to be no scholarly consensus. Wade-Gery 1958 and Andrewes 1967 have seen in the historical record, examples of "plenty of talk" and "considerable debate",Wade-Gery 1958, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/64/mode/2up p. 65]; Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/6/mode/2up p. 6]. with Wade-Gery noting that, although the reported speakers are all officials, "it is gratuitous to suppose that they had to be".Wade-Gery 1958, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/64/mode/2up p. 65]; cf. Andrewes 1967, [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/20/mode/2up p. 20 n. 24]. Conversely Ste. Croix 1972 sees only two occasions for which there is evidence of "''any'' debate, let alone 'considerable debate' ''by Spartans''" (as opposed to foreign speakers),Ste. Croix 1972, p. 129. and thinks it probable that ordinary members of the Assembly could speak only if invited to by the presiding ephor.Ste. Croix 1972, p. 128. Kennell 2010, while noting that "who the possessors of various 'opinions' mentioned by the historians were and whether they might have expressed them in debates remains unknown",Kennell 2010, p. 112. For a response to Ste. Croix 1972's critique of Andrewes 1967, on the issue of the quality of debate in the Assembly, see Kelly 1981, pp. 49–58, which concludes (p. 58): "Sessions of the assembly cannot have been as lifeless as has been maintained if the ordinary Spartiates were alert and suffused with a sense of their own importance and expected to be persuaded", as Kelly supposes they were. concludes that, "although far from being a cockpit of free-wheeling debate and legislative initiative like the Athenian Assembly, the Spartan model was no mere rubber stamp for decisions of the magistrates."Kennell 2010, p. 111. In any case, although there is no scholarly consensus about the "balance of power among [Sparta's] deliberative bodies",Esu 2024, p. 27. as documented for the Classical period, the Assembly played a significant role.Luther 2006, p. 73. As Esu 2024 describes it, "Spartan deliberation was the result of a complex interaction" between the ''gerousia'', ephors and the Assembly.Esu 2024, p. 27. == Name == The official name for the popular assembly at Sparta—either 'the Ekklesia' or 'the Apella'—is disputed.Schulz 2009, p. 335 n. 9: "Ob die Volksversammlung in Sparta Apella oder Ekklesia hieß, ist umstritten". Scholarly consensus had thought that its official name was 'the Apella'. As recently as 1972, [[G. E. M. de Ste. Croix|Ste Croix]] could declare that the "Spartan Assembly is still commonly referred to as 'the Apella'".Ste Croix 1972, p. 346. See for example Ehrenberg 1968, pp. [https://archive.org/details/fromsolontosocra0000ehre/page/30/mode/2up 31–33], [https://archive.org/details/fromsolontosocra0000ehre/page/46/mode/2up 46], [https://archive.org/details/fromsolontosocra0000ehre/page/382/mode/2up 383 n. 14]. However following [[Theodore Wade-Gery|Wade-Gery]] 1958, [[Antony Andrewes|Andrewes]] 1967, and Ste. Croix 1972, consensus shifted in favor of 'Ekklesia'.See for example: Cartledge 2015, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.571 s.v. Apellai (1)]: "At Sparta, the festival was monthly, on the seventh, and it was on this day that the stated meetings of the Spartan assembly were held. From this coincidence has arisen the erroneous modern notion that the assembly was called the ''apella''. Actually, its name was the ''ekklēsia'', as is corroborated by the existence of a ‘little ''ekklesia''’ (''mikra ekklēsia'': Xen. Hell. 3. 3. 8)"; Kennell 2010, p. 111: "The fourth main pillar of the Classical Spartan constitution was the popular Assembly, called the Ekklesia, not the Apella as once thought." More recently, [[Karl-Wilhelm Welwei|Welwei]] 1997See also Welwei 2000. has revived the dispute, advocating in favor of 'Apella'.Luther 2006, p. 74; Nafissi 2010, p. 95 n. 28. The evidence from ancient sources is mixed.For an examination of the available ancient texts in which the Spartan's popular assembly is explicitly named, see Luther 2006. According to Luther (p. 75), while noting that mentions of the Assembly in ancient sources are relatively rare, and often hidden behind such expressions as ''Lakedaimonioi'', ('the Lacedaemonians' i.e. Spartans), the ''polis'' ('city') or ''to koinón'' ('the body politic'), says that to his knowledge there are only fifteen explicit mentions, from the fifth century BC onwards, two by Herodotus, four by Thucydides, and nine by Xenophon, which he then lists and discusses. The common noun ''apella'' does not occur in the singular in any ancient text,Welwei 2006, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e126900.xml s.v. Apella, Apellai]; Ste. Croix, p. 347; Wade-Gery [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/44/mode/2up p. 44]. with all known uses of the plural form ''apellai'' coming from [[Doric Greek|Doric]] speaking regions of Greece.Beekes 2003, p. 9. The lexicographer [[Hesychius of Alexandria|Hesychius]] (5th/6th century AD) explains the meaning of ''apellai'' with the gloss: ''sekoi, [[Ecclesia (ancient Greece)|ekklesiai]], archairesiai'',Welwei 2006, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e126900.xml s.v. Apella, Apellai]; Burkert 1975, p. 9; Wade-Gery [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/44/mode/2up p. 44]; [[Hesychius of Alexandria| Hesychius]], s.v. ''apellai'' (Latte, p. 272, 5994): "ἀπελλαι· 'σηκοί, ἐκκλησίαι, ἀρχαιρεσίαι". where ''ekklesiai'' refers to official public assemblies, and ''archairesiai'' refers to assemblies for the election of magistrates.''The Cambridge Greek Lexicon'', s.vv. ἐκκλησία, ἀρχαιρεσίαι; ''[[LSJ]]'', s.vv. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3De)kklhsi%2Fa ἐκκλησία], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aalphabetic+letter%3D*a%3Aentry+group%3D317%3Aentry%3Da%29rxairesi%2Fa1 ἀρχαιρεσία]. Hesychius's inclusion of the word ''sekoi'', which can refer to various kinds of enclosures (see: ''The Cambridge Greek Lexicon'', s.v. σηκός; ''[[LSJ]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dshko%2Fs s.v. σηκός]), is puzzling. According to Versnel 1993, [https://books.google.com/books?id=kWU33X4gPmUC&pg=PA321 p. 321 n. 106], in light of Heschius's explanation of the ''apellai'' in terms of assemblies, ''sekoi'' might be interpreted as referring to either the entire enclosure within which such assemblies were held, or the subdivisions of such assemblies into precincts (e.g. voting precincts). While one meaning of the word ''sekos'' is 'sacred enclosure, precinct', the first meaning of the word ''sekos'' is as an enclosure for sheep, goats or cattle (see; ''The Cambridge Greek Lexicon'', s.v. σηκός (p. 1263); ''[[LSJ]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dshko%2Fs s.v. σηκός]), and some scholars (according to Versnel, scholars attempting to connect Apollo with herding) have interpeted Heschius's ''sekoi'' as enclosures of this type (i.e 'pens' or 'folds'), an interpretation rejected by Burkert 1975, p. 12. Luther 2006, p. 82, suggests the following interpretation of Hesychius's gloss: that the Apellai festival was celebrated in sacred precincts (''sekoi'') where popular assemblies (''ekklesia'') were held, at which elections of officials took place (''archairesiai''). The only other occurrences of ''apellai'' are in the Labyad inscription (late fifth to fourth century BC) of [[Delphi]], which mentions an [[Apellai]] festival, as well as two first-century BC inscriptions from Sparta's former seaport town of [[Gytheion]], which contain the formulaic expression used to introduce official decrees of the people's assembly: "ἔδοξε τῶι δάμωι" ('it was decided by the people'), followed by: "ἐν ταῖς μεγάλαις ἀπελλαῖς" ('at the great ''apellai''').Welwei 2006, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e126900.xml s.v. Apella, Apellai]; Burkert 1975, pp. 9–10; Ste. Croix 1972, p. 347; Wade-Gery 1958, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/44/mode/2up p. 44]; Labyad inscription ''A'' 31–32, 36, ''B'' 7, 8, ''D'' 3, 44 (Rhodes, and Osborne, pp. 2, 4, 6); Gytheion inscriptions: ''IG'' V,1 [https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/31558?bookid=11&location=16 1144.20–21], [https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/31560?bookid=11&location=16 1146.40–41], for which, see also: Hansen 2021, p. 27; Giannakopoulos 2017, p. 221 n. 10. As mentioned above, Plutarch explained the apparently related word ''apellazein'' (ἀπελλάζειν),Beekes 2009, [https://archive.org/details/etymological-dictionary-of-greek_202306/page/114/mode/1up s.v. ἀπέλλαι]. as being "a reference to Apollo", and meaning the same as ''ekklesiazein'' (ἐκκλησιάζειν) 'to conduct an assembly'.Welwei, 2006, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e126900.xml s.v. Apella, Apellai]; Wade-Gery, [https://archive.org/details/essaysingreekhis0000htwa/page/44/mode/2up pp. 44–47]; ''The Cambridge Greek Lexicon'', s.v. ἀπελλάζω; ''[[LSJ]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da)pella%2Fzw s.v. ἀπελλάζω]; Beekes 2009, [https://archive.org/details/etymological-dictionary-of-greek_202306/page/114/mode/1up s.v. ἀπέλλαι]. From this evidence, some scholars have inferred that the common noun ''apella'' meant 'assembly' in Sparta's [[Doric Greek|Doric dialect]], with ''Apella'' becoming the proper noun naming the Spartan popular assembly.See, for example, Welwei 2006, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e126900.xml s.v. Apella, Apellai]. This would be analogous with the situation at Athens where the name 'Ekklesia' for its popular assembly apparently derived from the common noun ''ekklesia'' ('assembly'). Luther 2006, p. 74, describes support for Apella in older research as widespread ("verbreitet"), and among more recent scholars, in addition to Welwei, cites (p. 74 n. 9) two others: Ehrenberg 1973, pp. 391–392 and Thommen 2003, p. 103, who favor Apella. The most important evidence in support of the name Ekklesia comes from the contemporary literary sources, particularly [[Thucydides]] and [[Xenophon]],Ste. Croix 1972, pp. 346–247; Luther 2006, p. 74. which consistently call the Spartan Assembly ''ekklesia''.Welwei 1997, p. 242. Thucydides lists the eight terms of a treaty of peace and defensive alliance with Argos in 418/17 BC, with the introduction: "The assembly [ἐκκλησίᾳ] of the Lacedaemonians agrees to treat with the Argives upon the terms following".According to Ste. Croix (p. 346), Thucydides here has preserved "verbatim, in the Doric dialect" an official resolution of the Spartan Assembly, and describes this text as "the most important and indeed decisive" evidence in support of the name Ekklesia, concluding that: "In the absence of any strong evidence to the contrary, this alone might be allowed to settle the matter". However, Welwei 1997 (p. 242), questions whether Thucydides' text is, in fact, a verbatim account ("Es fragt sich daher, ob die zitierte Einleitungsformel zu den spartanischen Friedensvorschlägen wirklich eine wörtliche Wiedergabe eines in Sparta formulierten Schriftstückes darstellt und insofern urkendichen Wert im heutigen Sinne hat"). Welwei, although agreeing (p. 243) that the use here of the Doric dialect suggests that Thucydides had seen certain written documents ("Der dorische Dialekt in Kap. 5,77 läßt zwar darauf schließen, daß Thukydides bestimmte schriftliche Unterlagen gesehen hat"), argues that this does not necessarily mean he had access to an original Spartan document ("Dies besagt aber noch nicht, daß er in Sparta selbst Einsicht in ein diesbezügliches Original oder eine wortgetreue Kopie desselben nehmen konnte"). In any case, according to Ste. Croix (p. 346), Thucydides "as a rule is very careful to use technical terms correctly", while Luther 2006 (p. 79) argues that the use of the Doric dialect indicates the intention of authenticity ("steht hier doch durch die Verwendung des lakonischen Dialekts außer Zweifel, dass sich Thukydides (oder seine Quelle) darum bemühte, ein Höchstmaß an Authentizität zu vermitteln"). Luther goes on to argue that, even if Thucydides did not know the Spartan Assembly's name, given the close relations between the Athenian and Spartan elites, and the fact of the frequent occurrence of Athenian speakers addressing the Spartan Assembly, the name was familiar in Athens, and thus it would not have been difficult for Thucydides to have ascertained ("Thukydides in Athen nicht allzu schwer gefallen sein kann, den Namen der spartanischen Volksversammlung zu ermitteln"). Other important evidence comes from [[Xenophon]], who, according to Ste. Croix, "knew his Sparta very well indeed".Ste. Croix 1972, p. 347. Twice Xenophon mentions decisions as being by "the ephors and the assembly [''ekklesia'']".Ste. Croix 1972, p. 346; [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.209.xml 3.2.23], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.339.xml 4.6.3]. See also [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL089.33.xml 5.2.11], where "the ephors ... brought them [the ambassadors] before the Lacedaemonian assembly [''ekklesia'']". Xenophon, in his account of the [[Conspiracy of Cinadon|Cinadon conspiracy]], also refers to a little ekklesia, with the qualifier ("καλουμένην", 'so called'),[[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.221.xml 3.3.8], here translated as "the Little [μικρὰν] Assembly [ἐκκλησίαν], as it was called". which seems to imply that the "Little Ekklesia" was the name of some Spartan institution (otherwise unknown),The translator's note to "Little Assembly" ([https://www.loebclassics.com/view/xenophon_athens-hellenica/1918/pb_LCL088.221.xml p. 221]) says "The reference is uncertain". with the adjective 'little' needed to distinguish it from the "Great Ekklesia", or simply the "Ekklesia".Ste. Croix 1972, p. 347; Luther 2006, p. 79. Luther 2006, while concluding that Sparta's popular assembly was probably called the Ekklesia,Luther 2006, p. 86. has suggested that an annual meeting of the Assembly during which public officials were elected may have been called the Apellai.According to Nafissi 2010, p. 95 n. 28. Nevertheless, according to Nafissi 2010, current consensus "based on ancient evidence" still favors 'Ekklesia'.Nafissi 2010, p. 95 n. 27. For some of the many (according to Luther 2006, p. 74: "zahlreiche") scholars adopting this view, see Luther 2006 p. 74 n. 12, which, in addition to Wade-Gery 1958, Andrewes 1967, and Ste. Croix 1972, cites: Gomme, Andrewes, and Dover 1970, p. 134; Flaig 1993, p. 139, n. 1; Van Effenterre and Ruzé 1994, p. 258; Link 1994, p. 71, with n. 165; Ruzé 1997, p. 134; Richer 1998, p. 96, n. 18; pp. 192-193, n. 234; Fornis 2003, p. 44; Lévy 2003, p. 21. ==Notes== {{Reflist}} == Bibliography == * [[Antony Andrewes|Andrewes, A.]] (1967), "The Government of Classical Sparta", in ''Ancient Society and Institutions: Studies Presented to Victor Ehrenberg on his 75th Birthday'', Barnes & Noble, 1967. [https://archive.org/details/ancientsocietyin0000unse/page/n21/mode/2up Internet Archive]. * [[Antony Andrewes|Andrewes, A.]] (1970), p. 134 in ''A Historical Commentary on Thucydides. Vol. 4: Books V25-VII'' A. W. Gomme, A. Andrewes, and K. J. Dover (eds.), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1970. {{isbn|9780198141785}}. * [[Aristotle]], ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' in ''Aristotle in 23 Volumes'', vol. 21, translated by H. Rackham, London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1944. 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Apella, Apellai], in [https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/package/bnpo ''Brill's New Pauly Online''], Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006. * [[Martin Litchfield West|West, M. L.]], ed. (1972), ''Iambi et Elegi Graeci'', Volume 2, Oxford University Press. 1972. [https://archive.org/details/iambietelegigrae0002mlwe/page/n5/mode/2up Internet Archive]. * [[Martin Litchfield West|West, M. L.]] (1974), ''Studies in Greek Elegy and Iambus'', Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 1974. {{isbn|3-11-004585-0}}. * [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]], Volume I: Books 1-4'', translated by Carleton L. Brownson, [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 88, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 1918. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99098-2}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL088/1918/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press]. * [[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]], Volume II: Books 5-7'', translated by Carleton L. Brownson, [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 89, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 1921. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99098-2}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL089/1921/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press]. {{Ancient Greece topics}} [[Category:Government of Sparta]] [[Category:Historical legislatures]] [[Category:Popular assemblies]]