Helots

Helots, in ancient Greece, slaves or serfs of the Spartans. They were probably the original inhabitants of Sparta, who were enslaved by the Dorian conquerors of that territory. The helots constituted the lowest of the four classes of Spartans and had virtually no civil or political rights. They were entirely the property of the state, which assigned them to work on the land of individual Spartans. The helots were required to provide a certain fixed amount of produce for their masters each year, retaining for themselves only whatever they produced in excess of that amount. The helots could be freed or sold only by the state. In wartime they were used as soldiers or as oarsmen in the galleys. Because they were a large and discontented class, the helots were viewed by the ruling Spartans with suspicion and fear. During the Peloponnesian War (431-404 bc), about 2000 helots who had been freed for services to the state were secretly murdered, to forestall plotting against their rulers.