Technology: weapons, armour, pottery
Economic roles of the Helots
Economic Exchange: use of iron bars, trade
Weapons and Armour...
Spartan hoplitse were equipped with high quality weapons and armour made from bronze. Spartans were forbidden to carry out such work, so their armour was most likely made by the Periokoi. The standard armour consisted of a helmet, breastplate, greaves and a shield, while the weapons included a spear and a sword:
Bronze helmet - usually crowned with horse hair crest to make the hoplite appear taller and more intimidating.
Breast plate - worn over a linen tunic. Bronxe breastplates were sculpted to resemble chest muscles.
Hoplon - or shield about one metre in diameter, made of wood covered with a sheet of bronze on the outside.
Greaves - made of bronze covered the lower leg like metal shin guards.
Wooden Spear - between 2.5 and 3 metres long with a bronze spear point.
Short sword - of iron or bronze was carried but seldom used, as it was the weapon of last resort.
Helots economic role
The helots were the property of the Spartan government, attached to state owned land (kleroi). They were controlled but not actaully owned by individuals and could not be bought or sold.
Helots did the farming which freed Spartiates from the need to work and enabled them to make their contributions to the syssition, a requirement for citizenship.
The surplus produced by the helots was used to trade with the periokoi, who provided them with manufactured goods, including the weaponry and armour.
Economic trade
The Spartan state did not use metal coins for currency, but instead used iron bars which may have symbolised a transaction rather than acting as cash. Plutarch explains that Spartan iron money could not be used elswhere in Greece. The iron bars restricted the hoarding of money.
hope this helps : )
