Epitadeus, rhetra of

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Epitadeus, rhetra of MARCELLO LUPI

The alleged rhetra of Epitadeus is a law introduced by the Spartan ephor Epitadeus (see EPHORS). According to PLUTARCH (Agis 5), at some indeterminate point after the PELOPONNESIAN WAR the customary Spartan land tenure, which he describes as based on equal allotments (kleroi) and on their passage from father to son, was undermined by the otherwise unknown Epitadeus. Because of a quarrel with his son, he passed a law that permitted the free disposal of houses and allotments either as a lifetime gift or as a testamentary bequest; consequently, landed property, no longer inalienable, became concentrated in a few hands, accelerating the crisis of Spartan society. No other source refers to such a law. The historicity of the rhetra of Epitadeus is a key point in the interpretation of Spartan land tenure. On the one hand, it has been considered a landmark in the transition from the ethos of equality of Lycurgan legislation (see LYCURGUS, SPARTAN LEGISLATOR) to the plutocracy of later times. In this perspective, ARISTOTLE’s judgment (Pol. 1270a15–22), which regards the freedom of gift and bequest as a major element of instability in the Spartan system of

land inheritance, would be an implicit allusion to Epitadeus’ law. On the other hand, Plutarch’s story has been rejected as a fiction derived from a passage of PLATO’s Republic (555c–e), and the name Epitadeus itself has been seen as a fictional speaking name (“one who acts advisedly”), although a Spartan commander named Epitadas is historically attested (Thuc. 4.8.9). The fourth-century BCE crisis of Spartan land tenure would be, in this view, the structural outcome of an inheritance system that had always included the right of alienating land. SEE ALSO: Land and landholding, Greece; Rhetra; Sparta.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS Avramovic´, S. (2005) “The rhetra of Epitadeus and testament in Spartan law.” In M. Gagarin and R. W. Wallace, eds., Symposion 2001. Vortra¨ge zur griechischen und hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte: 175–86. Vienna. Hodkinson, S. (2000) Property and wealth in Classical Sparta: 65–112. London. Nafissi, M. (2008) “Asteropos ed Epitadeus. Storie di due efori spartani e di altri personaggi dai nomi parlanti.” Incidenza dell’Antico 6: 49–89. Schu¨trumpf, E. (1987) “The rhetra of Epitadeus: a Platonist’s fiction.” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 28: 441–57.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 2470–2471. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah04101