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The penestae (in Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 o? ?e??sta?, hoi penestai) were a class of unfree labourers tied to the land once inhabiting Thessaly
Thessaly

Thessaly is one of the 13 Peripheries of Greece of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 Prefectures of Greece. The capital of the periphery and traditional Regions of Greece is Larissa....
, whose status was comparable to that of the Sparta
Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
n helots.

ition made the penestae descendants of the Achaeans
Achaeans

The Achaeans is one of the collective names used for the Greeks in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. The other names are the Danaans and Argives ....
 submitted by invading tribes
Thesprotians

The Thesprotians were an ancient Greeks tribe of Thesprotia, akin to the Molossians. The poet Homer frequently mentions Thesprotia which had friendly relations with Ithaca and Kefalonia....
 arriving from Thesprotia
Thesprotia

'Thesprotia' is one of the prefectures of Greece. It is within the Epirus periphery. The capital is Igoumenitsa. Thesprotia is bounded by Albania to the north, the prefecture of Ioannina Prefecture to the east and Preveza in the south....
. Archemachus
Archemachus of Euboea

Archemachus of Euboea was an ancient Greek writer who wrote on his native island . His works consisted of at least three books. Whether this Archemachus was the author of the grammatical work Hai Metonymiai , is uncertain....
 (cited by Athenaeus
Athenaeus

Athenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greeks rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century A.D. The Suda only tells us that he lived in the times of Marcus ; but the contempt with which he speaks of Commodus shows that he survived that emperor....
, VI, 264), a 3rd century BC writer, believed instead that they were Boeotia
Boeotia

Boeotia, Beotia, or B?otia , formerly Cadmeis, was a region of ancient Greece, north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It was bounded on the south by Megaris and the Kithairon mountain range that forms a natural barrier with Attica, on the north by Opuntian Locris and the Euripus Strait at the Gulf of Euboea, and on the...
ns:
"The Aeolian Boeotians who did not emigrate when their country Thessaly
Thessaly

Thessaly is one of the 13 Peripheries of Greece of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 Prefectures of Greece. The capital of the periphery and traditional Regions of Greece is Larissa....
 was conquered by the Thessalians, surrendered themselves to the victors on condition that they should not be carried out of the country, nor be put to death, but should cultivate the land for the new owners of the soil, paying by way of rent a portion of the produce of it, and many of them are richer than their masters."


The Thessalian lands were very productive and spacious (in comparison to the size of the population, i.e.); the penestae thus had goodly amounts of rich land to cultivate.






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The penestae (in Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 o? ?e??sta?, hoi penestai) were a class of unfree labourers tied to the land once inhabiting Thessaly
Thessaly

Thessaly is one of the 13 Peripheries of Greece of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 Prefectures of Greece. The capital of the periphery and traditional Regions of Greece is Larissa....
, whose status was comparable to that of the Sparta
Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
n helots.

Status

Tradition made the penestae descendants of the Achaeans
Achaeans

The Achaeans is one of the collective names used for the Greeks in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. The other names are the Danaans and Argives ....
 submitted by invading tribes
Thesprotians

The Thesprotians were an ancient Greeks tribe of Thesprotia, akin to the Molossians. The poet Homer frequently mentions Thesprotia which had friendly relations with Ithaca and Kefalonia....
 arriving from Thesprotia
Thesprotia

'Thesprotia' is one of the prefectures of Greece. It is within the Epirus periphery. The capital is Igoumenitsa. Thesprotia is bounded by Albania to the north, the prefecture of Ioannina Prefecture to the east and Preveza in the south....
. Archemachus
Archemachus of Euboea

Archemachus of Euboea was an ancient Greek writer who wrote on his native island . His works consisted of at least three books. Whether this Archemachus was the author of the grammatical work Hai Metonymiai , is uncertain....
 (cited by Athenaeus
Athenaeus

Athenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greeks rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century A.D. The Suda only tells us that he lived in the times of Marcus ; but the contempt with which he speaks of Commodus shows that he survived that emperor....
, VI, 264), a 3rd century BC writer, believed instead that they were Boeotia
Boeotia

Boeotia, Beotia, or B?otia , formerly Cadmeis, was a region of ancient Greece, north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It was bounded on the south by Megaris and the Kithairon mountain range that forms a natural barrier with Attica, on the north by Opuntian Locris and the Euripus Strait at the Gulf of Euboea, and on the...
ns:
"The Aeolian Boeotians who did not emigrate when their country Thessaly
Thessaly

Thessaly is one of the 13 Peripheries of Greece of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 Prefectures of Greece. The capital of the periphery and traditional Regions of Greece is Larissa....
 was conquered by the Thessalians, surrendered themselves to the victors on condition that they should not be carried out of the country, nor be put to death, but should cultivate the land for the new owners of the soil, paying by way of rent a portion of the produce of it, and many of them are richer than their masters."


The Thessalian lands were very productive and spacious (in comparison to the size of the population, i.e.); the penestae thus had goodly amounts of rich land to cultivate. The contributions given to the Thessalians (and Archemachus' remark about their wealth) imply that the penestae could freely dispose of the portions in excess of their rent payments, and that they could possess goods. Certain penestae, known as latreis, worked as house servants, receiving in exchange a salary.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greeks historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus....
 tells us (II, 9) that they were beaten when they refused to obey and that, generally speaking, they were treated like chattel slaves (i.e. people considered to be the property of others). They appear to have been much less numerous than the free Thessalians.

From a passage in Demosthenes
Demosthenes

Demosthenes was a prominent Greeks statesman and orator of History of Athens. His oratorys constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC....
 it appears that the penestae sometimes accompanied their masters to battle, and fought on horse-back as their knights or vassals. This circumstance is not surprising, in view of the fame of the Thessalian cavalry. The penestae of Thessaly also resembled the Laconia
Laconia

Laconia , also known as Lacedaemonia, is a prefecture in Greece. Laconia has the legal status of a Prefectures of Greece, with Sparti its administrative capital....
n helots in another respect, for they often rose up in arms against their lords. There were penestae among the Macedonians
Ancient Macedonians

The Macedonians were an ancient tribe which inhabited the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, north of Mount Olympus in Greece....
 also.

See also

  • Slavery in ancient Greece
    Slavery in Ancient Greece

    Slavery was common practice and an integral component of ancient Greece throughout its history, as it was in other societies of the time including ancient Israel and early Christian societies....
  • Helot