[German version]

(νεοδαμώδεις/neodamṓdeis), ‘those who have only recently become part of the people’). Etymologically the word neodamṓdeis is explained as a compound of νέος (néos) and δαμώδης (damṓdēs). Neodamṓdeis were one of the many social groups into which the Spartans were organised. Originally they were Helots, who had been set free by the Spartan polis. They did not, however, then become citizens with full rights (as Diod. 14,36,1 incorrectly assumes), but among the erstwhile Helots they may have been an elite. Neodamṓdeis are attested primarily for the period from 4…