[German version]

[1] Social class

Penestai (πενέσται/penéstai, sing. πενέστης/penéstēs) is probably etymologically related to the word πένης (pénēs), 'poor'. Penestai was applied as the collective term for the class of dependent Greeks who formed the economic and military foundation of the aristocracy in the towns of Thessaly (Crannon, Larissa, Pherae). Dionysius [18] of Halicarnassus compared them with the thétai and pelátai at Athens (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,9); they were thus accorded the social status of dependents or client…