In ancient Sparta the office of ephor was both the most interesting and the most obscure of the offices under the Spartan constitution. It seems that the ephors became more important and gained more and more political power as the history of Sparta proceeded. According to tradition, the order was established at the time of the first Spartan war to help the kings of Sparta to carry out their main duties Messenia (736-716 BC), which necessitated the protracted absence from their country of the two reigning kings of Sparta, Alcamenes and Theopompus. But by the time first Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC, the kings had lost much of their power, and it is certain that the ephorate had gained

In addition, the ephorate had absolute power over all the other magistrates. They controlled the Crypteia (Spartan secret police) and the state they had the power to direct generals to particular campaigns, and when one of finances. They had overall responsibility for the education of the Spartan youth and the maintenance of discipline throughout the community. They could fine people on the spot; and as well as joining the Gerousia in conducting criminal trials, they also had sole responsibility for conducting trials involving civil offences. Finally, they had the authority to summon meetings of the Gerousia and of the Assembly.

At its peak of authority the board of ephors was the organ of citizen control over the dual kingship of Sparta. There were five ephors, elected each year by the full Assembly of

Some common words found in the essay are:
Spartan Equal, Crypteia Spartan, Spartiate Constitution, Theopompus Persian, Gerousia Assembly, Assembly Equals, Cleomenes III, History Assignment, Agis IV, BC Spartan, kings sparta, kings lost, war ephors, spartan kings, main duties, political power,
Approximate Word count = 546
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)