The penestai or penestae ( Greek : oἱ πενέσται, hoi penéstai ) were a class of unfree labourers in Thessaly , Ancient Greece . These labourers were tied to the land they inhabited, comparable in status with the Spartan helots .
5-484: Penestae may refer to: Penestai (or penestae), a class of unfree labourers in Thessaly, Ancient Greece Penestae (tribe) , an Illyrian tribe that lived in south-eastern Illyria Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Penestae . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
10-561: The Achaeans subjected by invading tribes arriving from Thesprotia . Archemachus (cited by Athenaeus , VI, 264), a 3rd-century BC writer, believed instead that they were Boeotians : The Aeolian Boeotians who did not emigrate when their country Thessaly 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
15-489: 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 with a low population density ; the penestae thus had large 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
20-401: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Penestae&oldid=1001289467 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Penestai Tradition made the penestae descendants of
25-414: The portions in excess of their rent payments and that they could possess goods. Certain penestae, known as latreis , worked as house servants, receiving a salary in exchange. Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentions (II, 9) that disobedient penestae were beaten and that generally speaking, they were treated like chattel slaves . They appear to have been much less numerous than the free Thessalians. From
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