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The Crypteia, also referred to as Krypteia or Krupteia (Greek: κρυπτεία krupteía from κρυπτός kruptós, "hidden, secret"; members were κρύπται kryptai), was an ancient Spartan state institution. The kryptai either principally sought out and killed helots across Laconia and Messenia as part of a policy of terrorising and intimidating the enslaved population, or they principally did a form of military training, or they principally endured hardships as an initiation ordeal, or the Crypteia served a combination of all these purposes, possibly varying over time.[1] The Krypteia was an element of the Spartan state's child-rearing system for upper-class males.[2]
Modern historians often translate "Krypteia" as "secret police"[citation needed] or "secret service",[3] but its precise structure is debated.[2]
- ^ Cartledge 2001, p. 88.
- ^ a b Nafissi, Massimo (2018). Powell, Anton (ed.). A Companion to Sparta. Wiley Blackwell. p. 109.
- ^ Cartledge 2001, p. 4.