The Gerousia (Γερουσία), (also called the Spartan Senate) was the council of elders in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. It was a prestigious body, holding important judicial, legislative, and supervisory powers. During the Archaic and Classical periods, the Gerousia consisted of the two Spartan kings, plus twenty-eight adult male citizens (Spartiates) called gerontes (γέροντες, singular: γέροντ, geront). The gerontes were required to be at least sixty years old, were elected by acclamation, and held office for life. Following the Classical period, its membership, minimum age, and tenure
The Gerousia (Γερουσία), (also called the Spartan Senate) was the council of elders in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. It was a prestigious body, holding important judicial, legislative, and supervisory powers. During the Archaic and Classical periods, the Gerousia consisted of the two Spartan kings, plus twenty-eight adult male citizens (Spartiates) called gerontes (γέροντες, singular: γέροντ, geront). The gerontes were required to be at least sixty years old, were elected by acclamation, and held office for life. Following the Classical period, its membership, minimum age, and tenure were all reduced.
== Power and importance == At Sparta, political power was divided between three deliberative bodies, the Gerousia, the ephors, and the Spartan Assembly. Although the relative power and importance of the Gerousia with respect to these other two bodies is a matter of scholarly debate, the Gerousia was, apparently, the most prestigious. Since membership in the Gerousia was for life, being a geront was particularly prestigious within a Spartan society that accorded great respect to old age, and within the Gerousia, the votes of the "ordinary" geront carried as much weight as that of each of the kings.
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