Spartan Mora regiments at Battle of Plataea

[Ghostmojo]

And your actual Spartans (citizens of various grades of the city itself) break down into Spartiates, Hypomeiones, Mothakes and then there are the Trophimoi Xenoi. These distinctions might not be made by ancient sources in battlefield context but they did count in Sparta's very stratified society. The Lakedaimonians as an army would have included the new citizens - because, despite being a low grade, the Neodamodeis were enfranchised free Lakonians - although of course that citizenship did not mean involvement in Spartan affairs of state whatsoever - it was a freedom to be exercised elsewhere, later. Various sources use the terms interchangeably from time to time but ultimately it surely is - in a purely Spartan context - the law of circles within circles ... your low-born Lakonian Helot at the very bottom (outside the largest circle) and your aristocratic Homoioi at the top (inside the smallest circle). Given the Spartan penchant for secrecy it is hardly surprising that nobody from that particular city was necessarily going to clarify matters for the interested observer. I don't think that the terms should always be treated as interchangeable. There are degrees of necessity when it comes to categorising the Spartan forces, depending upon the point being made. A Spartan army might have actually had very few Spartans in it at the simplest level - to some extent the control of and purpose of the force is often more significant in telling a story, than the internal breakdown of that force.

In simple terms all statements are true at different times. A Lakedamonian might mean specifically a Spartiate/Spartan - or alternately a dweller from the larger extra-Spartan area of Lakedaimon - or indeed also a soldier from anywhere in Lakonia. Within the context of the army it mattered less than it did politically.