Epitadeus was an early 4th-century BC

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

n ephor, who strengthened conservative class distinctions by allowing gifts of land to independent citizens (

Spartiate A Spartiate (cf. its plural Spartiatae 'Spartans') �spärshēˈātē(z)or Spartiate �spärshēˌāt(from respectively the Latin and French forms corresponding to Classical- el, and pl. Σπᾰρτῐᾱ́ται) or ''Homoios'' (pl. ''Homoioi ...

s). This 4th century rhetra allowed the Spartiatai to dispose of their private land at will rather than by conventional hereditary descent.Hazel, John
Who's Who in the Greek World
p. 96 (2000) This information is derived from a passage

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

's ''Life of

Agis Agis or AGIS may refer to: People * Agis I (died 900 BC), Spartan king * Agis II (died 401 BC), Spartan king * Agis III (died 331 BC), Spartan king * Agis IV (265–241 BC), Spartan king * Agis (Paeonian) (died 358 BC), King of the Paeonians * Ag ...

'', who describes Epitadeus as headstrong and violent, and changing the rule as the result of a quarrel with his son. Epitadeus is mentioned by no other ancient sources, and may well be a fictional character employed to explain the decline in the alleged equality of Sparta.Roisman, Joseph & J.C. Yardley
Ancient Greece from Homer to Alexander: The Evidence
p. 420-21 (2011)Michell, Humfre
Sparta
p. 215-18 (1964)Isager, Signe Isager & Jens Erik Skydsgaar
Ancient Greek Agriculture: An Introduction
p. 133 (1992)Schütrumpf, Eckart. ''The Rhetra of Epitadeus: A Platonist’s Fiction'', ''Greek, Roman and. Byzantine Studies'' 28, 441-457 (1987) (“the account in Agis 5 is a mere fiction in a Platonic spirit and is therefore historically useless”.)

References

Government of Sparta 4th-century BC Spartans Ephors {{AncientGreece-bio-stub