Perioikoi was the term for free non-citizen inhabitants living in communities around ancient Sparta.
The perioikoi occupied settlements in Laconia and Messenia, the regions controlled by the Spartan state. They were personally free and generally had local communities, but they did not possess the full political rights of Spartiates, Sparta’s citizen elite. Their communities contributed soldiers and were involved in crafts, trade, and economic activity that citizens often avoided.
The word is commonly translated as “dwellers-around,” reflecting their position around the central Spartan community. They were distinct from helots, who were an unfree, state-controlled labor population tied to the land. This distinction is important because both groups lived under Spartan authority but had very different legal and social positions.
The perioikoi also helped connect Sparta with the wider Peloponnese. Their military service was especially important because the full citizen population was relatively small and declined over time. Ancient sources do not describe every local community in exactly the same way, so their precise institutions could vary.