The Ancient Spartan Serf was known as a HELOT, which is a five-letter word. Helots were the lowest class of people in Ancient Sparta and were essentially slaves. They were owned by the state and were required to work the land and pay taxes to their masters. They had no rights and were not allowed to own property or marry outside of their class. The Helots were seen as a necessary evil by the Spartans, as they provided the labor needed to sustain the Spartan economy.