The male Spartiates elected their leaders by shouting loudest for the most desired candidates. How strong the shouts were for different candidates was determined by judges behind a curtain (or in a nearby cabin, unable to see, but able to hear the assembled citizenry) so that they did not know who voted for whom. In this way, the Spartans chose the two people who would simultaneously rule as kings (I said it was a strange and complicated form of government). They likewise chose the Gerousia (a select group of men over sixty who served for the remainder of their lives once elected), and the
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