Messenia

When Sparta conquered Messenia, they took over the land. All the Messenians became helots. Helots were peasants forced to stay on the land they worked. Every year the Spartans demanded half of the helots' crops. In 650 B.C., the Messenians revolted. The Spartans were outnumbered eight to one, and barely beat the Messenians. They were shocked at how vulnerable they were, so they decided to make Sparta a strong city-state.