The Perioeci or Perioikoi (Περίοικοι, /peˈri.oj.koj/) were the second-tier citizens of the polis of Sparta until c. 200 BC. They lived in several dozen cities within Spartan territories (mostly Laconia and Messenia), which were dependent on Sparta. The perioeci only had political rights in their own city, while the course of the Spartan state exclusively belonged to Spartan citizens, or Spartiates. Other major cities in the Peloponnese likewise controlled perioecic cities, such as Elis and Argos.