A plural form of ephor, referring to multiple chief magistrates or administrators in ancient Greek city-states.
Greek plural of ephor, from ephoros meaning 'overseer,' from ephoran 'to oversee,' from epi 'over' and horan 'to see'.
In Sparta, the ephori were like a council of five CEOs—they could actually overrule the kings in some matters, making ancient Sparta one of history's first checks-and-balances systems.
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