The boys lived in groups ("agélai", "herds") under an older man. They were encouraged to give their loyalty to their communal mess hall known as the "Syssitia", rather than to their families. Beginning at the age of 12, boys would be given only one item of clothing per year: a red cloak known as a "Phoinikis" (a toponym reflecting the Phoenician origin of the Tyrian purple dye used or imitated in the cloak). They also created beds out of reeds pulled by hand from the Eurotas River. Boys were intentionally underfed to encourage them to steal food for themselves. However, Plutarch states that "if they were caught they would be mercilessly whipped and reduced to their ordinary food allowance." This was meant to produce well-built soldiers and allow the boys to become accustomed to hunger, preventing hunger from being a problem during battle. Only the heirs apparent of the two Spartan royal households (the Agiads and Eurypontids) were exempt from the process.