the
citizens
of full right, was taken notice of.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
in Tim.
p.
25.
36); they had, in conjunc-
and how he died nobody could tell. He vanished tion with the ephors, to watch over the due ob-
from the earth like a god, leaving no traces behind servance of the laws and institutions ; and they
but his spirit ; and he was honoured as a god at were judges in all criminal cascs, without being
Sparta with a temple and yearly sacrifices down to bound by any written code. For all this they
the latest times. " (Herod. i. 65; Plut. Lyc. 31; were not responsible, holding their office for life, a
Ephor. ap. Strab. viii. p. 366. )
circumstance which Aristotle (Pol. ii. 6, § 17)
The Spartan constitution was of a mixed nature : strongly censures.
the monarchical principle was represented by the Dut with all these powers, the elders formed no
kings, the aristocracy by the senate, and the de- real aristocracy. They were not chosen either for
mocratical element by the assembly of the people, property qualification or for noble birth. The senate
and by their representatives, the ephors. The was open to the poorest citizen, who, during 60
question has therefore arisen, what the prominent years, had been obedient to the laws and zealous
feature of the Spartan constitution was. Plato in the performance of his duties. (Arist. Pol. ii.
doubts whether it ought to be called a tyranny, on 6. § 15. ) Tyrannical habits are not acquired at
account of the arbitrary power of the ephors, or a such an age and after such a life ; party spirit
monarchy, on account of the kings ; while, at other cannot exist but in a close corporation, separated
times, no state seemed more democratical," although from the rest of the community by peculiar in-
(he adds) not to call it an aristocracy (i. e. a go- terests. Thus, in Sparta, during its better days,
vernment of the đploto, or best), is altogether the elements of an aristocracy were wanting. The
absurd. ” (Leg. iv. p. 712. ) So too Isocrates says in equal division of property was alone sufficient to
one place (p. 270; comp. p. 152, a) that the Spartans prevent it. The only aristocracy was one of merit
had established among themselves an equal demo- and personal influence, such as will and must
cracy, and in another (p. 265, a) that the Spartan always exist.
government was a democracy mixed with aristo- There are mentioned, however, a class of citizens
cracy. (Comp. Arist. Pol. ii. 6. ) A gain, Aristotle called the equals, or peers ("Ouotoi) (Xen. Hell.
says (Pol. iv. 9) “ that the test of a well mixed ii. 3, § 4, &c. ; de Rep. Laced. x. 4, with the
constitution is the uncertainty of its name: thus note of Haase), who may appear to have formed an
the Spartan constitution is sometimes called a de exclusive body, possessed of peculiar privileges.
mocracy, because the rich and poor are treated in But these Ouoloi must be regarded as those Spar-
the same manner as to education, dress, and food ; tans who had not suffered a diminuticn of their
and because the people have a share in the two political rights, who were not únopeioves or ótiuot,
highest offices, by electing the one, and being as such citizens were called at Athens ; afterwards
eligible to the other; sometimes an oligarchy, be- perhaps the word was used in contradistinction
cause it has many oligarchical institutions, such as from emancipated slaves, who were not admitted
that none of the magistrates are chosen by lot, and to all the civil privileges of the genuine Spartans.
that a few persons have power to pass sentence of These equals perhaps formed also the lesser as-
banishment and death. ” It is evident that the sembly mentioned by Xenophon (Hell. iii. 3, 8. Á
royal prerogatives were on the decline during the perpa ekia noia) (see Wachsmuth, Hcllen. Alterth.
whole of the period in which we can follow the $ 55, p. 464; Hermann, $ 28); but were by no
course of events. Even at the earliest stage it was means an aristocraticai body.
divided between two persons, and was consequently The mass of the people, that is, the Spartans of
weak. The kings had originally to perform the pure Doric descent, formed the sovereign power of
common functions of the kings of the heroic age. the state. From them emanated all particular
They were high priests, judges, and leaders in war; delegated authority, except that of the kings, which
but in all of these departments they were in course indeed was theoretically based on what may be
of time superseded more or less. “As judges they called divine right, but, as we have seen, derived
retained only a particular branch of jurisdiction, its strength in every particular part from the
that referring to the succession of property. As consent of the people. The popular assembly con-
312
## p. 852 (#868) ############################################
852
LYCURGUS.
LYCURGUS.
sisted of every Spartan of 30 years of age, and of the democratical party. The reason is, that the
un blemished character ; only those were excluded Dorians in general, and particularly the Spartans,
who had not the means of contributing their portion considered good order (kbonos) as the first requi-
to the byssitia. (Arist. Pol. ii. 7, 4. ) . They site in the state. (Müller, Dor. iii. 1. 1, 10. )
met at stated times, to decide on all important They preferred order, even coupled with suppres-
questions brought before them, after a previous dis. sion, to anarchy and confusion. The Spirtan
cussion in the senate. They had no right of willingly yielded during his whole life, and in
amendment, but only that of simple approval or every situation, to military discipline, and sub-
rejection, which was given in the rudest form pos-mitted unconditionally to established authority.
sible, by sł outing. A law of the kings, Thico-Müller says (l. c. ) “ the Doric state was a body of
pompus and Polydorus, during the first Messenian men acknowledging one strict principle of order
war, modified the constitutional power of the ins- and one unalterable rule of manners; and so subm
sembly ; but it is difficult to ascertain the exactjecting themselves to this system, that scarcely any-
meaning of the old low preserved by Plutarch, ihing was unfettered by it, but every action was
which regulated this point. (Plut. Lyc. C. ) It seems influenced and regulated by the recognised prin-
to have authorised the magistrates to refuse any ciples. ” And this was not an unaccountable fancy,
amendments being made by the people, so that if a predilection, a favourite pursuit; but on it was
this right existed before by law or custom, it was bused the security of the whole Spartan common-
now abolished; or if it had been illegally assumed, wealth. The Spartans were a small number of
it was again suppressed. The want of this right Jords among a tenfold horde of slaves and subjects.
shows that the Spartan democracy was moderate To maintain this position, every feature in the con-
as well as its monarchy and aristocracy, for the stitution, down to the minutest deuil, was calcu-
right of amendment, enjoyed by a popular assembly lated. (Thuc. iv. 3 ; Arnold, Second Appendix to
such as existed at Athens, is almost the last his Thucydides. )
stage of licentious ochlocracy. But it must be con- With reference to their subjects, the few Spar-
fessed that the sovereign people of Sparta had tans formed a most decided aristocracy ; and to
neither frequent nor very important occasions for maintain their dominion, they had to preserve order
directly exerting their sovereign power. Their and concord among themselves. Nothing was so
chief activity consisted in delegating it; therefore dangerous as a turbulent popular assembly, nothing
the importance of the ephors, who were the repre could tempt so much either the subject population to
sentatives of the popular element of the constitu- aspire to equality, or a demagogue to procure it for
tion, rose so high, in proportion as the kings lost them, and thus to acquire tyrannical power for
their ancient prerogatives. The ephors answer in himself. In the relative position of the Spartans
every characteristic feature to the Roman tribunes to their subjects, we discover the key to all their
of the people. Their origin was lost in obscurity institutions and habits : the whole of their history
and insignificance, and at the end they had en- was formed by this single circumstance.
grossed the whole power of the state, although they When the Dorians had conquered Peloponnesus,
were not immediately connected with military they appear to have granted at first mild conditions
command. Their institution is variously attributed to the conquered inhabitants, which in Argolis,
to Lycurgus (Herod. i. 65) and Theopompus (Plut. Sicyon, Corinth, and Messenia allowed both races
Lyc. 7), who is said to have had in view the per- to coalesce in course of time. (Isocrat. Panuth.
petuation of monarchy, through the diminution of p. 270, a. b. 286, a. ; Ephorus, ap. Strab, viii.
its rights. The ephors were ancient officers for the Š 4; Arnold, 2nd append. to Thucyd. p. 641;
regulation of police and minor law-suits. It is Müll. Dor. iv. 4, $ 3. ) But in Sparta this partial
significant that their origin is ascribed to Theo- equality of rights was soon overthrown. Part of
pompus, who diminished the power of the popular the old Achaeans, under the naine of perioici, were
assembly. Consequently, as the people in a body allowed indeed to retain their personal liberty, but
withdrew more and more from the immediate they lost all civil rights, and were obliged to pay
exercise of sovereign power, this power was vested to the state a rent for the land that was left them.
in their representatives, the ephors, who, in behalf They were subject to Spartan magistrates, and
of the people, now tend to the kings the oath of compelled to serve as heavy-armed soldiers, by the
allegiance, and receive from them the oath of obe- side of the Spartans, in wars wbich did not concern
dience to the laws. They rise paramount to kings them. But still they might be considered fortunate
and people, and acquire a censorial, inquisitorial, and in comparison with the Helots, for their want of
judicial power, which authorizes them, either sum-political rights was compensated to some extent by
marily to impose fines on the magistrates, and even greater individual liberty than even the Spartans
kings, or to suspend their functions, or to impeach enjoyed. (Müll. Dor. iii. 2. ) Those, however,
and arrest them, and bring them to trial before of the old inhabitants who had through obstinate
themselves and the senate. On account of this and continued resistance exasperated the Dorians,
excess of power, Aristotle says that their power were reduced to a state of perfect slavery, different
was tyrannical, and justly so ; for they exercised from that of the slaves of Athens and Rome, and
the sovereign power of the people, who were in more similar to the villanage of the feudal ages.
themselves the source of all law,
They were allotted together with patches of land,
may surprise us, that the Spartan constitu- to which they were bound, to individual members
tion, which contained such a strong democratical of the ruling class. They tilled the land, with
element, was always looked upon in Greece as the their wives and children, and paid a fixed rent to
model of a perfect aristocracy, and that Sparta in- their masters, not as the perioici to the state (Plut.
variably throughout the whole history of her in- Lyc. 8); they followed the Spartans as light-armed
cessant wars supported aristocratical institutions soldiers in war, and were in every respect regarded
against the aggressions of democracy. She always as the ever available property of the citizens, who
took the lead of the aristocratical, as Athens did of through the labour of their bondsmen were enabled
a
## p. 853 (#869) ############################################
LYCURGUS.
853
LYCURGUS.
to indulge in unlimited leisure themselves. But I need wonder no more at the co-existence of the
the number of these miserable creatures was large. three political clements of monarchy, aristocracy,
(Müll. Dor. ii. 3, $ 6. ) At Platacae every Spartan and democracy, which, although varying at times
was accompar. ied by seven Helots ; and they were in their relative positions, were on the whole pre-
by no means so different in race, language, and served as integral parts of the constitution, none
accomplishments, either from one another or from being entirely crushed by the other; and therefore
their masters, as were the slaves of Athens or caused the discrepancy of the ancients in calling
Kome, bought from various barbarous countries, a the Spartin constitution either a monarchy, or an
motley mass, that was easily kept down. Such aristocracy, or a democracy. It was the fear of
slaves were very rare at Sparta. (Müll. Dor. iii. their common enemy that kept all those unani-
3. & 2. ) The Helots assumed the appearance of a mously together, who were within the precincts of
regular class in the state, and became both useful the privileged class. The same forbcarance was
and formidable to their masters: their moral clnims shown in Sparta by the people, who constitutionally
for enfranchisement were much stronger than those possessed the sovereign power, as that which we
of the Athenian slaves. The resistance of their scc existing in Rome for a long period after the
ancestors to the invading Dorians was forgotten in comitia of the tribes had unlimited power in cn-
course of time, and in the same proportion the in- acting and abolishing laws. As in Rome it was
justice of their degraded state became more and the danger of foreign wars which induced the people
inore flagrant and insupportable ; therefore the to resign into the hands of a select body, the sonate,
llelots yielded only a reluctant obedience so long that prerogative which they constitutionally pos-
as it could be enforced. They kept a vigilant sessed, so at Sparta the assembly of the people
look-out for the misfortunes of their masters, ever voluntarily withdrew from the immediate exercise
ready to shake off their yoke, and would gladly of all the powers it might have assumed, because
“have eaten the flesh of the Spartans raw. " Hence they saw that must, and that they could with
we hear of constant revolts or attempts at revolts safety entrust the management of public affairs to
on the side of the oppressed, and of all possible a few men who were themselves as much interested
devices for keeping them down on the side of the as the whole people in supporting the dominion of
oppressors. No cruelty was too flagrant or too Sparta. In comparison with these subjects, indeed,
refined to accomplish this end. We need only every Spartan was a noble, and thus the Spartan
advert to the hateful crypteia, an institution which constitution might on this account be termed an
authorised select bands of Spartan youths to range aristocracy, as well as that of the early Roman
the country in all directions armed with daggers, republic. Arnold, in his 2nd Appendix to his
and secretiy to despatch those of the Helots who Thucydides, considers this the ground on which
gave umbrage to their masters. (See Dict. of Ant. the Spartan government was looked upon in Greece
8. o. ) But when this quiet massacre worked too as the model aristocracy, and always took the lead
slow, wholesale slaughters were resorted to. Thu- of the aristocratical against the democratical party,
cydides (iv. 80) relates an act of tyranny, the But G. C. Lewis (in the Philol. Mus. vol. ii. p. 56,
enormity of which is increased by the mystery | &c. ) has satisfactorily refuted this supposition,
that surrounds it. By a promise of manumission, and shown that the condition of slaves and perioici
the most impatient and dangerous of the Helots never came into consideration with ancient politi-
were induced to come forward to claim this high cians in determining the nature of a government,
reward for their former services in war, and then but that only the body politic, which comprised
were all secretly despatched, about 2000 in number.
the citizens of full right, was taken notice of.
In the face of such a heinous cowardly crime, it | Thus, Plato says, that Sparta was an aristocracy,
is difficult to be persuaded by Müller, who (Dor. not by reason of the perioici, but of the gerontes :
iii. 3. $ 3) attempts to make out that the slavery and when he, Isocrates, and others, call it demo-
of the Helots was far milder than it is represented. cratic, they allude to the power of the whole
If it had been, it would have been borne more Spartan order in making laws and in electing
patiently. But after the great earthquake in B. C. magistrates, to the equality of education, to the
465 we find that the Messenian Helots took advan- public tables, &c. , which are democratical institu-
tage of the confusion at Sparta, seized upon the tions in relation to the body of Spartans, though
towns of Thuria and Aethaea, and fortified Ithome, they were aristocratical in respect of the perioici
where they long held out against all the power of and helots (Phil. Mus. vol. ii. p. 60). This is
Sparta. (Thuc. i. 100. ) After the taking of Pylos, very true ; but nevertheless it was their dominion
when the Spartans and Athenians concluded an orer their subjects, which fostered originally among
alliance for fifty years, it was stipulated that if the the Spartans that predilection for aristocratical in-
Helots should revolt, the Athenians should assist stitutions in other parts of Greece, because they
the Spartans with all their forces. (Comp. Thuc. were accustomed to consider them as the support
i. 118, v. 14, 23; Arist. Pol. ii. 6, § 2. ) Similar of order and quiet, in opposition to the restless
apprehensions often occur in after-times. After spirit of democracy.
the battle of Leuctra, many of the Perioici and all If we go more into the details of the institutions
the Helots revolted to the Thebans. They kept of Sparta, we find in the military aspect of the
up this character to the very last, when they joined whole body of citizens, or rather soldiers, another
the Romans in the war, which extinguished the striking result of this operative cause at the bottom
independence of Sparta.
of the whole political system. The Spartans formed,
It is unnecessary to go much into detail
. Enough as it were, an army of invaders in an enemy's
has been said to show, that as long as Sparta was country, their city was a camp, every man a soldier,
determined to maintain her tyrannical ascendancy and very properly called é umpovpos from his seven-
over her subject population, all her institutions teenth to his sixtieth year. The peaceful life in
must have united to accomplish this one end. And the city was subjected to more restraints and hard-
such, indeed, was the case. In the first place we ships than the life during a real campaign, for the
31 3
## p. 854 (#870) ############################################
854
LYCURGUS.
LYCURGUS.
military institutions of Sparta were not intended | but warriors. Therefore not only all mechanical
to enable her to make foreign conquests, but to labour was thought to degrade them, and only to
maintain those she had already made. Sparta, become their slaves ; not only was husbandry, the
although constantly at war, made no conquests pride of the noblest Romans, despised and neg-
after the subjection of Messenia ; all her wars lected, trade and manufactures kept off like a con-
may be called defensive wars, for their object was tagious disease, all intercourse with foreign nations
chiefly to maintain her commanding position, as the prevented, or at least impeded, by laws prohibiting
head of the llellenic race.
Spartans to travel and foreigners to come to La-
In an army nothing can be of higher importance conin, and by the still more effective means of the
than subordination. Hence it was the pride of iron money; but also the nobler arts and sciences,
the Spartans, as king Archidamus (Isverut. $ 81, p. which might have adorned and sweetened the
132, Steph. ) said, that they excelled in Greece, leisure of the camp, as the lyre soothed the grief of
not through the size of their city, nor through the Achilles, were so effectually stifled, that Sparta is a
number of their citizens, but because they lived wank in the history of the arts and literature of
like a well-disciplined army, and yielded a willing Greece, and has contributed nothing to the in-
obedience to their magistrates. " We have seen struction and enjoyment of mankind. What little
already that these magistrates, and the ephors of trade and art there was in Laconia was left to the
later times in particular, were entrusted with very care of all oppressed race, the Lacedaemonian pro-
extensive power. They resembled less consuls or vincials, who received little or no encouragement
tribunes, than dictators, chosen in time of need from Spartii, and never rose to any distinction,
and danger.
But the sort of state interference which is the
Another striking feature in the government of most repulsive to our feelings, and the most objec-
Sparta was the excessive degree to which the inter- tionable on moral and political grounds, was that
ference of the state was carried, a practice never which was exercised in the sanctuary of that circle
realised to such an extent in any other government, which forms the basis of every state, the family.
before or after, except in the ideal states of Plato and It is evident that, in order to maintain their supe-
other philosophers. In a constitutional monarchy, riority, the Spartans were obliged to keep up their
such as England, people know not from experience numbers ; even the most heroic valour and the best
what state-interference is ; but even in the most organisation of military discipline would fail to
absolute monarchies of the Continent, where people perpetuate the subjection of the Helots, if these
complain that the state meddles with everything, should ever outnumber their lords too dispropor-
nothing short of a revolution would immediately tionably. We have seen that, to prevent this, by
follow the attempt at an introduction of anything thinning their ranks, the most barbarous and ini-
only distantly similar to the state-interference of quitous policy was pursued. But even this was
Sparta. The whole mode of viewing things at inefficient, and it was necessary to devise means
present is different, nay the reverse of what it for raising the number of citizens as well as lower-
was then. We maintain that the state exists for ing that of the slaves. Sparta seems never to have
the sake of its individual citizens ; at Sparta, the suffered from a dread of over population. It is
citizen only existed for the state,-he had no inte- the fate of all close corporations, which admit no
rest but the state's, no will, no property, but that new element from without, to decrease more and
of the state. Hence the extraordinary feature in more in number, as, for instance, the body of the
Sparta, that not only equality, but even community | patricians in Rome.
of property, existed to an extent which is unequalled The Spartans were particularly jealous of their
in any other age or country. Modern politicians political franchise, and consequently their numbers
dread nothing more than the spreading of com- rapidly diminished. In her better days Sparta
munism or socialism. In Sparta it was laid down as mustered from 8000 to 10,000 heavy-armed men
a fundamental principle of the constitution, that all (Herod. vii. 234 ; Arist. Pol. ii. 6. 12); but in the
citizens were entitled to the enjoyment of an equal days of Aristotle this number had sunk to 1000
portion of the common property. We know that (Arist. Pol. ii. 6. $ 11); and king Agis, when he
such a state of things could not exist in our age attempted his reform, found only 700. (Plut. Agis,
for a single moment, and even all the vigilance and 5. ) Even as early as the time of Lycurgus
severity of Sparta was unable to prevent in course Sparta must have felt a decrease of citizens, for to
of time the accumulation of property in a few him is ascribed a law which rewarded a father of
hands; but that it could at all exist there to a three children with release from military service, and
certain degree for a long period, can again only be one of four children with freedom from all duties
accounted for by the existence of the same cause to the state. (Arist. Pol. i. 6, 13. Comp. , how-
to which we must trace all the institutions of ever, Manso, Sparta, i. 1, p. 128, who doubts whether
Sparta. It was devised for securing to the com- this was a law of Lycurgus. ) But the mere person
monwealth a large number of citizens and soldiers, of a citizen was of little use to the community. In
free from the toils and labours for their sustenance, order to be of efficient service, he must have a
and able to derote their whole time to warlike ex- strong healthy body, sufficient property in land and
ercises, in order so to keep up the ascendancy of slaves to enable him to live as a soldier, and he
Sparta over her perioici and helots; and on the must, moreover, be trained in the regular school of
other hand, it was the toils and labours of the pe- Spartan state education, which alone could form
rioici and helots which alone could supply the state the true Spartan citizen. From these causes are
with a stock of property available for an equal dis- derived the laws regulating marriage, the succes-
tribution among the citizens. Where no such sion of property and education. Every Spartan
subject population existed, it would have been a was bound to marry, in order to give citizens to the
fruitless attempt to introduce the Spartan consti- state ; and he must marry neither too early nor
tution.
too late, nor an unsuitable woman. (Müll. Dor.
The Spartans were to be warriors and nothing liv. 4. $ 3. ) The king Archidamus, for instance, was
3
## p. 855 (#871) ############################################
LYCURGUS.
855
LYCURGUS.
esteem.
fined because he married a short woman (Plut. de division of the army, and a political body, bound
Exlucat. 2), from whom no kings, but only kinglings together by the ties of friendship and mutual
(Baginiokot), could be expected. To the matri-
The youths and boys used to eat se-
monial alliance so little sanctity was attached for parately from the men in their own divisions. For
its own sake, that it was sacrificed without scruple a concise view of the Spartan system of education
to maxims of state policy or private expediency see Thirlwall’s Hist. of Greece, vol. i. P.
327.
(Plut. Lyc. 15; comp. Polyb. in Mai's Nov. Col. The organisation of the Spartan army, the climax
Vet. Scriptor. ii. p. 384. ); a regular family life was of all their political institutions and social arrange-
rendered impossible by the husband's continual ab- ments, which we have now reviewed, is treated of
sence from home, either in the gymnasia, or at the in the Dict. of Ant. , so that we can here dispense
chase, or at the Syssitia and Leschae. Women with a repetition of its details. It was more perfect
were excluded from the common meals of the men than any other in Greece, and procured to Sparta
It was considered disreputable for the husband to an authority among Greeks and barbarians, which
be seen much in the company of his wife (Xen. de the envy and hatred of her bitterest enemies could
Rep. Lac. i. 5); his whole existence was engrosscd not but acknowledge. As long as Sparta could
by his public duties. The chief and only object of supply her armies with sufficient number of
marriage was the procreation of a healthy offspring genuine Spartan citizens they were invincible ; but
to supply the state with good citizens. Hence the decline of her free population necessarily drew
those regulations, so shocking to our feelings, which after it that of her military strength, and after the
authorised a weak or old husband to admit a strong days of Leuctra and Mantineia she never rose to
man to his matrimonial rights; or those which that eminence she had proudly occupied after the
provided a widow, who had not yet any children, battle of Plataene or Aegos-potami.
to supply her husband's place with a man (proba- We now return to the more immediate subject
bly a slave), and to produce heirs and successors to of this article, and inquire how far the framing of
the deceased. (Xen. Rep. Lac. i 6; Müll. Dor. iii. the constitution of Sparta must be attributed to
10. $ 4). In Sparta it was considered an act of Lycurgus. This inquiry is not a useless speculation,
magnanimity that, when Leonidas was sent to but will serve to throw additional light on the cha-
Thermopylae, he left as a legacy to his wife, Gorgo, racter of that extraordinary political organisation,
the maxim, “Marry nobly, and produce a noble as we shall have to determine whether it was a
offspring” (Plut. de Herod. Malim. 32, p. 321, spontaneous result of the Dorian character and the
Lac. Apophth. p. 216, fr. p. 355); and when Acro- peculiar circumstances of the Spartan Dorians, or
tatus had fought bravely in the war against Pyr- whether it was stamped upon them by the hand of
rhus, the women followed him through the town ; a superior genius, without whose interference the
and some of the older ones shouted after him:
course of political development would have run in
“Go, Acrotatns, enjoy yourself with Chelidonis, a different direction.
and beget valiant sons for Sparta. ” (Plut. Pyrrh. We have said already that the ancients were
28. )
unanimous in regarding Lycurgus not only as a
We cannot blame the Spartans so much for the real historical person, but also as the originator of
laws which disposed of the hands of heiresses all the institutions of Sparta. But their testimony
without in the least taking notice of their individual in this respect proves too much. One need only
inclinations. The laws regarding this point were read Xenophon's little work, De Republica Lace-
pretty nearly alike in most ancient Greek states, daemoniorum, in order to see the absurdity of
as every where the maintenance of the existing ascribing every thing to the lawgiver. According
families and properties was considered of primary to this view, the Spartans must have lived before
importance to the welfare of the state. Hence at Lycurgus without all law, custom, and government,
Sparta the next in kin had a right and was bound which we know is not true, and cannot be true, or,
to marry an heiress, and to continue her father's what would be more wonderful still, Lycurgus bad
family. (Müll. Dor, iii. 10. § 4. )
the power of sweeping away every ancient custom,
But that branch of social life in which Sparta and supplanting it by a whole system of new
stood most aloof from the rest of Greece and the foreign regulations. To adduce a few instances of
world was the education of her citizens, young and this erroneous view, we will mention the institution
old ; for the education of the Spartan was not of the popular assembly, which is ascribed to Ly-
confined to his youth, but extended nearly through- curgus (Plut. Lyc. 6). There cannot be any doubt
out his whole life. The syssitia, or, as they were that an assembly of the people existed in Sparta
called at Sparta, phiditia, the common meals, may from the first, as well as in all other Greek states,
be regarded as an educational institution ; for at even in the heroic ages. A still more essential
these meals subjects of general interest were dis- part of every Greek commonwealth was the council
cussed and political questions debated, so that they of elders, and yet this also is ascribed to Lycurgus.
were not a bad school in politics and laws for the (Plut. Lyc. 5. ) But it is quite ridiculous to say,
citizens. The discussions on these occasions may that Lycurgus abolished gold and silver money;'
have been a sort of compensation for the silence and enacted that iron should be the only currency.
that was imposed on the popular assembly; they The first money in Greece was coined about the
may to some extent have answered the purpose of eighth Olympiad by Pheidon, tyrant of Argos.
the Roman contiones, and of the public press of (Müll
. Aeginetica, p. 57. ) This was silver money.
our days. And they were the more efficient for Gold money was first coined in Asia. The Spartan
such purposes, as friends and relations generally, state at the time of Solon possessed not gold enough
to the number of fifteen, formed companies for to gild the face of the statue of Apollo at Thornax,
dining together at one table, into which companies and sent to Croesus to buy it. (Herod. i. 69. ) A
fresh members were only admitted by unanimous similar mistake is made when the institution of
election. These étaipiai (as they were called by the ephors is ascribed to Lycurgus. (Herod. i.
the Dorians in Crete) formed a sort of elementary | 05; Xen. de Rep. Laced. 8. $ 3.
and how he died nobody could tell. He vanished tion with the ephors, to watch over the due ob-
from the earth like a god, leaving no traces behind servance of the laws and institutions ; and they
but his spirit ; and he was honoured as a god at were judges in all criminal cascs, without being
Sparta with a temple and yearly sacrifices down to bound by any written code. For all this they
the latest times. " (Herod. i. 65; Plut. Lyc. 31; were not responsible, holding their office for life, a
Ephor. ap. Strab. viii. p. 366. )
circumstance which Aristotle (Pol. ii. 6, § 17)
The Spartan constitution was of a mixed nature : strongly censures.
the monarchical principle was represented by the Dut with all these powers, the elders formed no
kings, the aristocracy by the senate, and the de- real aristocracy. They were not chosen either for
mocratical element by the assembly of the people, property qualification or for noble birth. The senate
and by their representatives, the ephors. The was open to the poorest citizen, who, during 60
question has therefore arisen, what the prominent years, had been obedient to the laws and zealous
feature of the Spartan constitution was. Plato in the performance of his duties. (Arist. Pol. ii.
doubts whether it ought to be called a tyranny, on 6. § 15. ) Tyrannical habits are not acquired at
account of the arbitrary power of the ephors, or a such an age and after such a life ; party spirit
monarchy, on account of the kings ; while, at other cannot exist but in a close corporation, separated
times, no state seemed more democratical," although from the rest of the community by peculiar in-
(he adds) not to call it an aristocracy (i. e. a go- terests. Thus, in Sparta, during its better days,
vernment of the đploto, or best), is altogether the elements of an aristocracy were wanting. The
absurd. ” (Leg. iv. p. 712. ) So too Isocrates says in equal division of property was alone sufficient to
one place (p. 270; comp. p. 152, a) that the Spartans prevent it. The only aristocracy was one of merit
had established among themselves an equal demo- and personal influence, such as will and must
cracy, and in another (p. 265, a) that the Spartan always exist.
government was a democracy mixed with aristo- There are mentioned, however, a class of citizens
cracy. (Comp. Arist. Pol. ii. 6. ) A gain, Aristotle called the equals, or peers ("Ouotoi) (Xen. Hell.
says (Pol. iv. 9) “ that the test of a well mixed ii. 3, § 4, &c. ; de Rep. Laced. x. 4, with the
constitution is the uncertainty of its name: thus note of Haase), who may appear to have formed an
the Spartan constitution is sometimes called a de exclusive body, possessed of peculiar privileges.
mocracy, because the rich and poor are treated in But these Ouoloi must be regarded as those Spar-
the same manner as to education, dress, and food ; tans who had not suffered a diminuticn of their
and because the people have a share in the two political rights, who were not únopeioves or ótiuot,
highest offices, by electing the one, and being as such citizens were called at Athens ; afterwards
eligible to the other; sometimes an oligarchy, be- perhaps the word was used in contradistinction
cause it has many oligarchical institutions, such as from emancipated slaves, who were not admitted
that none of the magistrates are chosen by lot, and to all the civil privileges of the genuine Spartans.
that a few persons have power to pass sentence of These equals perhaps formed also the lesser as-
banishment and death. ” It is evident that the sembly mentioned by Xenophon (Hell. iii. 3, 8. Á
royal prerogatives were on the decline during the perpa ekia noia) (see Wachsmuth, Hcllen. Alterth.
whole of the period in which we can follow the $ 55, p. 464; Hermann, $ 28); but were by no
course of events. Even at the earliest stage it was means an aristocraticai body.
divided between two persons, and was consequently The mass of the people, that is, the Spartans of
weak. The kings had originally to perform the pure Doric descent, formed the sovereign power of
common functions of the kings of the heroic age. the state. From them emanated all particular
They were high priests, judges, and leaders in war; delegated authority, except that of the kings, which
but in all of these departments they were in course indeed was theoretically based on what may be
of time superseded more or less. “As judges they called divine right, but, as we have seen, derived
retained only a particular branch of jurisdiction, its strength in every particular part from the
that referring to the succession of property. As consent of the people. The popular assembly con-
312
## p. 852 (#868) ############################################
852
LYCURGUS.
LYCURGUS.
sisted of every Spartan of 30 years of age, and of the democratical party. The reason is, that the
un blemished character ; only those were excluded Dorians in general, and particularly the Spartans,
who had not the means of contributing their portion considered good order (kbonos) as the first requi-
to the byssitia. (Arist. Pol. ii. 7, 4. ) . They site in the state. (Müller, Dor. iii. 1. 1, 10. )
met at stated times, to decide on all important They preferred order, even coupled with suppres-
questions brought before them, after a previous dis. sion, to anarchy and confusion. The Spirtan
cussion in the senate. They had no right of willingly yielded during his whole life, and in
amendment, but only that of simple approval or every situation, to military discipline, and sub-
rejection, which was given in the rudest form pos-mitted unconditionally to established authority.
sible, by sł outing. A law of the kings, Thico-Müller says (l. c. ) “ the Doric state was a body of
pompus and Polydorus, during the first Messenian men acknowledging one strict principle of order
war, modified the constitutional power of the ins- and one unalterable rule of manners; and so subm
sembly ; but it is difficult to ascertain the exactjecting themselves to this system, that scarcely any-
meaning of the old low preserved by Plutarch, ihing was unfettered by it, but every action was
which regulated this point. (Plut. Lyc. C. ) It seems influenced and regulated by the recognised prin-
to have authorised the magistrates to refuse any ciples. ” And this was not an unaccountable fancy,
amendments being made by the people, so that if a predilection, a favourite pursuit; but on it was
this right existed before by law or custom, it was bused the security of the whole Spartan common-
now abolished; or if it had been illegally assumed, wealth. The Spartans were a small number of
it was again suppressed. The want of this right Jords among a tenfold horde of slaves and subjects.
shows that the Spartan democracy was moderate To maintain this position, every feature in the con-
as well as its monarchy and aristocracy, for the stitution, down to the minutest deuil, was calcu-
right of amendment, enjoyed by a popular assembly lated. (Thuc. iv. 3 ; Arnold, Second Appendix to
such as existed at Athens, is almost the last his Thucydides. )
stage of licentious ochlocracy. But it must be con- With reference to their subjects, the few Spar-
fessed that the sovereign people of Sparta had tans formed a most decided aristocracy ; and to
neither frequent nor very important occasions for maintain their dominion, they had to preserve order
directly exerting their sovereign power. Their and concord among themselves. Nothing was so
chief activity consisted in delegating it; therefore dangerous as a turbulent popular assembly, nothing
the importance of the ephors, who were the repre could tempt so much either the subject population to
sentatives of the popular element of the constitu- aspire to equality, or a demagogue to procure it for
tion, rose so high, in proportion as the kings lost them, and thus to acquire tyrannical power for
their ancient prerogatives. The ephors answer in himself. In the relative position of the Spartans
every characteristic feature to the Roman tribunes to their subjects, we discover the key to all their
of the people. Their origin was lost in obscurity institutions and habits : the whole of their history
and insignificance, and at the end they had en- was formed by this single circumstance.
grossed the whole power of the state, although they When the Dorians had conquered Peloponnesus,
were not immediately connected with military they appear to have granted at first mild conditions
command. Their institution is variously attributed to the conquered inhabitants, which in Argolis,
to Lycurgus (Herod. i. 65) and Theopompus (Plut. Sicyon, Corinth, and Messenia allowed both races
Lyc. 7), who is said to have had in view the per- to coalesce in course of time. (Isocrat. Panuth.
petuation of monarchy, through the diminution of p. 270, a. b. 286, a. ; Ephorus, ap. Strab, viii.
its rights. The ephors were ancient officers for the Š 4; Arnold, 2nd append. to Thucyd. p. 641;
regulation of police and minor law-suits. It is Müll. Dor. iv. 4, $ 3. ) But in Sparta this partial
significant that their origin is ascribed to Theo- equality of rights was soon overthrown. Part of
pompus, who diminished the power of the popular the old Achaeans, under the naine of perioici, were
assembly. Consequently, as the people in a body allowed indeed to retain their personal liberty, but
withdrew more and more from the immediate they lost all civil rights, and were obliged to pay
exercise of sovereign power, this power was vested to the state a rent for the land that was left them.
in their representatives, the ephors, who, in behalf They were subject to Spartan magistrates, and
of the people, now tend to the kings the oath of compelled to serve as heavy-armed soldiers, by the
allegiance, and receive from them the oath of obe- side of the Spartans, in wars wbich did not concern
dience to the laws. They rise paramount to kings them. But still they might be considered fortunate
and people, and acquire a censorial, inquisitorial, and in comparison with the Helots, for their want of
judicial power, which authorizes them, either sum-political rights was compensated to some extent by
marily to impose fines on the magistrates, and even greater individual liberty than even the Spartans
kings, or to suspend their functions, or to impeach enjoyed. (Müll. Dor. iii. 2. ) Those, however,
and arrest them, and bring them to trial before of the old inhabitants who had through obstinate
themselves and the senate. On account of this and continued resistance exasperated the Dorians,
excess of power, Aristotle says that their power were reduced to a state of perfect slavery, different
was tyrannical, and justly so ; for they exercised from that of the slaves of Athens and Rome, and
the sovereign power of the people, who were in more similar to the villanage of the feudal ages.
themselves the source of all law,
They were allotted together with patches of land,
may surprise us, that the Spartan constitu- to which they were bound, to individual members
tion, which contained such a strong democratical of the ruling class. They tilled the land, with
element, was always looked upon in Greece as the their wives and children, and paid a fixed rent to
model of a perfect aristocracy, and that Sparta in- their masters, not as the perioici to the state (Plut.
variably throughout the whole history of her in- Lyc. 8); they followed the Spartans as light-armed
cessant wars supported aristocratical institutions soldiers in war, and were in every respect regarded
against the aggressions of democracy. She always as the ever available property of the citizens, who
took the lead of the aristocratical, as Athens did of through the labour of their bondsmen were enabled
a
## p. 853 (#869) ############################################
LYCURGUS.
853
LYCURGUS.
to indulge in unlimited leisure themselves. But I need wonder no more at the co-existence of the
the number of these miserable creatures was large. three political clements of monarchy, aristocracy,
(Müll. Dor. ii. 3, $ 6. ) At Platacae every Spartan and democracy, which, although varying at times
was accompar. ied by seven Helots ; and they were in their relative positions, were on the whole pre-
by no means so different in race, language, and served as integral parts of the constitution, none
accomplishments, either from one another or from being entirely crushed by the other; and therefore
their masters, as were the slaves of Athens or caused the discrepancy of the ancients in calling
Kome, bought from various barbarous countries, a the Spartin constitution either a monarchy, or an
motley mass, that was easily kept down. Such aristocracy, or a democracy. It was the fear of
slaves were very rare at Sparta. (Müll. Dor. iii. their common enemy that kept all those unani-
3. & 2. ) The Helots assumed the appearance of a mously together, who were within the precincts of
regular class in the state, and became both useful the privileged class. The same forbcarance was
and formidable to their masters: their moral clnims shown in Sparta by the people, who constitutionally
for enfranchisement were much stronger than those possessed the sovereign power, as that which we
of the Athenian slaves. The resistance of their scc existing in Rome for a long period after the
ancestors to the invading Dorians was forgotten in comitia of the tribes had unlimited power in cn-
course of time, and in the same proportion the in- acting and abolishing laws. As in Rome it was
justice of their degraded state became more and the danger of foreign wars which induced the people
inore flagrant and insupportable ; therefore the to resign into the hands of a select body, the sonate,
llelots yielded only a reluctant obedience so long that prerogative which they constitutionally pos-
as it could be enforced. They kept a vigilant sessed, so at Sparta the assembly of the people
look-out for the misfortunes of their masters, ever voluntarily withdrew from the immediate exercise
ready to shake off their yoke, and would gladly of all the powers it might have assumed, because
“have eaten the flesh of the Spartans raw. " Hence they saw that must, and that they could with
we hear of constant revolts or attempts at revolts safety entrust the management of public affairs to
on the side of the oppressed, and of all possible a few men who were themselves as much interested
devices for keeping them down on the side of the as the whole people in supporting the dominion of
oppressors. No cruelty was too flagrant or too Sparta. In comparison with these subjects, indeed,
refined to accomplish this end. We need only every Spartan was a noble, and thus the Spartan
advert to the hateful crypteia, an institution which constitution might on this account be termed an
authorised select bands of Spartan youths to range aristocracy, as well as that of the early Roman
the country in all directions armed with daggers, republic. Arnold, in his 2nd Appendix to his
and secretiy to despatch those of the Helots who Thucydides, considers this the ground on which
gave umbrage to their masters. (See Dict. of Ant. the Spartan government was looked upon in Greece
8. o. ) But when this quiet massacre worked too as the model aristocracy, and always took the lead
slow, wholesale slaughters were resorted to. Thu- of the aristocratical against the democratical party,
cydides (iv. 80) relates an act of tyranny, the But G. C. Lewis (in the Philol. Mus. vol. ii. p. 56,
enormity of which is increased by the mystery | &c. ) has satisfactorily refuted this supposition,
that surrounds it. By a promise of manumission, and shown that the condition of slaves and perioici
the most impatient and dangerous of the Helots never came into consideration with ancient politi-
were induced to come forward to claim this high cians in determining the nature of a government,
reward for their former services in war, and then but that only the body politic, which comprised
were all secretly despatched, about 2000 in number.
the citizens of full right, was taken notice of.
In the face of such a heinous cowardly crime, it | Thus, Plato says, that Sparta was an aristocracy,
is difficult to be persuaded by Müller, who (Dor. not by reason of the perioici, but of the gerontes :
iii. 3. $ 3) attempts to make out that the slavery and when he, Isocrates, and others, call it demo-
of the Helots was far milder than it is represented. cratic, they allude to the power of the whole
If it had been, it would have been borne more Spartan order in making laws and in electing
patiently. But after the great earthquake in B. C. magistrates, to the equality of education, to the
465 we find that the Messenian Helots took advan- public tables, &c. , which are democratical institu-
tage of the confusion at Sparta, seized upon the tions in relation to the body of Spartans, though
towns of Thuria and Aethaea, and fortified Ithome, they were aristocratical in respect of the perioici
where they long held out against all the power of and helots (Phil. Mus. vol. ii. p. 60). This is
Sparta. (Thuc. i. 100. ) After the taking of Pylos, very true ; but nevertheless it was their dominion
when the Spartans and Athenians concluded an orer their subjects, which fostered originally among
alliance for fifty years, it was stipulated that if the the Spartans that predilection for aristocratical in-
Helots should revolt, the Athenians should assist stitutions in other parts of Greece, because they
the Spartans with all their forces. (Comp. Thuc. were accustomed to consider them as the support
i. 118, v. 14, 23; Arist. Pol. ii. 6, § 2. ) Similar of order and quiet, in opposition to the restless
apprehensions often occur in after-times. After spirit of democracy.
the battle of Leuctra, many of the Perioici and all If we go more into the details of the institutions
the Helots revolted to the Thebans. They kept of Sparta, we find in the military aspect of the
up this character to the very last, when they joined whole body of citizens, or rather soldiers, another
the Romans in the war, which extinguished the striking result of this operative cause at the bottom
independence of Sparta.
of the whole political system. The Spartans formed,
It is unnecessary to go much into detail
. Enough as it were, an army of invaders in an enemy's
has been said to show, that as long as Sparta was country, their city was a camp, every man a soldier,
determined to maintain her tyrannical ascendancy and very properly called é umpovpos from his seven-
over her subject population, all her institutions teenth to his sixtieth year. The peaceful life in
must have united to accomplish this one end. And the city was subjected to more restraints and hard-
such, indeed, was the case. In the first place we ships than the life during a real campaign, for the
31 3
## p. 854 (#870) ############################################
854
LYCURGUS.
LYCURGUS.
military institutions of Sparta were not intended | but warriors. Therefore not only all mechanical
to enable her to make foreign conquests, but to labour was thought to degrade them, and only to
maintain those she had already made. Sparta, become their slaves ; not only was husbandry, the
although constantly at war, made no conquests pride of the noblest Romans, despised and neg-
after the subjection of Messenia ; all her wars lected, trade and manufactures kept off like a con-
may be called defensive wars, for their object was tagious disease, all intercourse with foreign nations
chiefly to maintain her commanding position, as the prevented, or at least impeded, by laws prohibiting
head of the llellenic race.
Spartans to travel and foreigners to come to La-
In an army nothing can be of higher importance conin, and by the still more effective means of the
than subordination. Hence it was the pride of iron money; but also the nobler arts and sciences,
the Spartans, as king Archidamus (Isverut. $ 81, p. which might have adorned and sweetened the
132, Steph. ) said, that they excelled in Greece, leisure of the camp, as the lyre soothed the grief of
not through the size of their city, nor through the Achilles, were so effectually stifled, that Sparta is a
number of their citizens, but because they lived wank in the history of the arts and literature of
like a well-disciplined army, and yielded a willing Greece, and has contributed nothing to the in-
obedience to their magistrates. " We have seen struction and enjoyment of mankind. What little
already that these magistrates, and the ephors of trade and art there was in Laconia was left to the
later times in particular, were entrusted with very care of all oppressed race, the Lacedaemonian pro-
extensive power. They resembled less consuls or vincials, who received little or no encouragement
tribunes, than dictators, chosen in time of need from Spartii, and never rose to any distinction,
and danger.
But the sort of state interference which is the
Another striking feature in the government of most repulsive to our feelings, and the most objec-
Sparta was the excessive degree to which the inter- tionable on moral and political grounds, was that
ference of the state was carried, a practice never which was exercised in the sanctuary of that circle
realised to such an extent in any other government, which forms the basis of every state, the family.
before or after, except in the ideal states of Plato and It is evident that, in order to maintain their supe-
other philosophers. In a constitutional monarchy, riority, the Spartans were obliged to keep up their
such as England, people know not from experience numbers ; even the most heroic valour and the best
what state-interference is ; but even in the most organisation of military discipline would fail to
absolute monarchies of the Continent, where people perpetuate the subjection of the Helots, if these
complain that the state meddles with everything, should ever outnumber their lords too dispropor-
nothing short of a revolution would immediately tionably. We have seen that, to prevent this, by
follow the attempt at an introduction of anything thinning their ranks, the most barbarous and ini-
only distantly similar to the state-interference of quitous policy was pursued. But even this was
Sparta. The whole mode of viewing things at inefficient, and it was necessary to devise means
present is different, nay the reverse of what it for raising the number of citizens as well as lower-
was then. We maintain that the state exists for ing that of the slaves. Sparta seems never to have
the sake of its individual citizens ; at Sparta, the suffered from a dread of over population. It is
citizen only existed for the state,-he had no inte- the fate of all close corporations, which admit no
rest but the state's, no will, no property, but that new element from without, to decrease more and
of the state. Hence the extraordinary feature in more in number, as, for instance, the body of the
Sparta, that not only equality, but even community | patricians in Rome.
of property, existed to an extent which is unequalled The Spartans were particularly jealous of their
in any other age or country. Modern politicians political franchise, and consequently their numbers
dread nothing more than the spreading of com- rapidly diminished. In her better days Sparta
munism or socialism. In Sparta it was laid down as mustered from 8000 to 10,000 heavy-armed men
a fundamental principle of the constitution, that all (Herod. vii. 234 ; Arist. Pol. ii. 6. 12); but in the
citizens were entitled to the enjoyment of an equal days of Aristotle this number had sunk to 1000
portion of the common property. We know that (Arist. Pol. ii. 6. $ 11); and king Agis, when he
such a state of things could not exist in our age attempted his reform, found only 700. (Plut. Agis,
for a single moment, and even all the vigilance and 5. ) Even as early as the time of Lycurgus
severity of Sparta was unable to prevent in course Sparta must have felt a decrease of citizens, for to
of time the accumulation of property in a few him is ascribed a law which rewarded a father of
hands; but that it could at all exist there to a three children with release from military service, and
certain degree for a long period, can again only be one of four children with freedom from all duties
accounted for by the existence of the same cause to the state. (Arist. Pol. i. 6, 13. Comp. , how-
to which we must trace all the institutions of ever, Manso, Sparta, i. 1, p. 128, who doubts whether
Sparta. It was devised for securing to the com- this was a law of Lycurgus. ) But the mere person
monwealth a large number of citizens and soldiers, of a citizen was of little use to the community. In
free from the toils and labours for their sustenance, order to be of efficient service, he must have a
and able to derote their whole time to warlike ex- strong healthy body, sufficient property in land and
ercises, in order so to keep up the ascendancy of slaves to enable him to live as a soldier, and he
Sparta over her perioici and helots; and on the must, moreover, be trained in the regular school of
other hand, it was the toils and labours of the pe- Spartan state education, which alone could form
rioici and helots which alone could supply the state the true Spartan citizen. From these causes are
with a stock of property available for an equal dis- derived the laws regulating marriage, the succes-
tribution among the citizens. Where no such sion of property and education. Every Spartan
subject population existed, it would have been a was bound to marry, in order to give citizens to the
fruitless attempt to introduce the Spartan consti- state ; and he must marry neither too early nor
tution.
too late, nor an unsuitable woman. (Müll. Dor.
The Spartans were to be warriors and nothing liv. 4. $ 3. ) The king Archidamus, for instance, was
3
## p. 855 (#871) ############################################
LYCURGUS.
855
LYCURGUS.
esteem.
fined because he married a short woman (Plut. de division of the army, and a political body, bound
Exlucat. 2), from whom no kings, but only kinglings together by the ties of friendship and mutual
(Baginiokot), could be expected. To the matri-
The youths and boys used to eat se-
monial alliance so little sanctity was attached for parately from the men in their own divisions. For
its own sake, that it was sacrificed without scruple a concise view of the Spartan system of education
to maxims of state policy or private expediency see Thirlwall’s Hist. of Greece, vol. i. P.
327.
(Plut. Lyc. 15; comp. Polyb. in Mai's Nov. Col. The organisation of the Spartan army, the climax
Vet. Scriptor. ii. p. 384. ); a regular family life was of all their political institutions and social arrange-
rendered impossible by the husband's continual ab- ments, which we have now reviewed, is treated of
sence from home, either in the gymnasia, or at the in the Dict. of Ant. , so that we can here dispense
chase, or at the Syssitia and Leschae. Women with a repetition of its details. It was more perfect
were excluded from the common meals of the men than any other in Greece, and procured to Sparta
It was considered disreputable for the husband to an authority among Greeks and barbarians, which
be seen much in the company of his wife (Xen. de the envy and hatred of her bitterest enemies could
Rep. Lac. i. 5); his whole existence was engrosscd not but acknowledge. As long as Sparta could
by his public duties. The chief and only object of supply her armies with sufficient number of
marriage was the procreation of a healthy offspring genuine Spartan citizens they were invincible ; but
to supply the state with good citizens. Hence the decline of her free population necessarily drew
those regulations, so shocking to our feelings, which after it that of her military strength, and after the
authorised a weak or old husband to admit a strong days of Leuctra and Mantineia she never rose to
man to his matrimonial rights; or those which that eminence she had proudly occupied after the
provided a widow, who had not yet any children, battle of Plataene or Aegos-potami.
to supply her husband's place with a man (proba- We now return to the more immediate subject
bly a slave), and to produce heirs and successors to of this article, and inquire how far the framing of
the deceased. (Xen. Rep. Lac. i 6; Müll. Dor. iii. the constitution of Sparta must be attributed to
10. $ 4). In Sparta it was considered an act of Lycurgus. This inquiry is not a useless speculation,
magnanimity that, when Leonidas was sent to but will serve to throw additional light on the cha-
Thermopylae, he left as a legacy to his wife, Gorgo, racter of that extraordinary political organisation,
the maxim, “Marry nobly, and produce a noble as we shall have to determine whether it was a
offspring” (Plut. de Herod. Malim. 32, p. 321, spontaneous result of the Dorian character and the
Lac. Apophth. p. 216, fr. p. 355); and when Acro- peculiar circumstances of the Spartan Dorians, or
tatus had fought bravely in the war against Pyr- whether it was stamped upon them by the hand of
rhus, the women followed him through the town ; a superior genius, without whose interference the
and some of the older ones shouted after him:
course of political development would have run in
“Go, Acrotatns, enjoy yourself with Chelidonis, a different direction.
and beget valiant sons for Sparta. ” (Plut. Pyrrh. We have said already that the ancients were
28. )
unanimous in regarding Lycurgus not only as a
We cannot blame the Spartans so much for the real historical person, but also as the originator of
laws which disposed of the hands of heiresses all the institutions of Sparta. But their testimony
without in the least taking notice of their individual in this respect proves too much. One need only
inclinations. The laws regarding this point were read Xenophon's little work, De Republica Lace-
pretty nearly alike in most ancient Greek states, daemoniorum, in order to see the absurdity of
as every where the maintenance of the existing ascribing every thing to the lawgiver. According
families and properties was considered of primary to this view, the Spartans must have lived before
importance to the welfare of the state. Hence at Lycurgus without all law, custom, and government,
Sparta the next in kin had a right and was bound which we know is not true, and cannot be true, or,
to marry an heiress, and to continue her father's what would be more wonderful still, Lycurgus bad
family. (Müll. Dor, iii. 10. § 4. )
the power of sweeping away every ancient custom,
But that branch of social life in which Sparta and supplanting it by a whole system of new
stood most aloof from the rest of Greece and the foreign regulations. To adduce a few instances of
world was the education of her citizens, young and this erroneous view, we will mention the institution
old ; for the education of the Spartan was not of the popular assembly, which is ascribed to Ly-
confined to his youth, but extended nearly through- curgus (Plut. Lyc. 6). There cannot be any doubt
out his whole life. The syssitia, or, as they were that an assembly of the people existed in Sparta
called at Sparta, phiditia, the common meals, may from the first, as well as in all other Greek states,
be regarded as an educational institution ; for at even in the heroic ages. A still more essential
these meals subjects of general interest were dis- part of every Greek commonwealth was the council
cussed and political questions debated, so that they of elders, and yet this also is ascribed to Lycurgus.
were not a bad school in politics and laws for the (Plut. Lyc. 5. ) But it is quite ridiculous to say,
citizens. The discussions on these occasions may that Lycurgus abolished gold and silver money;'
have been a sort of compensation for the silence and enacted that iron should be the only currency.
that was imposed on the popular assembly; they The first money in Greece was coined about the
may to some extent have answered the purpose of eighth Olympiad by Pheidon, tyrant of Argos.
the Roman contiones, and of the public press of (Müll
. Aeginetica, p. 57. ) This was silver money.
our days. And they were the more efficient for Gold money was first coined in Asia. The Spartan
such purposes, as friends and relations generally, state at the time of Solon possessed not gold enough
to the number of fifteen, formed companies for to gild the face of the statue of Apollo at Thornax,
dining together at one table, into which companies and sent to Croesus to buy it. (Herod. i. 69. ) A
fresh members were only admitted by unanimous similar mistake is made when the institution of
election. These étaipiai (as they were called by the ephors is ascribed to Lycurgus. (Herod. i.
the Dorians in Crete) formed a sort of elementary | 05; Xen. de Rep. Laced. 8. $ 3.
