Even at the earliest stage it was means an
aristocraticai
body.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
i.
7.
$ 3.
)
4. A son of Pheres and Periclymene, á brother Therefore it is intelligible how Herodotus could
of Admctus, was king of the country about Nemea, (i. 65) call Lycurgus the guardian of his nephew,
and married to Eurydice or Amphithen, by whom Labotns, the Eurysthenid; whilst Simonides
he became the father of Opheltes (Apollod. i. 9. 8 (Aelian, V. H. ix. 41) calls him the son of Pry-
14, iii. 6. & 4). His tomb was believed to cxist tanis, brother of Eunomus, the Proclid, Diony-
in the grove of the Nemcan Zeus. (Paus. ii. 15. sius (ii. 49) makes him to be uncle to Eunomus ;
$ 3. )
and the common account (Plut. Lyc. 2 ; Arist. Pol.
5. One of the suitors of Flippodamein, was killed ii. 7. 1; Ephor. up. Strab. x. p. 482) the son of
by Oenomaus. (Paus, vi. 21. 8 7. )
Eunomus, and guardian of his nephew Charilaus. "
6. A son of Eunomus, a mythical legislator of Sparta was in a state of anarchy and licentiousness,
the Lacedacmonians. llis son is called 'Eucosmus perhaps in conscquence of the conquest of Laconia,
(Plut. Lyc. 1), and he is said to have lived at a time when the victorious Dorians, finding
shortly after the Trojan times. But his whole themselves in a new position, in the midst of a con-
existence is a mere invention to account for the quered and subject population, and in a compara-
chronological inconsistencies in the life of the tively rich land, had not yet been able to accom-
famous legislator Lycurgus, who himself scarcely modate their old forms of government to their new
belongs to history. (See below. ) [L. S. ) situation. There were conflicts between the kings,
LYCURGUS (Aukoúpnos), the Spartan legis- who aspired to tyranny, and the people, anxious
Intor. We cannot more appropriately begin the for democratic reforms. (Arist. I'ol. v. 8. § 4;
life of Lycurgus than by repeating the introduc- Heracl. Pont. c. 2; Plut. Lyc. 2. ) At this junc-
tory remark of Plutarch, that concerning Lycurgus ture the king, Polydectes, the brother of Lycurgus,
nothing can be said for certain, since his genealogy, died, leaving his queen with child. The ambitious
his travels, his death, and likewise his laws and woman proposed to Lycurgus to destroy her yet
political arrangements, are differently told by dif- unborn offspring if he would share the throne with
ferent writers. Modern criticism has not been her. He seemingly consented; but when she
satisfied with such a simple statement of inextri- had given birth to a son, he openly proclaimed
cable difficulties, but has removed them all at once, him king; and as next of kin, acted as his
by denying the real existence of Lycurgus alto- guardian. But to avoid all suspicion of ambitious
gether. However, such hasty scepticism is war- designs, with which the opposite party charged
ranted neither by conflicting and vague statements, him, and which might seem to be confirmed by the
which, in the case of a semi-historical personage, untimely death of the young king, Lycurgus left
cannot well be otherwise ; nor even by the fact, Sparta, and set out on his celebrated journey, which,
that Lycurgus had a temple in Sparta, and was almost like the wanderings of Heracles, has been
there worshipped as a hero. But although we do magnified to a fabulous extent. He is said to
not deny the existence of Lycurgus, we cannot pre- have visited Crete, and there to have studied the
tend to know any thing for certain beyond his wise laws of Minos, and of his Dorian kinsmen.
bare existence. Hardly a single action, or a single Thence he repaired to Asia Minor, where he de-
institution, commonly attributed to Lycurgus, can rived not less instruction from comparing the disso-
be historically proved to belong to him. Of the lute manners of the Ionians with the simple and
real Lycurgus we know almost nothing; and the honest hardihood of the Dorian race.
;
Here he is
one with whom we are acquainted is the Ly- said to have met either with Homer himself, or at
curgus of half historical fiction. Yet to his name least with the Homeric poems, which he introduced
are attached questions of the highest importance. To into the mother country. But not content with the
him is attributed the framing of the most peculiar, Grecian world, he is further said to have penetrated
as well as the most highly and universally extolled into Egypt, the land of mystery from the days of
(Plut. Lyc. 35) of the constitutions, which ancient Herodotus to our own, and therefore duly entitled
Greece, like a fertile soil, brought forth with won- to claim the authorship of everything the origin of
derful exuberance and unparalleled variety. We which was or seemed obscure ; and he is even re-
shall try therefore in the following article, 1. to give ported to have been carried by his curiosity into
an outline of what passes for the life of Lycurgus ; Libya, Iberia, and India, and to have brought back
2. to point out the general features and the character to rugged Lacedaemon and his Spartan warriors
of the Spartan constitution, while for the details the philosophy of the gymnosophists. It is use-
we refer once for all to the respective articles in less for criticism to try to invalidate these accounts.
the Dictionary of Antiquities; and 3. to trace the Their very extravagance sufficiently proves their
origin of the Spartan constitution.
falsehood. The return of Lycurgus to Sparta was
Aristotle makes Lycurgus to be a contemporary hailed by all parties, since he was considered as the
of Iphitus, who lived B. C. 884. In conjunction man who alone could cure the growing diseases of
with Iphitus, Lycurgus is said to have established the state. He undertook the task : yet before he
the sacred armistice of Olympia, which prohibited
all wars during the Olympic festivals, and protected * On the chronology of Lycurgus, which is in-
the territory of the Eleians for ever against all hos volved in almost inextricable confusion, see Her-
tile attacks. (Müller, Dor. i. 7. § 7. ) Xeno- mann, Pol. Ant. § 23, 10; Müller, Dor. i. ch. 7,
phon differs widely from Aristotle in placing $ 3; Clinton, Fast. llell. vol. i.
Pp.
140-144 ; and
Lycurgus more than 200 years earlier, that is, at | Grote's History of Greece, rol. ii. p. 152, &c.
## p. 851 (#867) ############################################
LYCURGUS.
851
LYCURGUS,
arms.
bet to work he strengthened himself with the nu- military commanders they were restricted and
thority of the Delphic oracle, and with a strong warched by commissioners sent by the senate ; the
party of influential men at Sparti, who were able functions of high priest were curtailed lenst, per-
in case of need to support his measures with their baps, because least obnoxious. In compensation
The reform seems not to have been carried for the loss of power, the kings enjoyed great
altogether peaceably. The new division of all the honour's, both during their life and after their death,
land among the citizers must have violated many which at Spiria might almost be thought extrava-
cxisting interests. Plutarch has preserved a state- gint. Still the principlo of monarchy was very
ment, that king Charilaus fied into the temple of weak among the Spartans, although their life re-
Athene Chalcioccos; and we may presume (if the soulled more that of the camp than that of a town.
whole story can be looked upon as authentic) that Mil. tory obedience wils nowhere so strictly enforced
this was not from a more mistake, as Plutarch as at Sporta, but nowhere was the commander him-
thinl. s, but from nccessity.
self so much restricted by law and custom.
Whatever opposition there was, however, was It is more difficult to decide whether the aristo-
ovcrborne, and the whole constitution, military and croticrl or the democratical olement prevailed.
civil, was remodelled. After Lycurgus had ob- The powers of the senate were very important:
tuined for his institutions an approving oracle of the they had the righit of originating and discussing all
national god of Delphi, he exacted a promise from measures before they could be submitted to the deci-
the people not to make any alterations in his laws sion of the popular assembly ; the management of
before his return. And now he left Sparta to foreign policy and the most important part of the
finish his life in voluntary exile, in order that his administration was entrusted to them ( Isocr. Pan.
countrymen might be bound by their oath to pre p. 265, a ; Dionys. ii. 14; Paus. iii. 11. & 2;
serve his constitution in violate for ever. Where Aeschin. 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.
4. A son of Pheres and Periclymene, á brother Therefore it is intelligible how Herodotus could
of Admctus, was king of the country about Nemea, (i. 65) call Lycurgus the guardian of his nephew,
and married to Eurydice or Amphithen, by whom Labotns, the Eurysthenid; whilst Simonides
he became the father of Opheltes (Apollod. i. 9. 8 (Aelian, V. H. ix. 41) calls him the son of Pry-
14, iii. 6. & 4). His tomb was believed to cxist tanis, brother of Eunomus, the Proclid, Diony-
in the grove of the Nemcan Zeus. (Paus. ii. 15. sius (ii. 49) makes him to be uncle to Eunomus ;
$ 3. )
and the common account (Plut. Lyc. 2 ; Arist. Pol.
5. One of the suitors of Flippodamein, was killed ii. 7. 1; Ephor. up. Strab. x. p. 482) the son of
by Oenomaus. (Paus, vi. 21. 8 7. )
Eunomus, and guardian of his nephew Charilaus. "
6. A son of Eunomus, a mythical legislator of Sparta was in a state of anarchy and licentiousness,
the Lacedacmonians. llis son is called 'Eucosmus perhaps in conscquence of the conquest of Laconia,
(Plut. Lyc. 1), and he is said to have lived at a time when the victorious Dorians, finding
shortly after the Trojan times. But his whole themselves in a new position, in the midst of a con-
existence is a mere invention to account for the quered and subject population, and in a compara-
chronological inconsistencies in the life of the tively rich land, had not yet been able to accom-
famous legislator Lycurgus, who himself scarcely modate their old forms of government to their new
belongs to history. (See below. ) [L. S. ) situation. There were conflicts between the kings,
LYCURGUS (Aukoúpnos), the Spartan legis- who aspired to tyranny, and the people, anxious
Intor. We cannot more appropriately begin the for democratic reforms. (Arist. I'ol. v. 8. § 4;
life of Lycurgus than by repeating the introduc- Heracl. Pont. c. 2; Plut. Lyc. 2. ) At this junc-
tory remark of Plutarch, that concerning Lycurgus ture the king, Polydectes, the brother of Lycurgus,
nothing can be said for certain, since his genealogy, died, leaving his queen with child. The ambitious
his travels, his death, and likewise his laws and woman proposed to Lycurgus to destroy her yet
political arrangements, are differently told by dif- unborn offspring if he would share the throne with
ferent writers. Modern criticism has not been her. He seemingly consented; but when she
satisfied with such a simple statement of inextri- had given birth to a son, he openly proclaimed
cable difficulties, but has removed them all at once, him king; and as next of kin, acted as his
by denying the real existence of Lycurgus alto- guardian. But to avoid all suspicion of ambitious
gether. However, such hasty scepticism is war- designs, with which the opposite party charged
ranted neither by conflicting and vague statements, him, and which might seem to be confirmed by the
which, in the case of a semi-historical personage, untimely death of the young king, Lycurgus left
cannot well be otherwise ; nor even by the fact, Sparta, and set out on his celebrated journey, which,
that Lycurgus had a temple in Sparta, and was almost like the wanderings of Heracles, has been
there worshipped as a hero. But although we do magnified to a fabulous extent. He is said to
not deny the existence of Lycurgus, we cannot pre- have visited Crete, and there to have studied the
tend to know any thing for certain beyond his wise laws of Minos, and of his Dorian kinsmen.
bare existence. Hardly a single action, or a single Thence he repaired to Asia Minor, where he de-
institution, commonly attributed to Lycurgus, can rived not less instruction from comparing the disso-
be historically proved to belong to him. Of the lute manners of the Ionians with the simple and
real Lycurgus we know almost nothing; and the honest hardihood of the Dorian race.
;
Here he is
one with whom we are acquainted is the Ly- said to have met either with Homer himself, or at
curgus of half historical fiction. Yet to his name least with the Homeric poems, which he introduced
are attached questions of the highest importance. To into the mother country. But not content with the
him is attributed the framing of the most peculiar, Grecian world, he is further said to have penetrated
as well as the most highly and universally extolled into Egypt, the land of mystery from the days of
(Plut. Lyc. 35) of the constitutions, which ancient Herodotus to our own, and therefore duly entitled
Greece, like a fertile soil, brought forth with won- to claim the authorship of everything the origin of
derful exuberance and unparalleled variety. We which was or seemed obscure ; and he is even re-
shall try therefore in the following article, 1. to give ported to have been carried by his curiosity into
an outline of what passes for the life of Lycurgus ; Libya, Iberia, and India, and to have brought back
2. to point out the general features and the character to rugged Lacedaemon and his Spartan warriors
of the Spartan constitution, while for the details the philosophy of the gymnosophists. It is use-
we refer once for all to the respective articles in less for criticism to try to invalidate these accounts.
the Dictionary of Antiquities; and 3. to trace the Their very extravagance sufficiently proves their
origin of the Spartan constitution.
falsehood. The return of Lycurgus to Sparta was
Aristotle makes Lycurgus to be a contemporary hailed by all parties, since he was considered as the
of Iphitus, who lived B. C. 884. In conjunction man who alone could cure the growing diseases of
with Iphitus, Lycurgus is said to have established the state. He undertook the task : yet before he
the sacred armistice of Olympia, which prohibited
all wars during the Olympic festivals, and protected * On the chronology of Lycurgus, which is in-
the territory of the Eleians for ever against all hos volved in almost inextricable confusion, see Her-
tile attacks. (Müller, Dor. i. 7. § 7. ) Xeno- mann, Pol. Ant. § 23, 10; Müller, Dor. i. ch. 7,
phon differs widely from Aristotle in placing $ 3; Clinton, Fast. llell. vol. i.
Pp.
140-144 ; and
Lycurgus more than 200 years earlier, that is, at | Grote's History of Greece, rol. ii. p. 152, &c.
## p. 851 (#867) ############################################
LYCURGUS.
851
LYCURGUS,
arms.
bet to work he strengthened himself with the nu- military commanders they were restricted and
thority of the Delphic oracle, and with a strong warched by commissioners sent by the senate ; the
party of influential men at Sparti, who were able functions of high priest were curtailed lenst, per-
in case of need to support his measures with their baps, because least obnoxious. In compensation
The reform seems not to have been carried for the loss of power, the kings enjoyed great
altogether peaceably. The new division of all the honour's, both during their life and after their death,
land among the citizers must have violated many which at Spiria might almost be thought extrava-
cxisting interests. Plutarch has preserved a state- gint. Still the principlo of monarchy was very
ment, that king Charilaus fied into the temple of weak among the Spartans, although their life re-
Athene Chalcioccos; and we may presume (if the soulled more that of the camp than that of a town.
whole story can be looked upon as authentic) that Mil. tory obedience wils nowhere so strictly enforced
this was not from a more mistake, as Plutarch as at Sporta, but nowhere was the commander him-
thinl. s, but from nccessity.
self so much restricted by law and custom.
Whatever opposition there was, however, was It is more difficult to decide whether the aristo-
ovcrborne, and the whole constitution, military and croticrl or the democratical olement prevailed.
civil, was remodelled. After Lycurgus had ob- The powers of the senate were very important:
tuined for his institutions an approving oracle of the they had the righit of originating and discussing all
national god of Delphi, he exacted a promise from measures before they could be submitted to the deci-
the people not to make any alterations in his laws sion of the popular assembly ; the management of
before his return. And now he left Sparta to foreign policy and the most important part of the
finish his life in voluntary exile, in order that his administration was entrusted to them ( Isocr. Pan.
countrymen might be bound by their oath to pre p. 265, a ; Dionys. ii. 14; Paus. iii. 11. & 2;
serve his constitution in violate for ever. Where Aeschin. 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
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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
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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
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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.
