---
title: "Life of Lycurgus · Λυκοῦργος"
author: "Plutarch"
translator: "Bernadotte Perrin"
title_ru: "Жизнеописание: Ликург"
author_ru: "Плутарх"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-lycurgus/
cite: "Plutarch, tr. Bernadotte Perrin, Life of Lycurgus · Λυκοῦργος. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-lycurgus/"
---

# Life of Lycurgus · Λυκοῦργος

*Plutarch, tr. Bernadotte Perrin*

Russian: Жизнеописание: Ликург, Плутарх

The lawgiver of Sparta: iron money, common messes, the training of boys and girls, and a city built to last.

> Greek: ed. Bernadotte Perrin, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0007.tlg004, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Bernadotte Perrin, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0007.tlg004.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## Contents

1. [Chapters 1–12](https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-lycurgus/1.md)
2. [Chapters 12–20](https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-lycurgus/2.md)
3. [Chapters 21–31](https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-lycurgus/3.md)

## 1. Chapters 1–12

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-lycurgus/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-lycurgus/1/#p-N

[¶0] 1.1. Concerning Lycurgus the lawgiver, in general, nothing can be said which is not disputed, since indeed there are different accounts of his birth, his travels, his death, and above all, of his work as lawmaker and statesman; and there is least agreement among historians as to the times in which the man lived. Some say that he flourished at the same time with Iphitus, and in concert with him established the Olympic truce. Among these is Aristotle the philosopher, and he alleges as proof the discus at Olympia on which an inscription preserves the name of Lycurgus.

> Greek: 1.1. περὶ Λυκούργου τοῦ νομοθέτου καθόλου μὲν οὐδὲν ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ἀναμφισβήτητον, οὗ γε καὶ γένος καὶ ἀποδημία καὶ τελευτὴ καὶ πρὸς ἅπασιν ἡ περὶ τοὺς νόμους αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν πολιτείαν πραγματεία διαφόρους ἔσχηκεν ἱστορίας, ἥκιστα δὲ οἱ χρόνοι καθʼ οὓς γέγονεν ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁμολογοῦνται, οἱ μὲν γάρ Ἰφίτῳ συνακμάσαι καὶ συνδιαθεῖναι τὴν Ὀλυμπιακὴν ἐκεχειρίαν λέγουσιν αὐτόν, ὧν ἐστι καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης ὁ φιλόσοφος, τεκμήριον προσφέρων τὸν Ὀλυμπίασι δίσκον ἐν ᾧ τοὔνομα τοῦ Λυκούργου διασώζεται καταγεγραμμένον·

[¶1] 1.2. But those who compute the time by the successions of kings at Sparta, like Eratosthenes and Apollodorus, prove that Lycurgus was many years earlier than the first Olympiad. And Timaeus conjectures that there were two Lycurgus at Sparta, at different times, and that to one of them the achievements of both were ascribed, owing to his greater fame; he thinks also that the elder of the two lived not far from the times of Homer, and some assert that he actually met Homer face to face.

> Greek: 1.2. οἱ δὲ ταῖς διαδοχαῖς τῶν ἐν Σπάρτῃ βεβασιλευκότων ἀναλεγόμενοι τὸν χρόνον, ὥσπερ Ἐρατοσθένης καὶ Ἀπολλόδωρος, οὐκ ὀλίγοις ἔτεσι πρεσβύτερον ἀποφαίνουσι τῆς πρώτης Ὀλυμπιάδος. Τίμαιος δὲ ὑπονοεῖ, δυεῖν ἐν Σπάρτῃ γεγονότων Λυκούργων οὐ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον, τῷ ἑτέρῳ τὰς ἀμφοῖν πράξεις διὰ τὴν δόξαν ἀνακεῖσθαι καὶ τόν γε πρεσβύτερον οὐ πόρρω τῶν Ὁμήρου γεγονέναι χρόνων, ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ κατʼ ὄψιν ἐντυχεῖν Ὁμήρῳ.

[¶2] 1.3. Xenophon, also, makes an impression of simplicity in the passage where he says that Lycurgus lived in the time of the Heracleidae. For in lineage, of course, the latest of the Spartan kings were also Heracleidae; but Xenophon apparently wishes to use the name Heracleidae of the first and more immediate descendants of Heracles, so famous in story. However, although the history of these times is such a maze, I shall try, in presenting my narrative, to follow those authors who are least contradicted, or who have the most notable witnesses for what they have written about the man.

> Greek: 1.3. δίδωσι δὲ καὶ Ξενοφῶν ὑπόνοιαν ἀρχαιότητος ἐν οἷς τὸν ἄνδρα λέγει γεγονέναι κατὰ τοὺς Ἡρακλείδας. γένει μὲν γὰρ Ἡρακλεῖδαι δήπουθεν ἦσαν καὶ οἱ νεώτατοι τῶν ἐν Σπάρτῃ βασιλέων, ὁ δὲ ἔοικε βουλομένῳ τοὺς πρώτους ἐκείνους καὶ σύνεγγυς Ἡρακλέους ὀνομάζειν Ἡρακλείδας. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καίπερ οὕτως πεπλανημένης τῆς ἱστορίας, πειρασόμεθα τοῖς βραχυτάτας ἔχουσιν ἀντιλογίας ἢ γνωριμωτάτους μάρτυρας ἑπόμενοι τῶν γεγραμμένων περὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀποδοῦναι τὴν διήγησιν.

[¶3] 1.4. For instance, Simonides the poet says that Lycurgus was not the son of Eunomus, but that both Lycurgus and Eunomus were sons of Prytanis; whereas most writers give a different genealogy, as follows: Aristodemus begat Procles, Procles begat Soüs, Soüs begat Eurypon, and he begat Prytanis, from whom sprang Eunomus, and from Eunomus Polydectes by a first wife, and Lycurgus, who was a younger son by a second wife, Dionassa, as Dieutychidas has written, making Lycurgus sixth from Procles, and eleventh from Heracles.

> Greek: 1.4. ἐπεὶ καὶ Σιμωνίδης ὁ ποιητὴς οὐκ Εὐνόμου λέγει τὸν Λυκοῦργον πατρός, ἀλλὰ Πρυτάνιδος καὶ τὸν Λυκοῦργον καὶ τὸν Εὔνομον, οἱ δὲ πλεῖστοι σχεδὸν οὐχ οὕτω γενεαλογοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ Προκλέους μὲν τοῦ Ἀριστοδήμου γενέσθαι Σόον, Σόου δὲ Εὐρυπῶντα, τούτου δὲ Πρύτανιν, ἐκ τούτου δὲ Εὔνομον, Εὐνόμου δὲ Πολυδέκτην ἐκ προτέρας γυναικός, Λυκοῦργον δὲ νεώτερον ἐκ Διωνάσσης, ὡς Διευτυχίδας ἱστόρηκεν, ἕκτον μὲν ἀπὸ Προκλέους, ἑνδέκατον δὲ ἀφʼ Ἡρακλέους.

[¶4] 2.1. Of these ancestors of Lycurgus, Soüs was most famous, under whom the Spartans made the Helots their slaves, and acquired by conquest from the Arcadians a large additional tract of land. It is also related of this Soüs that when he was besieged by the Cleitorians in a rough and waterless place, he agreed to surrender to them the land which he had conquered if he himself and all his men with him should drink from the adjacent spring.

> Greek: 2.1. τῶν δὲ προγόνων αὐτοῦ μάλιστα μὲν ἐθαυμάσθη Σόος, ἐφʼ οὗ καὶ τοὺς εἵλωτας ἐποιήσαντο δούλους οἱ Σπαρτιᾶται καὶ χώραν προσεκτήσαντο πολλὴν Ἀρκάδων ἀποτεμόμενοι. λέγεται δὲ τὸν Σόον ἐν χωρίῳ χαλεπῷ καὶ ἀνύδρῳ πολιορκούμενον ὑπὸ Κλειτορίων, ὁμολογῆσαι τὴν δορίκτητον γῆν αὐτοῖς ἀφήσειν, εἰ πίοι καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ πάντες ἀπὸ τῆς πλησίον πηγῆς, γενομένων δὲ τῶν ὁρκίων συναγαγόντα τοὺς μεθʼ ἑαυτοῦ διδόναι τῷ μὴ πιόντι τὴν βασιλείαν·

[¶5] 2.2. After the oaths to this agreement were taken, he assembled his men and offered his kingdom to the one who should not drink; no one of them, however, could forbear, but all of them drank, whereupon Soüs himself went down last of all to the water, sprinkled his face merely, while the enemy were still at hand to see, and then marched away and retained his territory, on the plea that all had not drunk. But although on these grounds he was held in great admiration, his royal line was not named from him, but were called Eurypontids from his son, because Eurypon appears to have been the first king to relax the excessive absolutism of his sway, seeking favour and popularity with the multitude.

> Greek: 2.2. οὐδενὸς δὲ καρτερήσαντος, ἀλλὰ πάντων πιόντων, αὐτὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι καταβάντα καὶ περιρρανάμενον ἔτι τῶν πολεμίων παρόντων ἀπελθεῖν καὶ τὴν χώραν κατασχεῖν, ὡς μὴ πάντων πιόντων. ἀλλὰ καίπερ ἐπὶ τούτοις θαυμάζοντες αὐτὸν οὐκ ἀπὸ τούτου τὴν οἰκίαν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ παιδὸς αὐτοῦ προσηγόρευσαν Εὐρυπωντίδας, ὅτι δοκεῖ πρῶτος Εὐρυπῶν τὸ ἄγαν μοναρχικὸν ἀνεῖναι τῆς βασιλείας, δημαγωγῶν καὶ χαριζόμενος τοῖς πολλοῖς.

[¶6] 2.3. But in consequence of such relaxation the people grew hold, and succeeding kings were some of them hated for trying to force their way with the multitude, and some were brought low by their desire for favour or through weakness, so that lawlessness and confusion prevailed at Sparta for a long time; and it was owing to this that the father of Lycurgus, a reigning king, lost his life. For as he was trying to separate some rioters, he was stabbed to death with a butcher’s knife, leaving the kingdom to his elder son, Polydectes.

> Greek: 2.3. ἐκ δὲ τῆς τοιαύτης ἀνέσεως τοῦ μὲν δήμου θρασυνομένου, τῶν δ’ ὕστερον βασιλέων τὰ μὲν ἀπεχθανομένων τῷ βιάζεσθαι τοὺς πολλούς, τὰ δὲ πρὸς χάριν ἢ διʼ ἀσθένειαν ὑποφερομένων, ἀνομία καὶ ἀταξία κατέσχε τὴν Σπάρτην ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον ὑφʼ ἧς καὶ τὸν πατέρα τοῦ Λυκούργου βασιλεύοντα συνέβη τελευτῆσαι. διερύκων γάρ ἁψιμαχίαν τινά, μαγειρικῇ κοπίδι πληγεὶς ἀπέθανε, τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ παιδὶ Πολυδέκτῃ καταλιπὼν τὴν βασιλείαν.

[¶7] 3.1. Polydectes also died soon afterwards, and then, as was generally thought, the kingdom devolved upon Lycurgus; and until his brother’s wife was known to be with child, he was king. But as soon as he learned of this, he declared that the kingdom belonged to her offspring, if it should be male, and himself administered the government only as guardian. Now the guardians of fatherless kings are called “prodikoi” by the Lacedaemonians.

> Greek: 3.1. ἀποθανόντος δὲ καὶ τούτου μετʼ ὀλίγον χρόνον ἔδει βασιλεύειν, ὡς πάντες ᾤοντο, τὸν Λυκοῦργον· καὶ πρίν γε τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ φανερὰν γενέσθαι κύουσαν ἐβασίλευεν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο τάχιστα ᾔσθετο, τὴν μὲν βασιλείαν ἀπέφηνε τοῦ παιδὸς οὖσαν, ἄνπερ ἄρρην γένηται, τὴν δὲ ἀρχὴν αὐτὸς ὡς ἐπίτροπος διεῖπε. τοὺς δὲ τῶν ὀρφανῶν βασιλέων ἐπιτρόπους Λακεδαιμόνιοι προδίκους ὠνόμαζον.

[¶8] 3.2. Presently, however, the woman made secret overtures to him, proposing to destroy her unborn babe on condition that he would marry her when he was a king of Sparta; and although he detested her character, he did not reject her proposition, but pretended to approve and accept it. He told her, however, that she need not use drugs to produce a miscarriage, thereby injuring her health and endangering her life, for he would see to it himself that as soon as her child was born it should be put out of the way.

> Greek: 3.2. ὡς δὲ ἡ γυνὴ προσέπεμπε κρύφα καὶ λόγους ἐποιεῖτο, βουλομένη διαφθεῖραι τὸ βρέφος ἐπὶ τῷ συνοικεῖν ἐκείνῳ βασιλεύοντι τῆς Σπάρτης, τὸ μὲν ἦθος αὐτῆς ἐμίσησε, πρὸς δὲ τὸν λόγον αὐτὸν οὐκ ἀντεῖπεν, ἀλλʼ ἐπαινεῖν καὶ δέχεσθαι προσποιούμενος, οὐκ ἔφη δεῖν ἀμβλίσκουσαν αὐτὴν καὶ φαρμακευομένην διαλυμαίνεσθαι τὸ σῶμα καὶ κινδυνεύειν αὐτῷ γὰρ μελήσειν ὅπως εὐθὺς ἐκποδὼν ἔσται τὸ γεννηθέν.

[¶9] 3.3. In this manner he managed to bring the woman to her full time, and when he learned that she was in labour, he sent attendants and watchers for her delivery, with orders, if a girl should be born, to hand it over to the women, but if a boy, to bring it to him, no matter what he was doing. And it came to pass that as he was at supper with the chief magistrates, a male child was born, and his servants brought the little boy to him.

> Greek: 3.3. οὕτω δὲ παραγαγὼν ἄχρι τοῦ τόκου τὴν ἄνθρωπον, ὡς ᾔσθετο τίκτουσαν, εἰσέπεμψε παρέδρους ταῖς ὠδῖσιν αὐτῆς καὶ φύλακας, οἷς ἦν προστεταγμένον, ἐὰν μὲν θῆλυ τεχθῇ, παραδοῦναι ταῖς γυναιξίν, ἐὰν δὲ ἄρρεν, κομίσαι πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ὅ τι ἂν τύχῃ πράττων. ἔτυχε δὲ δειπνοῦντος αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἀποκυηθὲν ἄρρεν καὶ παρῆσαν οἱ ὑπηρέται τὸ παιδάριον αὐτῷ κομίζοντες.

[¶10] 3.4. He took it in his arms, as we are told, and said to those who were at table with him, “A king is born unto you, O men of Sparta;” then he laid it down in the royal seat and named it Charilaüs, or People’s Joy, because all present were filled with joy, admiring as they did his lofty spirit and his righteousness. And so he was king only eight months in all. But on other accounts also he was revered by his fellow-citizens, and more than those who obeyed him because he was guardian of the king and had royal power in his hands, were those who clave to him for his virtues and were ready and willing to do his bidding.

> Greek: 3.4. ὁ δὲ δεξάμενος, ὡς λέγεται, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας εἰπών, βασιλεὺς ὑμῖν γέγονεν, ὦ Σπαρτιᾶται, κατέκλινεν ἐν τῇ βασιλικῇ χώρᾳ καὶ Χαρίλαον ὠνόμασε διὰ τὸ τοὺς πάντας εἶναι περιχαρεῖς, ἀγαμένους αὐτοῦ τὸ φρόνημα καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην. ἐβασίλευσε δὲ μῆνας ὀκτὼ τὸ σύμπαν, ἦν δὲ καὶ τἆλλα περίβλεπτος ὑπὸ τῶν πολιτῶν, καὶ πλείονες ἐγένοντο τῶν ὡς ἐπιτρόπῳ βασιλέως καὶ βασιλικὴν ἐξουσίαν ἔχοντι πειθομένων οἱ διʼ ἀρετὴν προσέχοντες αὐτῷ καὶ ποιεῖν ἐθέλοντες ἑτοίμως τὸ προσταττόμενον.

[¶11] 3.5. There was a party, however, which envied him and sought to impede the growing power of so young a man, especially the kinsmen and friends of the queen-mother, who thought she had been treated with insolence. Her brother, Leonidas, actually railed at Lycurgus once quite boldly, assuring him that he knew well that Lycurgus would one day be king, thereby promoting suspicion and paving the way for the accusation, in case any thing happened to the king, that he had plotted against his life. Some such talk was set in circulation by the queen-mother also, in consequence of which Lycurgus was sorely troubled and fearful of what might be in store for him. He therefore determined to avoid suspicion by travelling abroad, and to continue his wanderings until his nephew should come of age and beget a son to succeed him on the throne.

> Greek: 3.5. ἦν δέ τι καὶ τὸ φθονοῦν καὶ πρὸς τὴν αὔξησιν ὄντι νέῳ πειρώμενον ἐνίστασθαι, μάλιστα μὲν οἱ συγγενεῖς καὶ οἰκεῖοι τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως μητρὸς ὑβρίσθαι δοκούσης, ὁ δὲ ἀδελφὸς αὐτῆς Λεωνίδας καὶ θρασύτερόν ποτε τῷ Λυκούργῳ λοιδορηθείς, ὑπεῖπεν ὡς εἰδείη σαφῶς μέλλοντα βασιλεύειν αὐτόν, ὑπόνοιαν διδοὺς καὶ προκαταλαμβάνων διαβολῇ τὸν Λυκοῦργον, εἴ τι συμβαίη τῷ βασιλεῖ παθεῖν, ὡς ἐπιβεβουλευκότα. τοιοῦτοι δὲ τινες λόγοι καὶ παρὰ τῆς γυναικὸς ἐξεφοίτων ἐφʼ οἷς βαρέως φέρων καὶ δεδοικὼς τὸ ἄδηλον, ἔγνω φυγεῖν ἀποδημίᾳ τὴν ὑπόνοιαν, καὶ πλανηθῆναι μέχρις ἂν ὁ ἀδελφιδοῦς ἐν ἡλικίᾳ γενόμενος τεκνώσῃ διάδοχον τῆς βασιλείας.

[¶12] 4.1. With this purpose, he set sail, and came first to Crete. Here he studied the Various forms of government and made the acquaintance of their most distinguished men. Of some things he heartily approved, and adopted some of their laws, that he might carry them home with him and put them in use; for some things he had only contempt. One of the men regarded there as wise statesmen was Thales, whom Lycurgus persuaded, out of favour and friendship, to go on a mission to Sparta. Now Thales passed as a lyric poet, and screened himself behind this art, but in reality he did the work of one of the mightiest lawgivers.

> Greek: 4.1. οὕτως ἀπάρας πρῶτον μὲν εἰς Κρήτην ἀφίκετο· καὶ τὰς αὐτόθι πολιτείας κατανοήσας καὶ συγγενόμενος τοῖς πρωτεύουσι κατὰ δόξαν ἀνδράσι, τὰ μὲν ἐζήλωσε καὶ παρέλαβε τῶν νόμων, ὡς οἴκαδε μετοίσων καὶ χρησόμενος, ἔστι δ’ ὧν κατεφρόνησεν. ἕνα δὲ τῶν νομιζομένων ἐκεῖ σοφῶν καὶ πολιτικῶν χάριτι καὶ φιλίᾳ πείσας ἀπέστειλεν εἰς τὴν Σπάρτην, Θάλητα, ποιητὴν μὲν δοκοῦντα λυρικῶν μελῶν καὶ πρόσχημα τὴν τέχνην ταύτην πεποιημένον, ἔργῳ δὲ ἅπερ οἱ κράτιστοι τῶν νομοθετῶν διαπραττό- μενον.

[¶13] 4.2. For his odes were so many exhortations to obedience and harmony, and their measured rhythms were permeated with ordered tranquillity, so that those who listened to them were insensibly softened in their dispositions, insomuch that they renounced the mutual hatreds which were so rife at that time, and dwelt together in a common pursuit of what was high and noble. Thales, therefore, after a fashion, was a forerunner in Sparta of Lycurgus and his discipline.

> Greek: 4.2. λόγοι γὰρ ἦσαν αἱ ᾠδαὶ πρὸς εὐπείθειαν καὶ ὁμόνοιαν ἀνακλητικοί, διὰ μελῶν ἅμα καὶ ῥυθμῶν πολὺ τὸ κόσμιον ἐχόντων καὶ καταστατικόν, ὧν ἀκροώμενοι κατεπραΰνοντο λεληθότως τὰ ἤθη καὶ συνῳκειοῦντο τῷ ζήλῳ τῶν καλῶν ἐκ τῆς ἐπιχωριαζούσης τότε πρὸς ἀλλήλους κακοθυμίας, ὥστε τρόπον τινὰ τῷ Λυκούργῳ προοδοποιεῖν τὴν παίδευσιν αὐτῶν ἐκεῖνον.

[¶14] 4.3. From Crete, Lycurgus sailed to Asia, with the desire, as we are told, of comparing with the Cretan civilization, which was simple and severe, that of the Ionians, which was extravagant and luxurious, just as a physician compares with healthy bodies those which are unsound and sickly; he could then study the difference in their modes of life and forms of government.

> Greek: 4.3. ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς Κρήτης ὁ Λυκοῦργος ἐπὶ Ἀσίαν ἔπλευσε, βουλόμενος, ὡς λέγεται, ταῖς Κρητικαῖς διαίταις, εὐτελέσιν οὔσαις καὶ αὐστηραῖς, τὰς Ἰωνικὰς πολυτελείας καὶ τρυφάς, ὥσπερ ἰατρὸς σώμασιν ὑγιεινοῖς ὕπουλα καὶ νοσώδη, παραβαλὼν ἀποθεωρῆσαι τὴν διαφορὰν τῶν βίων καὶ τῶν πολιτειῶν.

[¶15] 4.4. There too, as it would appear, he made his first acquaintance with the poems of Homer, which were preserved among the posterity of Creophylus; and when he saw that the political and disciplinary lessons contained in them were worthy of no less serious attention than the incentives to pleasure and license which they supplied, he eagerly copied and compiled them in order to take them home with him. For these epics already had a certain faint reputation among the Greeks, and a few were in possession of certain portions of them, as the poems were carried here and there by chance; but Lycurgus was the very first to make them really known.

> Greek: 4.4. ἐκεῖ δὲ καὶ τοῖς Ὁμήρου ποιήμασιν ἐντυχὼν πρῶτον, ὡς ἔοικε, παρὰ τοῖς ἐκγόνοις τοῖς Κρεοφύλου διατηρουμένοις, καὶ κατιδὼν ἐν αὐτοῖς τῆς πρὸς ἡδονὴν καὶ ἀκρασίαν διατριβῆς τὸ πολιτικὸν καὶ παιδευτικὸν οὐκ ἐλάττονος ἄξιον σπουδῆς ἀναμεμιγμένον, ἐγράψατο προθύμως καὶ συνήγαγεν ὡς δεῦρο κομιῶν. ἦν γάρ τις ἤδη δόξα τῶν ἐπῶν ἀμαυρὰ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, ἐκέκτηντο δὲ οὐ πολλοὶ μέρη τινά, σποράδην τῆς ποιήσεως, ὡς ἔτυχε, διαφερομένης γνωρίμην δὲ αὐτὴν καὶ μάλιστα πρῶτος ἐποίησε Λυκοῦργος.

[¶16] 4.5. The Aegyptians think that Lycurgus visited them also, and so ardently admired their separation of the military from the other classes of society that he transferred it to Sparta, and by removing mechanics and artisans from participation in the government, made his civil polity really refined and pure. At any rate, this assertion of the Aegyptians is confirmed by some Greek historians.

> Greek: 4.5. Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ καὶ πρὸς αὑτοὺς ἀφικέσθαι τὸν Λυκοῦργον οἴονται, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων γενῶν τοῦ μαχίμου διάκρισιν μάλιστα θαυμάσαντα μετενεγκεῖν εἰς τὴν Σπάρτην, καὶ χωρίσαντα τοὺς βαναύσους καὶ χειροτέχνας ἀστεῖον ὡς ἀληθῶς τὸ πολίτευμα καὶ καθαρὸν ἀποδεῖξαι. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν Αἰγυπτίοις ἔνιοι καὶ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν συγγραφέων μαρτυροῦσιν·

[¶17] 4.6. But that Lycurgus visited Libya and Iberia also, and that he wandered over India and had conferences with the Gymnosophists, no one has stated, so far as I know, except Aristocrates the son of Hipparchus, the Spartan.

> Greek: 4.6. ὅτι δὲ καὶ Λιβύην καὶ Ἰβηρίαν ἐπῆλθεν ὁ Λυκοῦργος καὶ περὶ τὴν Ἰνδικὴν πλανηθεὶς τοῖς Γυμνοσοφισταῖς ὡμίλησεν, οὐδένα πλὴν Ἀριστοκράτη τὸν Ἱππάρχου Σπαρτιάτην εἰρηκότα γινώσκομεν.

[¶18] 5.1. The Lacedaemonians missed Lycurgus sorely, and sent for him many times. They felt that their kings were such in name and station merely, but in everything else were nothing better than their subjects, while in him there was a nature fitted to lead, and a power to make men follow him. However, not even the kings were averse to having him at home, but hoped that in his presence their subjects would treat them with less insolence. Returning, then, to a people thus disposed, he at once undertook to change the existing order of things and revolutionize the civil polity.

> Greek: 5.1. οἱ δὲ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τὸν Λυκοῦργον ἐπόθουν ἀπόντα καὶ μετεπέμποντο πολλάκις, ὡς τοὺς μὲν βασιλεῖς ὄνομα καὶ τιμήν, ἄλλο δὲ μηδὲν διαφέρον τῶν πολλῶν ἔχοντας, ἐν ἐκείνῳ δὲ φύσιν ἡγεμονικὴν καὶ δύναμιν ἀνθρώπων ἀγωγὸν οὖσαν. οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν ἦν ἀβούλητος ἡ παρουσία τοῦ ἀνδρός, ἀλλʼ ἤλπιζον ἐκείνου συμπαρόντος ἧττον ὑβρίζουσι χρῆσθαι τοῖς πολλοῖς.

[¶19] 5.2. He was convinced that a partial change of the laws would be of no avail whatsoever, but that he must proceed as a physician would with a patient who was debilitated and full of all sorts of diseases; he must reduce and alter the existing temperament by means of drugs and purges, and introduce a new and different regimen.

> Greek: 5.2. ἐπανελθὼν οὖν πρὸς οὕτω διακειμένους εὐθὺς ἐπεχείρει τὰ παρόντα κινεῖν καὶ μεθιστάναι τὴν πολιτείαν, ὡς τῶν κατὰ μέρος νόμων οὐδὲν ἔργον οὐδὲ ὄφελος, εἰ μή τις ὥσπερ σώματι πονηρῷ καὶ γέμοντι παντοδαπῶν νοσημάτων τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν ἐκτήξας καὶ μεταβαλὼν κρᾶσιν ὑπὸ φαρμάκων καὶ καθαρμῶν ἑτέρας ἄρξεται καινῆς διαίτης.

[¶20] 5.3. Full of this determination, he first made a journey to Delphi, and after sacrificing to the god and consulting the oracle, he returned with that famous response in which the Pythian priestess addressed him as “beloved of the gods, and rather god than man,” and said that the god had granted his prayer for good laws, and promised him a constitution which should be the best in the world.

> Greek: 5.3. διανοηθεὶς δὲ ταῦτα πρῶτον μὲν ἀπεδήμησεν εἰς Δελφούς· καὶ τῷ θεῷ θύσας καὶ χρησάμενος ἐπανῆλθε τὸν διαβόητον ἐκεῖνον χρησμὸν κομίζων, ᾧ θεοφιλῆ μὲν αὐτὸν ἡ Πυθία προσεῖπε καὶ θεὸν μᾶλλον ἢ ἄνθρωπον, εὐνομίας δὲ χρῄζοντι διδόναι καὶ καταινεῖν ἔφη τὸν θεὸν ἣ πολὺ κρατίστη τῶν ἄλλων ἔσται πολιτειῶν.

[¶21] 5.4. Thus encouraged, he tried to bring the chief men of Sparta over to his side, and exhorted them to put their hands to the work with him, explaining his designs secretly to his friends at first, then little by little engaging more and uniting them to attempt the task. And when the time for action came, he ordered thirty of the chief men to go armed into the market-place at break of day, to strike consternation and terror into those of the opposite party. The names of twenty of the most eminent among them have been recorded by Hermippus; but the man who had the largest share in all the undertakings of Lycurgus and cooperated with him in the enactment of his laws, bore the name of Arthmiadas.

> Greek: 5.4. ἐπαρθεὶς δὲ τούτοις προσήγετο τοὺς ἀρίστους καὶ συνεφάπτεσθαι παρεκάλει, κρύφα διαλεγόμενος τοῖς φίλοις πρῶτον, εἶτα οὕτως κατὰ μικρὸν ἁπτόμενος πλειόνων καὶ συνιστὰς ἐπὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν. ὡς δ’ ὁ καιρὸς ἧκε, τριάκοντα τοὺς πρώτους ἐκέλευσε μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων ἕωθεν εἰς ἀγορὰν προελθεῖν ἐκπλήξεως ἕνεκα καὶ φόβου πρὸς τοὺς ἀντιπράττοντας. ὧν εἴκοσι τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους Ἕρμιππος ἀνέγραψε· τὸν δὲ μάλιστα τῶν Λυκούργου ἔργων κοινωνήσαντα πάντων καὶ συμπραγματευσάμενον τὰ περὶ τοὺς νόμους Ἀρθμιάδαν ὀνομάζουσιν.

[¶22] 5.5. When the tumult began, King Charilaüs, fearing that the whole affair was a conspiracy against himself, fled for refuge to the Brazen House but he was soon convinced of his error, and having exacted oaths for his safety from the agitators, left his place of refuge, and even joined them in their enterprise, being of a gentle and yielding disposition, so much so, indeed, that Archelaüs, his royal colleague, is said to have remarked to those who were extolling the young king, “How can Charilaüs be a good man, when he has no severity even for the bad?”

> Greek: 5.5. ἀρχομένης δὲ τῆς ταραχῆς ὁ βασιλεὺς Χαρίλαος φοβηθεὶς ὡς ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ὅλης τῆς πράξεως συνισταμένης, κατέφυγε πρὸς τὴν Χαλκίοικον εἶτα πεισθεὶς καὶ λαβὼν ὅρκους ἀνέστη καὶ μετεῖχε τῶν πραττομένων, φύσει πρᾷος ὢν· ὥς που καὶ λέγεται συμβασιλεύοντα τὸν Ἀρχέλαον αὐτῷ πρὸς τοὺς ἐγκωμιάζοντας τὸν νεανίσκον εἰπεῖν πῶς δ’ ἂν εἴη Χαρίλαος ἀνήρ ἀγαθός, ὃς οὐδὲ τοῖς πονηροῖς χαλεπός ἐστι;

[¶23] 5.6. Among the many innovations which Lycurgus made, the first and most important was his institution of a senate, or Council of Elders, which, as Plato says, by being blended with the “feverish” government of the kings, and by having an equal vote with them in matters of the highest importance, brought safety and due moderation into counsels of state. For before this the civil polity was veering and unsteady, inclining at one time to follow the kings towards tyranny, and at another to follow the multitude towards democracy;

> Greek: 5.6. πλειόνων δὲ καινοτομου μὲν ων ὑπὸ τοῦ Λυκούργου πρῶτον ἦν καὶ μέγιστον ἡ κατάστασις τῶν γερόντων, ἥν φησιν ὁ Πλάτων τῇ τῶν βασιλέων ἀρχῇ φλεγμαινούσῃ μιχθεῖσαν καὶ γενομένην ἰσόψηφον εἰς τὰ μέγιστα σωτηρίαν ἅμα καὶ σωφροσύνην παρασχεῖν. αἰωρουμένη γὰρ ἡ πολιτεία καὶ ἀποκλίνουσα νῦν μὲν ὡς τοὺς βασιλεῖς ἐπὶ τυραννίδα, νῦν δὲ ὡς τὸ πλῆθος ἐπὶ δημοκρατίαν, οἷον ἕρμα τὴν τῶν γερόντων ἀρχὴν ἐν μέσῳ θεμένη καὶ ἰσορροπήσασα τὴν ἀσφαλεστάτην τάξιν ἔσχε καὶ κατάστασιν, ἀεὶ τῶν ὀκτὼ καὶ εἴκοσι γερόντων τοῖς μὲν βασιλεῦσι προστιθεμένων ὅσον ἀντιβῆναι πρὸς δημοκρατίαν, αὖθις δὲ ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ γενέσθαι τυραννίδα τὸν δῆμον ἀναρρωννύντων.

[¶24] 5.7. but now, by making the power of the senate a sort of ballast for the ship of state and putting her on a steady keel, it achieved the safest and the most orderly arrangement, since the twenty-eight senators always took the side of the kings when it was a question of curbing democracy, and, on the other hand, always strengthened the people to withstand the encroachments of tyranny. The number of the senators was fixed at twenty-eight because, according to Aristotle, two of the thirty original associates of Lycurgus abandoned the enterprise from lack of courage. But Sphaerus says that this was originally the number of those who shared the confidence of Lycurgus Possibly there is some virtue in this number being made up of seven multiplied by four, apart from the fact that, being equal to the sum of its own factors, it is the next perfect number after six. But in my own opinion, Lycurgus made the senators of just that number in order that the total might be thirty when the two kings were added to the eight and twenty.

> Greek: 5.7. τοσούτους δέ φησι κατασταθῆναι τοὺς γέροντας Ἀριστοτέλης, ὅτι τριάκοντα τῶν πρώτων μετὰ Λυκούργου γενομένων δύο τὴν πρᾶξιν ἐγκατέλιπον ἀποδειλιάσαντες. ὁ δὲ Σφαῖρος ἐξ ἀρχῆς φησι τοσούτους γενέσθαι τοὺς τῆς γνώμης μετασχόντας. εἴη δ’ ἂν τι καὶ τὸ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ διʼ ἑβδομάδος τετράδι πολλαπλασιασθείσης ἀποτελούμενον, καὶ ὅτι τοῖς αὑτοῦ μέρεσιν ἴσος ὢν μετὰ τὴν ἑξάδα τέλειός ἐστιν. ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ μάλιστα τοσούτους ἀποδεῖξαι τοὺς γέροντας ὅπως οἱ πάντες εἶεν τριάκοντα, τοῖς ὀκτὼ καὶ εἴκοσι τοῖν δυοῖν βασιλέοιν προστιθεμένοιν.

[¶25] 6.1. So eager was Lycurgus for the establishment of this form of government, that he obtained an oracle from Delphi about it, which they call a “rhetra.” And this is the way it runs: “When thou hast built a temple to Zeus Syllanius and Athena Syllania, divided the people into ‘phylai’ and into ‘obai,’ and established a senate of thirty members, including the ‘archagetai,’ then from time to time ‘appellazein’ between Babyca and Cnacion and there introduce and rescind measures; but the people must have the deciding voice and the power.”

> Greek: 6.1. οὕτω δὲ περὶ ταύτην ἐσπούδασε τὴν ἀρχὴν ὁ Λυκοῦργος ὥστε μαντείαν ἐκ Δελφῶν κομίσαι περὶ αὐτῆς, ἣν ῥήτραν καλοῦσιν. ἔχει δὲ οὕτως· Διὸς Συλλανίου καὶ Ἀθανᾶς Συλλανίας ἱερὸν ἱδρυσάμενον, φυλὰς φυλάξαντα καὶ ὠβὰς ὠβάξαντα, τριάκοντα γερουσίαν σὺν ἀρχαγέταις καταστήσαντα, ὥρας ἐξ ὥρας ἀπελλάζειν μεταξὺ Βαβύκας τε καὶ Κνακιῶνος, οὕτως εἰσφέρειν τε καὶ ἀφίστασθαι δάμῳ δὲ τὰν κυρίαν ἦμεν καὶ κράτος ἐν τούτοις τὸ μὲν φυλὰς φυλάξαι καὶ ὠβὰς ὠβάξαι διελεῖν ἐστι καὶ κατανεῖμαι τὸ πλῆθος εἰς μερίδας, ὧν τὰς μὲν φυλάς, τὰς δὲ ὠβὰς προσηγόρευκεν.

[¶26] 6.2. In these clauses, the “phylai” and the “obai” refer to divisions and distributions of the people into clans and phratries, or brotherhoods; by “archagetai” the kings are designated, and “apellazein” means to assemble the people, with a reference to Apollo, the Pythian god, who was the source and author of the polity. The Babyca is now called Cheimarrus, and the Cnacion Oenus; but Aristotle says that Cnacion is a river, and Babyca a bridge.

> Greek: 6.2. ἀρχαγέται δὲ οἱ βασιλεῖς λέγονται, τὸ δὲ ἀπελλάζειν ἐκκλησιάζειν· ὅτι τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς πολιτείας εἰς τὸν Πύθιον ἀνῆψε. τὴν δὲ Βαβύκαν Χείμαρρος, καὶ τὸν Κνακιῶνα νῦν Οἰνοῦντα προσαγορεύουσιν· Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ τὸν μὲν Κνακιῶνα ποταμόν, τὴν δὲ Βαβύκαν γέφυραν.

[¶27] 6.3. Between these they held their assemblies, having neither halls nor any other kind of building for the purpose. For by such things Lycurgus thought good counsel was not promoted, but rather discouraged, since the serious purposes of an assembly were rendered foolish and futile by vain thoughts, as they gazed upon statues and paintings, or scenic embellishments, or extravagantly decorated roofs of council halls. When the multitude was thus assembled, no one of them was permitted to make a motion, but the motion laid before them by the senators and kings could be accepted or rejected by the people.

> Greek: 6.3. ἐν μέσῳ δὲ τούτων τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἦγον, οὔτε παστάδων οὐσῶν οὔτε ἄλλης τινὸς κατασκευῆς, οὐθὲν γάρ ᾤετο ταῦτα πρὸς εὐβουλίαν εἶναι, μᾶλλον δὲ βλάπτειν, φλυαρώδεις ἀπεργαζόμενα καὶ χαύνους φρονήματι κενῷ τὰς διανοίας τῶν συμπορευομένων, ὅταν εἰς ἀγάλματα καὶ γραφὰς ἢ προσκήνια θεάτρων ἢ στέγας βουλευτηρίων ἠσκημένας περιττῶς ἐκκλησιάζοντες ἀποβλέπωσι. τοῦ δὲ πλήθους ἀθροισθέντος εἰπεῖν μὲν οὐδενὶ γνώμην τῶν ἄλλων ἐφεῖτο, τὴν δ’ ὑπὸ τῶν γερόντων καὶ τῶν βασιλέων προτεθεῖσαν ἐπικρῖναι κύριος ἦν ὁ δῆμος.

[¶28] 6.4. Afterwards, however, when the people by additions and subtractions perverted and distorted the sense of motions laid before them, Kings Polydorus and Theopompus inserted this clause into the rhetra: “But if the people should adopt a distorted motion, the senators and kings shall have power of adjournment”; that is, should not ratify the vote, but dismiss outright and dissolve the session, on the ground that it was perverting and changing the motion contrary to the best interests of the state. And they were actually able to persuade the city that the god authorized this addition to the rhetra, as Tyrtaeus reminds us in these verses:—
Phoebus Apollo’s the mandate was which they brought from Pytho,
Voicing the will of the god, nor were his words unfulfilled:
Sway in the council and honours divine belong to the princes
Under whose care has been set Sparta’s city of charm;
Second to them are the elders, and next come the men of the people
Duly confirming by vote unperverted decrees.

> Greek: 6.4. ὕστερον μέντοι τῶν πολλῶν ἀφαιρέσει καὶ προσθέσει τὰς γνώμας διαστρεφόντων καὶ παραβιαζομένων, Πολύδωρος καὶ Θεόπομπος οἱ βασιλεῖς τάδε τῇ ῥήτρᾳ παρενέγραψαν· αἰ δὲ σκολιὰν ὁ δᾶμος ἕλοιτο, τοὺς πρεσβυγενέας καὶ ἀρχαγέτας ἀποστατῆρας ἦμεν, τοῦτʼ ἔστι μὴ κυροῦν, ἀλλʼ ὅλως ἀφίστασθαι καὶ διαλύειν τὸν δῆμον, ὡς ἐκτρέποντα καὶ μεταποιοῦντα τὴν γνώμην παρὰ τὸ βέλτιστον. ἔπεισαν δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὴν πόλιν ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ ταῦτα προστάσσοντος, ὥς που Τυρταῖος ἐπιμέμνηται διὰ τούτων
Φοίβου ἀκούσαντες Πυθωνόθεν οἴκαδʼ ἔνεικαν
μαντείας τε θεοῦ καὶ τελέεντʼ ἔπεα·
ἄρχειν μὲν βουλῆς θεοτιμήτους βασιλῆας,
οἷσι μέλει Σπάρτας ἱμερόεσσα πόλις,
πρεσβύτας τε γέροντας, ἔπειτα δὲ δημότας
ἄνδρας,
εὐθείαις ῥήτραις ἀνταπαμειβομένους.

[¶29] 7.1. Although Lycurgus thus tempered his civil polity, nevertheless the oligarchical element in it was still unmixed and dominant, and his successors, seeing it “swelling and foaming,” as Plato says, “imposed as it were a curb upon it, namely, the power of the ephors.” It was about a hundred and thirty years after Lycurgus that the first ephors, Elatus and his colleagues, were appointed, in the reign of Theopompus.

> Greek: 7.1. οὕτω τὸ πολίτευμα τοῦ Λυκούργου μίξαντος, ὅμως ἄκρατον ἔτι τὴν ὀλιγαρχίαν καὶ ἰσχυρὰν οἱ μετʼ αὐτὸν ὁρῶντες σπαργῶσαν καὶ θυμουμένην, ὥς φησιν ὁ Πλάτων, οἷον ψάλιον ἐμβάλλουσιν αὐτῇ τὴν τῶν ἐφόρων δύναμιν, ἔτεσί που μάλιστα τριάκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν μετὰ Λυκοῦργον πρώτων τῶν περὶ Ἔλατον ἐφόρων κατασταθέντων ἐπὶ Θεοπόμπου βασιλεύοντος·

[¶30] 7.2. This king, they say, on being reviled by his wife because the royal power, when he handed it over to his sons, would be less than when he received it, said: “Nay, but greater, in that it will last longer.” And in fact, by renouncing excessive claims and freeing itself from jealous hate, royalty at Sparta escaped its perils, so that the Spartan kings did not experience the fate which the Messenians and Argives inflicted upon their kings, who were unwilling to yield at all or remit their power in favour of the people. And this brings into the clearest light the wisdom and foresight of Lycurgus, when we contrast the factions and misgovernment of the peoples and kings of Messenia and Argos, who were kinsmen and neighbours of the Spartans.

> Greek: 7.2. ὃν καὶ φασιν ὑπὸ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ γυναικὸς ὀνειδιζόμενον ὡς ἐλάττω παραδώσοντα τοῖς παισὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἢ παρέλαβε, μείζω μὲν οὖν, εἰπεῖν, ὅσῳ χρονιωτέραν. τῷ γὰρ ὄντι τὸ ἄγαν ἀποβαλοῦσα μετὰ τοῦ φθόνου διέφυγε τὸν κίνδυνον, ὥστε μὴ παθεῖν ἃ Μεσσήνιοι καὶ Ἀργεῖοι τοὺς παρʼ αὐτοῖς βασιλεῖς ἔδρασαν, μηδὲν ἐνδοῦναι μηδὲ χαλάσαι τῆς ἐξουσίας ἐπὶ τὸ δημοτικὸν ἐθελήσαντας. ὃ καὶ μάλιστα τὴν Λυκούργου σοφίαν καὶ πρόνοιαν ἐποίησε φανερὰν εἰς τὰς Μεσσηνίων καὶ Ἀργείων, συγγενῶν καὶ γειτόνων, δήμων καὶ βασιλέων στάσεις καὶ κακοπολιτείας ἀφορῶσιν, οἳ τῶν ἴσων ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς τετυχηκότες, ἐν δὲ τῷ κλήρῳ καὶ πλέον ἔχειν ἐκείνων δόξαντες, οὐκ ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον εὐδαιμόνησαν, ἀλλʼ ὕβρει μὲν τῶν βασιλέων, οὐκ εὐπειθείᾳ δὲ τῶν ὄχλων, τὰ καθεστῶτα συνταράξαντες ἔδειξαν ὅτι θεῖον ἦν ὡς ἀληθῶς εὐτύχημα τοῖς Σπαρτιάταις ὁ τὴν πολιτείαν ἁρμοσάμενος καὶ κεράσας παρʼ αὐτοῖς.

[¶31] 7.3. They were on an equality with the Spartans in the beginning, and in the allotment of territory were thought to be even better off than they, and yet their prosperity did not last long, but what with the insolent temper of their kings and the unreasonableness of their peoples, their established institutions were confounded, and they made it clear that it was in very truth a divine blessing which the Spartans had enjoyed in the man who framed and tempered their civil polity for them. These events, however, were of later date. A second, and a very bold political measure of Lycurgus, in his redistribution of the land. For there was a dreadful inequality in this regard, the city was heavily burdened with indigent and helpless people, and wealth was wholly concentrated in the hands of a few. Determined, therefore, to banish insolence and envy and crime and luxury, and those yet more deep-seated and afflictive diseases of the state, poverty and wealth, he persuaded his fellow-citizens to make one parcel of all their territory and divide it up anew, and to live with one another on a basis of entire uniformity and equality in the means of subsistence, seeking pre-eminence through virtue alone, assured that there was no other difference or inequality between man and man than that which was established by blame for base actions and praise for good ones.

> Greek: 7.3. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὕστερον. δεύτερον δὲ τῶν Λυκούργου πολιτευμάτων καὶ νεανικώτατον ὁ τῆς γῆς ἀναδασμός ἐστι. δεινῆς γάρ οὔσης ἀνωμαλίας καὶ πολλῶν ἀκτημόνων καὶ ἀπόρων ἐπιφερομένων τῇ πόλει, τοῦ δὲ πλούτου παντάπασιν εἰς ὀλίγους συνερρυηκότος, ὕβριν καὶ φθόνον καὶ κακουργίαν καὶ τρυφὴν καὶ τὰ τούτων ἔτι πρεσβύτερα καὶ μείζω νοσήματα πολιτείας, πλοῦτον καὶ πενίαν, ἐξελαύνων, συνέπεισε τὴν χώραν ἅπασαν εἰς μέσον θέντας ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀναδάσασθαι, καὶ ζῆν μετʼ ἀλλήλων ἅπαντας ὁμαλεῖς καὶ ἰσοκλήρους τοῖς βίοις γενομένους, τὸ δὲ πρωτεῖον ἀρετῇ μετιόντας, ὡς ἄλλης ἑτέρῳ πρὸς ἕτερον οὐκ οὔσης διαφορᾶς οὐδὲ ἀνισότητος, πλὴν ὅσην αἰσχρῶν ψόγος ὁρίζει καὶ καλῶν ἔπαινος.

[¶32] 8.3. Suiting the deed to the word, he distributed the rest of the Laconian land among the “perioeci,” or free provincials, in thirty thousand lots, and that which belonged to the city of Sparta, in nine thousand lots, to as many genuine Spartans. But some say that Lycurgus distributed only six thousand lots among the Spartans, and that three thousand were afterwards added by Polydorus; others still, that Polydorus added half of the nine thousand to the half distributed by Lycurgus.

> Greek: 8.3. ἐπάγων δὲ τῷ λόγῳ τὸ ἔργον ἔνειμε τὴν μὲν ἄλλην τοῖς περιοίκοις Λακωνικὴν τρισμυρίους κλήρους, τὴν δὲ εἰς τὸ ἄστυ τὴν Σπάρτην συντελοῦσαν ἐνακισχιλίους· τοσοῦτοι γάρ ἐγένοντο κλῆροι Σπαρτιατῶν ἔνιοι δέ φασι τὸν μὲν Λυκοῦργον ἑξακισχιλίους νεῖμαι, τρισχιλίους δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα προσθεῖναι Πολύδωρον οἱ δὲ τοὺς μὲν ἡμίσεις τῶν ἐνακισχιλίων τοῦτον, τοὺς δὲ ἡμίσεις Λυκοῦργον.

[¶33] 8.4. The lot of each was large enough to produce annually seventy bushels of barley for a man and twelve for his wife, with a proportionate amount of wine and oil. Lycurgus thought that a lot of this size would be sufficient for them, since they needed sustenance enough to promote vigour and health of body, and nothing else. And it is said that on returning from a journey some time afterwards, as he traversed the land just after the harvest, and saw the heaps of grain standing parallel and equal to one another, he smiled, and said to them that were by: “All Laconia looks like a family estate newly divided among many brothers.”

> Greek: 8.4. ὁ δὲ κλῆρος ἦν ἑκάστου τοσοῦτος ὥστε ἀποφορὰν φέρειν ἀνδρὶ μὲν ἑβδομήκοντα κριθῶν μεδίμνους, γυναικὶ δὲ δώδεκα, καὶ τῶν ὑγρῶν καρπῶν ἀναλόγως τὸ πλῆθος. ἀρκέσειν γὰρ ᾤετο τοσοῦτον αὐτοῖς, τῆς τροφῆς πρὸς εὐεξίαν καὶ ὑγείαν ἱκανῆς, ἄλλου δὲ μηδενὸς δεησομένοις. λέγεται δ’ αὐτὸν ὕστερόν ποτε χρόνῳ τὴν χώραν διερχόμενον ἐξ ἀποδημίας ἄρτι τεθερισμένην, ὁρῶντα τοὺς σωροὺς παραλλήλους καὶ ὁμαλεῖς, μειδιᾶσαι, καὶ εἰπεῖν πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ὡς ἡ Λακωνικὴ φαίνεται πᾶσα πολλῶν ἀδελφῶν εἶναι νεωστὶ νενεμημένων.

[¶34] 9.1. Next, he undertook to divide up their movable property also, in order that every vestige of unevenness and inequality might be removed; and when he saw that they could not bear to have it taken from them directly, he took another course, and overcame their avarice by political devices. In the first place, he withdrew all gold and silver money from currency, and ordained the use of iron money only. Then to a great weight and mass of this he gave a trifling value, so that ten minas’ worth required a large store-room in the house, and a yoke of cattle to transport it.

> Greek: 9.1. ἐπιχειρήσας δὲ καὶ τὰ ἔπιπλα διαιρεῖν, ὅπως παντάπασιν ἐξέλοι τὸ ἄνισον καὶ ἀνώμαλον, ἐπεὶ χαλεπῶς ἑώρα προσδεχομένους τὴν ἄντικρυς ἀφαίρεσιν, ἑτέρᾳ περιῆλθεν ὁδῷ καὶ κατεπολιτεύσατο τὴν ἐν τούτοις πλεονεξίαν. πρῶτον μὲν γάρ ἀκυρώσας πᾶν νόμισμα χρυσοῦν καὶ ἀργυροῦν μόνῳ χρῆσθαι τῷ σιδηρῷ προσέταξε· καὶ τούτῳ δὲ ἀπὸ πολλοῦ σταθμοῦ καὶ ὄγκου δύναμιν ὀλίγην ἔδωκεν, ὥστε δέκα μυῶν ἀμοιβὴν ἀποθήκης τε μεγάλης ἐν οἰκίᾳ δεῖσθαι καὶ ζεύγους ἄγοντος.

[¶35] 9.2. When this money obtained currency, many sorts of iniquity went into exile from Lacedaemon. For who would steal, or receive as a bribe, or rob, or plunder that which could neither be concealed, nor possessed with satisfaction, nay, nor even cut to pieces with any profit? For vinegar was used, as we are told, to quench the red-hot iron, robbing it of its temper and making it worthless for any other purpose, when once it had become brittle and hard to work.

> Greek: 9.2. τούτου δὲ κυρωθέντος ἐξέπεσεν ἀδικημάτων γένη πολλὰ τῆς Λακεδαίμονος. τίς γὰρ ἢ κλέπτειν ἔμελλεν ἢ δωροδοκεῖν ἢ ἀποστερεῖν ἢ ἁρπάζειν ὃ μήτε κατακρύψαι δυνατὸν ἦν μήτε κεκτῆσθαι ζηλωτόν, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ κατακόψαι λυσιτελές· ὄξει γάρ, ὡς λέγεται, διαπύρου σιδήρου τὸ στόμωμα κατασβέσας ἀφείλετο τὴν εἰς τἆλλα χρείαν καὶ δύναμιν, ἀδρανοῦς καὶ δυσέργου γενομένου.

[¶36] 9.3. In the next place, he banished the unnecessary and superfluous arts. And even without such banishment most of them would have departed with the old coinage, since there was no sale for their products. For the iron money could not be carried into the rest of Greece, nor had it any value there, but was rather held in ridicule. It was not possible, therefore, to buy any foreign wares or bric-à-brac; no merchant-seamen brought freight into their harbours; no rhetoric teacher set foot on Laconian soil, no vagabond soothsayer, no keeper of harlots, no gold- or silver-smith, since there was no money there.

> Greek: 9.3. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο τῶν ἀχρήστων καὶ περισσῶν ἐποιεῖτο τεχνῶν ξενηλασίαν. ἔμελλον δέ που καὶ μηδενὸς ἐξελαύνοντος αἱ πολλαὶ τῷ κοινῷ νομίσματι συνεκπεσεῖσθαι, διάθεσιν τῶν ἔργων οὐκ ἐχόντων, τὸ γάρ σιδηροῦν ἀγώγιμον οὐκ ἦν πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους Ἕλληνας οὐδʼ εἶχε τιμὴν καταγελώμενον, ὥστε οὐδὲ πρίασθαί τι τῶν ξενικῶν καὶ ῥωπικῶν ὑπῆρχεν, οὐδʼ εἰσέπλει φόρτος ἐμπορικὸς εἰς τοὺς λιμένας, οὐδὲ ἐπέβαινε τῆς Λακωνικῆς οὐ σοφιστὴς λόγων, οὐ μάντις ἀγυρτικός, οὐχ ἑταιρῶν τροφεύς, οὐ χρυσῶν τίς, οὐκ ἀργυρῶν καλλωπισμάτων δημιουργός, ἅτε δὴ νομίσματος οὐκ ὄντος.

[¶37] 9.4. But luxury, thus gradually deprived of that which stimulated and supported it, died away of itself, and men of large possessions had no advantage over the poor, because their wealth found no public outlet, but had to be stored up at home in idleness. In this way it came about that such common and necessary utensils as bedsteads, chairs, and tables were most excellently made among them, and the Laconian “kothon,” or drinking-cup, was in very high repute for usefulness among soldiers in active service, as Critias tells us.

> Greek: 9.4. ἀλλὰ οὕτως ἀπερημωθεῖσα κατὰ μικρὸν ἡ τρυφὴ τῶν ζωπυρούντων καὶ τρεφόντων αὐτὴ διʼ αὑτῆς ἐμαραίνετο· καὶ πλεῖον οὐδὲν ἦν τοῖς πολλὰ κεκτημένοις, ὁδὸν οὐκ ἐχούσης εἰς μέσον τῆς εὐπορίας, ἀλλʼ ἐγκατῳκοδομημένης καὶ ἀργούσης. διὸ καὶ τὰ πρόχειρα τῶν σκευῶν καὶ ἀναγκαῖα ταῦτα, κλιντῆρες καὶ δίφροι καὶ τράπεζαι, βέλτιστα παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἐδημιουργεῖτο, καὶ κώθων ὁ Λακωνικὸς εὐδοκίμει μάλιστα πρὸς τὰς στρατείας, ὥς φησι Κριτίας.

[¶38] 9.5. For its colour concealed the disagreeable appearance of the water which they were often compelled to drink, and its curving lips caught the muddy sediment and held it inside, so that only the purer part reached the mouth of the drinker. For all this they had to thank their lawgiver; since their artisans were now freed from useless tasks, and displayed the beauty of their workmanship in objects of constant and necessary use.

> Greek: 9.5. τὰ γὰρ ἀναγκαίως πινόμενα τῶν ὑδάτων καὶ δυσωποῦντα τὴν ὄψιν ἀπεκρύπτετο τῇ χρόᾳ, καὶ τοῦ θολεροῦ προσκόπτοντος ἐντὸς καὶ προσισχομένου τοῖς ἄμβωσι, καθαρώτερον ἐπλησίαζε τῷ στόματι τὸ πινόμενον. αἴτιος δὲ καὶ τούτων ὁ νομοθέτης· ἀπηλλαγμένοι γὰρ οἱ δημιουργοὶ τῶν ἀχρήστων ἐν τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις ἐπεδείκνυντο τὴν καλλιτεχνίαν.

[¶39] 10.1. With a view to attack luxury still more and remove the thirst for wealth, he introduced his third and most exquisite political device, namely, the institution of common messes, so that they might eat with one another in companies, of common and specified foods, and not take their meals at home, reclining on costly couches at costly tables, delivering themselves into the hands of servants and cooks to be fattened in the dark, like voracious animals, and ruining not only their characters but also their bodies, by surrendering them to every desire and all sorts of surfeit, which call for long sleeps, hot baths, abundant rest, and, as it were, daily nursing and tending.

> Greek: 10.1. ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον ἐπιθέσθαι τῇ τρυφῇ καὶ τὸν ζῆλον ἀφελέσθαι τοῦ πλούτου διανοηθείς, τὸ τρίτον πολίτευμα καὶ κάλλιστον ἐπῆγε, τὴν τῶν συσσιτίων κατασκευήν, ὥστε δειπνεῖν μετʼ ἀλλήλων συνιόντας ἐπὶ κοινοῖς καὶ τεταγμένοις ὄψοις καὶ σιτίοις, οἴκοι δὲ μὴ διαιτᾶσθαι κατακλινέντας εἰς στρωμνὰς πολυτελεῖς καὶ τραπέζας, χερσὶ δημιουργῶν καὶ μαγείρων ὑπὸ σκότος, ὥσπερ ἀδηφάγα ζῷα, πιαινομένους, καὶ διαφθείροντας ἅμα τοῖς ἤθεσι τὰ σώματα πρὸς πᾶσαν ἐπιθυμίαν ἀνειμένα καὶ πλησμονήν, μακρῶν μὲν ὕπνων, θερμῶν δὲ λουτρῶν, πολλῆς δὲ ἡσυχίας καὶ τρόπον τινὰ νοσηλείας καθημερινῆς δεομένην.

[¶40] 10.2. This was surely a great achievement, but it was a still greater one to make wealth “an object of no desire,” as Theophrastus says, and even “unwealth,” by this community of meals and simplicity of diet.

> Greek: 10.2. μέγα μὲν οὖν καὶ τοῦτο ἦν, μεῖζον δὲ τὸ τὸν πλοῦτον ἄζηλον, ὥς φησι Θεόφραστος, καὶ ἄπλουτον ἀπεργάσασθαι τῇ κοινότητι τῶν δείπνων καὶ τῇ περὶ τὴν δίαιταν εὐτελείᾳ.

[¶41] 10.3. For the rich man could neither use nor enjoy nor even see or display his abundant means, when he went to the same meal as the poor man; so that it was in Sparta alone, of all the cities under the sun, that men could have that far-famed sight, a Plutus blind, and lying as lifeless and motionless as a picture. For the rich could not even dine beforehand at home and then go to the common mess with full stomachs, but the rest kept careful watch of him who did not eat and drink with them, and reviled him as a weakling, and one too effeminate for the common diet.

> Greek: 10.3. χρῆσις γάρ οὐκ ἦν οὐδὲ ἀπόλαυσις οὐδὲ ὄψις ὅλως ἢ ἐπίδειξις τῆς πολλῆς παρασκευῆς, ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ δεῖπνον τῷ πένητι τοῦ πλουσίου βαδίζοντος· ὥστε τοῦτο δὴ τὸ θρυλούμενον ἐν μόνῃ τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον πόλεων τῇ Σπάρτῃ βλέπεσθαι, τυφλὸν ὄντα τὸν πλοῦτον καὶ κείμενον ὥσπερ γραφὴν ἄψυχον καὶ ἀκίνητον. οὐδὲ γὰρ οἴκοι προδειπνήσαντας ἐξῆν βαδίζειν ἐπὶ τὰ συσσίτια πεπληρωμένους, ἀλλʼ ἐπιμελῶς οἱ λοιποὶ παραφυλάττοντες τὸν μὴ πίνοντα μηδὲ ἐσθίοντα μετʼ αὐτῶν ἐκάκιζον ὡς ἀκρατῆ καὶ πρὸς τὴν κοινὴν ἀπομαλακιζόμενον δίαιταν.

[¶42] 11.1. It was due, therefore, to this last political device above all, that the wealthy citizens were incensed against Lycurgus, and banding together against him, denounced him publicly with angry shouts and cries; finally many pelted him with stones, so that he ran from the market-place. He succeeded in reaching sanctuary before the rest laid hands on him; but one young man, Alcander, otherwise no mean nature, but hasty and passionate, pressed hard upon him, and as he turned about, smote him with his staff and put out one of his eyes.

> Greek: 11.1. διὸ καὶ μάλιστά φασι τῷ Λυκούργῳ πρὸς τοῦτο τὸ πολίτευμα χαλεποὺς γενέσθαι τοὺς εὐπόρους, καὶ συστάντας ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἀθρόους καταβοᾶν καὶ ἀγανακτεῖν τέλος δὲ βαλλόμενος ὑπὸ πολλῶν ἐξέπεσε τῆς ἀγορᾶς δρόμῳ. καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους ἔφθασεν εἷς ἱερὸν καταφυγών εἷς δέ τις νεανίσκος, ἄλλως μὲν οὐκ ἀφυής, ὀξὺς δὲ καὶ θυμοειδής, Ἄλκανδρος, ἐπικείμενος καὶ διώκων ἐπιστραφέντος αὐτοῦ τῇ βακτηρίᾳ πατάξας τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἐξέκοψεν.

[¶43] 11.2. Lycurgus, however, was far from yielding in consequence of this calamity, but confronted his countrymen, and showed them his face besmeared with blood and his eye destroyed. Whereupon they were so filled with shame and sorrow at the sight, that they placed Alcander in his hands, and conducted him to his house with sympathetic indignation. Lycurgus commended them for their conduct, and dismissed them, but took Alcander into the house with him, where he did the youth no harm by word or deed, but after sending away his customary servants and attendants, ordered him to minister to his wants.

> Greek: 11.2. ὁ μὲν οὖν Λυκοῦργος οὐδὲν ἐνδοὺς πρὸς τὸ πάθος, ἀλλὰ στὰς ἐναντίος ἔδειξε τοῖς πολίταις τὸ πρόσωπον ᾑμαγμένον καὶ διεφθαρμένην τὴν ὄψιν αἰδὼς δὲ πολλὴ καὶ κατήφεια τοὺς ἰδόντας ἔσχεν, ὥστε παραδοῦναι τὸν Ἄλκανδρον αὐτῷ καὶ προπέμψαι μέχρι τῆς οἰκίας συναγανακτοῦντας. ὁ δὲ Λυκοῦργος ἐκείνους μὲν ἐπαινέσας ἀφῆκε, τὸν δὲ Ἄλκανδρον εἰσαγαγὼν οἴκαδε κακὸν μὲν οὐδὲν οὔτʼ ἐποίησεν οὔτʼ εἶπεν, ἀπαλλάξας δὲ τοὺς συνήθεις ὑπηρέτας καὶ θεραπευτῆρας ἐκεῖνον ἐκέλευσεν ὑπηρετεῖν.

[¶44] 11.3. The youth, who was of a noble disposition, did as he was commanded, without any words, and abiding thus with Lycurgus, and sharing his daily life, he came to know the gentleness of the man, the calmness of his spirit, the rigid simplicity of his habits, and his unwearied industry. He thus became a devoted follower of Lycurgus, and used to tell his intimates and friends that the man was not harsh nor self-willed, as he had supposed, but the mildest and gentlest of them all.

> Greek: 11.3. ὁ δὲ οὐκ ὢν ἀγεννὴς ἐποίει τὸ προσταττόμενον σιωπῇ, καὶ παραμένων ἅμα τῷ Λυκούργῳ καὶ συνδιαιτώμενος ἐν τῷ κατανοεῖν τὴν πρᾳότητα καὶ τὸ ἀπαθὲς αὐτοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τὸ περὶ τὴν δίαιταν αὐστηρὸν καὶ τὸ πρὸς τοὺς πόνους ἄκαμπτον, αὐτός τε δεινῶς διετέθη περὶ τὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς συνήθεις καὶ φίλους ἔλεγεν ὡς οὐ σκληρὸς οὐδʼ αὐθάδης ὁ Λυκοῦργος, ἀλλὰ μόνος ἥμερος καὶ πρᾷός ἐστι τοῖς ἄλλοις.

[¶45] 11.4. Such, then, was the chastisement of this young man, and such the penalty laid upon him, namely, to become, instead of a wild and impetuous youth, a most decorous and discreet man. Lycurgus, moreover, in memory of his misfortune, built a temple to Athena Optilitis, so called from “optilus,” which is the local Doric word for eye. Some writers, however, of whom one is Dioscorides, who wrote a treatise on the Spartan civil polity, say that although Lycurgus was struck in the eye, his eye was not blinded, but he built the temple to the goddess as a thank-offering for its healing. Be that as it may, the Spartan practice of carrying staves into their assemblies was abandoned after this unfortunate accident.

> Greek: 11.4. οὕτω μὲν οὖν οὗτος ἐκεκόλαστο καὶ τοιαύτην ὑπεσχήκει δίκην, ἐκ πονηροῦ νέου καὶ αὐθάδους ἐμμελέστατος ἀνὴρ καὶ σωφρονικώτατος γενόμενος, τοῦ δὲ πάθους ὑπόμνημα Λυκοῦργος ἱδρύσατο τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἱερόν, ἣν Ὀπτιλῖτιν προσηγόρευσε· τοὺς γὰρ ὀφθαλμοὺς ὀπτίλους οἱ τῇδε Δωριεῖς καλοῦσιν. ἔνιοι μέντοι τὸν Λυκοῦργον, ὧν καὶ Διοσκορίδης ἐστὶν ὁ συντεταγμένος τὴν Λακωνικὴν πολιτείαν, πληγῆναι μέν φασιν, οὐ τυφλωθῆναι δὲ τὸν ὀφθαλμόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν τῇ θεῷ τῆς ἀκέσεως χαριστήριον ἱδρύσασθαι. τὸ μέντοι φέρειν βακτηρίαν ἐκκλησιάζοντες οἱ Σπαρτιᾶται μετὰ τὴν συμφορὰν ἐκείνην ἀπέμαθον.

[¶46] 12.1. As for the public messes, the Cretans call them “andreia,” but the Lacedaemonians, “phiditia,” either because they are conducive to friendship and friendliness, “phiditia” being equivalent to “philitia”; or because they accustom men to simplicity and thrift, for which their word is “pheido.” But it is quite possible, as some say, that the first letter of the word “phiditia” has been added to it, making “phiditia” out of “editia,” which refers merely to meals and eating.

> Greek: 12.1. τὰ δὲ συσσίτια Κρῆτες μὲν ἀνδρεῖα, Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ φιδίτια προσαγορεύουσιν, εἴτε ὡς φιλίας καὶ φιλοφροσύνης ὑπαρχόντων, ἀντὶ τοῦ λ τὸ δ λαμβάνοντες, εἴτε ὡς πρὸς εὐτέλειαν καὶ φειδὼ συνεθιζόντων. οὐδὲν δὲ κωλύει καὶ τὸν πρῶτον ἔξωθεν ἐπικεῖσθαι φθόγγον, ὥσπερ ἔνιοί φασιν, ἐδιτίων παρὰ τὴν δίαιταν καὶ τὴν ἐδωδὴν λεγομένων.

[¶47] 12.2. They met in companies of fifteen, a few more or less, and each one of the mess-mates contributed monthly a bushel of barley-meal, eight gallons of wine, five pounds of cheese, two and a half pounds of figs, and in addition to this, a very small sum of money for such relishes as flesh and fish. Besides this, whenever any one made a sacrifice of first fruits, or brought home game from the hunt, he sent a portion to his mess. For whenever any one was belated by a sacrifice or the chase, he was allowed to sup at home, but the rest had to be at the mess.

> Greek: 12.2. συνήρχοντο δὲ ἀνὰ πεντεκαίδεκα καὶ βραχεῖ τούτων ἐλάττους ἢ πλείους. ἔφερε δὲ ἕκαστος κατὰ μῆνα τῶν συσσίτων ἀλφίτων μέδιμνον, οἴνου χόας ὀκτώ, τυροῦ πέντε μνᾶς, σύκων ἡμιμναῖα πέντε, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις εἰς ὀψωνίαν μικρόν τι κομιδῇ νομίσματος· ἄλλως δὲ καὶ θύσας τις ἀπαρχὴν καὶ θηρεύσας μέρος ἔπεμψεν εἰς τὸ συσσίτιον. ἐξῆν γὰρ οἴκοι δειπνεῖν ὁπότε θύσας τις ἢ κυνηγῶν ὀψίσειε, τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους ἔδει παρεῖναι.

## 2. Chapters 12–20

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-lycurgus/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-lycurgus/2/#p-N

[¶0] 12.3. For a long time this custom of eating at common mess-tables was rigidly observed. For instance, when King Agis, on returning from an expedition in which he had been victorious over the Athenians, wished to sup at home with his wife, and sent for his rations, the polemarchs refused to send them to him; and when on the following day his anger led him to omit the customary sacrifice, they laid a fine upon him.

> Greek: 12.3. καὶ μέχρι γε πολλοῦ τὰς συσσιτήσεις ἀκριβῶς διεφύλαττον. Ἄγιδος γοῦν τοῦ βασιλέως, ὡς ἐπανῆλθεν ἀπὸ τῆς στρατείας καταπεπολεμηκὼς Ἀθηναίους, βουλομένου παρὰ τῇ γυναικὶ δειπνεῖν καὶ μεταπεμπομένου τὰς μερίδας, οὐκ ἔπεμψαν οἱ πολέμαρχοι, τοῦ δὲ μεθʼ ἡμέραν ὑπʼ ὀργῆς μὴ θύσαντος ἣν ἔδει θυσίαν, ἐζημίωσαν αὐτόν.

[¶1] 12.4. Boys also used to come to these public messes, as if they were attending schools of sobriety; there they would listen to political discussions and see instructive models of liberal breeding. There they themselves also became accustomed to sport and jest without scurrility, and to endure jesting without displeasure. Indeed, it seems to have been especially characteristic of a Spartan to endure jesting; but if any one could not bear up under it, he had only to ask it, and the jester ceased.

> Greek: 12.4. εἰς δὲ τὰ συσσίτια καὶ παῖδες ἐφοίτων, ὥσπερ εἰς διδασκαλεῖα σωφροσύνης ἀγόμενοι, καὶ λόγων ἠκροῶντο πολιτικῶν καὶ παιδευτὰς ἐλευθερίας ἑώρων, αὐτοί τε παίζειν εἰθίζοντο καὶ σκώπτειν ἄνευ βωμολοχίας καὶ σκωπτόμενοι μὴ δυσχεραίνειν. σφόδρα γάρ ἐδόκει καὶ τοῦτο Λακωνικὸν εἶναι, σκώμματος ἀνέχεσθαι μὴ φέροντα δὲ ἐξῆν παραιτεῖσθαι, καὶ ὁ σκώπτων ἐπέπαυτο.

[¶2] 12.5. As each one came in, the eldest of the company pointed to the door and said to him: “Through that door no word goes forth outside.” And they say that a candidate for membership in one of these messes underwent the following ordeal. Each of the mess-mates took in his hand a bit of soft bread, and when a servant came along with a bowl upon his head, then they cast it into this without a word, like a ballot, leaving it just as it was if he approved of the candidate, but if he disapproved, squeezing it tight in his hand first.

> Greek: 12.5. τῶν δ’ εἰσιόντων ἑκάστῳ δείξας ὁ πρεσβύτατος τὰς θύρας, διὰ τούτων φησίν, ἔξω λόγος οὐκ ἐκπορεύεται δοκιμάζεσθαι δὲ τὸν βουλόμενον τοῦ συσσιτίου μετασχεῖν οὕτω φασί. λαβὼν τῶν συσσίτων ἕκαστος ἀπομαγδαλίαν εἰς τὴν χεῖρα, τοῦ διακόνου φέροντος ἀγγεῖον ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς, ἔβαλλε σιωπῇ καθάπερ ψῆφον, ὁ μὲν δοκιμάζων ἁπλῶς, ὁ δ’ ἐκκρίνων σφόδρα τῇ χειρὶ πιέσας.

[¶3] 12.6. For the flattened piece of bread had the force of a perforated, or negative, ballot. And if one such is found in the bowl, the candidate is not admitted to the mess, because they wish all its members to be congenial. The candidate thus rejected is said to have been “caddished,” for “caddichus” is the name of the bowl into which they cast the pieces of bread. Of their dishes, the black broth is held in the highest esteem, so that the elderly men do not even ask for a bit of meat, but leave it for the young men, while they themselves have the broth poured out for their meals.

> Greek: 12.6. ἡ γὰρ πεπιεσμένη τὴν τῆς τετρημένης ἔχει δύναμιν. κἂν μίαν εὕρωσι τοιαύτην, οὐ προσδέχονται τὸν ἐπεισιόντα, βουλόμενοι πάντας ἡ δομένους ἀλλήλοις συνεῖναι. τὸν δὲ οὕτως ἀποδοκιμασθέντα κεκαδδίσθαι λέγουσι· κάδδιχος γὰρ καλεῖται τὸ ἀγγεῖον εἰς ὃ τὰς ἀπομαγδαλίας ἐμβάλλουσι, τῶν δὲ ὄψων εὐδοκίμει μάλιστα παρʼ αὐτοῖς ὁ μέλας ζωμός, ὥστε μηδὲ κρεαδίου δεῖσθαι τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους, ἀλλὰ παραχωρεῖν τοῖς νεανίσκοις, αὐτοὺς δὲ τοῦ ζωμοῦ καταχεομένους ἑστιᾶσθαι.

[¶4] 12.7. And it is said that one of the kings of Pontus actually bought a Spartan cook for the sake of having this broth, and then, when he tasted it, disliked it; whereupon the cook said: “O King, those who relish this broth must first have bathed in the river Eurotas.” After drinking moderately, they go off home without a torch; for they are not allowed to walk with a light, either on this or any other occasion, that they may accustom themselves to marching boldly and without fear in the darkness of night. Such, then, is the fashion of their common messes.

> Greek: 12.7. λέγεται δέ τινα τῶν Ποντικῶν βασιλέων ἕνεκα τοῦ ζωμοῦ καὶ πρίασθαι Λακωνικὸν μάγειρον εἶτα γευσάμενον δυσχερᾶναι· καὶ τὸν μάγειρον εἰπεῖν ὦ βασιλεῦ, τοῦτον δεῖ τὸν ζωμὸν ἐν τῷ Εὐρώτᾳ λελουμένους ἐποψᾶσθαι. πιόντες δὲ μετρίως ἀπίασι δίχα λαμπάδος, οὐ γάρ ἔξεστι πρὸς φῶς βαδίζειν, οὔτε ταύτην οὔτε ἄλλην ὁδόν, ὅπως ἐθίζωνται σκότους καὶ νυκτὸς εὐθαρσῶς καὶ ἀδεῶς ὁδεύειν. τὰ μὲν οὖν συσσίτια τοιαύτην ἔχει τάξιν.

[¶5] 13.1. None of his laws were put into writing by Lycurgus, indeed, one of the so-called “rhetras” forbids it. For he thought that if the most important and binding principles which conduce to the prosperity and virtue of a city were implanted in the habits and training of its citizens, they would remain unchanged and secure, having a stronger bond than compulsion in the fixed purposes imparted to the young by education, which performs the office of a law-giver for every one of them.

> Greek: 13.1. νόμους δὲ γεγραμμένους ὁ Λυκοῦργος οὐκ ἔθηκεν, ἀλλὰ μία τῶν καλουμένων ῥητρῶν ἔστιν αὕτη. τὰ μὲν γάρ κυριώτατα καὶ μέγιστα πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν πόλεως καὶ ἀρετήν, ἐν τοῖς ἤθεσιν ᾤετο καὶ ταῖς ἀγωγαῖς τῶν πολιτῶν ἐγκατεστοιχειωμένα, μένειν ἀκίνητα καὶ βέβαια, ἔχοντα τὴν προαίρεσιν δεσμὸν ἰσχυρότερον τῆς ἀνάγκης, ἣν ἡ παίδευσις ἐμποιεῖ τοῖς νέοις, νομοθέτου διάθεσιν ἀπεργαζομένη περὶ ἕκαστον αὐτῶν.

[¶6] 13.2. And as for minor matters, such as business contracts, and cases where the needs vary from time to time, it was better, as he thought, not to hamper them by written constraints or fixed usages, but to suffer them, as occasion demanded, to receive such modifications as educated men should determine. Indeed, he assigned the function of law-making wholly and entirely to education.

> Greek: 13.2. τὰ δὲ μικρὰ καὶ χρηματικὰ συμβόλαια καὶ μεταπίπτοντα ταῖς χρείαις ἄλλοτε ἄλλως, βέλτιον ἦν μὴ καταλαμβάνειν ἐγγράφοις ἀνάγκαις μηδὲ ἀκινήτοις ἔθεσιν, ἀλλʼ ἐᾶν ἐπὶ τῶν καιρῶν, προσθέσεις λαμβάνοντα καὶ ἀφαιρέσεις, ἃς ἂν οἱ πεπαιδευμένοι δοκιμάσωσι. τὸ γὰρ ὅλον καὶ πᾶν τῆς νομοθεσίας ἔργον εἰς τὴν παιδείαν ἀνῆψε.

[¶7] 13.3. One of his rhetras accordingly, as I have said, prohibited the use of written laws. Another was directed against extravagance, ordaining that every house should have its roof fashioned by the axe, and its doors by the saw only, and by no other tool. For, as in later times Epaminondas is reported to have said at his own table, that such a meal did not comport with treachery, so Lycurgus was the first to see clearly that such a house does not comport with luxury and extravagance. Nor is any man so vulgar and senseless as to introduce into a simple and common house silver-footed couches, purple coverlets, gold drinking-cups, and all the extravagance which goes along with these, but one must of necessity adapt and proportion his couch to his house, his coverlets to his couch, and to this the rest of his supplies and equipment.

> Greek: 13.3. μία μὲν οὖν τῶν ῥητρῶν ἦν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, μὴ χρῆσθαι νόμοις ἐγγράφοις. ἑτέρα δὲ πάλιν κατὰ τῆς πολυτελείας, ὅπως οἰκίᾳ πᾶσα τὴν μὲν ὀροφὴν ἀπὸ πελέκεως εἰργασμένην ἔχῃ, τὰς δὲ θύρας ἀπὸ πρίονος μόνου καὶ μηδενὸς τῶν ἄλλων ἐργαλείων, ὅπερ γάρ ὕστερον Ἐπαμεινώνδαν εἰπεῖν λέγουσιν ἐπὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ τραπέζης, ὡς τὸ τοιοῦτον ἄριστον οὐ χωρεῖ προδοσίαν, τοῦτο πρῶτος ἐνόησε Λυκοῦργος, ὡς οἰκίᾳ τοιαύτη τρυφὴν οὐ χωρεῖ καὶ πολυτέλειαν, οὐδʼ ἔστιν οὐδεὶς οὕτως ἀπειρόκαλος καὶ ἀνόητος ὥστε εἰς οἰκίαν ἀφελῆ καὶ δημοτικὴν εἰσφέρειν κλίνας ἀργυρόποδας καὶ στρωμνὰς ἁλουργεῖς καὶ χρυσᾶς κύλικας καὶ τὴν τούτοις ἑπομένην πολυτέλειαν, ἀλλʼ ἀνάγκη συναρμόζεσθαι καὶ συνεξομοιοῦν τῇ μὲν οἰκίᾳ τὴν κλίνην, τῇ δὲ κλίνῃ τὴν ἐσθῆτα, ταύτῃ δὲ τὴν ἄλλην χορηγίαν καὶ κατασκευήν.

[¶8] 13.5. It was because he was used to this simplicity that Leotychides the Elder, as we are told, when he was dining in Corinth, and saw the roof of the house adorned with costly panellings, asked his host if trees grew square in that country. A third rhetra of Lycurgus is mentioned, which forbids making frequent expeditions against the same enemies, in order not to accustom such enemies to frequent defence of themselves, which would make them warlike.

> Greek: 13.5. ἐκ δὲ ταύτης τῆς συνηθείας φασὶ καὶ Λεωτυχίδην τὸν πρεσβύτερον ἐν Κορίνθῳ δειπνοῦντα, καὶ θεασάμενον τῆς στέγης τοῦ οἴκου τὴν κατασκευὴν πολυτελῆ καὶ φατνωματικήν, ἐρωτῆσαι τὸν ξένον εἰ τετράγωνα παρʼ αὐτοῖς τὰ ξύλα φύεται. τρίτην δὲ ῥήτραν διαμνημονεύουσι τοῦ Λυκούργου, τὴν κωλύουσαν ἐπὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς πολεμίους πολλάκις στρατεύειν, ἵνα μὴ πολλάκις ἀμύνεσθαι συνεθιζόμενοι πολεμικοὶ γένωνται.

[¶9] 13.6. And this was the special grievance which they had against King Agesilaüs in later times, namely, that by his continual and frequent incursions and expeditions into Boeotia he rendered the Thebans a match for the Lacedaemonians. And therefore, when Antalcidas saw the king wounded, he said: “This is a fine tuition-fee which thou art getting from the Thebans, for teaching them how to fight, when they did not wish to do it, and did not know how.” Such ordinances as these were called “rhetras” by Lycurgus, implying that they came from the god and were oracles.

> Greek: 13.6. καὶ τοῦτὸ γε μάλιστα κατηγοροῦσιν Ἀγησιλάου τοῦ βασιλέως ὕστερον, ὡς ταῖς συνεχέσι καὶ πυκναῖς εἰς τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἐμβολαῖς καὶ στρατείαις τοὺς Θηβαίους ἀντιπάλους τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις κατασκευάσαντος, διὸ καὶ τετρωμένον αὐτὸν ἰδὼν Ἀνταλκίδας, καλά, ἔφη, τὰ διδασκάλια παρὰ Θηβαίων ἀπολαμβάνεις, μὴ βουλομένους αὐτοὺς μηδὲ εἰδότας μάχεσθαι διδάξας. τὰ μὲν οὖν τοιαῦτα νομοθετήματα ῥήτρας ὠνόμασεν, ὡς παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ κομιζόμενα καὶ χρησμοὺς ὄντα.

[¶10] 14.1. In the matter of education, which he regarded as the greatest and noblest task of the law-giver, he began at the very source, by carefully regulating marriages and births. For it is not true that, as Aristotle says, he tried to bring the women under proper restraint, but desisted, because he could not overcome the great licence and power which the women enjoyed on account of the many expeditions in which their husbands were engaged. During these the men were indeed obliged to leave their wives in sole control at home, and for this reason paid them greater deference than was their due, and gave them the title of Mistress. But even to the women Lycurgus paid all possible attention.

> Greek: 14.1. τῆς δὲ παιδείας, ἣν μέγιστον ἡγεῖτο τοῦ νομοθέτου καὶ κάλλιστον ἔργον εἶναι, πόρρωθεν ἀρχόμενος εὐθὺς ἐπεσκόπει τὰ περὶ τοὺς γάμους καὶ τὰς γενέσεις, οὐ γάρ, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης φησίν, ἐπιχειρήσας σωφρονίζειν τὰς γυναῖκας, ἐπαύσατο μὴ κρατῶν τῆς πολλῆς ἀνέσεως καὶ γυναικοκρατίας διὰ τὰς πολλὰς στρατείας τῶν ἀνδρῶν, ἐν αἷς ἠναγκάζοντο κυρίας ἀπολείπειν ἐκείνας, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μᾶλλον τοῦ προσήκοντος αὐτὰς ἐθεράπευον καὶ δεσποίνας προσηγόρευον ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων τὴν ἐνδεχομένην ἐπιμέλειαν ἐποιήσατο.

[¶11] 14.2. He made the maidens exercise their bodies in running, wrestling, casting the discus, and hurling the javelin, in order that the fruit of their wombs might have vigorous root in vigorous bodies and come to better maturity, and that they themselves might come with vigour to the fulness of their times, and struggle successfully and easily with the pangs of child-birth. He freed them from softness and delicacy and all effeminacy by accustoming the maidens no less than the youths to wear tunics only in processions, and at certain festivals to dance and sing when the young men were present as spectators.

> Greek: 14.2. τὰ μέν γε σώματα τῶν παρθένων δρόμοις καὶ πάλαις καὶ βολαῖς δίσκων καὶ ἀκοντίων διεπόνησεν, ὡς ἥ τε τῶν γεννωμένων ῥίζωσις ἰσχυρὰν ἐν ἰσχυροῖς σώμασιν ἀρχὴν λαβοῦσα βλαστάνοι βέλτιον, αὐταί τε μετὰ ῥώμης τοὺς τόκους ὑπομένουσαι καλῶς ἅμα καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἀγωνίζοιντο πρὸς τὰς ὠδῖνας. ἀφελὼν δὲ θρύψιν καὶ σκιατραφίαν καὶ θηλύτητα πᾶσαν οὐδὲν ἧττον εἴθισε τῶν κόρων τὰς κόρας γυμνάς τε πομπεύειν καὶ πρὸς ἱεροῖς τισιν ὀρχεῖσθαι καὶ ἄδειν τῶν νέων παρόντων καὶ θεωμένων.

[¶12] 14.3. There they sometimes even mocked and railed good-naturedly at any youth who had misbehaved himself; and again they would sing the praises of those who had shown themselves worthy, and so inspire the young men with great ambition and ardour. For he who was thus extolled for his valour and held in honour among the maidens, went away exalted by their praises; while the sting of their playful raillery was no less sharp than that of serious admonitions, especially as the kings and senators, together with the rest of the citizens, were all present at the spectacle.

> Greek: 14.3. ἔστι δὲ ὅτε καὶ σκώμματα λέγουσαι πρὸς ἕκαστον εὐχρήστως ἐπελαμβάνοντο τῶν ἁμαρτανομένων καὶ πάλιν εἰς τοὺς ἀξίους αὐτῶν ἐγκώμια μετʼ ᾠδῆς πεποιημένα διεξιοῦσαι, φιλοτιμίαν πολλὴν καὶ ζῆλον ἐνεποίουν τοῖς νεανίσκοις, ὁ γάρ ἐγκωμιασθεὶς ἐπʼ ἀνδραγαθίᾳ καὶ κλεινὸς ἐν ταῖς παρθένοις γεγονὼς ἀπῄει μεγαλυνόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπαίνων αἱ δὲ μετὰ παιδιᾶς καὶ σκωμμάτων δήξεις οὐδὲν ἀμβλύτεραι τῶν μετὰ σπουδῆς νουθετημάτων ἦσαν, ἅτε δὴ πρὸς τὴν θέαν ὁμοῦ τοῖς ἄλλοις πολίταις καὶ τῶν βασιλέων καὶ τῶν γερόντων συμπορευομένων.

[¶13] 14.4. Nor was there anything disgraceful in this scant clothing of the maidens, for modesty attended them, and wantonness was banished; nay, rather, it produced in them habits of simplicity and an ardent desire for health and beauty of body. It gave also to woman-kind a taste of lofty sentiment, for they felt that they too had a place in the arena of bravery and ambition. Wherefore they were led to think and speak as Gorgo, the wife of Leonidas, is said to have done. When some foreign woman, as it would seem, said to her: “You Spartan women are the only ones who rule their men,”" she answered: “Yes, we are the only ones that give birth to men.”

> Greek: 14.4. ἡ δὲ γύμνωσις τῶν παρθένων οὐδὲν αἰσχρὸν εἶχεν, αἰδοῦς μὲν παρούσης, ἀκρασίας δὲ ἀπούσης, ἀλλʼ ἐθισμὸν ἀφελῆ καὶ ζῆλον εὐεξίας ἐνειργάζετο, καὶ φρονήματος τὸ θῆλυ παρέγευεν οὐκ ἀγεννοῦς, ὡς μηδὲν ἧττον αὐτῷ καὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ φιλοτιμίας μετουσίαν οὖσαν. ὅθεν αὐταῖς καὶ λέγειν ἐπῄει καὶ φρονεῖν οἷα καὶ περὶ Γοργοῦς ἱστόρηται τῆς Λεωνίδου γυναικός, εἰπούσης γάρ τινος, ὡς ἔοικε, ξένης πρὸς αὐτὴν ὡς μόναι τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἄρχετε ὑμεῖς αἱ Λάκαιναι, μόναι γάρ, ἔφη, τίκτομεν ἄνδρας.

[¶14] 15.1. Moreover, there were incentives to marriage in these things,—I mean such things as the appearance of the maidens without much clothing in processions and athletic contests where young men were looking on, for these were drawn on by necessity, “not geometrical, but the sort of necessity which lovers know,” as Plato says. Nor was this all; Lycurgus also put a kind of public stigma upon confirmed bachelors. They were excluded from the sight of the young men and maidens at their exercises, and in winter the magistrates ordered them to march round the market-place in their tunics only, and as they marched, they sang a certain song about themselves, and its burden was that they were justly punished for disobeying the laws.

> Greek: 15.1. ἦν μὲν οὖν καὶ ταῦτα παρορμητικὰ πρὸς γάμον λέγω δὲ τὰς πομπὰς τῶν παρθένων καὶ τὰς ἀποδύσεις καὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας ἐν ὄψει τῶν νέων, ἀγομένων οὐ γεωμετρικαῖς, ἀλλʼ ἐρωτικαῖς, ὥς φησιν ὁ Πλάτων, ἀνάγκαις· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀτιμίαν τινὰ προσέθηκε τοῖς ἀγάμοις. εἴργοντο γὰρ ἐν ταῖς γυμνοπαιδίαις τῆς θέας· τὸν δὲ χειμῶνος οἱ μὲν ἄρχοντες αὑτοὺς ἐκέλευον ἐν κύκλῳ γυμνοὺς περιϊέναι τὴν ἀγοράν, οἱ δὲ περιϊόντες ᾖδον εἰς αὑτοὺς ᾠδήν τινα πεποιημένην, ὡς δίκαια πάσχοιεν, ὅτι τοῖς νόμοις ἀπειθοῦσι·

[¶15] 15.2. Besides this, they were deprived of the honour and gracious attentions which the young men habitually paid to their elders. Therefore there was no one to find fault with what was said to Dercyllidas, reputable general though he was. As he entered a company, namely, one of the younger men would not offer him his seat, but said: “Indeed, thou hast begotten no son who will one day give his seat to me.”

> Greek: 15.2. τιμῆς δὲ καὶ θεραπείας ἣν νέοι πρεσβυτέροις παρεῖχον, ἐστέρηντο. ὅθεν καὶ τὸ πρὸς Δερκυλλίδαν ῥηθὲν οὐδεὶς ἐμέμψατο, καίπερ εὐδόκιμον ὄντα στρατηγόν. ἐπιόντι γὰρ αὐτῷ τῶν νεωτέρων τις ἕδρας οὐχ ὑπεῖξεν, εἰπών, οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐμοὶ σὺ τὸν ὑπείξοντα γεγέννηκας.

[¶16] 15.3. For their marriages the women were carried off by force, not when they were small and unfit for wedlock, but when they were in full bloom and wholly ripe. After the woman was thus carried off the bride’s-maid, so called, took her in charge, cut her hair off close to the head, put a man’s cloak and sandals on her, and laid her down on a pallet, on the floor, alone, in the dark. Then the bride-groom, not flown with wine nor enfeebled by excesses, but composed and sober, after supping at his public mess-table as usual, slipped stealthily into the room where the bride lay, loosed her virgin’s zone, and bore her in his arms to the marriage-bed.

> Greek: 15.3. ἐγάμουν δὲ διʼ ἁρπαγῆς, οὐ μικρὰς Οὐδὲ ἀώρους πρὸς γάμον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀκμαζούσας καὶ πεπείρους. τὴν δὲ ἁρπασθεῖσαν ἡ νυμφεύτρια καλουμένη παραλαβοῦσα, τὴν μὲν κεφαλὴν ἐν χρῷ περιέκειρεν, ἱματίῳ δὲ ἀνδρείῳ καὶ ὑποδήμασιν ἐνσκευάσασα κατέκλινεν ἐπὶ στιβάδα μόνην ἄνευ φωτός. ὁ δὲ νυμφίος οὐ μεθύων Οὐδὲ θρυπτόμενος, ἀλλὰ νήφων, ὥσπερ ἀεί, δεδειπνηκὼς ἐν τοῖς φιδιτίοις, παρεισελθὼν ἔλυε τὴν ζώνην καὶ μετήνεγκεν ἀράμενος ἐπὶ τὴν κλίνην.

[¶17] 15.4. Then, after spending a short time with his bride, he went away composedly to his usual quarters, there to sleep with the other young men. And so he continued to do from that time on, spending his days with his comrades, and sleeping with them at night, but visiting his bride by stealth and with every precaution, full of dread and fear lest any of her household should be aware of his visits, his bride also contriving and conspiring with him that they might have stolen interviews as occasion offered.

> Greek: 15.4. συνδιατρίψας δὲ χρόνον οὐ πολὺν ἀπῄει κοσμίως ο ὑπὲρ εἰώθει τὸ πρότερον, καθευδήσων μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων νέων. καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν οὕτως ἔπραττε, τοῖς μὲν ἡλικιώταις συνδιημερεύων καὶ συναναπαυόμενος, πρὸς δὲ τὴν νύμφην κρύφα μετʼ εὐλαβείας φοιτῶν, αἰσχυνόμενος καὶ δεδοικὼς μή τις αἴσθοιτο τῶν ἔνδον, ἅμα καὶ τῆς νύμφης ἐπιτεχνωμένης καὶ συνευπορούσης ὅπως ἂν ἐν καιρῷ καὶ λανθάνοντες ἀλλήλοις συμπορεύοιντο.

[¶18] 15.5. And this they did not for a short time only, but long enough for some of them to become fathers before they had looked upon their own wives by daylight. Such interviews not only brought into exercise self-restraint and moderation, but united husbands and wives when their bodies were full of creative energy and their affections new and fresh, not when they were sated and dulled by unrestricted intercourse; and there was always left behind in their hearts some residual spark of mutual longing and delight.

> Greek: 15.5. καὶ τοῦτο ἔπραττον οὐκ ὀλίγον χρόνον, ἀλλʼ ὥστε καὶ παῖδας γενέσθαι ἐνίοις πρὶν ἐς ἡμέραν θεάσασθαι τὰς ἑαυτῶν γυναῖκας, ἡ δὲ τοιαύτη σύνοδος οὐ μόνον ἐγκρατείας καὶ σωφροσύνης ἄσκησις ἦν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τε σώμασι γονίμους καὶ τῷ φιλεῖν ἀεὶ καινοὺς καὶ προσφάτους ἦγεν ἐπὶ τὴν κοινωνίαν, οὐ διακορεῖς οὐδʼ ἐξιτήλους ταῖς ἀνέδην κοινωνίαις, ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ τι λείψανον καὶ ὑπέκκαυμα πόθου καὶ χάριτος ἐναπολείποντας ἀλλήλοις.

[¶19] 15.6. After giving marriage such traits of reserve and decorum, he none the less freed men from the empty and womanish passion of jealous possession, by making it honourable for them, while keeping the marriage relation free from all wanton irregularities, to share with other worthy men in the begetting of children, laughing to scorn those who regard such common privileges as intolerable, and resort to murder and war rather than grant them.

> Greek: 15.6. τοσαύτην δὲ τοῖς γάμοις ἐπιστήσας αἰδῶ καὶ τάξιν, οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐξέβαλε τὴν κενὴν καὶ γυναικώδη ζηλοτυπίαν, ἐν καλῷ καταστήσας ὕβριν μὲν καὶ ἀναξίαν πᾶσαν εἴργειν ἀπὸ τοῦ γάμου, παίδων δὲ καὶ τεκνώσεως κοινωνεῖν τοῖς ἀξίοις, καταγελῶντας τῶν ὡς ἄμικτα καὶ ἀκοινώνητα ταῦτα μετιόντων σφαγαῖς καὶ πολέμοις.

[¶20] 15.7. For example, an elderly man with a young wife, if he looked with favour and esteem on some fair and noble young man, might introduce him to her, and adopt her offspring by such a noble father as his own. And again, a worthy man who admired some woman for the fine children that she bore her husband and the modesty of her behaviour as a wife, might enjoy her favours, if her husband would consent, thus planting, as it were, in a soil of beautiful fruitage, and begetting for himself noble sons, who would have the blood of noble men in their veins.

> Greek: 15.7. ἐξῆν μὲν γὰρ ἀνδρὶ πρεσβυτέρῳ νέας γυναικός, εἰ δὴ τινα τῶν καλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἀσπάσαιτο νέων καὶ δοκιμάσειεν, εἰσαγαγεῖν παρʼ αὐτὴν καὶ πλήσαντα γενναίου σπέρματος ἴδιον αὑτοῖς ποιήσασθαι τὸ γεννηθέν. ἐξῆν δὲ πάλιν ἀνδρὶ χρηστῷ, τῶν εὐτέκνων τινὰ καὶ σωφρόνων θαυμάσαντι γυναικῶν ἑτέρῳ γεγαμημένην, πεῖσαι τὸν ἄνδρα συνελθεῖν, ὥσπερ ἐν χώρᾳ, καλλικάρπῳ φυτεύοντα καὶ ποιούμενον παῖδας ἀγαθούς, ἀγαθῶν ὁμαίμους καὶ συγγενεῖς ἐσομένους.

[¶21] 15.8. For in the first place, Lycurgus did not regard sons as the peculiar property of their fathers, but rather as the common property of the state, and therefore would not have his citizens spring from random parentage, but from the best there was. In the second place, he saw much folly and vanity in what other peoples enacted for the regulation of these matters; in the breeding of dogs and horses they insist on having the best sires which money or favour can secure, but they keep their wives under lock and key, demanding that they have children by none but themselves, even though they be foolish, or infirm, or diseased; as though children of bad stock did not show their badness to those first who possessed and reared them, and children of good stock, contrariwise, their goodness. The freedom which thus prevailed at that time in marriage relations was aimed at physical and political well-being, and was far removed from the licentiousness which was afterwards attributed to their women, so much so that adultery was wholly unknown among them.

> Greek: 15.8. πρῶτον μὲν γάρ οὐκ ἰδίους ἡγεῖτο τῶν πατέρων τοὺς παῖδας, ἀλλὰ κοινοὺς τῆς πόλεως ὁ Λυκοῦργος, ὅθεν οὐκ ἐκ τῶν τυχόντων, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῶν ἀρίστων ἐβούλετο γεγονότας εἶναι τοὺς πολίτας. ἔπειτα πολλὴν ἀβελτερίαν καὶ τῦφον ἐνεώρα τοῖς περὶ ταῦτα τῶν ἄλλων νομοθετήμασιν, οἳ κύνας μὲν καὶ ἵππους ὑπὸ τοῖς κρατίστοις τῶν ὀχείων βιβάζουσι χάριτι πείθοντες ἢ μισθῷ τοὺς κυρίους, τὰς δὲ γυναῖκας ἐγκλεισάμενοι φρουροῦσιν, ἐξ αὐτῶν μόνων τίκτειν ἀξιοῦντες, κἂν ἄφρονες ὦσι, κἂν παρήλικες, κἂν νοσώδεις, ὡς οὐχὶ πρώτοις τοῖς κεκτημένοις καὶ τρέφουσι τῶν παίδων γινομένων πονηρῶν, ἐὰν ἐκ πονηρῶν γένωνται, καὶ τοὐναντίον χρηστῶν, ἂν τοιαύτης τύχωσι γενέσεως, ταῦτα δὲ οὕτως πραττόμενα φυσικῶς καὶ πολιτικῶς τότε τοσοῦτον ἀπεῖχε τῆς ὕστερον λεγομένης γενέσθαι περὶ τὰς γυναῖκας εὐχερείας ὥστε ὅλως ἄπιστον εἶναι τὸ τῆς μοιχείας παρʼ

[¶22] 15.10. And a saying is reported of one Geradas, a Spartan of very ancient type, who, on being asked by a stranger what the punishment for adulterers was among them, answered: “Stranger, there is no adulterer among us.” “Suppose, then,” replied the stranger, “there should be one.” “A bull,” said Geradas, “would be his forfeit, a bull so large that it could stretch over Mount Taÿgetus and drink from the river Eurotas.” Then the stranger was astonished and said: “But how could there be a bull so large?” To which Geradas replied, with a smile: “But how could there be an adulterer in Sparta?” Such, then, are the accounts we find of their marriages.

> Greek: 15.10. αὑτοῖς. καὶ λόγος ἀπομνημονεύεται Γεράδα τινὸς Σπαρτιάτου τῶν σφόδρα παλαιῶν, ὃς ἐρωτηθεὶς ὑπὸ ξένου τί πάσχουσιν οἱ μοιχοὶ παρʼ αὑτοῖς, εἶπεν· ὦ ξένε, οὐδεὶς γίνεται μοιχὸς παρʼ ἡμῖν. ἐκείνου δὲ ὑπολαβόντος, ἐὰν οὖν γένηται; ταῦρον, ἔφη ὁ Γεράδας, ἐκτίνει μέγαν, ὃς ὑπερκύψας τὸ Ταΰγετον ἀπὸ τοῦ Εὐρώτα πίεται. θαυμάσαντος δ’ ἐκείνου καὶ φήσαντος· πῶς δὲ ἂν γένοιτο βοῦς τηλικοῦτος; γελάσας ὁ Γεράδας, πῶς δ’ ἄν, ἔφη, ἐν Σπάρτῃ μοιχὸς γένοιτο; ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἱστόρηται περὶ τῶν γάμων.

[¶23] 16.1. Offspring was not reared at the will of the father, but was taken and carried by him to a place called Lesche, where the elders of the tribes officially examined the infant, and if it was well-built and sturdy, they ordered the father to rear it, and assigned it one of the nine thousand lots of land; but if it was ill-born and deformed, they sent it to the so-called Apothetae, a chasm-like place at the foot of Mount Taÿgetus, in the conviction that the life of that which nature had not well equipped at the very beginning for health and strength, was of no advantage either to itself or the state.

> Greek: 16.1. τὸ δὲ γεννηθὲν οὐκ ἦν κύριος ὁ γεννήσας τρέφειν, ἀλλʼ ἔφερε λαβὼν εἰς τόπον τινὰ λέσχην καλούμενον, ἐν ᾧ καθήμενοι τῶν φυλετῶν οἱ πρεσβύτατοι καταμαθόντες τὸ παιδάριον, εἰ μὲν εὐπαγὲς εἴη καὶ ῥωμαλέον, τρέφειν ἐκέλευον, κλῆρον αὐτῷ τῶν ἐνακισχιλίων προσνείμαντες εἰ δ’ ἀγεννὲς καὶ ἄμορφον, ἀπέπεμπον εἰς τὰς λεγομένας Ἀποθέτας, παρὰ Ταΰγετον βαραθρώδη τόπον, ὡς οὔτε αὐτῷ ζῆν ἄμεινον ὂν οὔτε τῇ πόλει τὸ μὴ καλῶς εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς πρὸς εὐεξίαν καὶ ῥώμην πεφυκός.

[¶24] 16.2. On the same principle, the women used to bathe their new-born babes not with water, but with wine, thus making a sort of test of their constitutions. For it is said that epileptic and sickly infants are thrown into convulsions by the strong wine and loose their senses, while the healthy ones are rather tempered by it, like steel, and given a firm habit of body.

> Greek: 16.2. ὅθεν οὐδὲ ὕδατι τὰ βρέφη, ἀλλʼ οἴνῳ περιέλουον αἱ γυναῖκες, βάσανόν τινα ποιούμεναι τῆς κράσεως αὐτῶν. λέγεται γὰρ ἐξίστασθαι τὰ ἐπιληπτικὰ καὶ νοσώδη πρὸς τὸν ἄκρατον ἀποσφακελίζοντα, τὰ δ’ ὑγιεινὰ μᾶλλον στομοῦσθαι καὶ κρατύνεσθαι τὴν ἕξιν.

[¶25] 16.3. Their nurses, too, exercised great care and skill; they reared infants without swaddling-bands, and thus left their limbs and figures free to develop; besides, they taught them to be contented and happy, not dainty about their food, nor fearful of the dark, nor afraid to be left alone, nor given to contemptible peevishness and whimpering. This is the reason why foreigners sometimes bought Spartan nurses for their children. Amycla, for instance, the nurse of the Athenian Alcibiades, is said to have been a Spartan.

> Greek: 16.3. ἦν δὲ περὶ τὰς τροφοὺς ἐπιμέλειά τις μετὰ τέχνης, ὥστʼ ἄνευ σπαργάνων ἐκτρεφούσας τὰ βρέφη τοῖς μέλεσι καὶ τοῖς εἴδεσιν ἐλευθέρια ποιεῖν, ἔτι δὲ εὔκολα ταῖς διαίταις καὶ ἄσικχα καὶ ἀθαμβῆ σκότου καὶ πρὸς ἐρημίαν ἄφοβα καὶ ἄπειρα δυσκολίας ἀγεννοῦς καὶ κλαυθμυρισμῶν. διὸ καὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἔνιοι τοῖς τέκνοις Λακωνικὰς ἐωνοῦντο τίτθας· καὶ τήν γε τὸν Ἀθηναῖον Ἀλκιβιάδην τιτθεύσασαν Ἀμύκλαν ἱστοροῦσι γεγονέναι Λάκαιναν.

[¶26] 16.4. And yet Alcibiades, as Plato says, had for a tutor, set over him by Pericles, one Zopyrus, who was just a common slave. But Lycurgus would not put the sons of Spartans in charge of purchased or hired tutors, nor was it lawful for every father to rear or train his son as he pleased, but as soon as they were seven years old, Lycurgus ordered them all to be taken by the state and enrolled in companies, where they were put under the same discipline and nurture, and so became accustomed to share one another’s sports and studies.

> Greek: 16.4. ἀλλὰ τούτῳ μὲν, ὡς Πλάτων φησί, Ζώπυρον ἐπέστησε παιδαγωγὸν Περικλῆς, οὐδέν τι τῶν ἄλλων διαφέροντα δούλων τοὺς δὲ Σπαρτιατῶν παῖδας οὐκ ἐπὶ ὠνητοῖς οὐδὲ μισθίοις ἐποιήσατο παιδαγωγοῖς ὁ Λυκοῦργος, οὐδʼ ἐξῆν ἑκάστῳ τρέφειν οὐδὲ παιδεύειν ὡς ἐβούλετο τὸν υἱόν, ἀλλὰ πάντας εὐθὺς ἑπταετεῖς γενομένους παραλαμβάνων αὐτὸς εἰς ἀγέλας κατελόχιζε, καὶ συννόμους ποιῶν καὶ συντρόφους μετʼ ἀλλήλων εἴθιζε συμπαίζειν καὶ συσχολάζειν.

[¶27] 16.5. The boy who excelled in judgement and was most courageous in fighting, was made captain of his company; on him the rest all kept their eyes, obeying his orders, and submitting to his punishments, so that their boyish training was a practice of obedience. Besides, the elderly men used to watch their sports, and by ever and anon egging them on to mimic battles and disputes, learned accurately how each one of them was naturally disposed when it was a question of boldness and aggressiveness in their struggles.

> Greek: 16.5. ἄρχοντα δ’ αὑτοῖς παρίστατο τῆς ἀγέλης τὸν τῷ φρονεῖν διαφέροντα καὶ θυμοειδέστατον ἐν τῷ μάχεσθαι· καὶ πρὸς τοῦτον ἀφεώρων καὶ προστάττοντος ἠκροῶντο καὶ κολάζοντος ἐκαρτέρουν, ὥστε τὴν παιδείαν εἶναι μελέτην εὐπειθείας. ἐπεσκόπουν δὲ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι παίζοντας αὐτούς, καὶ τὰ πολλὰ μάχας τινὰς ἐμβάλλοντες ἀεὶ καὶ φιλονεικίας, οὐ παρέργως κατεμάνθανον ὁποῖός ἐστι τὴν φύσιν ἕκαστος αὐτῶν πρὸς τὸ τολμᾶν καὶ μὴ φυγομαχεῖν ἐν ταῖς ἁμίλλαις.

[¶28] 16.6. Of reading and writing, they learned only enough to serve their turn; all the rest of their training was calculated to make them obey commands well, endure hardships, and conquer in battle. Therefore, as they grew in age, their bodily exercise was increased; their heads were close-clipped, and they were accustomed to going bare-foot, and to playing for the most part without clothes. When they were twelve years old, they no longer had tunics to wear, received one cloak a year, had hard, dry flesh, and knew little of baths and ointments; only on certain days of the year, and few at that, did they indulge in such amenities.

> Greek: 16.6. γράμματα μὲν οὖν ἕνεκα τῆς χρείας ἐμάνθανον ἡ δ’ ἄλλη πᾶσα παιδεία πρὸς τὸ ἄρχεσθαι καλῶς ἐγίνετο καὶ καρτερεῖν πονοῦντα καὶ νικᾶν μαχόμενον. διὸ καὶ τῆς ἡλικίας προερχομένης ἐπέτεινον αὐτῶν τὴν ἄσκησιν, ἐν χρῷ τε κείροντες καὶ βαδίζειν ἀνυποδήτους παίζειν τε γυμνοὺς ὡς τὰ πολλὰ συνεθίζοντες. γενόμενοι δὲ δωδεκαετεῖς ἄνευ χιτῶνος ἤδη διετέλουν, ἓν ἱμάτιον εἰς τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν λαμβάνοντες, αὐχμηροὶ τὰ σώματα καὶ λουτρῶν καὶ ἀλειμμάτων ἄπειροι· πλὴν ὀλίγας ἡμέρας τινὰς τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ τῆς τοιαύτης φιλανθρωπίας μετεῖχον.

[¶29] 16.7. They slept together, in troops and companies, on pallet-beds which they collected for themselves, breaking off with their hands—no knives allowed—the tops of the rushes which grew along the river Eurotas. In the winter-time, they added to the stuff of these pallets the so-called “lycophon,” or thistle-down, which was thought to have warmth in it.

> Greek: 16.7. ἐκάθευδον δὲ ὁμοῦ κατʼ ἴλην καὶ ἀγέλην ἐπὶ στιβάδων, ἃς αὑτοῖς συνεφόρουν, τοῦ παρὰ τὸν Εὐρώταν πεφυκότος καλάμου τὰ ἄκρα ταῖς χερσὶν ἄνευ σιδήρου κατακλάσαντες. ἐν δὲ τῷ χειμῶνι τοὺς λεγομένους λυκόφονας ὑπεβάλλοντο καὶ κατεμίγνυσαν ταῖς στιβάσι, θερμαντικὸν ἔχειν τι τῆς ὕλης δοκούσης.

[¶30] 17.1. When the boys reached this age, they were favoured with the society of lovers from among the reputable young men. The elderly men also kept close watch of them, coming more frequently to their places of exercise, and observing their contests of strength and wit, not cursorily, but with the idea that they were all in a sense the fathers and tutors and governors of all the boys. In this way, at every fitting time and in every place, the boy who went wrong had someone to admonish and chastise him.

> Greek: 17.1. ἤδη δὲ τοῖς τηλικούτοις ἐρασταὶ τῶν εὐδοκίμων νέων συνανεστρέφοντο· καὶ προσεῖχον οἱ πρεσβύτεροι, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπιφοιτῶντες εἰς τὰ γυμνάσια, καὶ μαχομένοις καὶ σκώπτουσιν ἀλλήλους παρατυγχάνοντες, οὐ παρέργως, ἀλλὰ τρόπον τινὰ πάντες οἰόμενοι πάντων καὶ πατέρες εἶναι καὶ παιδαγωγοὶ καὶ ἄρχοντες, ὥστε μήτε καιρὸν ἀπολείπεσθαι μήτε χωρίον ἔρημον τοῦ νουθετοῦντος τὸν ἁμαρτάνοντα καὶ κολάζοντος.

[¶31] 17.2. Nor was this all; one of the noblest and best men of the city was appointed paedonome, or inspector of the boys, and under his directions the boys, in their several companies, put themselves under the command of the most prudent and warlike of the so called Eirens. This was the name given to those who had been for two years out of the class of boys, and Melleirens, or Would-be Eirens, was the name for the oldest of the boys. This eiren, then, a youth of twenty years, commands his subordinates in their mimic battles, and in doors makes them serve him at his meals.

> Greek: 17.2. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ παιδονόμος ἐκ τῶν καλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐτάττετο, καὶ κατʼ ἀγέλας αὐτοὶ προΐσταντο τῶν λεγομένων εἰρένων ἀεὶ τὸν σωφρονέστατον καὶ μαχιμώτατον. εἴρενας δὲ καλοῦσι τοὺς ἔτος ἤδη δεύτερον ἐκ παίδων γεγονότας, μελλείρενας δὲ τῶν παίδων τοὺς πρεσβυτάτους. οὗτος οὖν ὁ εἴρην, εἴκοσι ἔτη γεγονώς, ἄρχει τε τῶν ὑποτεταγμένων ἐν ταῖς μάχαις, καὶ κατʼ οἶκον ὑπηρέταις χρῆται πρὸς τὸ δεῖπνον.

[¶32] 17.3. He commissions the larger ones to fetch wood, and the smaller ones potherbs. And they steal what they fetch, some of them entering the gardens, and others creeping right slyly and cautiously into the public messes of the men; but if a boy is caught stealing, he is soundly flogged, as a careless and unskilful thief. They steal, too, whatever food they can, and learn to be adept in setting upon people when asleep or off their guard.

> Greek: 17.3. ἐπιτάσσει δὲ τοῖς μὲν ἁδροῖς ξύλα φέρειν, τοῖς δὲ μικροτέροις λάχανα, καὶ φέρουσι κλέπτοντες, οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ τοὺς κήπους βαδίζοντες, οἱ δὲ εἰς τὰ τῶν ἀνδρῶν συσσίτια παρεισρέοντες εὖ μάλα πανούργως καὶ πεφυλαγμένως· ἂν δ’ ἁλῷ, πολλὰς λαμβάνει πληγὰς τῇ μάστιγι, ῥᾳθύμως δοκῶν κλέπτειν καὶ ἀτέχνως. κλέπτουσι δὲ καὶ τῶν σιτίων ὅ τι ἂν δύνωνται, μανθάνοντες εὐφυῶς ἐπιτίθεσθαι τοῖς καθεύδουσιν ἢ ῥᾳθύμως φυλάττουσι.

[¶33] 17.4. But the boy who is caught gets a flogging and must go hungry. For the meals allowed them are scanty, in order that they may take into their own hands the fight against hunger, and so be forced into boldness and cunning. This is the main object of their spare diet; a secondary one is to make them grow tall. For it contributes to height of stature when the vitality is not impeded and hindered by a mass of nourishment which forces it into thickness and width, but ascends of its own lightness, and when the body grows freely and easily.

> Greek: 17.4. τῷ δὲ ἁλόντι ζημία πληγαὶ καὶ τὸ πεινῆν. γλίσχρον γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐστι δεῖπνον, ὅπως διʼ αὑτῶν ἀμυνόμενοι τὴν ἔνδειαν ἀναγκάζωνται τολμᾶν καὶ πανουργεῖν. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν ἔργον τῆς ὀλιγοσιτίας· παρέργον δέ φασι τὴν τῶν σωμάτων αὔξησιν. φέρεται, γάρ εἰς μῆκος, ὅταν τὸ πνεῦμα μὴ πολλὴν σχῇ διατριβὴν καὶ ἀσχολίαν ὑπὸ πλήθους τροφῆς εἰς βάθος καὶ πλάτος πιεζόμενον, ἀλλʼ ἄνω βαδίζῃ διὰ κουφότητα, τοῦ σώματος ἐκλύτως καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἐπιδιδόντος.

[¶34] 17.5. The same tiling seems also to conduce to beauty of form; for lean and meagre habits yield more readily to the force of articulation, whereas the gross and over-fed are so heavy as to resist it. Just so, we may be sure, women who take physic while they are pregnant, bear children which are lean, it may be, but well-shaped and fine, because the lightness of the parent matter makes it more susceptible to moulding. However, the reason for this I must leave for others to investigate.

> Greek: 17.5. τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ τοῦτο καὶ καλοὺς δοκεῖ ποιεῖν αἱ γὰρ ἰσχναὶ καὶ διάκενοι μᾶλλον ἕξεις ὑπακούουσι πρὸς τὴν διάρθρωσιν, αἱ δὲ ὀγκώδεις καὶ πολύτροφοι διὰ βάρος ἀντιβαίνουσιν, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ κύειν καθαιρομένων γυναικῶν ἰσχνὰ μὲν, εὐειδῆ δὲ καὶ γλαφυρὰ γίνεται τὰ βρέφη, διὰ τὴν ἐλαφρότητα τῆς ὕλης κρατουμένης μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τοῦ τυποῦντος, ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἡ μὲν αἰτία τοῦ συμβαίνοντος ἐν μέσῳ προκείσθω σκοπεῖν.

[¶35] 18.1. The boys make such a serious matter of their stealing, that one of them, as the story goes, who was carrying concealed under his cloak a young fox which he had stolen, suffered the animal to tear out his bowels with its teeth and claws, and died rather than have his theft detected. And even this story gains credence from what their youths now endure, many of whom I have seen expiring under the lash at the altar of Artemis Orthia.

> Greek: 18.1. οὕτω δὲ κλέπτουσι πεφροντισμένως οἱ παῖδες, ὥστε λέγεταί τίς ἤδη σκύμνον ἀλώπεκος κεκλοφὼς καὶ τῷ τριβωνίῳ περιστέλλων, σπαρασσόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ θηρίου τὴν γαστέρα τοῖς ὄνυξι καὶ τοῖς ὀδοῦσιν, ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαθεῖν ἐγκαρτερῶν ἀποθανεῖν. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῶν νῦν ἐφήβων ἄπιστόν ἐστιν, ὧν πολλοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ τῆς Ὀρθίας ἑωράκαμεν ἐναποθνήσκοντας ταῖς πληγαῖς.

[¶36] 18.2. The eiren, as he reclined after supper, would order one of the boys to sing a song, and to another would put a question requiring a careful and deliberate answer, as, for instance, “Who is the best man in the city?” or, “What thinkest thou of this man’s conduct?” In this way the boys were accustomed to pass right judgements and interest themselves at the very outset in the conduct of the citizens. For if one of them was asked who was a good citizen, or who an infamous one, and had no answer to make, he was judged to have a torpid spirit, and one that would not aspire to excellence.

> Greek: 18.2. δειπνήσας δὲ ὁ εἴρην κατακείμενος τῷ μὲν ᾆσαι προσέταξε τῶν παίδων, τῷ δὲ ἐρώτημά τι προὔβαλε πεφροντισμένης δεόμενον ἀποκρίσεως· οἷον, ὅστις ἄριστος ἐν τοῖς ἀνδράσιν, ἢ ποία τίς ἡ τοῦδε πρᾶξις. ἐκ τούτου δὲ καὶ κρίνειν τὰ καλὰ καὶ πολυπραγμονεῖν εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἰθίζοντο περὶ τῶν πολιτῶν, τὸ γὰρ ἐρωτηθέντα, τίς πολίτης ἀγαθός, ἢ τίς οὐκ εὐδόκιμος, ἀπορεῖν τοῦ ἀποκρίνασθαι, νωθρᾶς ἐποιοῦντο καὶ πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἀφιλοτίμου ψυχῆς σημεῖον.

[¶37] 18.3. And the answer must not only have reasons and proof given for it, but also be couched in very brief and concise language, and the one who gave a faulty answer was punished with a bite in the thumb from the eiren. Often-times, too, the eiren punished the boys in the presence of the elders and magistrates, thus showing whether his punishments were reasonable and proper or not. While he was punishing them, he suffered no restraint, but after the boys were gone, he was brought to an account if his punishments were harsher than was necessary, or, on the other hand, too mild and gentle.

> Greek: 18.3. ἔδει δὲ τὴν ἀπόκρισιν καὶ μετʼ αἰτίας εἶναι καὶ ἀποδείξεως εἰς βραχύν τινα συνηγμένης λόγον καὶ σύντομον ὁ δὲ πλημμελῶς ἀποκρινάμενος ἐκολάζετο δῆγμα λαμβάνων ὑπὸ τοῦ εἴρενος εἰς τὸν ἀντίχειρα, πολλάκις δὲ καὶ πρεσβυτέρων παρόντων καὶ ἀρχόντων ὁ εἴρην ἐκόλαζε τοὺς παῖδας, ἀπόδειξιν διδοὺς εἰ μετὰ λόγου καὶ ὡς δεῖ κολάζει, καὶ κολάζων μὲν οὐκ ἐκωλύετο, τῶν δὲ παίδων ἀπελθόντων εὐθύνας ὑπεῖχεν, εἰ τραχύτερον τοῦ δέοντος ἐπετίμησεν ἢ τοὐναντίον ἐκλελυμένως καὶ ἀτόνως.

[¶38] 18.4. The boys’ lovers also shared with them in their honour or disgrace; and it is said that one of them was once fined by the magistrates because his favourite boy had let an ungenerous cry escape him while he was fighting. Moreover, though this sort of love was so approved among them that even the maidens found lovers in good and noble women, still, there was no jealous rivalry in it, but those who fixed their affections on the same boys made this rather a foundation for friendship with one another, and persevered in common efforts to make their loved one as noble as possible.

> Greek: 18.4. ἐκοινώνουν δὲ οἱ ἐρασταὶ τοῖς παισὶ τῆς δόξης ἐπʼ ἀμφότερα· καὶ λέγεταί ποτε παιδὸς ἐν τῷ μάχεσθαι φωνὴν ἀγεννῆ προεμένου ζημιωθῆναι τὸν ἐραστὴν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχόντων, οὕτω δὲ τοῦ ἐρᾶν ἐγκεκριμένου παρʼ αὐτοῖς, ὥστε καὶ τῶν παρθένων ἐρᾶν τὰς καλὰς καὶ ἀγαθὰς γυναῖκας, τὸ ἀντερᾶν οὐκ ἦν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἀρχὴν ἐποιοῦντο φιλίας πρὸς ἀλλήλους οἱ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐρασθέντες, καὶ διετέλουν κοινῇ σπουδάζοντες ὅπως ἄριστον ἀπεργάσαιντο τὸν ἐρώμενον.

[¶39] 19.1. The boys were also taught to use a discourse which combined pungency with grace, and condensed much observation into a few words. His iron money, indeed, Lycurgus made of large weight and small value, as I have observed, but the current coin of discourse he adapted to the expression of deep and abundant meaning with simple and brief diction, by contriving that the general habit of silence should make the boys sententious and correct in their answers. For as sexual incontinence generally produces unfruitfulness and sterility, so intemperance in talking makes discourse empty and vapid.

> Greek: 19.1. ἐδίδασκον δὲ τοὺς παῖδας καὶ λόγῳ χρῆσθαι πικρίαν ἔχοντι μεμιγμένην χάριτι καὶ πολλὴν ἀπὸ βραχείας λέξεως ἀναθεώρησιν, τὸ μὲν γάρ σιδηροῦν νόμισμα μικρὰν ἔχειν ἐποίησεν ἀπὸ πολλοῦ σταθμοῦ δύναμιν ὁ Λυκοῦργος, ὡς εἴρηται, τὸ δὲ τοῦ λόγου νόμισμα τοὐναντίον ἀπʼ εὐτελοῦς καὶ ὀλίγης λέξεως εἰς πολλὴν καὶ περιττὴν κατεσκεύασε διάνοιαν, τῇ πολλῇ σιωπῇ τοὺς παῖδας ἀποφθεγματικοὺς καὶ πεπαιδευμένους πρὸς τὰς ἀποκρίσεις μηχανώμενος, ὡς γάρ τὸ σπέρμα τῶν πρὸς τὰς συνουσίας ἀκολάστων ἄγονον ὡς τὰ πολλὰ καὶ ἄκαρπόν ἐστιν, οὕτως ἡ πρὸς τὸ λαλεῖν ἀκρασία κενὸν τὸν λόγον ποιεῖ καὶ ἀνόητον.

[¶40] 19.2. King Agis, accordingly, when a certain Athenian decried the Spartan swords for being so short, and said that jugglers on the stage easily swallowed them, replied: “And yet we certainly reach our enemies with these daggers.” And I observe that although the speech also of the Spartans seems short, yet it certainly reaches the point, and arrests the thought of the listener.

> Greek: 19.2. Ἆγις μὲν οὖν ὁ βασιλεύς, σκώπτοντος Ἀττικοῦ τινος τὰς Λακωνικὰς μαχαίρας εἰς τὴν μικρότητα, καὶ λέγοντος ὅτι ῥᾳδίως αὐτὰς οἱ θαυματοποιοὶ καταπίνουσιν ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις, καὶ μὴν μάλιστα, εἶπεν, ἡμεῖς ἐφικνούμεθα τοῖς ἐγχειριδίοις τῶν πολεμίων· ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τὸν λόγον ὁρῶ τὸν Λακωνικὸν βραχὺν μὲν εἶναι δοκοῦντα, μάλιστα δὲ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐφικνούμενον, καὶ τῆς διανοίας ἁπτόμενον τῶν ἀκροωμένων, καὶ γὰρ ὁ Λυκοῦργος αὐτὸς βραχυλόγος τις ἔοικε γενέσθαι καὶ ἀποφθεγματικός, εἰ δεῖ τεκμαίρεσθαι τοῖς ἀπομνημονεύμασιν οἷόν ἐστι τὸ περὶ τὰς πολιτείας πρὸς τὸν ἀξιοῦντα ποιεῖν δημοκρατίαν ἐν τῇ πόλει·

[¶41] 19.3. And indeed Lycurgus himself seems to have been short and sententious in his speech, if we may judge from his recorded sayings; that, for instance, on forms of government, to one who demanded the establishment of democracy in the city: “Go thou,” said he, “and first establish democracy in thy household.” That, again, to one who inquired why he ordained such small and inexpensive sacrifices: “That we may never omit,” said he, “to honour the gods.”

> Greek: 19.3. σὺ γάρ, ἔφη, πρῶτος ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ σου ποίησον δημοκρατίαν καὶ περὶ τῶν θυσιῶν πρὸς τὸν πυθόμενον διὰ τί μικρὰς οὕτω καὶ εὐτελεῖς ἔταξεν, ἵνα μή ποτε, ἔφη, τιμῶντες τὸ θεῖον διαλίπωμεν.

[¶42] 19.4. Again, in the matter of athletic contests, he allowed the citizens to engage only in those where there was no stretching forth of hands. There are also handed down similar answers which he made by letter to his fellow-citizens. When they asked how they could ward off an invasion of enemies, he answered: “By remaining poor, and by not desiring to be greater the one than the other.” And when they asked about fortifying their city, he answered: “A city will be well fortified which is surrounded by brave men and not by bricks.” Now regarding these and similar letters, belief and scepticism are alike difficult.

> Greek: 19.4. καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀθλημάτων, ταῦτα μόνα μὴ κωλύσαντος ἀγωνίζεσθαι τοὺς πολίτας ἐν οἷς χεὶρ οὐκ ἀνατείνεται. φέρονται δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι’ ἐπιστολῶν ἀποκρίσεις τοιαῦται πρὸς τοὺς πολίτας. πῶς ἂν πολεμίων ἔφοδον ἀλεξοίμεθα; ἂν πτωχοὶ μένητε καὶ μὴ μέσδων ἅτερος θατέρω ἐρᾶτε ἦμεν. καὶ πάλιν περὶ τῶν τειχῶν οὐκ ἂν εἴη ἀτείχιστος πόλις ἅτις ἄνδρεσσι, καὶ οὐ πλίνθοις ἐστεφάνωται. περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων καὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἐπιστολῶν οὔτε ἀπιστῆσαι ῥᾴδιον οὔτε πιστεῦσαι.

[¶43] 20.1. Of their aversion to long speeches, the following apophthegms are proof. King Leonidas, when a certain one discoursed with him out of all season on matters of great concern, said: “My friend, the matter urges, but not the time.” Charilaüs, the nephew of Lycurgus, when asked why his uncle had made so few laws, answered: “Men of few words need few laws.”

> Greek: 20.1. τῆς δὲ πρὸς τὰ μήκη τῶν λόγων διαβολῆς δείγματα τοιαῦτα τῶν ἀποφθεγμάτων ἐστί. Λεωνίδας ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀκαίρως τινὸς περὶ πραγμάτων οὐκ ἀχρήστων διαλεχθέντος, ὦ ξένε, εἶπεν, οὐκ ἐν δέοντι χρέῃ τῷ δέοντι. Χαρίλαος δὲ ὁ ἀδελφιδοῦς τοῦ Λυκούργου περὶ τῆς ὀλιγότητος αὑτοῦ τῶν νόμων ἐρωτηθείς, εἶπεν ὡς οἱ λόγοις μὴ χρώμενοι πολλοῖς οὐδὲ νόμων δέονται πολλῶν.

[¶44] 20.2. Archidamidas, when certain ones found fault with Hecataeus the Sophist for saying nothing after being admitted to their public mess, answered: “He who knows how, knows also when to speak.” Instances of the pungent sayings not devoid of grace, of which I spoke, are the following. Demaratus, when a troublesome fellow was pestering him with ill-timed questions, and especially with the oft repeated query who was the best of the Spartans, answered at last: “He who is least like thee.”

> Greek: 20.2. Ἀρχιδαμίδας δὲ μεμφομένων τινῶν Ἑκαταῖον τὸν σοφιστὴν ὅτι παραληφθεὶς εἰς τὸ συσσίτιον οὐδὲν ἔλεγεν, ὁ εἰδώς, ἔφη, λόγον καὶ καιρὸν οἶδεν. ἃ δὲ τῶν πικρῶν ἔφην ἀπομνημονευμάτων οὐκ ἀμοιρεῖν χάριτος, τοιαῦτʼ ἐστί. Δημάρατος ἀνθρώπου πονηροῦ κόπτοντος αὐτὸν ἀκαίροις ἐρωτήμασι καὶ δὴ τοῦτο πολλάκις ἐρωτῶντος, τίς ἄριστος Σπαρτιατῶν; ἔφη· ὁ τὶν ἀνομοιότατος Ἆγις δέ, ἐπαινούντων τινῶν τοὺς Ἠλείους ὡς καλῶς τὰ Ὀλύμπια καὶ δικαίως ἄγοντας, καὶ τί μέγα, ἔφη, Ἠλεῖοι ποιοῦντι διʼ ἐτῶν πέντε ἁμέρᾳ μιᾷ χρώμενοι τᾷ δικαιοσύνᾳ;

[¶45] 20.3. And Agis, when certain ones were praising the Eleians for their just and honourable conduct of the Olympic games, said: “And what great matter is it for the Eleians to practise righteousness one day in five years?” And Theopompus, when a stranger kept saying, as he showed him kindness, that in his own city he was called a lover of Sparta, remarked: “My good Sir, it were better for thee to be called a lover of thine own city.”

> Greek: 20.3. Θεόπομπος δὲ ξένου τινὸς εὔνοιαν ἐνδεικνυμένου, καὶ φάσκοντος ὡς παρὰ τοῖς αὑτοῦ πολίταις φιλολάκων καλεῖται, κάλλιον ἦν τοι, εἶπεν, ὦ ξένε, φιλοπολίταν καλεῖσθαι.

[¶46] 20.4. And Pleistoanax, the son of Pausanias, when an Athenian orator declared that the Lacedaemonians had no learning, said: “True, we are indeed the only Hellenes who have learned no evil from you.” And Archidamus, when some one asked him how many Spartans there were, replied: “Enough, good Sir, to keep evil men away.”

> Greek: 20.4. Πλειστῶναξ δὲ ὁ Παυσανίου, ῥήτορος Ἀθηναίου τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ἀμαθεῖς ἀποκαλοῦντος, ὀρθῶς, ἔφη, λέγεις· μόνοι γάρ Ἑλλάνων ἄμμες οὐδὲν κακὸν μεμαθήκαμεν παρʼ ὑμῶν Ἀρχιδαμίδας δὲ πρὸς τὸν πυθόμενον πόσοι εἰσὶ Σπαρτιᾶται, ἱκανοί, εἶπεν, ὦ ξένε, τοὺς κακοὺς ἀπερύκειν.

[¶47] 20.5. And even from their jests it is possible to judge of their character. For it was their wont never to talk at random, and to Jet slip no speech which did not have some thought or other worth serious attention. For instance, when one of them was invited to hear a man imitate the nightingale, he said: “I have heard the bird herself.” And another, on reading the epitaph:—
Tyranny’s fires they were trying to quench when panoplied Ares
Slew them; Selinus looked down from her gates on their death,
said: “The men deserved to die; they should have let the fires burn out entirely.”

> Greek: 20.5. ἔστι δὲ καὶ τοῖς μετὰ παιδιᾶς εἰρημένοις ὑπʼ αὐτῶν τεκμήρασθαι τὸν ἐθισμόν, εἰθίζοντο γάρ μηδέποτε χρῆσθαι τῷ λόγῳ παρέργως, μηδὲ ἀφιέναι φωνὴν ἥτις οὐκ ἁμῶς γέ πως εἶχέ τινος θεωρίας ἀξίαν διάνοιαν. ὁ μὲν γάρ ἀκοῦσαι τοῦ μιμουμένου τὴν ἀηδόνα παρακαλούμενος, αὐτᾶς, ἔφη, ἄκουκα τήνας. ὁ δὲ ἀναγνοὺς τὸ ἐπίγραμμα τοῦτο·
σβεννύντας ποτὲ τούσδε τυραννίδα χάλκεος Ἄρης
εἷλε· Σελινοῦντος δ’ ἀμφὶ πύλας ἔθανον,
δικαίως, εἶπε, τεθνάκαντι τοὶ ἄνδρες· ἔδει γὰρ ἀφέμεν ὅλαν αὐτὰν κατακαᾶμεν.

[¶48] 20.6. And a youth, when some one promised to give him game-cocks that would die fighting, said, “Don’t do that, but give me some of the kind that kill fighting.” Another, seeing men seated on stools in a privy, said: “May I never sit where I cannot give place to an elder.” The character of their apophthegms, then, was such as to justify the remark that love of wisdom rather than love of bodily exercise was the special characteristic of a Spartan.

> Greek: 20.6. νεανίσκος δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἐπαγγελλόμενον αὐτῷ δώσειν ἀλεκτρυόνας ἀποθνήσκοντας ἐν τῷ μάχεσθαι, μὴ σὺ γε, εἶπεν, ἀλλὰ δός μοι τῶν ἀποκτεινόντων ἐν τῷ μάχεσθαι. ἕτερος δέ τις ἰδὼν ἐν ἀποχωρήσει θακεύοντας ἐπὶ δίφρων ἀνθρώπους, μὴ γένοιτο, εἶπεν, ἐνταῦθα καθίσαι ὅθεν οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπεξαναστῆναι πρεσβυτέρῳ. τὸ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἀποφθεγμάτων εἶδος ἦν τοιοῦτον ὥστε καὶ λέγειν τινὰς οὐκ ἀτόπως ὅτι μᾶλλόν ἐστι τὸ φιλοσοφεῖν ἢ τὸ φιλογυμναστεῖν λακωνίζειν.

## 3. Chapters 21–31

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-lycurgus/3/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-lycurgus/3/#p-N

[¶0] 21.1. Nor was their training in music and poetry any less serious a concern than the emulous purity of their speech, nay, their very songs had a stimulus that roused the spirit and awoke enthusiastic and effectual effort; the style of them was simple and unaffected, and their themes were serious and edifying. They were for the most part praises of men who had died for Sparta, calling them blessed and happy; censure of men who had played the coward, picturing their grievous and ill-starred life; and such promises and boasts of valour as befitted the different ages.

> Greek: 21.1. ἡ δὲ περὶ τὰς ᾠδὰς καὶ τὰ μέλη παίδευσις οὐχ ἧττον ἐσπουδάζετο τῆς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις εὐζηλίας καὶ καθαριότητος, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ μέλη κέντρον εἶχεν ἐγερτικὸν θυμοῦ καὶ παραστατικὸν ὁρμῆς ἐνθουσιώδους καὶ πραγματικῆς, καὶ ἡ λέξις ἦν ἀφελὴς καὶ ἄθρυπτος ἐπὶ πράγμασι σεμνοῖς καὶ ἠθοποιοῖς. ἔπαινοι γάρ ἦσαν ὡς τὰ πολλὰ τῶν τεθνηκότων ὑπὲρ τῆς Σπάρτης εὐδαιμονιζομένων, καὶ ψόγοι τῶν τρεσάντων, ὡς ἀλγεινὸν καὶ κακοδαίμονα βιούντων βίον, ἐπαγγελία τε καὶ μεγαλαυχία πρὸς ἀρετὴν πρέπουσα ταῖς ἡλικίαις·

[¶1] 21.2. Of the last, it may not be amiss to cite one, by way of illustration. They had three choirs at their festivals, corresponding to the three ages, and the choir of old men would sing first:—
We once did deeds of prowess and were strong young men.
Then the choir of young men would respond:—
We are so now, and if you wish, behold and see.
And then the third choir, that of the boys, would sing:—
We shall be sometime mightier men by far than both.

> Greek: 21.2. ὧν ἕνεκα δείγματος οὐ χεῖρόν ἐστιν ἕν τι προενέγκασθαι. τριῶν γάρ χορῶν κατὰ τὰς τρεῖς ἡλικίας συνισταμένων ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς, ὁ μὲν τῶν γερόντων ἀρχόμενος ᾖδεν ἄμμες πόκʼ ἦμες ἄλκιμοι νεανίαι. ὁ δὲ τῶν ἀκμαζόντων ἀμειβόμενος ἔλεγεν ἄμμες δὲ γʼ εἰμὲν αἰ δὲ λῇς, αὐγάσδεο. ὁ δὲ τρίτος ὁ τῶν παίδων ἄμμες δὲ γʼ ἐσσόμεσθα πολλῷ κάρρονες.

[¶2] 21.3. In short, if one studies the poetry of Sparta, of which some specimens were still extant in my time, and makes himself familiar with the marching songs which they used, to the accompaniment of the flute, when charging upon their foes, he will conclude that Terpander and Pindar were right in associating valour with music. The former writes thus of the Lacedaemonians:—
Flourish there both the spear of the brave and the Muse’s clear message,
Justice, too, walks the broad streets—.

> Greek: 21.3. ὅλως δὲ ἄν τις ἐπιστήσας τοῖς Λακωνικοῖς ποιήμασιν, ὧν ἔτι καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἔνια διεσώζετο, καὶ τοὺς ἐμβατηρίους ῥυθμοὺς ἀναλαβών, οἷς ἐχρῶντο πρὸς τὸν αὐλὸν ἐπάγοντες τοῖς πολεμίοις, οὐ κακῶς ἡγήσαιτο καὶ τὸν Τέρπανδρον καὶ τὸν Πίνδαρον τὴν ἀνδρείαν τῇ μουσικῇ συνάπτειν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ οὕτως πεποίηκε περὶ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων
ἔνθʼ αἰχμά τε νέων θάλλει καὶ μοῦσα λίγεια
καὶ δίκα εὐρυάγυια Πίνδαρος δέ φησιν
ἔνθα βουλαὶ γερόντων
καὶ νέων ἀνδρῶν ἀριστεύοντι αἰχμαὶ
καὶ χοροὶ καὶ Μοῦσα καὶ ἀγλαΐα.

[¶3] 21.4. And Pindar says:—
There are councils of Elders,
And young men’s conquering spears,
And dances, the Muse, and joyousness.
The Spartans are thus shown to be at the same time most musical and most warlike;
In equal poise to match the sword hangs the sweet art of the harpist,
as their poet says. For just before their battles, the king sacrificed to the Muses, reminding his warriors, as it would seem, of their training, and of the firm decisions they had made, in order that they might be prompt to face the dread issue, and might perform such martial deeds as would be worthy of some record.

> Greek: 21.4. Μουσικωτάτους γὰρ ἅμα καὶ πολεμικωτάτους ἀποφαίνουσιν αὐτούς· ῥέπει γὰρ ἄντα τῶ σιδάρω τὸ καλῶς κιθαρίσδεν, ὡς ὁ Λακωνικὸς ποιητὴς εἴρηκε. καὶ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς μάχαις προεθύετο ταῖς Μούσαις ὁ βασιλεύς, ἀναμιμνήσκων, ὡς ἔοικε, τῆς παιδείας καὶ τῶν κρίσεων, ἵνα ὦσι πρόχειροι παρὰ τὰ δεινὰ καὶ λόγου τινὸς ἀξίας παρέχωσι τὰς πράξεις τῶν μαχομένων.

[¶4] 22.1. In time of war, too, they relaxed the severity of the young men’s discipline, and permitted them to beautify their hair and ornament their arms and clothing, rejoicing to see them, like horses, prance and neigh for the contest. Therefore they wore their hair long as soon as they ceased to be youths, and particularly in times of danger they took pains to have it glossy and well-combed, remembering a certain saying of Lycurgus, that a fine head of hair made the handsome more comely still, and the ugly more terrible.

> Greek: 22.1. τότε δὲ καὶ τοῖς νέοις τὰ σκληρότατα τῆς ἀγωγῆς ἐπανιέντες, οὐκ ἐκώλυον καλλωπίζεσθαι περὶ κόμην καὶ κόσμον ὅπλων καὶ ἱματίων, χαίροντες, ὥσπερ ἵπποις, γαυριῶσι καὶ φρυαττομένοις πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας, διὸ κομῶντες εὐθὺς ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἐφήβων ἡλικίας, μάλιστα περὶ τοὺς κινδύνους ἐθεράπευον τὴν κόμην λιπαράν τε φαίνεσθαι καὶ διακεκριμένην, ἀπομνημονεύοντές τινα καὶ Λυκούργου λόγον περὶ τῆς κόμης, ὅτι τοὺς μὲν καλοὺς εὐπρεπεστέρους ποιεῖ, τοὺς δὲ αἰσχροὺς φοβερωτέρους.

[¶5] 22.2. Their bodily exercises, too, were less rigorous during their campaigns, and in other ways their young warriors were allowed a regimen which was less curtailed and rigid, so that they were the only men in the world with whom war brought a respite in the training for war. And when at last they were drawn up in battle array and the enemy was at hand, the king sacrificed the customary she-goat, commanded all the warriors to set garlands upon their heads, and ordered the pipers to pipe the strains of the hymn to Castor;

> Greek: 22.2. ἐχρῶντο δὲ καὶ γυμνασίοις μαλακωτέροις παρὰ τὰς στρατείας, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην δίαιταν οὐχ οὕτω κεκολασμένην οὐδʼ ὑπεύθυνον τοῖς νέοις παρεῖχον, ὥστε μόνοις ἀνθρώπων ἐκείνοις τῆς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον ἀσκήσεως ἀνάπαυσιν εἶναι τὸν πόλεμον. ἤδη δὲ συντεταγμένης τῆς φάλαγγος αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν πολεμίων παρόντων, ὁ βασιλεὺς ἅμα τήν τε χίμαιραν ἐσφαγιάζετο καὶ στεφανοῦσθαι παρήγγελλε πᾶσι καὶ τοὺς αὐλητὰς αὐλεῖν ἐκέλευε τὸ Καστόρειον μέλος·

[¶6] 22.3. then he himself led off in a marching paean, and it was a sight equally grand and terrifying when they marched in step with the rhythm of the flute, without any gap in their line of battle, and with no confusion in their souls, but calmly and cheerfully moving with the strains of their hymn into the deadly fight. Neither fear nor excessive fury is likely to possess men so disposed, but rather a firm purpose full of hope and courage, believing as they do that Heaven is their ally.

> Greek: 22.3. ἅμα δ’ ἐξῆρχεν ἐμβατηρίου παιᾶνος, ὥστε σεμνὴν ἅμα καὶ καταπληκτικὴν τὴν ὄψιν εἶναι, ῥυθμῷ τε πρὸς τὸν αὐλὸν ἐμβαινόντων καὶ μήτε διάσπασμα ποιούντων ἐν τῇ φάλαγγι μήτε ταῖς ψυχαῖς θορυβουμένων, ἀλλὰ πρᾴως καὶ ἱλαρῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ μέλους ἀγομένων ἐπὶ τὸν κίνδυνον. οὔτε γάρ φόβον οὔτε θυμὸν ἐγγίνεσθαι πλεονάζοντα τοῖς οὕτω διακειμένοις εἰκός ἐστιν, ἀλλʼ εὐσταθὲς φρόνημα μετʼ ἐλπίδος καὶ θράσους, ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ συμπαρόντος.

[¶7] 22.4. The king marched against the enemy in close companionship with one who had been crowned victor in the great games. And they tell of a certain Spartan who refused to be bought off from a contest at Olympia by large sums of money, and after a long struggle outwrestled his antagonist. When some one said to him then: “What advantage, O Spartan, hast thou got from thy victory?” he answered, with a smile: “I shall stand in front of my king when I fight our enemies.”

> Greek: 22.4. ἐχώρει δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἔχων μεθʼ ἑαυτοῦ στεφανίτην ἀγῶνα νενικηκότα. καὶ φασὶ γέ τινα χρημάτων πολλῶν ἐν Ὀλυμπίοις διδομένων αὐτῷ μὴ δεξάμενον, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ πόνῳ καταπαλαίσαντα τὸν ἀνταγωνιστήν, ὥς τις εἶπεν αὐτῷ, τί σοι πλέον, ὦ Λάκων, γέγονε διὰ τῆς νίκης; φάναι μειδιάσαντα, πρὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τεταγμένος μαχοῦμαι τοῖς πολεμίοις.

[¶8] 22.5. When they had conquered and routed an enemy, they pursued him far enough to make their victory secure by his flight, and then at once retired, thinking it ignoble and unworthy of a Hellene to hew men to pieces who had given up the fight and abandoned the field. And this was not only a noble and magnanimous policy, but it was also useful. For their antagonists, knowing that they slew those who resisted them, but showed mercy to those who yielded to them, were apt to think flight more advantageous than resistance.

> Greek: 22.5. τρεψάμενοι δὲ καὶ νικήσαντες ἐδίωκον ὅσον ἐκβεβαιώσασθαι τὸ νίκημα τῇ φυγῇ τῶν πολεμίων, εἶτα εὐθὺς ἀνεχώρουν, οὔτε γενναῖον οὔτε Ἑλληνικὸν ἡγούμενοι κόπτειν καὶ φονεύειν ἀπολεγομένους καὶ παρακεχωρηκότας. ἦν δὲ οὐ μόνον καλὸν τοῦτο καὶ μεγαλόψυχον, ἀλλὰ καὶ χρήσιμον. εἰδότες γὰρ οἱ μαχόμενοι πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὅτι τοὺς ὑφισταμένους ἀναιροῦσι, φείδονται δὲ τῶν ἐνδιδόντων, τοῦ μένειν τὸ φεύγειν ἡγοῦντο λυσιτελέστερον.

[¶9] 23.1. Hippias the Sophist says that Lycurgus himself was very well versed in war and took part in many campaigns, and Philostephanus attributes to him the arrangement of the Spartan cavalry by “oulamoi,” explaining that the “oulamos,” as constituted by him, was a troop of fifty horsemen in a square formation. But Demetrius the Phalerean says he engaged in no warlike undertakings, and established his constitution in a time of peace.

> Greek: 23.1. αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν Λυκοῦργον Ἱππίας μὲν ο σοφιστὴς πολεμικώτατόν φησι γενέσθαι καὶ πολλῶν ἔμπειρον στρατειῶν, Φιλοστέφανος δὲ καὶ τὴν κατʼ οὐλαμοὺς τῶν ἱππέων διανομὴν Λυκούργῳ προστίθησιν εἶναι δὲ τὸν οὐλαμόν, ὡς ἐκεῖνος συνέστησεν, ἱππέων πεντήκοντα πλῆθος ἐν τετραγώνῳ σχήματι τεταγμένων, ὁ δὲ Φαληρεὺς Δημήτριος, οὐδεμιᾶς ἁψάμενον πολεμικῆς πράξεως ἐν εἰρήνῃ καταστήσασθαι τὴν πολιτείαν.

[¶10] 23.2. And indeed the design of the Olympic truce would seem to bespeak a man of gentleness, and predisposed to peace. And yet there are some who say, as Hermippus reminds us, that at the outset Lycurgus had nothing whatever to do with Iphitus and his enterprise, but happened to come that way by chance, and be a spectator at the games; that he heard behind him, however, what seemed to be a human voice, chiding him and expressing amazement that he did not urge his fellow-citizens to take part in the great festival; and since, on turning round, he did not see the speaker anywhere, he concluded that the voice was from heaven, and therefore betook himself to Iphitus, and assisted him in giving the festival a more notable arrangement and a more enduring basis.

> Greek: 23.2. ἔοικε δὲ καὶ τῆς Ὀλυμπιακῆς ἐκεχειρίας ἡ ἐπίνοια πρᾴου καὶ πρὸς εἰρήνην οἰκείως ἔχοντος ἀνδρὸς εἶναι, καίτοι φασί τινες, ὡς Ἕρμιππος μνημονεύει, τὸν Λυκοῦργον οὐ προσέχειν οὐδὲ κοινωνεῖν ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἴφιτον, ἀλλὰ τυγχάνειν ἄλλως ἐπιδημοῦντα καὶ θεώμενον ἀκοῦσαι δὲ φωνὴν ὥσπερ ἀνθρώπου τινὸς ἐξόπισθεν ἐπιτιμῶντος αὐτῷ καὶ θαυμάζοντος ὅτι τοὺς πολίτας οὐ προτρέπεται κοινωνεῖν τῆς πανηγύρεως· ὡς δὲ μεταστραφέντος οὐδαμοῦ φανερὸς ὁ φθεγξάμενος ἦν, θεῖον ἡγησάμενον, οὕτω πρὸς τὸν Ἴφιτον τραπέσθαι καὶ συνδιακοσμήσαντα τὴν ἑορτὴν ἐνδοξοτέραν καὶ βεβαιοτέραν καταστῆσαι.

[¶11] 24.1. The training of the Spartans lasted into the years of full maturity. No man was allowed to live as he pleased, but in their city, as in a military encampment, they always had a prescribed regimen and employment in public service, considering that they belonged entirely to their country and not to themselves, watching over the boys, if no other duty was laid upon them, and either teaching them some useful thing, or learning it themselves from their elders.

> Greek: 24.1. ἡ δὲ παιδεία μέχρι τῶν ἐνηλίκων διέτεινεν. οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἦν ἀφειμένος ὡς ἐβούλετο ζῆν, ἀλλʼ οἷον ἐν στρατοπέδῳ τῇ πόλει καὶ δίαιταν ἔχοντες ὡρισμένην καὶ διατριβὴν περὶ τὰ κοινά, καὶ ὅλως νομίζοντες οὐχ αὑτῶν, ἀλλὰ τῆς πατρίδος εἶναι διετέλουν, εἰ μή τι πράττειν ἕτερον εἴη προστεταγμένον, ἐπισκοποῦντες τοὺς παῖδας, καὶ διδάσκοντές τι τῶν χρησίμων ἢ μανθάνοντες αὐτοὶ παρὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων.

[¶12] 24.2. For one of the noble and blessed privileges which Lycurgus provided for his fellow-citizens, was abundance of leisure, since he forbade their engaging in any mechanical art whatsoever, and as for money-making, with its laborious efforts to amass wealth, there was no need of it at all, since wealth awakened no envy and brought no honour.

> Greek: 24.2. καὶ γὰρ ἕν τι τοῦτο τῶν καλῶν ἦν καὶ μακαρίων ἃ παρεσκεύασε τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ πολίταις ὁ Λυκοῦργος, ἀφθονία σχολῆς, οἷς τέχνης μὲν ἅψασθαι βαναύσου τὸ παράπαν οὐκ ἐφεῖτο, χρηματισμοῦ δὲ συναγωγὴν ἔχοντος ἐργώδη καὶ πραγματείαν οὐδʼ ὁτιοῦν ἔδει, διὰ τὸ κομιδῇ τὸν πλοῦτον ἄζηλον γεγονέναι καὶ ἄτιμον.

[¶13] 24.3. Besides, the Helots tilled their ground for them, and paid them the produce mentioned above. Therefore it was that one of them who was sojourning at Athens when the courts were in session, and learned that a certain Athenian had been fined for idleness and was going home in great distress of mind and attended on his way by sympathetic and sorrowing friends, begged the bystanders to show him the man who had been fined for living like a freeman.

> Greek: 24.3. οἱ δὲ εἵλωτες αὐτοῖς εἰργάζοντο τὴν γῆν, ἀποφορὰν τὴν εἰρημένην τελοῦντες, ἐπιδημῶν δὲ τίς Ἀθήνησι δικαστηρίων ὄντων, καὶ πυθόμενὸς τινα δίκην ἀργίας ὠφληκότα βαδίζειν ἀθυμοῦντα καὶ προπεμπόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν φίλων συναχθομένων καὶ βαρέως φερόντων, ἐδεῖτο δεῖξαι τοὺς συμπαρόντας αὐτῷ τίς ἐστιν ὁ τὴν ἐλευθερίας ἑαλωκὼς δίκην. οὕτω δουλοπρεπὲς ἡγοῦντο τὴν περὶ τὰς τέχνας καὶ τὸν χρηματισμὸν ἀσχολίαν.

[¶14] 24.4. So servile a thing did they regard the devotion to the mechanical arts and to money-making. And law-suits, of course, vanished from among them with their gold and silver coinage, for they knew neither greed nor want, but equality in well-being was established there, and easy living based on simple wants. Choral dances and feasts and festivals and hunting and bodily exercise and social converse occupied their whole time, when they were not on a military expedition.

> Greek: 24.4. δίκαι δέ, ὡς εἰκός, ἐξέλιπον ἅμα τῷ νομίσματι, μήτε πλεονεξίας μήτε ἀπορίας αὐτοῖς παρούσης, ἰσότητος δὲ ἐν εὐπορίᾳ καὶ ῥᾳστώνης διʼ εὐτέλειαν γεγενημένης. χοροὶ δὲ καὶ θαλίαι καὶ εὐωχίαι καὶ διατριβαὶ περί τε θήρας καὶ γυμνάσια καὶ λέσχας τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον ἐπέχωρίαζον, ὅτε μὴ στρατευόμενοι τύχοιεν.

[¶15] 25.1. Those who were under thirty years of age did not go into the market-place at all, but had their household wants supplied at the hands of their kinsfolk and lovers. And it was disreputable for the elderly men to be continually seen loitering there, instead of spending the greater part of the day in the places of exercise that are called “leschai.” For if they gathered in these, they spent their time suitably with one another, making no allusions to the problems of money-making or of exchange, nay, they were chiefly occupied there in praising some noble action or censuring some base one, with jesting and laughter which made the path to instruction and correction easy and natural.

> Greek: 25.1. οἱ μέν γε νεώτεροι τριάκοντα ἐτῶν τὸ παράπαν οὐ κατέβαινον εἰς ἀγοράν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν συγγενῶν καὶ τῶν ἐραστῶν ἐποιοῦντο τᾶς ἀναγκαίας οἰκονομίας. τοῖς δὲ πρεσβυτέροις αἰσχρὸν ἦν συνεχῶς ὁρᾶσθαι περὶ ταῦτα διατρίβουσιν, ἀλλὰ μὴ τὸ πλεῖστον τῆς ἡμέρας περὶ τὰ γυμνάσια καὶ τᾶς καλουμένας λέσχας ἀναστρέφεσθαι. καὶ γάρ εἰς ταύτας συνιόντες ἐπιεικῶς ἐσχόλαζον μετʼ ἀλλήλων, οὐδενὸς μεμνημένοι τῶν πρὸς χρηματισμὸν ἢ χρείαν ἀγοραῖον συντελούντων·

[¶16] 25.2. For not even Lycurgus himself was immoderately severe; indeed, Sosibius tells us that he actually dedicated a little statue of Laughter, and introduced seasonable jesting into their drinking parties and like diversions, to sweeten, as it were, their hardships and meagre fare.

> Greek: 25.2. ἀλλὰ τὸ πλεῖστον ἦν τῆς τοιαύτης διατριβῆς ἔργον ἐπαινεῖν τι τῶν καλῶν, ἢ τῶν αἰσχρῶν ψέγειν, μετὰ παιδιᾶς καὶ γέλωτος, ἐλαφρῶς ὑποφέροντος εἰς νουθεσίαν καὶ διόρθωσιν. οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἦν ἀκράτως αὐστηρὸς ὁ Λυκοῦργος· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ τοῦ Γέλωτος ἀγαλμάτιον ἐκεῖνον ἱδρύσασθαι Σωσίβιος ἱστορεῖ, τὴν παιδιὰν ὥσπερ ἥδυσμα τοῦ πόνου καὶ τῆς διαίτης ἐμβαλόντα κατὰ καιρὸν εἰς τὰ συμπόσια καὶ τᾶς τοιαύτας διατριβάς.

[¶17] 25.3. In a word, he trained his fellow-citizens to have neither the wish nor the ability to live for themselves; but like bees they were to make themselves always integral parts of the whole community, clustering together about their leader, almost beside themselves with enthusiasm and noble ambition, and to belong wholly to their country. This idea can be traced also in some of their utterances.

> Greek: 25.3. τὸ δὲ ὅλον εἴθιζε τοὺς πολίτας μὴ βούλεσθαι μηδὲ ἐπίστασθαι κατʼ ἰδίαν ζῆν, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ τᾶς μελίττας τῷ κοινῷ συμφυεῖς ὄντας ἀεὶ καὶ μετʼ ἀλλήλων εἱλουμένους περὶ τὸν ἄρχοντα, μικροῦ δεῖν ἐξεστῶτας ἑαυτῶν ὑπʼ ἐνθουσιασμοῦ καὶ φιλοτιμίας, ὅλους εἶναι τῆς πατρίδος· ὡς ἔστι καὶ φωναῖς τισιν αὐτῶν ἀποθεωρῆσαι τὴν διάνοιαν.

[¶18] 25.4. For instance, Paedaretus, when he failed to be chosen among the three hundred best men, went away with a very glad countenance, as if rejoicing that the city had three hundred better men than himself. And again, Polycratidas, one of an embassy to the generals of the Persian king, on being asked by them whether the embassy was there in a private or a public capacity, replied: “If we succeed, in a public capacity; if we fail, in a private.”

> Greek: 25.4. ὁ μέν γὰρ Παιδάρητος οὐκ ἐγκριθεὶς εἰς τοὺς τριακοσίους ἀπῄει μάλα φαιδρός, ὥσπερ χαίρων ὅτι βελτίονας αὐτοῦ τριακοσίους ἡ πόλις ἔχει· Πολυκρατίδας δὲ ὁ πρεσβεύων πρὸς τοὺς βασιλέως στρατηγοὺς μεθʼ ἑτέρων, ἐρομένων αὐτῶν πότερον ἰδίᾳ πάρεισιν ἢ δημοσίᾳ πεμφθέντες, εἶπεν, αἴκα τύχω μέν, δημοσίᾳ, Αἴκα ἀποτύχωμεν, ἰδίᾳ.

[¶19] 25.5. Again, Argileonis, the mother of Brasidas, when some Amphipolitans who had come to Sparta paid her a visit, asked them if Brasidas had died nobly and in a manner worthy of Sparta. Then they greatly extolled the man and said that Sparta had not such another, to which she answered: “Say not so, Strangers; Brasidas was noble and brave, but Sparta has many better men than he.”

> Greek: 25.5. ἡ δὲ Βρασίδου μήτηρ Ἀργιλεωνίς, ὡς ἀφικόμενοί τινες εἰς Λακεδαίμονα τῶν ἐξ Ἀμφιπόλεως εἰσῆθλον πρὸς αὐτήν, ἠρώτησεν εἰ καλῶς ὁ Βρασίδας ἀπέθανε καὶ τᾶς Σπάρτας ἀξίως· μεγαλυνόντων δὲ ἐκείνων τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ λεγόντων ὡς οὐκ ἔχει τοιοῦτον ἄλλον ἡ Σπάρτη· μὴ λέγετε, εἶπεν, ὦ ξένοι· καλὸς μέν γάρ ἦν καὶ ἀγαθὸς ὁ Βρασίδας, πολλοὺς δὲ ἄνδρας Λακεδαίμων ἔχει τήνου κάρρονας.

[¶20] 26.1. The senators were at first appointed by Lycurgus himself, as I have said, from those who shared his counsels; but afterwards he arranged that any vacancy caused by death should be filled by the man elected as most deserving out of those above sixty years of age. And of all the contests in the world this would seem to have been the greatest and the most hotly disputed. For it was not the swiftest of the swift, nor the strongest of the strong, but the best and wisest of the good and wise who was to be elected, and have for the rest of his life, as a victor’s prize for excellence, what I may call the supreme power in the state, lord as he was of life and death, honour and dishonour, and all the greatest issues of life.

> Greek: 26.1. τοὺς δὲ γέροντας αὐτὸς μέν, ὡς εἴρηται, κατέστησε τὸ πρῶτον ἐκ τῶν μετασχόντων τοῦ βουλεύματος· ὕστερον δὲ ἀντὶ τοῦ τελευτῶντος ἔταξε καθιστάναι τὸν ἄριστον ἀρετῇ κριθέντα τῶν ὑπὲρ ἑξήκοντα ἔτη γεγονότων, καὶ μέγιστος ἐδόκει τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀγώνων οὗτος εἶναι καὶ περιμαχητότατος· οὐ γὰρ ἐν ταχέσι τάχιστον οὐδʼ ἐν ἰσχυροῖς ἰσχυρότατον, ἀλλʼ ἐν ἀγαθοῖς καὶ σώφροσιν ἄριστον καὶ σωφρονέστατον ἔδει κριθέντα νικητήριον ἔχειν τῆς ἀρετῆς διὰ βίου τὸ σύμπαν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, κράτος ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ, κύριον ὄντα καὶ θανάτου καὶ ἀτιμίας καὶ ὅλως τῶν μεγίστων, ἐγίνετο δὲ ἡ κρίσις τόνδε τὸν τρόπον.

[¶21] 26.2. The election was made in the following manner. An assembly of the people having been convened, chosen men were shut up in a room near by so that they could neither see nor be seen, but only hear the shouts of the assembly. For as in other matters, so here, the cries of the assembly decided between the competitors. These did not appear in a body, but each one was introduced separately, as the lot fell, and passed silently through the assembly.

> Greek: 26.2. ἐκκλησίας ἀθροισθείσης ἄνδρες αἱρετοὶ καθείργνυντο πλησίον εἰς οἴκημα, τὴν μὲν ὄψιν οὐχ ὁρῶντες οὐδὲ ὁρώμενοι, τὴν δὲ κραυγὴν μόνον ἀκούοντες ἐκκλησιαζόντων. βοῇ γάρ ὡς τἆλλα καὶ τοὺς ἁμιλλωμένους ἔκρινον, οὐχ ὁμοῦ πάντων, ἀλλʼ ἑκάστου κατὰ κλῆρον εἰσαγομένου καὶ σιωπῇ διαπορευομένου τὴν ἐκκλησίαν.

[¶22] 26.3. Then the secluded judges, who had writing-tablets with them, recorded in each case the loudness of the shouting, not knowing for whom it was given, but only that he was introduced first, second, or third, and so on. Whoever was greeted with the most and loudest shouting, him they declared elected. The victor then set a wreath upon his head and visited in order the temples of the gods. He was followed by great numbers of young men, who praised and extolled him, as well as by many women, who celebrated his excellence in songs, and dwelt on the happiness of his life.

> Greek: 26.3. ἔχοντες οὖν οἱ κατάκλειστοι γραμματεῖα, καθʼ ἕκαστον ἐπεσημαίνοντο τῆς κραυγῆς τὸ μέγεθος, οὐκ εἰδότες ὅτῳ γένοιτο, πλὴν ὅτι πρῶτος ἢ δεύτερος ἢ τρίτος ἢ ὁποστοσοῦν εἴη τῶν εἰσαγομένων. ὅτῳ δὲ πλείστη γένοιτο καὶ μεγίστη, τοῦτον ἀνηγόρευον. ὁ δὲ στεφανωσάμενος περιῄει τοὺς θεούς· εἵποντο δὲ πολλοὶ νέοι ζηλοῦντες τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ μεγαλύνοντες, πολλαί τε γυναῖκες ἐγκωμιάζουσαι διʼ ᾠδῆς τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὸν βίον εὐδαιμονίζουσαι.

[¶23] 26.4. Each of his relations and friends set a repast before him, saying: “The city honours thee with this table.” When he had finished his circuit, he went off to his mess-table. Here he fared in other ways as usual, but a second portion of food was set before him, which he took and put by. After the supper was over, the women who were related to him being now assembled at the door of the mess-hall, he called to him the one whom he most esteemed and gave her the portion he had saved, saying that he had received it as a meed of excellence, and as such gave it to her. Upon this, she too was lauded by the rest of the women and escorted by them to her home.

> Greek: 26.4. τῶν δὲ ἐπιτηδείων ἕκαστος αὐτῷ δεῖπνον παρατιθεὶς ἔλεγεν ὅτι ἡ πόλις ταύτῃ τιμᾷ τῇ τραπέζῃ. περιελθὼν δὲ εἰς τὸ συσσίτιον ἀπῄει· καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἐγίνετο συνήθως, δευτέρας δὲ μερίδος αὐτῷ παρατεθείσης ἐφύλαττεν ἀράμενος· καὶ μετὰ τὸ δεῖπνον ἐπὶ ταῖς θύραις τοῦ φιδιτίου τῶν οἰκείων παρουσῶν γυναικῶν, ἣν μάλιστα τυγχάνοι τιμῶν προσεκαλεῖτο, καὶ διδοὺς τὴν μοῖραν ἔλεγεν ὅτι ταύτην αὐτὸς λαβὼν ἀριστεῖον ἐκείνῃ δίδωσιν, ὥστε κἀκείνην ζηλουμένην ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων προπέμπεσθαι γυναικῶν.

[¶24] 27.1. Furthermore, Lycurgus made most excellent regulations in the matter of their burials. To begin with, he did away with all superstitious terror by allowing them to bury their dead within the city, and to have memorials of them near the sacred places, thus making the youth familiar with such sights and accustomed to them, so that they were not confounded by them, and had no horror of death as polluting those who touched a corpse or walked among graves. In the second place, he permitted nothing to be buried with the dead; they simply covered the body with a scarlet robe and olive leaves when they laid it away.

> Greek: 27.1. καὶ μὴν καὶ τὰ περὶ τὰς ταφὰς ἄριστα διεκόσμησεν αὐτοῖς. πρῶτον μὲν γάρ ἀνελὼν δεισιδαιμονίαν ἅπασαν ἐν τῇ πόλει θάπτειν τοὺς νεκρούς, καὶ πλησίον ἔχειν τὰ μνήματα τῶν ἱερῶν οὐκ ἐκώλυσε, συντρόφους ποιῶν ταῖς τοιαύταις ὄψεσι καὶ συνήθεις τοὺς νέους, ὥστε μὴ ταράττεσθαι μηδʼ ὀρρωδεῖν τὸν θάνατον ὡς μιαίνοντα τοὺς ἁψαμένους νεκροῦ σώματος ἢ διὰ τάφων διελθόντας. ἔπειτα συνθάπτειν οὐδὲν εἴασεν, ἀλλὰ ἐν φοινικίδι καὶ φύλλοις ἐλαίας θέντες τὸ σῶμα περιέστελλον.

[¶25] 27.2. To inscribe the name of the dead upon the tomb was not allowed, unless it were that of a man who had fallen in war, or that of a woman who had died in sacred office. He set apart only a short time for mourning, eleven days; on the twelfth, they were to sacrifice to Demeter and cease their sorrowing. Indeed, nothing was left untouched and neglected, but with all the necessary details of life he blended some commendation of virtue or rebuke of vice; and he filled the city full of good examples, whose continual presence and society must of necessity exercise a controlling and moulding influence upon those who were walking the path of honour.

> Greek: 27.2. ἐπιγράψαι δὲ τοὔνομα θάψαντας οὐκ ἐξῆν τοῦ νεκροῦ, πλὴν ἀνδρὸς ἐν πολέμῳ καὶ γυναικὸς τῶν ἱερῶν ἀποθανόντων, χρόνον δὲ πένθους ὀλίγον προσώρισεν, ἡμέρας ἕνδεκα· τῇ δὲ δωδεκάτῃ θύσαντας ἔδει Δήμητρι λύειν τὸ πάθος. οὐδὲν γάρ ἦν ἀργὸν οὐδὲ ἀφειμένον, ἀλλὰ πᾶσι κατεμίγνυε τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις ἀρετῆς τινα ζῆλον ἢ κακίας διαβολὴν καὶ κατεπύκνου παραδειγμάτων πλήθει τὴν πόλιν, οἷς ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ἐντυγχάνοντας ἀεὶ καὶ συντρεφομένους ἄγεσθαι καὶ κατασχηματίζεσθαι ἰόντας πρὸς τὸ καλόν.

[¶26] 27.3. This was the reason why he did not permit them to live abroad at their pleasure and wander in strange lands, assuming foreign habits and imitating the lives of peoples who were without training and lived under different forms of government. Nay more, he actually drove away from the city the multitudes which streamed in there for no useful purpose, not because he feared they might become imitators of his form of government and learn useful lessons in virtue, as Thucydides says, but rather that they might not become in any wise teachers of evil. For along with strange people, strange doctrines must come in;

> Greek: 27.3. ὅθεν οὐδʼ ἀποδημεῖν ἔδωκε τοῖς βουλομένοις καὶ πλανᾶσθαι, ξενικὰ συνάγοντας ἤθη καὶ μιμήματα βίων ἀπαιδεύτων καὶ πολιτευμάτων διαφόρων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀθροιζομένους ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ χρησίμῳ καὶ παρεισρέοντας εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀπήλαυνεν, οὐχ, ὡς Θουκυδίδης φησί, δεδιὼς μὴ τῆς πολιτείας μιμηταὶ γένωνται καὶ πρὸς ἀρετήν τι χρήσιμον ἐκμάθωσιν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ὅπως μὴ διδάσκαλοι κακοῦ τινος ὑπάρξωσιν.

[¶27] 27.4. and novel doctrines bring novel decisions, from which there must arise many feelings and resolutions which destroy the harmony of the existing political order. Therefore he thought it more necessary to keep bad manners and customs from invading and filling the city than it was to keep out infectious diseases.

> Greek: 27.4. ἅμα γάρ ξένοις σώμασιν ἀνάγκη λόγους ἐπεισιέναι ξένους· λόγοι δὲ καινοὶ κρίσεις καινὰς ἐπιφέρουσιν. ἐξ ὧν ἀνάγκη πάθη πολλὰ φύεσθαι καὶ προαιρέσεις ἀπᾳδούσας πρὸς τὴν καθεστῶσαν πολιτείαν, ὥσπερ ἁρμονίαν. διὸ μᾶλλον ᾤετο χρῆναι φυλάττειν τὴν πόλιν ὅπως ἠθῶν οὐκ ἀναπλησθήσεται πονηρῶν ἢ σωμάτων νοσερῶν ἔξωθεν ἐπεισιόντων.

[¶28] 28.1. Now in all this there is no trace of injustice or arrogance, which some attribute to the laws of Lycurgus, declaring them efficacious in producing valour, but defective in producing righteousness. The so-called “krupteia,” or secret service, of the Spartans, if this be really one of the institutions of Lycurgus, as Aristotle says it was, may have given Plato also this opinion of the man and his civil polity.

> Greek: 28.1. ἐν μὲν οὖν τούτοις οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀδικίας ἴχνος οὐδὲ πλεονεξίας, ἣν ἐγκαλοῦσιν ἔνιοι τοῖς Λυκούργου νόμοις, ὡς ἱκανῶς ἔχουσι πρὸς ἀνδρείαν, ἐνδεῶς δὲ πρὸς δικαιοσύνην. ἡ δὲ καλουμένη κρυπτεία παρʼ αὐτοῖς, εἴ γε δὴ τοῦτο τῶν Λυκούργου πολιτευμάτων ἕν ἐστιν, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης ἱστόρηκε, ταύτην ἂν εἴη καὶ τῷ Πλάτωνι περὶ τῆς πολιτείας καὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐνειργασμένη δόξαν. ἦν δὲ τοιαύτη·

[¶29] 28.2. This secret service was of the following nature. The magistrates from time to time sent out into the country at large the most discreet of the young warriors, equipped only with daggers and such supplies as were necessary. In the day time they scattered into obscure and out of the way places, where they hid themselves and lay quiet; but in the night they came down into the highways and killed every Helot whom they caught.

> Greek: 28.2. τῶν νέων οἱ ἄρχοντες διὰ χρόνου τοὺς μάλιστά νοῦν ἔχειν δοκοῦντας εἰς τὴν χώραν ἄλλως ἐξέπεμπον, ἔχοντας ἐγχειρίδια καὶ τροφὴν ἀναγκαίαν, ἄλλο δὲ οὐδέν· οἱ δὲ μεθʼ ἡμέραν μὲν εἰς ἀσυνδήλους διασπειρόμενοι τόπους, ἀπέκρυπτον ἑαυτοὺς καὶ ἀνεπαύοντο, νύκτωρ δὲ κατιόντες εἰς τὰς ὁδοὺς τῶν εἱλώτων τὸν ἁλισκόμενον ἀπέσφαττον.

[¶30] 28.3. Oftentimes, too, they actually traversed the fields where Helots were working and slew the sturdiest and best of them. So, too, Thucydides, in his history of the Peloponnesian war, tells us that the Helots who had been judged by the Spartans to be superior in bravery, set wreaths upon their heads in token of their emancipation, and visited the temples of the gods in procession, but a little while afterwards all disappeared, more than two thousand of them, in such a way that no man was able to say, either then or afterwards, how they came by their deaths.

> Greek: 28.3. πολλάκις δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀγροῖς ἐπιπορευόμενοι τοὺς ῥωμαλεωτάτους καὶ κρατίστους αὐτῶν ἀνῄρουν. ὥσπερ καὶ Θουκυδίδης ἐν τοῖς Πελοποννησιακοῖς ἱστορεῖ τοὺς ἐπʼ ἀνδρείᾳ προκριθέντας ὑπὸ τῶν Σπαρτιατῶν στεφανώσασθαι μὲν ὡς ἐλευθέρους γεγονότας καὶ περιελθεῖν τὰ τῶν θεῶν ἱερά, μικρὸν δὲ ὕστερον ἅπαντας ἀφανεῖς γενέσθαι, πλείονας ἢ δισχιλίους ὄντας, ὡς μήτε παραχρῆμα μήτε ὕστερον ἔχειν τινὰ λέγειν ὅτῳ τρόπῳ διεφθάρησαν.

[¶31] 28.4. And Aristotle in particular says also that the ephors, as soon as they came into office, made formal declaration of war upon the Helots, in order that there might be no impiety in slaying them. And in other ways also they were harsh and cruel to the Helots. For instance, they would force them to drink too much strong wine, and then introduce them into their public messes, to show the young men what a thing drunkenness was. They also ordered them to sing songs and dance dances that were low and ridiculous, but to let the nobler kind alone.

> Greek: 28.4. Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ μάλιστά φησι καὶ τοὺς ἐφόρους, ὅταν εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν καταστῶσι πρῶτον, τοῖς εἵλωσι καταγγέλλειν πόλεμον, ὅπως εὐαγὲς ᾖ τὸ ἀνελεῖν. καὶ τἆλλα δὲ τραχέως προσεφέροντο καὶ σκληρῶς αὐτοῖς, ὥστε καὶ πίνειν ἀναγκάζοντες πολὺν ἄκρατον εἰς τὰ συσσίτια παρεισῆγον, ἐπιδεικνύμενοι τὸ μεθύειν οἷόν ἐστι τοῖς νέοις. καὶ ᾠδὰς ἐκέλευον ᾄδειν καὶ χορείας χορεύειν ἀγεννεῖς καὶ καταγελάστους, ἀπέχεσθαι δὲ τῶν ἐλευθέρων.

[¶32] 28.5. And therefore in later times, they say, when the Thebans made their expedition into Laconia, they ordered the Helots whom they captured to sing the songs of Terpander, Alcman, and Spendon the Spartan; but they declined to do so, on the plea that their masters did not allow it, thus proving the correctness of the saying: “In Sparta the freeman is more a freeman than anywhere else in the world, and the slave more a slave.”

> Greek: 28.5. διὸ καί φασιν ὕστερον ἐν τῇ Θηβαίων εἰς τὴν Λακωνικὴν στρατείᾳ τοὺς ἁλισκομένους εἵλωτας κελευομένους ᾄδειν τὰ Τερπάνδρου καὶ Ἀλκμᾶνος καὶ Σπένδοντος τοῦ Λάκωνος παραιτεῖσθαι, φάσκοντας οὐκ ἐθέλειν τοὺς δεσποσύνους. ὥστε τοὺς λέγοντας, ἐν Λακεδαίμονι καὶ τὸν ἐλεύθερον μάλιστά ἐλεύθερον εἶναι καὶ τὸν δοῦλον μάλιστά δοῦλον, οὐ φαύλως τεθεωρηκέναι τὴν διαφοράν.

[¶33] 28.6. However, in my opinion, such cruelties were first practised by the Spartans in later times, particularly after the great earthquake, when the Helots and Messenians together rose up against them, wrought the widest devastation in their territory, and brought their city into the greatest peril. I certainly cannot ascribe to Lycurgus so abominable a measure as the “krupteia,” judging of his character from his mildness and justice in all other instances. To this the voice of the god also bore witness.

> Greek: 28.6. τὰς μὲν οὖν τοιαύτας χαλεπότητας ὕστερον ἐγγενέσθαι τοῖς Σπαρτιάταις νομίζω, μάλιστά μετὰ τὸν μέγαν σεισμόν, ᾧ συνεπιθέσθαι τοὺς εἵλωτας μετὰ Μεσσηνίων ἱστοροῦσι, καὶ πλεῖστα κακὰ τὴν χώραν ἐργάσασθαι καὶ μέγιστον τῇ πόλει περιστῆσαι κίνδυνον. οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἔγωγε προσθείην Λυκούργῳ μιαρὸν οὕτω τῆς κρυπτείας ἔργον ἀπὸ τῆς ἄλλης αὐτοῦ πρᾳότητος καὶ δικαιοσύνης τεκμαιρόμενος τὸν τρόπον, ᾧ καὶ τὸ δαιμόνιον ἐπεμαρτύρησε.

[¶34] 29.1. When his principal institutions were at last firmly fixed in the customs of the people, and his civil polity had sufficient growth and strength to support and preserve itself, just as Plato says that Deity was rejoiced to see His universe come into being and make its first motion, so Lycurgus was filled with joyful satisfaction in the magnitude and beauty of his system of laws, now that it was in operation and moving along its pathway. He therefore ardently desired, so far as human forethought could accomplish the task, to make it immortal, and let it go down unchanged to future ages.

> Greek: 29.1. κατειλημμένων δὲ τοῖς ἐθισμοῖς ἤδη τῶν κυριωτάτων ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς πολιτείας ἐκτεθραμμένης ἱκανῶς καὶ δυναμένης φέρειν ἑαυτὴν καὶ σώζειν διʼ ἑαυτῆς, ὥσπερ ὁ Πλάτων φησὶν ἐπὶ τῷ κόσμῳ γενομένῳ καὶ κινηθέντι τὴν πρώτην κίνησιν εὐφρανθῆναι τὸν θεόν, οὕτως ἀγασθεὶς καὶ ἀγαπήσας τὸ τῆς νομοθεσίας κάλλος καὶ μέγεθος ἐν ἔργῳ γενομένης καὶ ὁδῷ βαδιζούσης, ἐπεθύμησεν, ὡς ἀνυστὸν ἐξ ἀνθρωπίνης προνοίας, ἀθάνατον αὐτὴν ἀπολιπεῖν καὶ ἀκίνητον εἰς τὸ μέλλον.

[¶35] 29.2. Accordingly, he assembled the whole people, and told them that the provisions already made were sufficiently adapted to promote the prosperity and virtue of the state, but that something of the greatest weight and importance remained, which he could not lay before them until he had consulted the god at Delphi. They must therefore abide by the established laws and make no change nor alteration in them until he came back from Delphi in person; then he would do whatsoever the god thought best.

> Greek: 29.2. συναγαγὼν οὖν ἅπαντας εἰς ἐκκλησίαν, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα μετρίως ἔχειν ἔφη καὶ ἱκανῶς πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν καὶ ἀρετὴν τῆς πόλεως, ὃ δὲ κυριώτατόν ἐστι καὶ μέγιστον οὐκ ἂν ἐξενεγκεῖν πρότερον πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἢ χρήσασθαι τῷ θεῷ. δεῖν οὖν ἐκείνους ἐμμένειν τοῖς καθεστῶσι νόμοις καὶ μηδὲν ἀλλάσσειν μηδὲ μετακινεῖν ἕως ἐπάνεισιν ἐκ Δελφῶν αὐτός· ἐπανελθὼν γάρ ὅ τι ἂν τῷ θεῷ δοκῇ ποιήσειν.

[¶36] 29.3. When they all agreed to this and bade him set out on his journey, he exacted an oath from the kings and the senators, and afterwards from the rest of the citizens, that they would abide by the established polity and observe it until Lycurgus should come back; then he set out for Delphi. On reaching the oracle, he sacrificed to the god, and asked if the laws which he had established were good, and sufficient to promote a city’s prosperity and virtue.

> Greek: 29.3. ὁμολογούντων δὲ πάντων καὶ κελευόντων βαδίζειν, ὅρκους λαβὼν παρὰ τῶν βασιλέων καὶ τῶν γερόντων, ἔπειτα παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν, ἐμμενεῖν καὶ χρήσεσθαι τῇ καθεστώσῃ πολιτείᾳ μέχρις ἂν ἐπανέλθῃ ὁ Λυκοῦργος, ἀπῆρεν εἰς Δελφούς. παραγενόμενος δὲ πρὸς τὸ μαντεῖον καὶ τῷ θεῷ θύσας, ἠρώτησεν εἰ καλῶς οἱ νόμοι καὶ ἱκανῶς πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν καὶ ἀρετὴν πόλεως κείμενοι τυγχάνουσιν.

[¶37] 29.4. Apollo answered that the laws which he had established were good, and that the city would continue to be held in highest honour while it kept to the polity of Lycurgus. This oracle Lycurgus wrote down, and sent it to Sparta. But for his own part, he sacrificed again to the god, took affectionate leave of his friends and of his son, and resolved never to release his fellow-citizens from their oath, but of his own accord to put an end to his life where he was. He had reached an age in which life was not yet a burden, and death no longer a terror; when he and his friends, moreover, appeared to be sufficiently prosperous and happy.

> Greek: 29.4. ἀποκριναμένου δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοὺς νόμους καλῶς κεῖσθαι καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐνδοξοτάτην διαμενεῖν τῇ Λυκούργου χρωμένην πολιτείᾳ, τὸ μάντευμα γραψάμενος εἰς Σπάρτην ἀπέστειλεν. αὐτὸς δὲ τῷ θεῷ πάλιν θύσας καὶ τοὺς φίλους ἀσπασάμενος καὶ τὸν υἱόν, ἔγνω μηκέτι τοῖς πολίταις ἀφεῖναι τὸν ὅρκον, αὐτοῦ δὲ καταλῦσαι τὸν βίον ἑκουσίως, ἡλικίας γεγονὼς ἐν ᾗ καὶ βιοῦν ἔτι καὶ πεπαῦσθαι βουλομένοις ὡραῖόν ἐστι, καὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν ἱκανῶς πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν ἔχειν δοκούντων.

[¶38] 29.5. He therefore abstained from food till he died, considering that even the death of a statesman should be of service to the state, and the ending of his life not void of effect, but recognized as a virtuous deed. As for himself, since he had wrought out fully the noblest tasks, the end of life would actually be a consummation of his good fortune and happiness; and as for his fellow-citizens, he would make his death the guardian, as it were, of all the blessings he had secured for them during his life, since they had sworn to observe and maintain his polity until he should return.

> Greek: 29.5. ἐτελεύτησεν οὖν ἀποκαρτερήσας, ἡγούμενος χρῆναι τῶν πολιτικῶν ἀνδρῶν μηδὲ τὸν θάνατον ἀπολίτευτον εἶναι μηδὲ ἀργὸν τὸ τοῦ βίου τέλος, ἀλλʼ ἐν ἀρετῆς μερίδι καὶ πράξεως γενόμενον. αὑτῷ τε γὰρ ἐξειργασμένῳ τὰ κάλλιστα τὴν τελευτὴν ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐπιτελείωσιν εἶναι τῆς εὐδαιμονίας, καὶ τοῖς πολίταις ὧν διὰ τοῦ βίου παρεσκεύασε καλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν φύλακα τὸν θάνατον ἀπολείψειν, ὀμωμοκόσι χρῆσθαι τῇ πολιτείᾳ μέχρις ἂν ἐκεῖνος ἐπανέλθῃ.

[¶39] 29.6. And he was not deceived in his expectations, so long did his city have the first rank in Hellas for good government and reputation, observing as she did for five hundred years the laws of Lycurgus, in which no one of the fourteen kings who followed him made any change, down to Agis the son of Archidamus. For the institution of the ephors did not weaken, but rather strengthened the civil polity, and though it was thought to have been done in the interests of the people, it really made the aristocracy more powerful.

> Greek: 29.6. καὶ οὐ διεψεύσθη τῶν λογισμῶν τοσοῦτον ἐπρώτευσεν ἡ πόλις τῆς Ἑλλάδος εὐνομίᾳ, καὶ δόξῃ, χρόνον ἐτῶν πεντακοσίων τοῖς Λυκούργου χρησαμένη νόμοις, οὓς δεκατεσσάρων βασιλέων μετʼ ἐκεῖνον εἰς Ἆγιν τὸν Ἀρχιδάμου γενομένων οὐδεὶς ἐκίνησεν. ἡ γάρ τῶν ἐφόρων κατάστασις οὐκ ἄνεσις ἦν, ἀλλʼ ἐπίτασις τῆς πολιτείας, καὶ δοκοῦσα πρὸς τοῦ δήμου γεγονέναι σφοδροτέραν ἐποίησε τὴν ἀριστοκρατίαν.

[¶40] 30.1. But in the reign or Agis, gold and silver money first flowed into Sparta, and with money, greed and a desire for wealth prevailed through the agency of Lysander, who, though incorruptible himself, filled his country with the love of riches and with luxury, by bringing home gold and silver from the war, and thus subverting the laws of Lycurgus.

> Greek: 30.1. Ἄγιδος δὲ βασιλεύοντος εἰσερρύη νόμισμα πρῶτον εἰς τὴν Σπάρτην, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ νομίσματος πλεονεξία καὶ πλούτου ζῆλος ἐπέβη διὰ Λύσανδρον, ὃς αὐτὸς ὢν ἀνάλωτος ὑπὸ χρημάτων, ἐνέπλησε τὴν πατρίδα φιλοπλουτίας καὶ τρυφῆς, χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου καταγαγὼν καὶ τοὺς Λυκούργου καταπολιτευσάμενος νόμους.

[¶41] 30.2. While these remained in force, Sparta led the life, not of a city under a constitution, but of an individual man under training and full of wisdom. Nay rather, as the poets weave their tales of Heracles, how with his club and lion’s skin he traversed the world chastising lawless and savage tyrants, so we may say that Sparta, simply with the dispatch-staff and cloak of her envoys, kept Hellas in willing and glad obedience, put down illegal oligarchies and tyrannies in the different states, arbitrated wars, and quelled seditions, often without so much as moving a single shield, but merely sending one ambassador, whose commands all at once obeyed, just as bees, when their leader appears, swarm together and array themselves about him. Such a surplus fund of good government and justice did the city enjoy.

> Greek: 30.2. ὧν ἐπικρατούντων πρότερον οὐ πόλεως ἡ Σπάρτη πολιτείαν, ἀλλʼ ἀνδρὸς ἀσκητοῦ καὶ σοφοῦ βίον ἔχουσα, μᾶλλον δʼ, ὥσπερ οἱ ποιηταὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα μυθολογοῦσι δέρμα καὶ ξύλον ἔχοντα τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐπιπορεύεσθαι, κολάζοντα τοὺς παρανόμους καὶ θηριώδεις τυράννους, οὕτως ἡ πόλις ἀπὸ σκυτάλης μιᾶς καὶ τρίβωνος ἄρχουσα τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἑκούσης καὶ βουλομένης, κατέλυε τὰς ἀδίκους δυναστείας καὶ τυραννίδας ἐν τοῖς πολιτεύμασι, καὶ πολέμους ἐβράβευε καὶ στάσεις κατέπαυε, πολλάκις οὐδʼ ἀσπίδα κινήσασα μίαν, ἀλλʼ ἕνα πέμψασα πρεσβευτήν, ᾧ πάντες εὐθὺς ἐποίουν τὸ προστασσόμενον, ὥσπερ αἱ μέλισσαι φανέντος ἡγεμόνος, συντρέχοντες καὶ κατακοσμούμενοι. τοσοῦτον περιῆν εὐνομίας τῇ πόλει καὶ δικαιοσύνης.

[¶42] 30.3. Wherefore, I for one am amazed at those who declare that the Lacedaemonians knew how to obey, but did not understand how to command, and quote with approval the story of King Theopompus, who, when some one said that Sparta was safe and secure because her kings knew how to command, replied: “Nay, rather because her citizens know how to obey.”

> Greek: 30.3. ὅθεν ἔγωγε θαυμάζω τῶν λεγόντων ὡς ἄρχεσθαι μὲν ᾔδεσαν, ἄρχειν δὲ οὐκ ἠπίσταντο Λακεδαιμόνιοι, καὶ τὸν Θεοπόμπου τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπαινούντων λόγον, ὅς, εἰπόντος τινὸς σώζεσθαι τὴν Σπάρτην διὰ τοὺς βασιλεῖς ἀρχικοὺς γεγονότας, μᾶλλον, εἶπε, διὰ τοὺς πολίτας πειθαρχικοὺς ὄντας·

[¶43] 30.4. For men will not consent to obey those who have not the ability to rule, but obedience is a lesson to be learned from a commander. For a good leader makes good followers, and just as the final attainment of the art of horsemanship is to make a horse gentle and tractable, so it is the task of the science of government to implant obedience in men. And the Lacedaemonians implanted in the rest of the Greeks not only a willingness to obey, but a desire to be their followers and subjects.

> Greek: 30.4. οὐ γὰρ ἀκούειν ὑπομένουσι τῶν προστατεῖν μὴ δυναμένων, ἀλλʼ ἡ πειθαρχία μάθημα μέν ἐστιν τοῦ ἄρχοντος ἐμποιεῖ γάρ ὁ καλῶς ἄγων τὸ καλῶς ἕπεσθαι· καὶ καθάπερ ἱππικῆς τέχνης ἀποτέλεσμα πρᾷον ἵππον καὶ πειθήνιον παρασχεῖν, οὕτω βασιλικῆς ἐπιστήμης ἔργον ἀνθρώποις εὐπείθειαν ἐνεργάσασθαι, Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ οὐκ εὐπείθειαν, ἀλλʼ ἐπιθυμίαν ἐνειργάζοντο τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῦ ἄρχεσθαι καὶ ὑπακούειν αὐτοῖς.

[¶44] 30.5. People did not send requests to them for ships, or money, or hoplites, but for a single Spartan commander; and when they got him, they treated him with honour and reverence, as the Sicilians treated Gylippus; the Chalcidians, Brasidas; and all the Greeks resident in Asia, Lysander, Callicratidas, and Agesilaüs. These men, wherever they came, were styled regulators and chasteners of peoples and magistrates, and the city of Sparta from which they came was regarded as a teacher of well-ordered private life and settled civil polity.

> Greek: 30.5. ᾔτουν γάρ οὐ ναῦς οὐδὲ χρήματα παρʼ αὐτῶν οὐδὲ ὁπλίτας πέμποντες, ἀλλὰ ἕνα Σπαρτιάτην ἡγεμόνα· καὶ λαβόντες ἐχρῶντο μετὰ τιμῆς καὶ δέους, ὥσπερ Γυλίππῳ Σικελιῶται καὶ Βρασίδᾳ Χαλκιδεῖς, Λυσάνδρῳ δὲ καὶ Καλλικρατίδᾳ καὶ Ἀγησιλάῳ πάντες οἱ τὴν Ἀσίαν οἰκοῦντες Ἕλληνες, τοὺς μὲν ἄνδρας ἁρμοστὰς καὶ σωφρονιστὰς τῶν ἑκασταχοῦ δήμων καὶ ἀρχόντων ὀνομάζοντες, πρὸς δὲ σύμπασαν τὴν τῶν Σπαρτιατῶν πόλιν ὥσπερ παιδαγωγὸν ἢ διδάσκαλον εὐσχήμονος βίου καὶ τεταγμένης πολιτείας ἀποβλέποντες.

[¶45] 30.6. To this position of Sparta Stratonicus would seem to have mockingly alluded when, in jest, he proposed a law that the Athenians should conduct mysteries and processions, and that the Eleians should preside at games, since herein lay their special excellence, but that the Lacedaemonians should be cudgelled if the others did amiss. This was a joke; but Antisthenes the Socratic, when he saw the Thebans in high feather after the battle of Leuctra, said in all seriousness that they were just like little boys strutting about because they had thrashed their tutor.

> Greek: 30.6. εἰς ὃ καὶ Στρατόνικος ἐπισκῶψαι δοκεῖ, μετὰ παιδιᾶς νομοθετῶν καὶ κελεύων Ἀθηναίους ἄγειν μυστήρια καὶ πομπάς, Ἠλείους δὲ ἀγωνοθετεῖν, ὡς κάλλιστα τοῦτο ποιοῦντας, Λακεδαιμονίους δέ, ἂν ἁμαρτάνωσιν οὗτοι, δέρεσθαι. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν εἴρηται χάριν τοῦ γελοίου· Ἀντισθένης δὲ ὁ Σωκρατικὸς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν Λεύκτροις μάχης ὁρῶν τοὺς Θηβαίους μέγα φρονοῦντας, οὐδὲν αὐτοὺς ἔφη διαφέρειν παιδαρίων ἐπὶ τῷ συγκόψαι τὸν παιδαγωγὸν γαυριώντων.

[¶46] 31.1. It was not, however, the chief design of Lycurgus then to leave his city in command over a great many others, but he thought that the happiness of an entire city, like that of a single individual, depended on the prevalence of virtue and concord within its own borders. The aim, therefore, of all his arrangements and adjustments was to make his people free-minded, self-sufficing, and moderate in all their ways, and to keep them so as long as possible.

> Greek: 31.1. οὐ μὴν τοῦτό γε τῷ Λυκούργῳ κεφάλαιον ἦν τότε, πλείστων ἡγουμένην ἀπολιπεῖν τὴν πόλιν ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς βίῳ καὶ πόλεως ὅλης νομίζων εὐδαιμονίαν ἀπʼ· ἀρετῆς ἐγγίνεσθαι καὶ ὁμονοίας τῆς πρὸς αὑτήν, πρὸς τοῦτο συνέταξε καὶ συνήρμοσεν, ὅπως ἐλευθέριοι καὶ αὐτάρκεις γενόμενοι καὶ σωφρονοῦντες ἐπὶ πλεῖστον χρόνον διατελῶσι.

[¶47] 31.2. His design for a civil polity was adopted by Plato, Diogenes, Zeno, and by all those who have won approval for their treatises on this subject, although they left behind them only writings and words. Lycurgus, on the other hand, produced not writings and words, but an actual polity which was beyond imitation, and because he gave, to those who maintain that the much talked of natural disposition to wisdom exists only in theory, an example of an entire city given to the love of wisdom, his fame rightly transcended that of all who ever founded polities among the Greeks.

> Greek: 31.2. ταύτην καὶ Πλάτων ἔλαβε τῆς πολιτείας ὑπόθεσιν καὶ Διογένης καὶ Ζήνων καὶ πάντες ὅσοι τι περὶ τούτων ἐπιχειρήσαντες εἰπεῖν ἐπαινοῦνται, γράμματα καὶ λόγους ἀπολιπόντες μόνον, ὁ δὲ οὐ γράμματα καὶ λόγους, ἀλλʼ ἔργῳ πολιτείαν ἀμίμητον εἰς φῶς προενεγκάμενος, καὶ τοῖς ἀνύπαρκτον εἶναι τὴν λεγομένην περὶ τὸν σοφὸν διάθεσιν ὑπολαμβάνουσιν ἐπιδείξας ὅλην τὴν πόλιν φιλοσοφοῦσαν, εἰκότως ὑπερῆρε τῇ δόξῃ τοὺς πώποτε πολιτευσαμένους ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι.

[¶48] 31.3. Therefore Aristotle says that the honours paid him in Sparta were less than he deserved, although he enjoys the highest honours there. For he has a temple, and sacrifices are offered to him yearly as to a god. It is also said that when his remains were brought home, his tomb was struck by lightning, and that this hardly happened to any other eminent man after him except Euripides, who died and was buried at Arethusa in Macedonia. The lovers of Euripides therefore regard it as a great testimony in his favour that he alone experienced after death what had earlier befallen a man who was most holy and beloved of the gods.

> Greek: 31.3. διʼ ὅπερ καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης ἐλάττονας σχεῖν φησι τιμὰς ἢ προσῆκον ἦν αὐτὸν ἔχειν ἐν Λακεδαίμονι, καίπερ ἔχοντα τὰς μεγίστας. ἱερόν τε γάρ ἐστιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ θύουσι καθʼ ἕκαστον ἐνιαυτὸν ὡς θεῷ. λέγεται δὲ καὶ τῶν λειψάνων αὐτοῦ κομισθέντων οἴκαδε κεραυνὸν εἰς τὸν τάφον κατασκῆψαι· τοῦτο δὲ οὐ ῥᾳδίως ἑτέρῳ τινὶ τῶν ἐπιφανῶν πλὴν Εὐριπίδῃ συμπεσεῖν ὕστερον, τελευτήσαντι καὶ ταφέντι τῆς Μακεδονίας περὶ Ἀρέθουσαν. ὥστε ἀπολόγημα καὶ μαρτύριον μέγα εἶναι τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν Εὐριπίδην τὸ μόνῳ συμπεσεῖν αὐτῷ μετὰ τελευτὴν ἃ τῷ θεοφιλεστάτῳ καὶ ὁσιωτάτῳ πρότερον συνέπεσε.

[¶49] 31.4. Some say that Lycurgus died in Cirrha; Apollothemis, that he was brought to Elis and died there; Timaeus and Aristoxenus, that he ended his days in Crete; and Aristoxenus adds that his tomb is shown by the Cretans in the district of Pergamus, near the public highway. It is also said that he left an only son, Antiorus, on whose death without issue, the family became extinct.

> Greek: 31.4. τελευτῆσαι δὲ τὸν Λυκοῦργον οἱ μὲν ἐν Κίρρᾳ λέγουσιν, Ἀπολλόθεμις δὲ εἰς Ἦλιν κομισθέντα, Τίμαιος δὲ καὶ Ἀριστόξενος ἐν Κρήτῃ καταβιώσαντα καὶ τάφον Ἀριστόξενος αὐτοῦ δείκνυσθαὶ φησιν ὑπὸ Κρητῶν τῆς Περγαμίας περὶ τὴν ξενικὴν ὁδόν. υἱὸν δὲ λέγεται μονογενῆ καταλιπεῖν Ἀντίωρον οὗ τελευτήσαντος ἀτέκνου τὸ γένος ἐξέλιπεν.

[¶50] 31.5. His friends and relations, however, instituted a periodical assembly in his memory, which continued to be held for many ages, and they called the days on which they came together, Lycurgidae. Aristocrates the son of Hipparchus says that the friends of Lycurgus, after his death in Crete, burned his body and scattered the ashes into the sea, and that this was done at his request, and because he wished to prevent his remains from ever being carried to Sparta, lest the people there should change his polity, on the plea that he had come back, and that they were therefore released from their oaths. This, then, is what I have to say about Lycurgus.

> Greek: 31.5. οἱ δ’ ἑταῖροι καὶ οἰκεῖοι διαδοχήν τινα καὶ σύνοδον ἐπὶ πολλοὺς χρόνους διαμείνασαν κατέστησαν, καὶ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐν αἷς συνήρχοντο Λυκουργίδας προσηγόρευσαν. Ἀριστοκράτης δὲ ὁ Ἱππάρχου φησὶ τοὺς ξένους τοῦ Λυκούργου τελευτήσαντος ἐν Κρήτῃ καῦσαι τὸ σῶμα καὶ διασπεῖραι τὴν τέφραν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν, αὐτοῦ δεηθέντος καὶ φυλαξαμένου μή ποτε ἄρα τῶν λειψάνων εἰς Λακεδαίμονα κομισθέντων, ὡς ἐπανήκοντος αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ὅρκων λελυμένων, μεταβάλωσι τὴν πολιτείαν. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν περὶ τοῦ Λυκούργου.