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99-586: The Spartans had no historical records, literature, or written laws, which were, according to tradition, prohibited. Attributed to the mythical figure of Lycurgus , the legendary law-giver, the Spartan system of government is known mostly from the Constitution of the Lacedaemonians , a treatise attributed to the ancient Greek historian Xenophon , describing the institutions, customs, and practices of

198-674: A ban also likely emerged in the sixth century, since Spartan citizen sculptors are attested to prior to that time. The inequality of Spartan society also implies that trade must have occurred; the second dinner in the syssitia involved bread, meat, fish, and other produce which were bought or donated by wealthy Spartans. Plutarch, who claims Spartan did not dispute or talk about money, is also internally inconsistent when elsewhere notes Spartan commercial contracts and Sparta's delegation of such matters to expert resolution. Plutarch also claims that Lycurgus imposed sumptuary legislation, prohibiting foreign artisans from residing at Sparta and restricting

297-543: A grave, also c.  600 BC , containing pottery grave goods. Further claims that Lycurgus required the burial of fallen Spartan soldiers abroad are not compatible with archaeological evidence showing that the first certain mass grave for Spartan battlefield losses was at Plataea . The education of Spartan boys in the agoge , less anachronistically the paideia , was also attributed to an initiative of Lycurgus to equalise Spartan citizens socially, by raising them without outside family and clan loyalties. Though

396-738: A kingship on campaign" (iii. 24). The state was ruled by two hereditary kings of the Agiad and the Eurypontid dynasties, both descendants of Heracles and equal in authority so that one could not act against the power and political enactments of his colleague, though the Agiad king received greater honour by virtue of seniority of his family for being the "oldest extant" (Herod. vi. 5). There are several legendary explanations for this unusual dual kingship, which differ only slightly; for example, that King Aristodemus had twin sons , who agreed to share

495-664: A locus of heroism, physicality, racial purity, and struggle. Such themes complemented fascist and Nazi ideology , painting Sparta as a "proto-National Socialist state". Defeat in the Second World War largely ended such hagiography. Perioeci The Perioeci or Perioikoi ( Περίοικοι , /peˈri.oj.koj/ ) were the second-tier citizens of the polis of Sparta until c. 200 BC. They lived in several dozen cities within Spartan territories (mostly Laconia and Messenia ), which were dependent on Sparta. The perioeci only had political rights in their own city, while

594-501: A much more general sense than merely as those within the Spartan state. In describing the ideal state, Aristotle believed that the actual citizens and members of the state should be the rulers, the warriors (those who are allowed to bear arms), the statesmen, and the priests but that those who perform trades, such as mechanics, craftsmen, husbandmen, and farmers should be either slaves or perioeci , because such professions are ignoble and do not produce virtue, according to him. In that sense,

693-498: A return to Lycurgus' "true" Spartan traditions, deviations from which explained all problems of latter-day Sparta. Finally, in Plutarch's version, after Lycurgus' recall to Sparta to institute new laws, he has the community swear not to change the laws until he returns from Delphi. Upon reaching Delphi he dies so to enshrine the laws forever. Lycurgus' laws are supposed to have touched the whole of Spartan society. At various times,

792-421: A single year reduced their ability to conflict with already established powers in the state. Since reelection was not possible, an ephor who abused his power, or confronted an established power center, would have to suffer retaliation. Although the five ephors were the only officials with regular legitimization by popular vote, in practice they were often the most conservative force in Spartan politics. Sparta had

891-466: A special policy maker, the Gerousia , a council consisting of 28 elders over the age of 60, elected for life and usually part of the royal households, and the two kings. High state policy decisions were discussed by this council who could then propose action alternatives to the demos . The collective body of Spartan citizenry would select one of the alternatives by voting . Unlike most Greek poleis ,

990-475: A stable polity dedicated to simplicity, unity, and the communal interest – attributing to the Spartans, not necessarily rightly, universal education and equality among citizens – while also noting the cruelty of the agoge and denigration of autonomy, especially in contrast to democratic Athens . Charles Rollin , a French educator, produced an enduring and admiring conception of Lycurgus as having created

1089-417: A temple to Zeus.. and Athena..., forming phylai and creating obai , and instituting a gerousia of thirty including the kings, then hold an apella from time to time. Thus bring in and set aside [proposals]. The people are to have the right to respond, and power ... but if the people speak crookedly, the elders and kings are to be setters-aside. Plutarch states that the provision that

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1188-414: Is "probably mythical". Others have attempted to glean from the myths that survive some kernel of truth. But most historians "would subscribe to the stark judgement of Antony Andrewes: 'if there was a real Lycurgus, we know nothing of him ' ". There is no consensus as to when a historical Lycurgus lived, neither today or in the ancient world (Plutarch, in his Life of Lycurgus , in fact makes this remark in

1287-421: Is also said to have banned lamentations and allowed burials near temples. Burials near temples were common in archaic Greece before being prohibited by most cities; Sparta merely retained the practice. The earliest Spartan art and poems also still mention lamenting mourners, implying that such a ban likely postdates Lycurgus and was introduced c.  600 BC ; moreover, any ban on grave goods must postdate

1386-459: Is also said to have instituted a system of wife sharing as a pronatalist and eugenicist policy; if such wife sharing existed, it is likely a product of Spartan population decline in the fifth century BC. Plutarch also credits Lycurgus with sumptuary laws on burials. Archaeological evidence broadly supports the notion that Spartans practiced uniform burial without grave goods, albeit with exceptions for generals and Olympic victors. However, Lycurgus

1485-635: Is also supposed to have instituted the Spartan practice of staged bride capture where the bride, rather than being processed to the groom's home for a wedding ceremony with feast, was instead ritually seized by the groom, and the marriage consummated without feast. The seventh century Spartan poet Alcman makes no mention of such customs, and composed wedding hymns reflecting the more common Greek wedding processions; Spartan wedding customs therefore also postdate Lycurgus, emerging some time before 500 BC. The further claim in Plutarch's Moralia that Lycurgus prohibited dowries altogether has no basis. Lycurgus

1584-470: Is given in part by Plutarch as follows: Plutarch provides by way of explanation: "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 "appellazein" means to assemble the people, with a reference to Apollo, the Pythian god, who was the source and author of the polity. The Babyca

1683-567: Is now called Cheimarrus, and the Cnacion Oenus; but Aristotle says that Cnacion is a river, and Babyca a bridge." Another version of the rhetra is given by H. Michell: That is to say that after the people had been divided according to their different tribes ("phyles" and "obes"), they would welcome the new Lycurgan reforms The Spartans had no historical records, literature , or written laws , which were, according to tradition , expressly prohibited by an ordinance of Lycurgus, excluding

1782-595: Is supposed also to have established the Spartan mess halls called syssitia or phiditia . Such halls were public, where all citizen men were required to eat dinner. Citizens were required to contribute to the mess hall's pantries with a substantial amount of food, wine, and money; failure or inability to do so would entail loss of citizenship. A relatively old tradition, predating the Hellenistic Spartan reformers Agis IV and Cleomenes III as well as likely Herodotus, claimed that Lycurgus' imposition of

1881-450: Is that he undertakes the regency until his ward came of age. The second is that he resigns, to protect his ward, amid rumours that he wishes to supplant the ward as king. Plutarch's version of the story includes the ward's mother seeking Lycurgus' hand in marriage to facilitate his accession. In this version, Lycurgus leaves to prevent himself from being used as a pawn in politics against his nephew. The tradition where Lycurgus continues in

1980-630: Is that of Herodotus, who wrote in the latter half of the fifth century BC. His account is likely based on oral accounts from both Spartans and non-Spartans in Greece. The two royal dynasties of Sparta, the Agiads and Eurypontids , both claimed Lycurgus in their ancestries. However, Lycurgus does not feature in the earliest preserved Spartan source – the poet Tyrtaeus  – which has led many historians today to doubt his historicity: for example, Massimo Nafissi in A companion to Sparta writes he

2079-459: Is that this never happened. The seventh century Spartan poet, Tyrtaeus , already opposed land distribution in the poem Eunomia , attesting to land inequality at the earliest times. Lycurgus is also supposed to have ensured the austere lifestyle of the Spartans by banning the use of gold and silver coins, requiring a currency made of iron . Xenophon claimed that this meant acquisition of wealth became too bulky to hide; Plutarch believed that this

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2178-453: Is usually explained by the (equally legendary) descent of Aristodemus from Heracles . Either way, kingship in Sparta was hereditary and thus every king Sparta had was a descendant of the Agiad and the Eurypontid families. Accession was given to the male child who was first born after a king's accession. The duties of the kings were primarily religious , judicial, and militaristic . They were

2277-522: The Encyclopédie but this was not shared by all authors. Diderot , the main editor of the Encyclopédie , was more pessimistic, saying that Lycurgan laws "created monks bearing arms" while branding the system as a whole "an atrocity" and "incompatible with a large... [or] commercial state". The branding of Lycurguan Sparta as a "dismal monastery" was widely, but not universally, shared among

2376-541: The syssitia ); economic freedom for citizens by their possession of sufficient land and helots to meet their needs; and austere politics for the common good. The republican views of Niccolò Machiavelli trended toward the Lycurgan "mixed constitution" but this was not necessarily a through-line in Renaissance European political thought. Other thinkers of the period hailed Lycurgan politics as building

2475-572: The Delphic oracle . The Spartans in the historical period honoured him as god. As a historical figure, almost nothing is known for certain about him, including when he lived and what he did in life. The stories of him place him at multiple times. Nor is it clear when the political reforms attributed to him, called the Great Rhetra, occurred. Ancient dates range from – putting aside the implausibly early Xenophonic 11th century BC –

2574-468: The Hypomeiones , literally "inferiors", men who were probably Spartiates who had lost their social rank (probably mostly because they could not afford syssitia dues). The Mothax (singular Mothon) were fostered with Spartiates and are generally thought to have been the children of slave rape by Spartiates. They were prominent in military leadership. In the late 5th century BC and later, a new class,

2673-473: The Neodamodes , literally "new to the community", seems to have been composed of liberated Helots. The Epeunacti and Partheniae were among the other free non-citizen classes. The Trophimoi were a metic guest class. Helots were the state-owned serfs who made up 90 percent of the population. They were citizens of conquered states, such as Messenia, who were conquered for their fertile land during

2772-576: The Peloponnese likewise controlled perioecic cities, such as Elis and Argos . The polis or city-state of Sparta was formed during the Greek Dark Ages , controlling the plains around the Eurotas river . Those communities already existing in the area which could not be assimilated into the Spartan state, or subjugated as helots , became the perioeci . Whether they were Dorians like

2871-648: The Peloponnesian War , Athens made a raid on the territory of the perioecic city of Epidaurus Limera with the goal of triggering a helot revolt against the perioeci . Some helots could nevertheless be promoted to perioecic status by becoming neodamodes after military service, but Spartan citizens could not be demoted to perioecic status; there were specific underclasses for former Spartan citizens, such as hypomeiones , tresantes , etc. The perioeci are mentioned in Aristotle 's Politics but in

2970-399: The agoge became a "peer" (ὅμοιος, hómoios , literally "similar") with full civil rights at the age of 20, and remained one as long as he could contribute his equal share of grain to the syssitia, a common military mess in which he was obliged to dine every evening for as long as he was battle-worthy (usually until the age of 60). The hómoioi were also required to sleep in the barracks until

3069-471: The paired lives of Lycurgus and Numa (the early Roman lawgiver and king), for example, judged Lycurgus favourably compared to the Roman by emphasising Lycurgan education and pronatalism. Another argument for Lycurgan superiority was also that Sparta declined as it supposedly deviated from Lycurgus' settlements while Rome flourished as it similarly deviated from Numa's ideals. In the end, for Plutarch, Lycurgus

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3168-877: The perioeci are meant to be common to all ideal Hellenic states, as a sort of middle class whose ranks the slaves may aspire to join, below the citizens but above slavery. They are free men, but they do not own property and are not allowed to vote, hold office, or influence the state or the laws by any other means. When Aristotle mentions them, he sometimes refers to them as "barbarian" and implies that such non-citizen free men would be non-Hellenic foreigners. Graham Shipley has identified at least 33 perioecic cities, 23 in Laconia and 10 in Messenia, with various levels of certainty. He notes that many other identified settlements in Laconia and Messenia were probably perioecic , but it

3267-905: The philosophes . Similar negative views were expressed by the American founder John Adams who saw Lycurgus as having doomed his own people to poverty and futile militarism; however, he also praised the Lycurgan ;– as well as the Polybian  – mixed constitution in Defense of the Constitutions as did James Madison in the Federalist Papers (number 63). Nationalist views of Spartan society, which praised Spartan eugenicism and militarism became common in Germany in

3366-636: The syssitia (the mess halls to which each Spartan belonged). In Xenophon's telling, the legend of Lycurgus expanded even further, ascribing to him not only reforms but also the creation of the Lacedaemonian dual monarchy and state as well. The description of Lycurgus as a regent or guardian who establishes the laws characterises him as a selfless figure who places the good of his king and community before his own. To that end there are two main traditions relating to his regency. The first, in Herodotus,

3465-600: The "Spartan mirage", also drove praise of Lycurgus in other Greek states. The tradition of a timeless legislator with his divinely-inspired (or at least sanctioned) laws gave Sparta's constitution greater legitimacy while also making it inflexible. Even attempts to reform Spartan life during the Hellenistic period, by Spartan monarchs Agis IV and Cleomenes III , were viewed in their time as returning to Lycurgan tradition rather than an innovation. The stories of Lycurgus were constantly reinvented for each Spartan generation;

3564-466: The 5th century BC Greek historian Thucydides ' Archaeology indicates that the reforms were instituted some four hundred years prior to the end of the Peloponnesian war, placing them to 804 or 821 BC. The 4th century BC Greek general Xenophon, on the other hand, claimed that he was also responsible for the creation of the Lacedaemonian dual monarchy, placing him during the reign of

3663-571: The First Messenian War. Earlier sources conflate helots and douloi , who were chattel slaves , but later sources distinguish them. All free classes seem to have owned douloi. The Doric state of Sparta, copying the Doric Cretans , instituted a mixed governmental state : it was composed of elements of monarchical, oligarchical, and democratic systems. Isocrates refers to the Spartans as "subject to an oligarchy at home, to

3762-420: The Great Rhetra. Issuance of coinage was forbidden. Spartans were obliged to use iron obols (bars or spits), meant to encourage self-sufficiency and discourage avarice and the hoarding of wealth. A Spartan citizen in good standing (a Spartiate) was one who maintained his fighting skills, showed bravery in battle, ensured that his farms were productive, was married and had healthy children. Spartiate women were

3861-638: The Heraclid kings Eurysthenes and Procles , dated to c.  1003 BC . Modern scholars generally date the Great Rhetra to before the First Messenian War , placing it prior to 736 BC. Little consensus exists for any more specificity. Nor should Lycurgus necessarily be credited with, and therefore dated to, the rhetra: it may have been a charter created some time in the seventh century to justify and ennoble with antiquity Sparta's institutions, especially after Sparta's emergence as

3960-566: The Lycurgan agoge as a form of universal education especially in the way it supported the stability of the Spartan state. Into the Roman period, Sparta received privileged treatment from the Romans as in part a means to preserve Greek traditions to display to tourists: while this touristic Sparta at times veered toward the extreme, it also cultivated its Lycurgan inheritance by means of architecture, theatre, and retention of distinctive political institutions. The Plutarchian comparison between

4059-553: The Spartan army. Like the hómoioi ( ὅμοιοι , full Spartan citizens), the perioeci fought in the army as hoplites , probably in the same units. The perioeci had the right to own land, which would have been necessary to support those in the army. In the Classical period, the Spartans were not permitted to engage in any economically productive activities, and so the perioeci were responsible for Spartan manufacturing, including producing weapons and armour, as well as conducting

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4158-588: The Spartan citizen assembly ( Ekklesia ), could neither set the agenda of issues to be decided, nor debate them, merely vote on the alternatives presented to them. Neither could foreign embassies or emissaries address the assembly; they had to present their case to the Gerousia, which would then consult with the Ephors. Sparta considered all discourse from outside as a potential threat and all other states as past, present, or future enemies, to be treated with caution in

4257-569: The Spartan citizens. The economic reforms, which are supposed to have made Spartan citizens equal, never happened and were invented to legitimise redistributive policies in the Hellenistic period. Lycurgus' political reforms were supposedly promulgated in a Great Rhetra that he received from the Pythia . It, however, is not genuine and contains anachronistic contents. Regardless, Plutarch records it as having included provisions related to Sparta's religious and political practices: After dedicating

4356-418: The Spartans attributed every one of their institutions to him, except the institution of the dual monarchy. Because the Spartans attributed all manner of laws and customs to him, it is impossible to determine which laws (if any) are his in actuality. However, it is clear today, from comparisons with other archaic Greek states, that Spartan institutions such as men's dining halls, organisation of age cohorts, and

4455-536: The Spartans, or descended from pre-Dorian populations in the Peloponnese, is unknown. The perioeci were free, unlike the helots, but were not full Spartan citizens. They lived in their own cities in the perioecis , which were described by ancient authors as poleis . These cities were under the control of the Spartan state, but were self-governing on domestic issues. The perioeci were obliged to follow Spartan foreign policy, and supplied men to fight in

4554-436: The accounts of the Great Rhetra, Lycurgus is not credited with a radical reorganisation of Spartan life or with the institution of the ephorate . These early oral traditions – contra the written accounts – are "far from uniform". The earliest surviving written account on Lycurgus is in Herodotus, placing him as the guardian and regent of the early Argiad king Leobotes. Later accounts of Lycurgus' activities associate him with

4653-649: The age of 30, regardless of whether they were married or not. Besides the Spartiate class, there were many free non-citizen underclasses, many of them poorly described in classical sources. The Perioeci or Períoikoi , a social class and population group of non-citizen inhabitants. The Perioeci were free, unlike the helots , but were not full Spartan citizens. They had a central role in the Spartan economy, controlling commerce and business, as well as being responsible for crafts and manufacturing. The Sciritae were similar but fought as infantry not hopalites. There were also

4752-458: The alleged ban on precious metals to after Lycurgus and to different men. Ancient authors claimed of the Spartans a general aversion to commerce, which was also attributed to Lycurgus, who was supposed to have "forbade free men to touch anything to do with making money". This likely emerged from the fact that Spartan citizens, the spartiates or homoioi , were a leisurely class of land owners who looked down on manual labourers and craftsmen. Such

4851-403: The ancient Spartans. According to Plutarch , Lycurgus (to whom is attributed the establishment of the severe reforms for which Sparta has become renowned, sometime in the 9th century BC) first sought counsel from the god Apollo by obtaining an oracle from Delphi regarding the formation of his government. The divine proclamation, which he received in this manner, is known as a " rhetra " and

4950-433: The armed forces. Spartiates were full citizens of the Spartan state (or part of the demos ). Most inhabitants of Sparta were not considered citizens. Only those who had successfully undertaken military training, called the agoge , and who were members in good standing of syssitia (mess hall), were eligible. Usually, the only people eligible to receive the agoge were sons of Spartiate—men who could trace their ancestry to

5049-442: The chief priests of the state, and performed certain sacrifices and also maintained communication with the Delphic sanctuary, which always exercised great authority in Spartan politics . In the time of Herodotus (about 450 BC), their judicial functions had been restricted to cases dealing with heiresses , adoptions (although that seems to have been merely the religious duty of being present instead of making any decision) and

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5148-420: The classical syssitia after sumptuary restrictions, compulsory contributions from poorer citizens who previously abstained, and intermixture of rich and poor shortly before 500 BC. The silence of the rhetra, a text meant to describe and legitimise the Spartan political system of the seventh century, with regard to Sparta's ephors suggests that the ephorate was a product of a later reform at Sparta and

5247-540: The course of the Spartan state exclusively belonged to Spartan citizens, or Spartiates . The name perioeci roughly means "those dwelling around/nearby", deriving from περί , peri , "around", and οἶκος , oîkos , "dwelling, house". Perioeci and Spartans were collectively called the Lakedaimonians . They had a central role in the Spartan economy, controlling commerce and business, as well as being responsible for crafts and manufacturing, including producing

5346-574: The decline of Sparta through to Hellenistic times saw Lycurgus' praise extended to praise him for having creating an ideal Sparta, free from the moral and political decay of the real one. Admiration of the customs of Sparta, supposed to be established by Lycurgus, survived – with a break during the second century when Sparta was part of the Achaean League – continuously into the Sparta of the Roman Empire . Aristotle, for example, praised

5445-403: The early ninth century ( c.  885 BC ) to as late as early eighth century ( c.  776 BC ). There remains no consensus as to when he lived; some modern scholars deny that he existed at all. The reforms at various times attributed to him touch all aspects of Spartan society. They included the creation of the Spartan constitution (in most traditions after the dual monarchy),

5544-475: The elders and kings could set aside decisions of the apella, called the " rider ", was a later addition. However, the grammatical construction of preserved rhetra is consistent with it being part of the original text, a view taken by Massimo Nafissi in Companion to archaic Greece , believing that the idea that the set-aside provision was later inserted was itself a fabrication of the fourth century BC. Lycurgus

5643-429: The ephors, as well as to a council of elders . By 500 BC the Spartans had become increasingly involved in the political affairs of the surrounding city-states, often putting their weight behind pro-Spartan candidates. Shortly before 500 BC, as described by Herodotus, such an action fueled a confrontation between Sparta and Athens, when the two kings, Demaratus and Cleomenes, took their troops to Athens. However, just before

5742-538: The expensive sport of chariot racing at pan-Hellenic games. While most male Spartan citizens affected a generally consistent and relatively inexpensive form of dress at home, Spartans on campaign showed extreme wealth from the expense of their crimson dyes to the polish of their armour. However, while Xenophon claims this austere dress also came from Lycurgus, art from Laconia implies adoption after 500 BC, consistent with Thucydides claim that Spartans wore complex and luxurious clothing until "not long ago". Lycurgus

5841-440: The gerousia. Xenophon instead has Lycurgus forging an alliance with the most powerful non-royal citizens and forcing the laws through. Plutarch's narrative presented in his own voice instead consolidates prior disparate stories into a general upsurge of support from the kings, the people, and the aristocracy. In Plutarch's narrative, Lycurgus' laws cause backlash among the wealthy, who attempt to have him stoned. After he flees to

5940-487: The heat of battle, King Demaratus changed his mind about attacking the Athenians and abandoned his co-king. For this reason, Demaratus was banished, and eventually found himself at the side of Persian King Xerxes for his invasion of Greece twenty years later (480 BC), after which the Spartans enacted a law demanding that one king remain behind in Sparta while the other commanded the troops in battle. Aristotle describes

6039-405: The imposition of the Spartan mess halls called syssitia , the redistribution of land to each citizen by head, Spartan austerity and frugality, and Sparta's unique wedding and funerary customs. None of these reforms can be concretely attributed to Lycurgus. Most of the reforms likely date to the late sixth century BC (shortly before 500 BC), postdating his supposed life by centuries; some of

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6138-436: The kings were fined in drachma and talents as well as by Spartan state rewards and ransoms. Plutarch's attempted to reconcile the evidence by depicting the Spartans allowing gold and silver for public use but retaining the allegedly Lycurgan restrictions on private use. Such a depiction, however, is not consistent with actions by Spartan generals during the Peloponnesian War . Other ancient authors were more equivocal, dating

6237-517: The kingship at Sparta as "a kind of unlimited and perpetual generalship" (Pol. iii. I285a), Here also, however, the royal prerogatives were curtailed over time. Dating from the period of the Persian wars, the king lost the right to declare war , and was accompanied in the field by two ephors. He was supplanted also by the ephors in the control of foreign policy. Over time, the kings became mere figureheads except in their capacity as generals . Real power

6336-420: The kingship, and this became perpetual. Modern scholars have advanced various theories to account for the anomaly. Some theorise that this system was created in order to prevent absolutism , and is paralleled by the analogous instance of the dual consuls of Rome . Others believe that it points to a compromise arrived at to end the struggle between two families or communities . Other theories suggest that this

6435-417: The late seventh or early sixth century. It likely emerged from Spartan success in that period and a desire to explain it. His legend was also constantly reworked and expanded through the course of the classical Greek period by securing for Spartans in their times divine sanction and greater legitimacy for actions which they claimed to be a return to Lycurgus' laws. In the earlier legends of Lycurgus, namely in

6534-528: The later nineteenth century through to the Nazi regime . Such views, however, were not unanimous. The German classicist Karl Julius Beloch , for example, was one of the first to take a highly critical view of Sparta, suggesting that Lycurgus was a fiction and his Great Rhetra was a fabrication. In the aftermath of the First World War German nationalism embraced Sparta and Lycurgus, seeing it as

6633-465: The later-more-influential Eurypontid dynasty instead, specifically as regent of Charilaus ; the disputes indicate that the two royal houses by the historical period attempted to associate themselves by blood with the figure. Herodotus provides two accounts for how the laws which Lycurgus enacted came to him: in the first version, Lycurgus receives those laws from Apollo through the Pythia at Delphi; in

6732-442: The mess halls created a citizen body of some 9,000 men. Each of these mess halls also played a role in military organisation: each likely had 15 men with three mess halls forming a "sworn band"; but after the perioikoi were merged into the Spartan army, each mess hall likely formed its own band. Such messes were likely preceded in the seventh century BC poet Alcman's time with andreia (private men's eating clubs). They became

6831-401: The most powerful state in Greece, Lycurgus was honoured with a hero cult , which may have developed slowly into the Roman imperial period into full godhood. His temple and sanctuary, according to Pausanias , included a grave for his son with the name Eukosmos (referring to good order) with the graves of the Spartan dual monarchy's founders' wives nearby. The idealisation of Sparta, called

6930-568: The most powerful state in Greece. One artefact, the Disc of Iphitos , also allegedly documents Lycurgus' involvement with the formation of the Olympic Games and would therefore place him c.  776 BC , per the philosopher Aristotle . The disc, however, is likely a forgery from the fourth century BC. The ancients had two solutions for this lack of chronological clarity: the historian Timaeus posited two Lycurguses: one who did

7029-564: The only Greek women to hold property rights on their own, and were required to practice sports before marriage. Although they had no formal political rights, they were expected to speak their minds boldly and their opinions were heard. Spartan society can be represented by a three-layer pyramid ruled by the government. Legally-defined social classes were quite rigid and important in ancient Sparta. They substantially controlled social roles. The Helots did agricultural labour, spinning, weaving, and other manual labour. The Perioeci carried out most of

7128-445: The opening paragraph). Most attempts to date his life are based on when the Great Rhetra, which promulgated Lycurgus' reforms, occurred. The most accepted date in the ancient world was that based on the genealogy of Ephorus and the chronology of Eratosthenes, which dated the rhetra to 118 years after the reign of one of Sparta's founding kings, Procles , which corresponds to c.  885 BC . Alternatively, an excursus in

7227-403: The original inhabitants of the city. There were two exceptions to this rule. Trophimoi ("foster sons") were foreign teenagers invited to study. This was meant as a supreme honour. The pro-Spartan Athenian magnate Xenophon sent his two sons to Sparta for their education as trophimoi . Alcibiades , being an Alcmaeonid and thus a member of a family with old and strong connections to Sparta,

7326-403: The poorer citizens were, over time, removed from the citizen rolls, for inability to pay dues to the syssitia . Demands for redistribution, heard by the reformist Spartan monarchs Agis IV and Cleomenes III , led to the creation of a myth that Lycurgus redistributed the land of Laconia and Messenia equally among the homoioi with the helots as bound tenants. The consensus among scholars

7425-435: The public roads (the meaning of that last term is unclear, and has been interpreted in a number of ways, including the possibility of "voyages"; that is, the royal duties in communicating with Delphi including the organization of the official missions, though that possibility was later deemed unlikely by the very researcher who proposed it.). Civil cases were decided by the ephors , and criminal jurisdiction had been passed to

7524-519: The reformist Spartan monarchs Agis IV and Cleomenes III who sought to redistribute Sparta's land. The reforms attributed to Lycurgus, however, have been praised by ancients and moderns alike, seeing at various times different morals projected on a figure of which so little concrete can be known. A multitude of ancient sources mention Lycurgus; it is, however, troubling inasmuch as those accounts evolved according to then-contemporary political priorities and that they are profoundly inconsistent. The oldest

7623-482: The reforms and a later one with the same name who was present at the first Olympics. Eratosthenes instead posited the disc reflected informal Olympics held before 776 BC. The tradition in Sparta of Lycurgus' existence dates to some time between the archaic age and the fifth century. Inasmuch as no Lycurgus is mentioned in Tyrtaeus, it is likely that the legend dates to shortly after Tyrtaeus' time, and therefore

7722-400: The reforms, such as for the redistribution of land, are fictitious. The extent of the Lycurgan myth emerges from Sparta's self-justification, seeking to endow its customs with timeless and divinely sanctioned antiquity. That antiquity was also malleable, reinvented at various times to justify the new as a return to Lycurgus' ideal society: his land reforms, for example, are attested only after

7821-405: The regency has little difficulty in placing him in a position to promulgate his laws. But the latter tradition where he leaves the city requires him to be recalled. In Aristotle's version, recounted by Plutarch, Lycurgus leads his followers into the city and occupies the agora to impose his laws; backed by Apolline divine approval, he forces the tyrannical Charilaus to accede to them and institutes

7920-445: The rule of law, the mixed constitution, equality, and universal education. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau , who derived most of his knowledge of Lycurgus from Plutarch's biography, viewed the figure positively as standing for an austere civil morality acting for the collective good . This view of Lycurgus and Sparta saw him associate Lycurgus' reforms with the " general will ". Positive views of Sparta pervaded some articles in

8019-500: The second, based on Sparta's own traditions, Lycurgus bases the reforms off of existing laws in Crete. Spartan and Cretan institutions did indeed have common characteristics, but, though some direct borrowing may have occurred, such similarities are in general more likely to be because of the common Dorian inheritance of Sparta and Crete rather than because some individual such as Lycurgus imported Cretan customs to Sparta. Some versions of

8118-463: The story is rejected by Plutarch, Lycurgus is also said to have instituted the crypteia , a select group of young men tasked with clandestinely killing helots in the night. Both the agoge and crypteia likely emerged some time during the seventh century alongside the institution of the ephorate. The education of Spartan women, mainly focusing on physical fitness, or, supposedly, physical fitness to produce healthy children for eugenic purposes,

8217-420: The story say that Lycurgus subsequently traveled as far as Egypt, Spain, and India. In the narrative of Lycurgus' reforms in Herodotus, Lycurgus is supposed to have created much of the Spartan constitution, including the gerousia and the ephorate (respectively, the Spartan council of elders and annually-elected overseeing magistrates). He also is supposed to have reorganised Spartan military life and instituted

8316-462: The temple of Athena Chalcioecus and has one of his eyes put out by an adolescent, his opponents back down and he forgives the adolescent. The extent to which this story of revolution and conflict with the wealthy is driven by – or a retrojection from – the experiences of the reformist Spartan kings Agis IV and Cleomenes III is unclear; the two later Spartan kings used the Lycurgan legend to justify their redistributive policies (and violent means) as

8415-448: The tools with which Spartan houses could be built, to encourage simplicity. Archaeological evidence of foreign wares postdates the eighth century, with a decline in imports met by local production by the sixth century. The alleged simplicity of Spartan dwellings evidently did not extend to their interiors; and Spartans were famous across Greece for the jewellery worn by Spartan women, their number of slaves and horses, and their dominance at

8514-453: The trade and commerce, since Spartiates were forbidden from engaging in commercial activity. Spartiate-class people were expected to be supported by their kleroi and Helots, and to do no work, except that related to military conflict. All classes, including Helots, fought in the Spartan military. The Mothax class were particularly prominent as military leaders, and the Helots made up about 80% of

8613-480: The trade that the Spartan state needed. For instance, the large number of masks and figurines dedicated at the site of the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia were probably produced by perioecic craftsmen. Like the Spartans, the perioeci owned helots, which means that the main division in the Spartan society was between Spartan citizens and perioeci on one side, and helots on the other. For instance, in 413, during

8712-589: The use of iron money were not entirely out of the norm and had previously existed in other Greek cities: what made them distinctive was for how long they had been preserved at Sparta. The character of many of the economic and social reforms attributed to Lycurgus was allegedly to ensure that citizens competed with each other only in merit rather than in wealth. However, many of the social reforms which are attributed to Lycurgus postdate him by centuries, occurring between 600–500 BC after various Spartan conquest of Messenia and Cynuria made landholdings available for

8811-416: The very least, even when bound with alliance treaties. Lycurgus of Sparta Lycurgus ( / l aɪ ˈ k ɜːr ɡ ə s / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Λυκοῦργος Lykourgos ) was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta , credited with the formation of its eunomia ( ' good order ' ), involving political, economic, and social reforms to produce a military-oriented Spartan society in accordance with

8910-530: The weapons and armour of the Spartan army , as the higher-ranking Spartan citizens considered all commercial and money-making activities to be unworthy of them. The perioeci were also the only people allowed to freely travel outside the Spartan state's borders, which the Spartans were not, unless given permission. Like the Spartiates, the perioeci owned helots and fought in the army. Other major cities in

9009-422: Was admitted as a trophimos and famously excelled in the agoge as well as otherwise (he was rumoured to have seduced one of the two queen consorts with his exceptional looks). The other exception was that a helot's son could be enrolled as syntrophoi (comrades, literally "the ones fed, or reared, together") if a Spartiate formally adopted him and paid his way. A free-born Spartan who had successfully completed

9108-443: Was an arrangement that was met when a community of villages combined to form the city of Sparta. Subsequently the two chiefs from the largest villages became kings. Another theory suggests that the two royal houses represent respectively the Spartan conquerors and their Achaean predecessors: those who hold this last view appeal to the words attributed by Herodotus (v. 72) to Cleomenes I : "I am no Dorian, but an Achaean"; although this

9207-401: Was not Lycurgan – pace Herodotus and Plutarch – in origin. In fact, archaeological discoveries at Sparta – showing the decline of Spartan art expressed on vases as well as a sudden expansion of agricultural labour in the mid-sixth century BC – suggest that much of the communitarian reforms attributed to Lycurgus may date to that time. One of the illusions of the Spartan mirage

9306-421: Was often given the opportunity to seek asylum in other states. The ephors , chosen by popular election from the whole body of citizens, represented a democratic element in the constitution . After the ephors were introduced, they, together with the two kings, were the executive branch of the state. Ephors themselves had more power than anyone in Sparta, although the fact that they only stayed in power for

9405-472: Was seen as a more important political theorist than Plato and as one of the most famous, moral, and effective legislators of the Greek tradition. The main elements of Lycurgus' legacy are through the laws attributed to him. In the modern world this took on a number of aspects: the stability of the Lacedaemonian state from Lycurgus' balanced constitution; universal male citizen conscription and contribution (via

9504-410: Was similarly attributed to Lycurgus. In Spartan society, Lycurgus and his laws were received as the creator of the Spartan way of life. Xenophon's pro-Spartan Spartan Constitution "unreservedly regard[s Lycurgus] as the Spartan legislator par excellence , who arranged the Spartan way of life once and for all". For these achievements, which they viewed as having facilitated the emergence of Sparta as

9603-420: Was the illusion that Spartan citizens were economically equal: that no citizen owned more land than another. There is, however, no evidence of equal land ownership at Sparta, with exception of Cleomenes' five-year regime . Land inequality increased through Spartan history, mediated by conquests abroad which allowed poorer citizens to retain a reasonable standard of living. When conquests ended after 550 BC,

9702-399: Was to make it impossible, or at least difficult, for Spartans to purchase luxury goods. Coinage came to Greece in the 550s BC; it is not possible that any law mentioning coins dates to the eighth century BC (or earlier), when Lycurgus is supposed to have lived. Nor is any ban on gold and silver mentioned in Herodotus. Usage of gold and silver at Sparta is implied by other reports that

9801-414: Was transferred to the ephors and to the gerousia . Despite eventually losing much of their power, the kings retained much respect in the religious sense. They were highly revered after death, with elaborate mourning rituals described as duties of both Spartiates and Perioeci. In addition, there tended to be extreme reluctance to execute them for crimes; even in cases of a king being convicted of treason, he

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