and imprison even the persons of their kings, if they acted in a manner unbecoming their station.

In order to reconcile the people to this mode of government, in which, though they had a nominal, they had no real share, Lycurgus fell upon two expedients, equally bold and decisive. These were to divide all the lands of the state equally among the citizens, and to abolish the use of money. The lands of Laconia he divided into thirty thousand parts, and those of Sparta into nine thousand; and these he portioned out to the respective inhabitants of each district. To abolish the use of money, he did not think it necessary to deprive those, who were possessed of gold and silver, of their property. He thought it sufficient to cry down the value of those metals, and to order that nothing but iron money should pass in exchange for any commodity. This coin also he made so heavy, and fixed at so low a rate, that a cart and two oxen were required to carry home a sum of ten minæ, or about twenty pounds sterling. As this coin had no currency among the other states of Greece, it soon fell into contempt even among the Spartans themselves; who despised it so much, that money was at last brought into disuse, and few troubled themselves with more than was necessary to answer their daily expenses.

To enforce the practice of temperance and sobriety, Lycurgus further ordained, that all the men should eat in one common hall in public. Every one was obliged to send thither his provisions monthly, consisting of one bushel of flour, eight measures of wine, five pounds of cheese, and two pounds and a half of figs; and this regulation was so rigidly observed, that a long time after, when Agis returned from a successful expedition, he was severely reprimanded for having eaten with his queen in private. Black broth was their favourite dish; of what ingredients it was composed is not known; but, as they used no flesh in their entertainments, it probably resembled those lenten soups which are still in use on the continent, Dionysius, the tyrant, found this fare very unpalatable; but, as the cook asserted, the broth was nothing without the seasoning of fatigue - and hunger.

To accustom the youth to early habits of discipline and obedience, Lycurgus took their education out of the hands of their parents, and committed it to masters appointed by the state. So desirous, indeed, was he of having a hardy and robust race of citizens, that he began the work of education, even from the time of the mother's conception, making it her duty to use such diet and exercise, as might fit her to produce a healthy and vigorous offspring. Nay, such children as were born with any capital defect, were not suffered to be brought up, but were exposed to perish in a cavern near mount Taygetus; and such as, upon a public view, were deemed to be sound and healthy, were adopted as children of the state, and delivered to their parents to be nursed with rigour and severity. From their tenderest years they were accustomed to make no choice in their eating, not to be afraid in the dark, or when left alone; not to be peevish or fretful; to walk barefoot; to lie hard at nights; to wear the same clothes summer and winter; and to fear nothing from their equals. At the age of seven they were taken from their parents, and delivered over to the classes for a public education... Their discipline there was still more rigid and severe. They were still obliged to go barefoot, their heads were shaved, and they fought with one another naked.

To enable them the better to endure bodily pain without complaining, they were annually whipped at the altar of Diana; and the boy that bore this punishment with the greatest fortitude came off victorious. Plutarch tells us, that he has seen several children expire under this cruel treatment; and he makes mention of one, who having stolen a fox, and hid it under his coat, chose rather to let the animal tear out his bowels than discover the theft. In order to prepare them for the stratagems of war, they were permitted to steal from one another; but if they were caught in the fact, they were punished for their want of dexterity. At twelve years of age they were removed into a class of a more advanced kind. There their labour and discipline were increased with their years. They had now their skirmishes between small parties, and their mock fights between larger bodies; and in these they sometimes

fought with such obstinacy, that they were seen to lose their eyes, and even their lives, before they gave up the contest. Such was the constant discipline of their minority, which lasted till the age of thirty, before which they were not permitted to marry, to go into the troops, or to bear any office in the state.

The discipline of the virgins was as severe as that of the young men. They were inured to a life of labour and industry till they were twenty years of age, before which time they were not allowed to be marriageable. They had also their peculiar exercises. They ran, wrestled, and pitched the bar; and performed all these feats naked before the whole body of the citizens. Yet this was thought no way indecent, as it was supposed that the frequent view of the person would tend rather to check than excite every irregular desire. An education so manlike did not fail to bestow upon the Spartan woman equal vigour of body and mind. They were bold, hardy, and patriotic, filled with a sense of honour, and a love of military glory. Some foreign women, in conversation with the wife of Leonidas, saying, that the Spartan women alone knew how to govern the men, she boldly replied, "The Spartan women alone bring forth men." A mother was known to give her son, who was going to battle, his shield, with this gallant advice, "Return with it, or return upon it;" thereby in effect telling him, that, rather than throw it away in flight, he should be borne home upon it dead. Another hearing that her son was killed fighting for his country, she answered without any emotion, "It was for that I brought him into the world." After the battle of Leuctra, the parents of those who fell in the action went to the temples to thank the gods that their sons had done their duty, while those whose children survived that dreadful day were overwhelmed with grief.

Besides these general regulations, there were many other subordinate maxims, that, by long and constant practice, obtained the force of laws. The Spartans were expressly forbid to exercise any mechanic art. War was their chief occupation; and in time of peace they employed themselves in hunting, or bodily exer

cises. The Helots, or slaves, tilled their lands for them, and received for their labour a bare subsistence. Nor was this the only hardship to which these unhappy men were subject; they were in a manner bound to the soil, nor was it even lawful to sell them to strangers, or to make them free: nay, if at any time their numbers increased to such a degree as to excite the suspicion of their cruel masters, there was a Cryptia, or secret act, by which it was permitted to destroy them without mercy. Thucydides relates, that two thousand of these slaves disappeared at once, without ever after being heard of. Nor were they only thus wantonly put to death, they were even made a mockery of while living: they were frequently intoxicated on purpose, and in that condition exposed before the children, in order to deter them from this kind of debauchery.

As to the citizens themselves, being possessed, by means of their slaves, of competence and leisure, they were almost always in company in their large common halls, where they met and conversed with one another. The love of their country was their ruling passion, and all self-interest seemed lost in the general wish for the welfare of the public. Pedarctus, having missed the honour of being chosen one for the three hundred who had a certain rank in the city, converted his disappointment into joy, "that there were three hundred better men in Sparta than he."

The Spartans were forbid to make frequent war upon the same people, lest they should teach their discipline to others. When they had broken and routed their enemies, they never pursued them farther than was necessary to make themselves sure of the victory. This had an excellent effect; for the enemy, knowing that all who resisted were put to the sword, often fled, as they were convinced that this was the most effectual means of ensuring their safety. With the Spartans themselves the case was directly the reverse: for their first and most inviolable maxim was, never to turn their backs on the enemy, however unequal to them in numbers, nor ever to deliver up their arms till they resigned them with their life. Nay, they would not suffer the

contrary notion to be propagated, or even mentioned among them. For when the poet Archilochus came to Sparta, he was obliged to quit the city, for having asserted in one of his poems, that it was better for a man to lose his arms than his life. Thus depending upon their valour alone, their legislator would not allow them to wall the city. It was his opinion, that a wall of men was preferable to a wall of brick, and that valour, which is obliged to take shelter within a fortification, is little better than cowardice.

Such was the general purport of the institutions of Lycurgus, which from their tendency gained the esteem and admiration of all the surrounding states. In order to render them as lasting as they were excellent, Lycurgus pretended that something was still wanting to the completion of his plan, and that it was necessary for him to go and consult the Oracle of Delphos. In the meantime, he persuaded his countrymen to take an oath for the strict observance of all his laws till his return, and then left Sparta with a firm resolution of never seeing it more. When he arrived at Delphos, he inquired of the Oracle, whether the laws he had made were sufficient to render the Lacedæmonians happy; and being told that they were, he sent this answer to Sparta, and then voluntarily starved himself to death. Others say, that he died in Crete, ordering his body to be burnt, and his ashes to be thrown into the sea. Whichever of these was the case, he equally obliged his countrymen, by the oath they had taken, to observe his laws for ever; which, indeed, they were sufficiently inclined to do, from a conviction of their real and intrinsic merit.

The first opportunity which the Spartans had to display the superiority of their power among the neighbouring states, was in the war between them and the Messenians. This war lasted twenty years, and is remarkable for two incidents that are well worthy of notice. The Spartans having drained their city of all its male inhabitants, in order to carry on the war, and having bound themselves by an oath not to return home till they had conquered the enemy; their women,