236 GRECIAN EDUCATION. 



Dressed in under garments (;(j/Tfti») and provided with woolen 

 shirts without sleeves, he remained in this class five years, then he be- 

 gan a more self-denying life, obtained the cloak (^if^xTtcv, x^'^'^'^t) ^ 

 square cloth, and was called the t<aa«5. From the fifteenth or six- 

 teenth year, he was called c-/ J'cewvjjs, after the eighteenth year f^eXXsi: 

 f )jv, as he approached the twentieth year he was called ir^oni^tiij and 

 after he had passed it s/fjjv. Hitherto amongst the t(p7i^ot^ he is 

 now ranked with the young men, called (npui^svi^ till he reached the 

 age of eighty years. From this period he is considered a man, and par- 

 ticipates in civil and military duty. His leisure is spent in the Lesche 

 and public places, in conversation and superintendence of the young — 

 for every citizen in Sparta is considered as a father of all. In this way 

 his influence is exerted, till having reached the age of sixty, he is eligi- 

 ble- to the Gerousia, and becomes the counsellor and director of the 

 public. To proceed more directly to their instruction, it is stated in the 

 most authentic accounts we have of them — that even from their boy- 

 hood, they were accustomed to accurate thought, correct decisions, to ve- 

 racity in speech, and to express themselves laconically and to the pur- 

 pose. During meals these things were not overlooked. To one was 

 assigned some question for solution, another was required to sing. If 

 the question was not immediately answered, or incorrectly, or imsatis- 

 factorily, reasons were assigned, corporeal chastisement followed (such 

 as biting the thumbs,) and that the officer might not be neglectful of his 

 duty, some of the citizens were from time to time present, who noticing 

 on his part delinquency in his duty, would subsequently submit him to 

 punishment. It may be asked, what did they study } It is not to be 

 supposed that intellectual training would take a very wide range amongst 

 this people. The elegancies of literature they could not regard as im- 

 portant. It was only what they needed in the limited sphere in which 

 they were to act, that they regarded as important. Gymnastics, music, 

 vocal and instrumental — lyre and flute, dancing. Reading and writing 

 were not prominent matters, they were pursued to a limited extent, but 

 as far as was thought necessary. Grammar does not figure amongst the 

 branches of their education. They did not consider Grammar as de- 

 serving of any special attention, and they condemned both Rhetoric and 

 Oratory, each as a ts^^ti uvev uXe^eiai. Arithmetic, so far as it is ne- 

 cessary in common life, was taught without any special system, or with- 

 out any formality, in ordinary intercourse intellectually, the same may 

 be said of Geometry. JMaihematics were not pursued as a specific study. 

 The only thing in which they were systematic was Gymnastics. There 

 are various other interesting facts recorded in reference to these matters, 



