MT 



8PAUTA. 



ft splendid theatre of white marble; opposite to which 



wr tb* monument* of Pausaniat and of Leonidu; new the Utter 

 WM pillar inscribed with the names of those who fell at Thermo- 

 pyl, with the names of their father*. 



Thrr* wai a place called Thoomelida at Sparta, in which were the 

 tomb* of the royal house of the Agi.iic. In the same quarter was 

 the temj.1- of Diana lasora, or Pitanatis, and those of other divinities. 

 Not far off, and on the banks of the Eurotas, was the Dromus, or 

 raofoourw, which contained two gymnasia. The Dromus was also 

 embellished with various statues and temples. A little outside of 

 the Dromus, Pausanias was shown the site of the house of Meneluus, 

 on* of the Grecian leaders at Troy. At the south-east of the Dromus 

 was the Platanistes, which was nearly surrounded by running water, 

 and so called from the plane-trees growing there. Two bridges formed 

 the approaches to it, on one of which was a statue of Lycurgu?, and 

 of Hercules on the other. Like other parts of the city it contained 

 several architectural remains in the time of Pausanias. 



In another part of the city was the decorated public-hall, with 

 various chapels dedicated to heroes, about it. Not far from the 

 theatre, he adds, was a temple of Neptune Qenethlius; and, after 

 advancing a little, there was a small height, on which was an ancient 

 temple, with a wooden statue of Venus in armour, and having an 

 upper story sacred to Venus Morpbo. 



Lastly, there were temples of Diana Orthitt and Latona in the place 

 called Umntcum, not far from which the Acropolis was probably 

 situated. The Lacedemonians had not a citadel of conspicuous 

 i-1-vMion, like the Cadmeia at Thebes and the Larissa at Argos ; but 

 as there were several hills within the city, the highest of these was 

 called the Acropolis. It contained, amongst a great number of other 

 buildings, the temple of Minerva Chalcioecus (that is, of the bronze 

 house), begun by Tyudareus, and afterwards made of bronze, on which 

 the actions of Hercules and of Castor and Pollux were worked in 

 relief, together with other representations, of which the largest and 

 most admirable were the Birth of Minerva and the figures of Neptune 

 and Amphitrite. Of the other monuments in the same locality we 

 shall only mention a bronze statue of Jupiter, which Pausanias says 

 was the oldest extant of that material; it was formed of several 

 separate pieces hammered together with nails. 



Sparta was divided into five local tribes the PitanaUc, in the 

 centre ; the Limnato) or Marshmen, north-west ; the MessoaUe, south- 

 east ; the *.gidic, west ; and Cynosurenses, south. The general form 

 of the city was semicircular, and its circumference was about six 

 Roman miles. It was not regularly fortified till the time of the 

 Roman interference in Greece: it was completely surrounded with 

 walls by order of Appius, the Roman legate. (Pausan., vii. 9, 3.) 

 Two hundred and fifty years afterwards, when Pausanias visited 

 Sparta, both walls and gates were in existence : no traces of them are 

 visible now. 



C'omtitution and Government. This was of a very mixed nature, 

 consisting of three or even four distinct elements, namely, royalty, a 

 council of elders or senate, a general assembly, and, in later times, the 

 Ephoralty. 



The kingly authority existed at Sparta from the time of the con- 

 quest of the Peloponnesus by the Spartans, and was always shared by 

 two persons at the same time. The two kings were the successive 

 representatives of the two royal families descended from Eurysthenes 

 and Procles, the twin sons of Aristodemus, under whom the conquest 

 of Lacouia was achieved. (Herod, vi. 52.) The constitutional powers 

 of the kings were very limited. They presided over the council of 

 eldeis (Herod, vi. 57 ; Thucyd. i. 20), and the vote of each counted 

 for no more than that of a private senator. They had the right of 

 addressing the public assembly; they sat as judges in a separate 

 court of their own, where they decided upon private matters of 

 importance. They were the commanders of the Spartan forces, and 

 had the power of choosing from among the citizens persons to act as 

 Proxeni, or protectors of foreigners visiting Sparta. When they had 

 once crossed the borders of Laconia at the head of their forces, their 

 authority became unlimited; on their return home, however, they 

 were accountable for their conduct as generals. In fact in some 

 instances the kings were dethroned or punished for misconduct and 

 mismanagement as generals. They were not allowed to conclude 

 treaties, or to determine the fate of cities, without communicating 

 with the authorities at home. In the most ancient times the two 

 kings had a joint command, but this led to inconvenience, and a law 

 wa passed, that in future one only of the two kings should have the 

 command of the army on foreign service. The Spartan kings united 

 the characters of priest and king (Herod, vi. 60), and officiated as 



igh pnest ' the nation at all the public sacrifices offered for the 

 *ate. On the accession of a king, all debts due from private iudi- 

 Yidnals, to the state or the king, were remitted : and on the death of 

 one of the kings, his funeral solemnities were celebrated by the whole 

 community. There was a general mourning and suspension of all 

 public busincM for ten day. (Herod, vi 68.) 



The senate (Gerusia) or council of elders was the aristocratical 

 alement of the constitution, and not peculiar to Sparta alone, but also 

 found in other Dorian states. It included the two kings, who sat as 

 president*, and consitted of 30 members, 10 from each of the three 

 tribes, aud one from each of the divisions called obtc. It was confined 



SPARTA, M8 



to men of distinguished character and station : no one was eligible to 

 it till he was 60 years of age (Hut, ' Lycur.,' 26), and the additional 

 qualifications were also of an aristocratic nature. (Arist, ' Pol., 1 ii. 

 6, 16.) The election was determined by vote, and the office was 

 holden for life, and irresponsible. The duties of the councillors were 

 deliberative, judicial, and executive. In the first capacity they pre- 

 pared measures and passed preliminary laws, which were laid before 

 the popular assembly. As a criminal court they could punish with 

 death or degradation, and that too without being restrained by a code 

 of written laws. (Arist, 'Pol,' ii. 6.) They also appear to have 

 exercised a judicial superintendence and censorship over the lives and 

 manners of the citizens (Aul. Cell, xviii. 3), and probably were 

 allowed a kind of patriarchal authority to enforce the observance of 

 ancient usage and discipline. (Thirl., ' Hist, of Greece,' i. p. 818.) 



The Ekklesia, or general assembly of the Spartan citizens, was not 

 competent to originate any measure, but only to adopt or reject without 

 alteration the laws and measures submitted to it by the proper authori- 

 ties, a limitation which almost fixed the character of the Spartan con- 

 stitution, and justifies an observation of Demosthenes (' Lept.,' p. 489), 

 that the Spartan senate was in many respects supreme. All citizens 

 above the age of 30, not labouring uuder any disabilities, were 

 admissible to the Ekklesia, or Apella, as it was called in the old Dorian 

 dialect; but except magistrates, and especially the ephors aud kings, 

 no one addressed the people without being called upon. The same 

 public officers also put the question to the vote ; and as the magis- 

 trates only were the speakers and leaders of the assembly, the reso- 

 lutions of the whole people are (particularly in foreign matters) spoken 

 of as the decrees of those authorities alone. The voting was by 

 acclamation. The regular meetings were holden every full moon, and 

 in cases of emergency extraordinary assemblies were called. 



The popular assembly alone had the power to " proclaim a war, 

 conclude a peace, enter into an armistice for any length of time, and 

 all negotiations with foreign powers, though conducted by the kings 

 and ephors, could be ratified by the same authority only." (Miiller, 

 ' Dorians.') The highest oflicers of the state, such as magistracies and 

 priesthoods, were filled up "by the votes of the people; cases of 

 disputed succession to the throne were decided by them ; changes in 

 the constitution were proposed before them, and all new laws, after a 

 previous resolution of the senate, were ratified by them." Accord- 

 ing to the theory of the constitution, the Ekklesia possessed the 

 supreme political and legislative authority at Sparta, but subject to so 

 many checks and limitations, that the government of the state is 

 often spoken of as an aristocracy. One of these limitations was the 

 Ephoralty, a power apparently foreign to the constitution as esta- 

 blished by Lycurgus, and which appears in the first instance to have 

 owed its aggrandisement to the connection established between itself 

 and the assembly. In after times it encroached upon and overpowered 

 the royal authority, and became the supporter of oligarchical prin- 

 ciples and privileges. 



The free citizens of the community were divided into two classes : 

 one composed of the Spartans, or descendants of the Dorian con- 

 querors of Laconia, and other individuals from time to time, but 

 sparingly, associated with them ; the other, of a subject population, 

 living not in the city, but in the country, aud called Perireoi, or 

 ' dwellers round,' who, though personally free, were denied all political 

 privileges, the government and administration of the state being 

 confined to the Spartans exclusively. 



In theory aud name, the constitution as settled by Lycurgus was 

 a democracy, with two hereditary magistrates at its head; but in 

 practice (at least before the encroachments of the ephoralty) it worked 

 as if the supreme authority had been placed in the hands of a 

 minority, and therefore was in reality a limited aristocracy, inde- 

 pendent and irrespective of the relation between the subject aud the 

 ruling classes. From his very birth every Spartan boy was treated 

 as the child of the state, and as such was liable to be exposed to die 

 at the discretion of his father's kin, if he was a deformed or sickly 

 infant. In his earliest years he was not left entirely to the manage- 

 ment of his parents, though under their care, and at the age of seven 

 he entered upon a course of public discipline, increasing in severity 

 as he approached manhood ; and as this education had only one end 

 in view, that of training citizens to eerve and defend their country, 

 the discipline was in every respect subservient to this object. No 

 accomplishments or arts, except of a military character, were taught, 

 while every effort was made to ensure military skill, activity, fortitude, 

 and bravery. The Spartan was to be taught both to dare and to bear 

 with fortitude ; aud for this purpose lie was inured from his youth 

 to a coarse and scanty fare, to insufficient clothing, to self-denial, and 

 the severest trials of pain and hardship. (' Cicero, 'Tus. Qutcst" v. 27.) 



By another custom, the Spartan youths were compelled, sometimes 

 from hunger, sometimes at the command of their captains, to get 

 provisions or anything else by foraging in the fields or plundering 

 houses ; if successful, they retained their spoil, and were honoured 

 with praise; if detected, they were punished, not for the attempt, 

 but for their want of ingenuity. They were taught music, to sing, 

 and to play on the flute aud the harp, but only with the view of 

 forming their moral tastes ; and therefore the airs aud the songs that 

 they learnt were of a sacred or martial character. Hence the poetry 

 of Homer was in very early times introduced into Sparta; aud 



