LACED^EMON. 



493 



I 



serviceable to the state. Letters were taught only for 

 use, not tor ornament ; and the Spartans, while famed 

 for wisdom, were never eminent tor learning. Great 

 attention was paid to conversation ; and, while loqua- 

 ciousness was reprobated, the boys were exercised to 

 quickness of reply, conciseness of expression, and sati- 

 rical strokes of humour. They were principally taught 

 to cherish an ardent and paramount love of their coun- 

 try ; and formed to a high principle of honour, espe- 

 cially of sensibility to applause and shame. They were 

 allowed only one garment, which was to serve equally 

 for winter and summer ; were accustomed to sleep on 

 rushes, which they were obliged to gather for them- 

 selves ; and were supplied with very plain and scanty 

 food ; but encouraged to steal whatever they could, 

 provided they accomplished the theft without detec- 

 tion. As they approached the years of puberty, their 

 discipline became more strict, and their labour more se- 

 vere. No kind of remission or indulgence was permit- 

 ted, except during military service ; and, while the 

 city was the scene of toil, study, spare diet, and rigid 

 discipline, the camp was a place of rest, relaxation, and 

 luxury. Till the age of thirty, no one was permitted 

 to intermeddle with political or judicial affairs ; nor 

 was either prhate study, or domestic business, consi- 

 dered as reputable ; but it was every man's duty to at- 

 tend the place* of instruction, and to bestow a portion 

 of his time on military and athletic exercise. Poetry 

 and music were allowed, under the direction of the 

 magistrate, but rather on public festivals, than for pri- 

 vate recreation ; and the amusements most encouraged, 

 were hunting, and conversational meetings. In these 

 conversations, mirth of a peculiar species, the mirth of 

 wit and wisdom united, was prescribed ; and, while 

 all were trained from their youth to a ready and deter- 

 mined style of reply, great care was taken to preserve, 

 at the same time, a graceful, respectful, and even mo- 

 dest dantcmnnur. The young were constantly under the 

 inspection of the old, to whom the greatest reverence 

 WM recommended, and under whose eye a talent of 

 circumspection and attention to rules was acquired. 

 To prevent the corruption of Spartan manners, all 

 travelling into foreign countries was prohibited, and 

 strangers admitted under great limitations. To pre- 

 serve the lUtc from the insurrection of the slaves, or 

 Helot*, to whom all agricultural operations and mecha- 

 nical arts were allotted, the most oppressive and inhu- 

 man treadnentjof these miserable bondmen was enjoined 

 by law. Every thing that could humiliate their minds, 

 and remove them to a distance from the condition of 

 their haughty masters, was imposed upon them. Even 

 vice WM prescribed to them ; and they were compelled 

 to drunkenness, in order to render it contemptible in 

 the eyes of the Lacedaemonian youth. Nay, to prevent 

 Che increase of their numbers beyond what the safety of 

 the commonwealth allowed, the young Spartans were 

 occasionally dispersed through the country, with a com- 

 mission to murder the stoutest and most enterprising 

 Helots, whom they might meet, or be able to surprise. 



The military as well as the civil code of Sparta is 

 considered as the invention of Lycurgus. Its funda- 

 mental principle was this, that the Lacedemonians 

 should place their security in the discipline and courage 

 of their troops, not in the strength of their fortifications ; 

 and, hence, the city was never provided with walls. 

 The peculiar composition of the Lacedaemonian army, 



so highly extolled by the military characters of ancient 

 Greece, is not easily explained, in consequence of the _ m " n ^_, 

 contradictory descriptions given of the system by Xeno- 

 phon and Thucydides. It appears, however, to have a Laws of 

 near analogy to the arrangement of the modern European Lycurgus. 

 armies; and to have performed all its evolutions on the 

 company, as the principle of motion. According to Thu- 

 cydides, the enomoty, or lowest subdivision, consisted of 

 32 men, 4 of which formed a pentecosty com posed of 1 28 ; 

 four of these again making a lochus or battalion of 512; 

 and four of these last completing a mora or division of MiKtary 

 the army. These divisions were commanded by gene- code. 

 ral officers, named polemarchs, subordinate only to the 

 kings, who were commanders-in-chief of the forces, in- 

 vested with fuller authority in the field than in the city, 

 but amenable to the civil power for the exercise of their 

 supremacy. Every Lacedaemonian was a soldier ; and 

 the infantry is calculated to have seldom been much fewer 

 than 40,000 ; but those only who had attained the age 

 of SO years, were admitted to the honour of serving be- 

 yond the boundaries of Laconia. The soldiers wore a 

 scarlet uniform ; and the troops were abundantly pro- 

 vided with all kinds of useful baggage, camp neces- 

 saries, waggons, and beasts of burden, with numerous 

 artisans, labourers, and servants from the Helots, that 

 every warrior might have no other business but that of 

 fighting, and be as much as possible at his ease when 

 not engaged on duty. An advanced guard of horse al- 

 ways preceded the march of the army ; and the form of 

 encampment was directed to be as nearly as possible of 

 a circular figure. The cavalry do not appear to have 

 ever excelled, and the infantry were always heavily 

 armed, even when circumstances seemed to require 

 some other mode. In order to restrain the love of war 

 and thirst of conquest, which could not fail to actuate 

 a nation of soldiers, Lycurgus expressly prohibited his 

 countrymen from engaging in frequent wars with the 

 same people, and from pursuing a flying enemy when 

 once decisively beaten. Thus also he provided against 

 the chance of foreigners acquiring the Spartan disci- 

 pline ; and, by lessening to the enemy the danger of 

 flight, secured to his countrymen the probability of a 

 cheaper victory. 



Lycurgus, having completed his plans, and seen them 

 fully reduced to practice, next proceeded to secure the 

 continuance of the system. He would not consent that 

 his laws should be committed to writing; but wished 

 them, like oracles, which were only uttered by the 

 voice, to remain engraved on the hearts of his people 

 with all the authority of divine institutions. With the 

 view of farther providing for their perpetuity, he as- 

 sembled the kings, senate, and people ; and bound them 

 by a solemn oath, that they would make no alteration in 

 the laws which he had instituted till he should return 

 from Delphos, to which he was going for the purpose 

 of consulting the oracle on some matter of public im- 

 portance. Having obtained from the god a farther 

 sanction of his institution!!, which he transmitted in 

 writing to Sparta, he put an end to his life by ab- 

 staining from food ; that, by never returning, his coun- 

 trymen might never be released from their oath.* His 

 m-titiitions continued in force for the space of 500 

 years, and their influence soon became manifest in the 

 martial spirit of the Lacedaemonians. They became im- 

 patient for war, and eagerly sought an opportunity of 

 exerting their newly acquired strength. 



Oib*r aceoturt* rcUic that he retired to Crete, where he died it a great age, and commanded hi. uhci to be Mattered on the ea, 

 * Ucwlannwiiut might not be abk to bring back hi* remains, and thui to leek a release from their obligation. 



