. . G R E 
\ 
tender years, to a life of hardfhip and feverity. They 
wore tlie fame.garment fiimmer and winter; they walk¬ 
ed bare-footed in all feafons ; their diet was plain and 
frugal, and fo fparing, that they loft no opportunity to 
fupply the defetf. What they were unable tb take by 
force, they were to acquire by fraud. When their theft 
(if theft can be praftifed where feparate property is al- 
moft unknown) was difcovered, they were feverely pu- 
niflied ; but if their dexterity efcaped obfervation, they 
were allowed to boaft of their fuccefs, and met wiijiap- 
plaufe for tlteir activity, vigilance, and caution; which 
indicated a charadler fitted to excel in the future ftra- 
tagents of war. 
After attaining the ordinary branches of education, 
youth frequently become the mailers of their own ac¬ 
tions. Of all praiStical errors, Lycurgus deemed this 
the moft dangerous. His difcernment perceived the 
value of that moft important period of life, which inter¬ 
venes between childliood and virility ; and the whole 
force of his difcipline was applied to its diredtion and 
improvement. Inftead of being loofenedfroin the ufual 
ties of authority, the Spartans, at the age ofadolefcence, 
were fubjedted to a anore rigorous reftraint; and the 
moft extraordinary expedients were employed to mode¬ 
rate the love of pleafure, to corredl the infolencc of in. 
experience, and to controul the headftrong impetuofity 
of youthful palTions. If the feeds of their vicious ap¬ 
petites had not been thoroughly eradicated by a life of 
habittial toil and temperance, they were fubjedted to 
corj- ral punifiiment, which it v/as their cuftoni to endure 
with patient fortitude, 'i'he maxims of honour were 
inltilled by precept, and enforced by example. The 
public tables, which were frequented by all ages, 
ferved asfo many fchools of wifdom and virtue ; where, 
on ordinary occafions, but more particularly on days of 
feftivity, the old related their ancient exploits, and 
boafted their paft prowcfs ; thofe in the vigour of life 
difplayed the fentiments which their manly courage in- 
fpired ; and th^ young exprelfed a modeft confidence 
that, by fteadfaftly adhering to the precepts of Lycur- 
^us, they might be enabled in due time to equal, per¬ 
haps to furpals, the glory of both. 
The reverence for aged wifdom, which formed the 
prevailing fentiment of the heroic times, was reftored 
by the legillation of Lycurgus, and employed as a main 
pillar of his political edifice. The fears and infirmities 
of the old were compenlated by honour and refpeft ; 
the hopes and vigour of the young were balanced by 
obedience and reftraint. The difference of years thus 
occalioned little difproportion of enjoyment; the hap- 
pinefs of every age depended on the praftice of virtue ; 
atid as all adventitious and accidental diftindtions were 
removed, men perceived the importance of perfonal me¬ 
rit, and of its reward, the public efteem, and eagerly 
grafped the advantages which glory confers; the only 
exclulive advantages which the laws of Lycurgus per- 
mitted them to enjoy. The paternal authority, which 
maintained the difcipline and promoted the grandeur 
of Rome, was firmly eltablilhed at Sparta, where every 
father might exercife an unlimited power, over not only 
his own, but the children of others, yvho were all alike 
regarded as the commQn fons of the republic. This 
do°nefti'c fupeiiority naturally prepared the w'ay for ci¬ 
vil pre-eminence ; the eletdive dignities of the ftate were 
obtained only by men of experienced wifdom; and it 
required fixty years of laborious virtue to be entitled 
to a feat in the fenate-houfe, the higheft ambition of the 
Spartan chiefs. Such regulations, of which it is impof- 
fible to miftake the fpirit, had a direft tendency to pro¬ 
duce moderation and firmnefs in the public councils, to 
controul the too impetuous ardour of a warlike people, 
to allay the ferment of domeftic fadtion, and to check 
the dangerous ambition of foreign conqueft. The power 
of the magiftrate was confounded with the authority of 
the parent; they mutually alfifted and ftrengthened each 
Vo.L. Vlll. No. 549. 
E C E. ^ 841 
other, and their united influence long up.Iield the un- 
ftiaken fabric of the Spartan laws, which the old felt it 
their intcreft to maintain, and the young deemed it theit 
glory to obey. 
Such a condition of fociety feems the higheft eleva¬ 
tion and grandeur to which human nature can afpire. 
The Spartans attained, and long preferved, this ftate of 
exaltation ; but feveral,circumftances and events, which 
the wifdom ot Lycurgus had forefecn, but which no luu 
man power could prevent, undermined the foundation 
ot their greatiiefs and felicity. Their military prowefs 
gave them viftory, Haves, and weaith ; and iliough in¬ 
dividuals could feel only the pride of virtne, and enjoy 
only the luxury of glory, the public imbibed the fpirit 
of rapacity, and the ambition of conqueft. As in other 
countries tlie vices of individuals corrupt the commu¬ 
nity,' in Laconia tlie vices of the public corrupted indi¬ 
viduals. The Spartans, however, long tnaintained their 
fuperiority over other nations. By dividing the ftrengtli, 
they dilarmed the fury of their enemies, and tlie flames 
of domeftic difeord were eclipfed by tlte fplendoui of 
foreign conqueft, by which both the magiftrates and the 
fubjeiSls were enriched and corrupted': yet, amidft civil 
difeord and political degeneracy, they preferved their 
religious'and military inltitiuions, as well as tlieir inva¬ 
luable plan of education; and their tranfaffions, even l\\' 
the lateft ages of Greece, furnifti an ample and honour¬ 
able commentary on the laws of Lycurgus. 
Concerning this extraordinary man, only one farther 
circumftance is recorded with any appearance of autdien- 
ticity. Having beiield tlie harmony of the political ma¬ 
chine which he had fo fkilfully contrived, he fiitiimoiied 
an alfembly, and declared, that now he had but one new 
regulation to propofe, upon which, however, it was ne- 
cellary he fhould go and coiifiilt the oracle of Delphi ; 
tliat, meanwhile, his countrymen, who had feen the fuc¬ 
cefs of his labours, would engage that no alteration 
fhould take place before his return. The king, the 
fenate, and the .people, ratified the engagenient by a 
folenin oatii.. Lycurgus undertook his journey; the 
oracle predidted the happinefs which the Spartans ftiould 
enjoy as long as they lived by his admirable lav/s. The 
refponfe was tranfmitted to his country, where Lycurgus 
liimfelf determined never more to return, convinced that 
the duration of the government which he had eftabliftied 
would be better fecured by the eternal fandtity of an 
oath, than by the temporary influence of his own per¬ 
fonal prefence. It is laid that he aiterwarcts died a vo¬ 
luntary death, by abftaining from all nourifliment. 
The Lacedasmonians thus left to themfelves, foon 
entered into an obftinate war with the Mellenians. On 
the confines of Melfenia and Lacedaemon flood an ancient 
temple of Diana, which, being eredled at the common 
expence, was open to the prayers and facrifices oT the 
tw'o nations. Hither, according to annual cuftom, re¬ 
paired a feledl band of Spartan virgins to folemnize the 
rites of their favourite divinity. A company of Mefle- 
nian youths arrived at the fame time to perform their 
cuftomary devotion, and to implore' the protedlion of 
the warlike goddefs. Inflamed by the beauty of the 
Spartan ladies, the Melfenian youths, after vainly at¬ 
tempting by the moft ardent vows to move the inflexi¬ 
bility of Spartan virtue, had reconrfe to violence in 
order to confummate their brutal defigns ; and the de¬ 
flowered victims, unwilling to I'urvive fo intolerable a 
difgrace, periftied by their own hands, > 
In refentment of this atrocious injury, the Spartans 
invaded the Melfenian frontier, and attacked the finall 
town of Ampheia, in the year before Chrift 743. The 
time chofen for the affault was the dead of night, when 
the unfufpe6ling inhabitants repofed in full confidence 
of their accuftomed fecurity. Many Ampheians were 
alfaffinated in their beds; feveral fled in vain to the al¬ 
tars of their gods; and but few efcaped the fwords of 
the enraged Spartans, 
10 E pn 
