The public mess-called Syssitia,*—is said to have been instituted by Lycurgus to prevent all indulgence of the appetite. Public tables were provided, at which every male citizen was obliged to take his meals. Each table accommodated fifteen persons, who formed a separate mess, into which no new member was admitted, except by the unanimous consent of the whole company. Each sent monthly to the common stock a specified quantity of barley-meal, wine, cheese, and figs, and a little money to buy flesh and fish. No distinction of any kind was allowed at these frugal meals. Meat was only eaten occasionally; and one of the principal dishes was black broth. Of what it consisted we do not know. The tyrant Dionysius found it very unpalatable; but, as the cook told him, the broth was nothing without the seasoning of fatigue and hunger.

§ 12. The Spartan women in their earlier years were subjected to a course of training almost as rigorous as that of the men. They were not viewed as a part of the family, but as a part of the state. Their great duty was to give Sparta a vigorous race of citizens, and not to discharge domestic and household duties. They were therefore trained in gymnastic exercises, and contended with each other in running, wrestling, and boxing. The youths were present at these exercises, and the maidens were allowed in like manner to witness those of the youths. The two sexes were thus brought into close intercourse in a manner unknown to the rest of Greece; but it does not appear to have been followed by any injurious consequences, and the morals of the Spartan women were probably purer than those of any other females in Greece. At the age of twenty a Spartan woman usually married, and she was no longer subjected to the public discipline. Although she enjoyed little of her husband's society, she was treated by him with deep respect, and was allowed a greater degree of liberty than was tolerated in other Grecian states. Hence she took a lively interest in the welfare and glory of her native land, and was animated by an earnest and lofty spirit of patriotism. The Spartan mother had reason to be proud of herself and of her children. When a woman of another country said to Gorgo, the wife of Leonidas, "The Spartan women alone rule the men," she replied, "The Spartan women alone bring forth men." Their husbands and their sons were fired by their sympathy to deeds of heroism, and were deterred from yielding to the foe by the certain reproaches and contempt which awaited them at their domestic hearths. "Return either with your shield, or upon

* Evooría, that is, eating, or messing together or in common. The public mess was also called Phiditia (тà Þeidíтia), or frugal meals.

it," was their exhortation to their sons, when going to battle; and after the fatal day of Leuctra those mothers whose sons had fallen returned thanks to the gods; while those were the bitter sufferers whose sons had survived that disgraceful day. The triumphant resignation of a Spartan mother at the heroic death of her son, and her fierce wrath when he proved a recreant coward, are well expressed in two striking poems of the Greek Anthology: Eight sons Demæneta at Sparta's call

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Sent forth to fight; one tomb received them all.
No tear she shed, but shouted 'Victory!
Sparta, I bore them but to die for thee.'"

"A Spartan, his companion slain,
Alone from battle fled;

His mother, kindling with disdain

That she had borne him, struck him dead;
For courage, and not birth alone,

In Sparta, testifies a son!"*

§ 13. One of the most celebrated measures ascribed to Lycurgus by later writers was his redivision of the land of the country. It is related that the disorders of the state arose mainly from the gross inequality of property: the greater part of the land was in the hands of a few rich men, whilst the majority of the people were left in hopeless misery. In order to remedy this fearful state of things, he resolved to make a new division of lands, that the citizens might all live together in perfect equality. Accordingly, he redistributed the territory belonging to Sparta into 9000 equal lots, and the remainder of Laconia into 30,000 equal lots, and assigned to each Spartan citizen one of the former of these lots, and to each Periocus one of the latter.

It is, however, very questionable whether Lycurgus ever made any division of the landed property of Laconia. It is not mentioned by any of the earlier writers, and we find in historical times great inequality of property among the Spartans. It is suggested with great probability by Mr. Grote, that the idea of an equal division of landed property by Lycurgus seems to have arisen in the third century before the Christian era, when an attempt was made by Agis and Cleomenes, kings of Sparta, to rescue their country from the state of degradation into which it had sunk. From the time of the Persian war, the number of the Spartan citizens was constantly declining, and the property accumulating in a few hands. The number of citizens, reckoned by Herodotus at 8000, had dwindled down in the time of Aristotle to 1000, and had been still further reduced in that of * See Anthologia Polyglotta, edited by Dr. Wellesley, pp. 191, 202.

Agis to 700; and in the reign of this king 100 alone possessed nearly the whole of the landed property in the state, while the remainder were miserably poor. At the same time the old discipline had degenerated into a mere form; numbers of strangers had settled in the city; and Sparta had long lost her ancient influence over her neighbours. The humiliating condition of their country roused Agis and other ardent spirits to endeavour. to restore Sparta to her former glories; and for this purpose they resolved to establish again the discipline of Lycurgus in its pristine vigour, and to make a fresh division of the landed property. Agis perished in his attempt to carry these reforms. into effect; but a similar revolution was shortly afterwards accomplished by Cleomenes. It was in the state of public feeling which gave birth to the projects of Agis and Cleomenes, that the idea arose of an equal division of property having been one of the ancient institutions of their great lawgiver. The discipline and education of Lycurgus tended greatly to introduce equality among the rich and the poor in their habits and enjoyments; and hence we can easily understand how this equality suggested to a subsequent age an equality of property as likewise one of the institutions of Lycurgus.

§ 14. It has been already remarked that the Spartans were not allowed to engage in any trade or manufactures; and that all occupations, pursued for the sake of gain, were left in the hands of the Perioci. We are told that Lycurgus therefore banished from Sparta all gold and silver money, and allowed nothing but bars of iron to pass in exchange for every commodity. It is, however, absurd to ascribe such a regulation to Lycurgus, since silver money was first coined in Greece by Phidon of Argos in the succeeding generation, and gold money was first coined in Asia, and was very little known in Greece, even in the time of the Peloponnesian war. In this case, as in others, the usage of later times was converted into a primitive institution of the lawgiver. As the Spartans were not allowed to engage in commerce, and all luxury and display in dress, furniture, and food was forbidden, they had very little occasion for a circulating medium, and iron money was found sufficient for their few wants. But this pro

hibition of the precicus metals only made the Spartans more anxious to obtain them; and even in the times of their greatest glory the Spartans were the most venal of the Greeks, and could rarely resist the temptation of a pecuniary bribe.

The Spartans were averse to all changes, both in their government and their customs. In order to preserve their national character and the primitive simplicity of their habits, Lycurgus is said to have forbidden all strangers to reside at Sparta without

special permission. For the same reason the Spartans were not allowed to go abroad without leave of the magistrate.

Caution was also another characteristic of the Spartans. Hence we are told that they never pursued an enemy farther than was necessary to make themselves sure of the victory. They were also forbidden by Lycurgus to make frequent war upon the same foes, lest the latter should learn their peculiar tactics.

§ 15. The city of Sparta was never fortified, even in the days of her greatest power, and continued to consist of five distinct quarters, which were originally separate villages, and which were never united into one regular town. It is said that Lycurgus had commanded them not to surround their city with walls, but to trust for their defence to their own military prowess. Another and a better reason for the absence of walls is to be sought in the admirable site of the city, in the midst of a territory almost inaccessible to invaders. The northern and western frontiers of Laconia were protected by lofty ranges of mountains, through which there were only a few difficult passes; while the rocky nature of its eastern coast protected it from invasion by sea. Sparta was situated inland, in the middle of the valley of the Eurotas; and all the principal passes of Laconia led to the city, which was thus placed in the best position for the defence of the country. There can be no doubt that one of the causes of the Spartan power is to be traced to the strength of its frontiers and to the site of Sparta itself.

§ 16. The legislation of Lycurgus was followed by important results. It made the Spartans a body of professional soldiers, well trained and well disciplined, at a time when military training and discipline were little known, and almost unpractised in the other states of Greece. The consequence was the rapid growth of the political power of Sparta, and the subjugation of the neighbouring states. At the time of Lycurgus the Spartans held only a small portion of Laconia; they were merely a garrison in the heart of an enemy's country. Their first object was to make themselves masters of Laconia, in which they finally succeeded after a severe struggle. The military ardour and love of war, which had been implanted in them by the institutions of Lycurgus, continued to animate them after the subjugation of Laconia, and led them to seek new conquests. We have already seen that they offered a successful resistance to the formidable power of Phidon of Argos. They now began to cast longing eyes upon the possessions of their Dorian brethren in Messenia, and to meditate the conquest of that fertile country.

§ 1. Authorities for the history of the Messenian wars. §2. The first Messenian war, B.C. 743-724. §3. The second Messenian war, B.C. 685-668. Aristomenes, the Messenian hero, and Tyrtæus, the Spartan hero, of this war. §4. Wars between the Spartans and Arcadians. Conquest of the southern part of Arcadia by Sparta. War between Sparta and Tegea. § 5. Wars between the Spartans and Argives. Battle of the three hundred champions to decide the possession of Cynuria.

§ 1. THE early wars of Sparta were carried on against the Messenians, Arcadians, and Argives. They resulted in making Sparta the undisputed mistress of two-thirds of Peloponnesus, and the most powerful of the Grecian states. Of these wars the two waged against Messenia were the most celebrated and the most important. They were both long protracted and obstinately contested. They both ended in the victory of Sparta, and in the subjugation of Messenia. These facts are beyond dispute, and are attested by the contemporary poet Tyrtæus. But of the details of these wars we have no trustworthy narrative. The account of them, which is inserted in most histories of Greece, is taken from Pausanias, a writer who lived in the second century of the Christian era. He derived his narrative of the first