Lycurgus is credited with masterminding the transformation of Sparta from a normal Dorian city state to a military aristocracy, with its unique laws, traditions, and ascetic lifestyle. Although most historians consider him a real character, the details of his life are shrouded in legend. He is thought to have lived shortly after the Messenian wars, which nearly destroyed Sparta, and his severe reforms were accepted because of the danger of further rebellions.
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The Spartan reforms were very severe. Herodotus says that Lycurgus changed "all the customs," that he created the military organization, and instituted the ephorate and the council of elders. To him also are attributed the foundation of the citizen assembly, the prohibition of gold and silver currency, the partition of the land into equal lots, and, in general, the characteristic Spartan training.
Various beliefs were held as to the source from which Lycurgus derived his ideas of reform. Herodotus found the tradition current among the Spartans that they were suggested to Lycurgus by the similar Cretan institutions, but even in the 5th century there was a rival theory that he derived them from the Delphic oracle. These two versions are united by Ephorus, who argued that, though Lycurgus had really derived his system from Crete, yet to give it a religious sanction he had persuaded the Delphic priestess to express his views in oracular form.
—Adapted from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Hardy Men of Sparta in | Tales of the Greeks: The Children's Plutarch by F. J. Gould |
Lycurgus in | Famous Men of Greece by John H. Haaren and A. B. Poland |
What Lycurgus Did for Sparta in | Greek Gods, Heroes, and Men by Caroline H. and Samuel B. Harding |
Lycurgus in | Back Matter by books/horne/statesmen/_back.html |
Lycurgus in | Our Young Folks' Plutarch by Rosalie Kaufman |
Lycurgus and His Little Nephew in | The Story of Greece by Mary Macgregor |
Lycurgus and the Spartan Laws in | Historical Tales: Greek by Charles Morris |
The Boy and the Fox in | Stories of the Ancient Greeks by Charles D. Shaw |
How the Spartans Became Powerful in | The Story of the Greek People by Eva March Tappan |
Lycurgus, Who Made His Countrymen into Soldiers in | Old World Hero Stories by Eva March Tappan |
Image Links | ||
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![]() Young Spartans learning a lesson from drunken helots, Mussini in Famous Men of Greece |
![]() Lycurgus Pledging the Spartans to his Laws in Greatest Nations - Greece |
![]() Lycurgus in Back Matter |
![]() Lycurgus Offering to go into Exile. in The Story of the Greek People |
![]() Lycurgus: In the Museum at Naples in The Story of the Greek People |
![]() Lycurgus Offering to go into Exile. in Old World Hero Stories |
Sous | Illustrious ancestor of Lycurgus, a former King of Sparta. |
Charilaus | Nephew of Lycurgus, Lycurgus protected him and did not attempt to sieze the throne. |
Alcander | Enemy of Lycurgus who was won over to his side, by his good conduct. |