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These and various other engines of destruction so reduce them in the winter season, that the swarms of autumn gradually diminish, till their numbers in spring are in no way remarkable. I have called them plunderers, and they are so; they are benefactors likewise, seeming to be appointed by nature as one of the agents for keeping from undue increase another race of creatures, and by their prolificacy they accomplish it. In spring and the early part of the summer, before the corn becomes ripe, they are insectivorous, and their constantly increasing families require an increasing supply of food. We see them every minute of the day in continual progress, flying from the nest for a supply, and returning, on rapid wing, with a grub, a caterpillar, or some reptile; and the numbers captured by them in the course of these travels are incredibly numerous, keeping under the increase of these races, and making ample restitution for their plunderings and thefts. When the insect race becomes scarce, the corn and seeds of various kinds are ready; their appetite changes, and they feed on these with undiminished enjoyment.'

This species must not be confounded with another British species, the Tree-Sparrow.

SPARTA, or, as it was sometimes called, Lacedæmon, the capital of Laconia, and the chief city of Peloponnesus, was situated on the right or western bank of the Eurotas (the modern Iri), about 20 miles from the sea, in 37° 4' N. lat. and 22° 26' E. long. It was built in a plain of some extent, and was bounded on the east by the Eurotas, and on the south by a smaller stream running into it,

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now called Trypiótiko, and supposed by Colonel Leake (vol. i., p. 151) to be the antient Knakion. Polybius (lib. v., 22), thus describes its general features: It is of a circular form, and though it is situated in a plain, contains within it several rising grounds and hills. On the east is the Eurotas, which during the greater part of the year is so large as not to be fordable; on the south-east, but on the other side of the Eurotas, is a range of hills, on which stands the suburb called Menelaium. These are rough and difficult of approach, and they command the space between the town and the Eurotas, for the river runs close by the bottom of the heights, and the whole space, including the river, between them and Sparta, is not more than a stadium and a half (about 940 feet) in breadth. These hills of the Menelaïum form a part only of a steep bank which rises on the eastern side of the Eurotas to the height of 500 or 600 feet, and is surmounted by a table-land, beyond which, again, lies an uneven country, intersected with ravines and rivers, gradually rising to Mount Parnon and the other summits of the range of mountains which bounds the view from the plain of Sparta on the east. (Leake, i. 137.) A corresponding boundary on the west is formed by the more elevated range of Mount Taygetus; hence Homer applies the term 'hollow Lacedæmon' to the plain of Sparta, and to the city itself, which Strabo (vol. viii., p. 367) also speaks of as being in a hollow. In most parts there is a level space between the eastern bank and the Eurotas, but the hills on which the Menelaïum stands are washed by the river. The only villages on the antient site of Sparta are Magúla

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1 Termination of a branch of Mount Taygetus.

2 Ancient vestiges.

3 Acropolis.

4 Antient Aqueduct.

5 Antient foundations. 6 Church

[Topographical Sketch of the Site of Sparta.]

7 Hellenic ruins.

8 Remains of Temple. 9 Roman remains.

10 Theatre.

11 Tombs of Leonidas and Pausanias.

12 Remains of Roman Baths and other buildings. 13 A scattered Village, with Gardens.

(Mayovla), and Psykhikó (Yuxuóv), the former of which names is often applied to a height with ruins, especially when they are in a plain. The principal modern town in the neighbourhood is Mistra, which lies about two miles to the west, on the slopes of Mount Taygetus.

The only considerable remains of Hellenic workmanship are the theatre, from which Mistra and the surrounding neighbourhood have been supplied with stone for building. Colone' Leake could perceive only a few fragments of seats in the cavea, and thought that the exterior masonry and brickwork which still subsist are not older than the time of

14 Ruins of an Hellenic building.

15 Circular building.

16 Remains of Bridge.

17 Site of the Temple of Juno Argeia. 18 Tombs of the Agida.

19 Tombs of the Eurypontida.

the Roman empire. Nevertheless the theatre itself may have existed from an early period, though not originally used for dramatic purposes, but for gymnastic and choral exercises and public meetings. (Herod., vi, 67.) The centre of the building was excavated in a hill, but the ground does not afford much advantage compared with the situations of other Greek theatres. The largest diameter, says Sir W. Gell, was 418 feet in length; the orchestra 140 feet wide, and adjoining are two parallel walls about the length of a furlong. According to Colonel Leake, it is impossible to determine the interior diameter or length of

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the orchestra without excavation: the breadth of each wing
appears to have been about 115 feet, and the total diameter
about 450 feet, so that this theatre must have been one of
the largest in Greece.' In front of it there is a se-
pulchal chamber carefully built of large quadrangular

stones.

Not far from the theatre,' observes Colonel Leake, I found two opposite doors, each formed of three stones, and buried almost to the soffit. On one side of these doors is some appearance of seats, as if the building had been a place of public assembly. In another place he found two other similar doors buried in the ground to nearly the same height.

Another relic is an antient bridge over the Trypiótiko, which is still in use, constructed of large single blocks of stone, reaching from side to side. There is also part of an old causeway of similar construction at each end of the bridge.

Every part of the site of antient Sparta is covered with fragments of wrought stones; and here and there are scattered pieces of Doric columns of white marble, and other relics of antient buildings. The materials of the Roman walls, now nearly ruined, which once surrounded the principal heights of the city, are formed of similar frag

ments.

Of Sparta, Thucydides (i. 10) observes, that if it were evacuated, and only the temples and foundations of its buildings left, posterity would be very incredulous about the extent of its former power, which was so great that it possessed two of the five divisions of Peloponnesus, and had the command of the whole country, and many allies out of the Peloponnesus. Of this however no adequate idea would be afforded by the city itself, as it was not embellished with temples and splendid edifices, nor built in contiguity, but in separate quarters.' Such was the state of Sparta about 400 B.C.; but architecture and the arts in general had not then reached their greatest development, nor had Sparta so entirely relaxed from the severity of its antient manners as it did afterwards, when, with the increase of riches, public monuments also multiplied with more rapidity than in earlier ages. These monuments, it appears from Pausanias, were still remaining about A.D. 200, in a more perfect and uninjured state than those of any other Grecian city except Athens. From this fact, and the indications afforded by the present accumulations on the old site of Sparta, Col. Leake has inferred that it would not be a more unpromising field for research than at least the second-rate cities of Greece.

We proceed to give a summary of the antient topography of the city, as described by Pausanias, and illustrated by the annexed sketch from Colonel Leake's work, which is copied with his permission (vol. i., pl. 2):

1. He begins with the Agora, or public square, which contained the council-house of the senate and the offices of the principal magistrates. The most remarkable building in this part of the city was the Persian stöa or portico, originally built of the spoils taken in the Persian war, but subsequently repaired and augmented. It was ornamented with statues, in white marble, of some of the Persian generals, including that of Mardonius; and also with one of Artemisia, the queen of Halicarnassus, an ally of Xerxes. The Agora also contained shrines of Julius Cæsar and the emperor Augustus. A part of it was known by the name of the chorus, or dancing-place, in which young men danced at the games in honour of the Dorian god Apollo. In its immediate neighbourhood were various statues and temples.

2. Pausanias next describes the street called Aphetæ (Apera) or Aphetaïs, leading from the Agora, along the line of which was a number of public monuments, including a temple of Minerva Keleutheia, with a statue said to have been dedicated by Ulysses. At the end of the street, close to the city walls, was a temple of Dictynna, or Diana, and the royal tombs of the Eurypontida.

3. The street in which the Skias was situated led out of the Agora to the walls. This was an antient place of assembly, said to have been built by Theodorus of Samos, of a circular form, and with a roof shaped like an umbrella (skiadeion). (Pausan., 12, 8; Etymolog. in Ekiác.) Along this street also, or in its immediate neighbourhood, were various monuments, such as temples, statues, chapels, and altars, erected in honour of the tutelary divinities of Sparta (such as Apollo Carneius) and its beroes. In conP. C., No. 1398.

nection with these, Pausanias also mentions a kind of quadrangular Change, surrounded with porticoes, in which second-hand goods were sold.

4. Pausanias describes the district to the west of the Agora. Here was a cenotaph of Brasidas, and near it a splendid theatre of white marble; opposite to which were the monuments of Pausanias and of Leonidas; near the latter was a pillar inscribed with the names of those who fell at Thermopylæ, with those of their fathers.

5. There was a place called Theomelida at Sparta, in which were the tombs of the royal house of the Agidæ. In the same quarter was the temple of Diana Issôra, or Pitanatis, and those of other divinities. Not far off, and on the banks of the Eurotas, was the Dromus, or racecourse, which contained two gymnasia, and in which, observes Pausanias, young men are exercised in running till this day. The Dromus was also embellished with various statues and temples, among which was a temple of Æsculapius, surnamed Agnitas, from his statue being made of the wood of the agnus, which is still called Agneia (άyvetá). At the beginning of the Dromus were statues of Castor and Pollux, surnamed Apheterii, because they stood at the starting-post. A little outside of the Dromus, Pausanias was shown the site of the house of Meneläus, one of the Grecian leaders at Troy. At the south-east of the Dromus was the Platanistes, which was an island, or nearly so, surrounded by running water, and so called from the planetrees (platani) growing there. Two bridges formed the approaches to it, on one of which was a statue of Lycurgus, and of Hercules on the other.

The Platanistes and its neighbourhood, like other parts of the city, contained several architectural remains in the time of Pausanias. Close to the city walls, in this quarter, temples were raised to Helen and Hercules, and to the east of the Dromus was a temple of Minerva Axiopoenus, i.e. who requites according to desert.

Pausanias appears to form a sixth division of Sparta, in which he places the public hall (Acox), called the decorated (or woikiλý), with various heroa, or chapels dedicated to heroes, about it. Not far from the theatre, he adds, was a temple of Neptune Genethlius; and, after advancing a little, there was a small height, on which was an antient temple, with a wooden statue of Venus in armour, and having an upper story sacred to Venus Morpho-the only building of this description which Pausanias had ever seen. A similar specimen of two perfect churches, one built above the other, is still existing at a village nearly opposite Bonn on the right side of the Rhine, called Schwarz-Rheindorf. (Petit, Church Archit.,' i., p. 86.)

Lastly, there were temples of Diana Orthia and Latona in the place called Limnæum, or marsh land,' not far from which the Acropolis was probably situated. On this subject Pausanias remarks, that the Lacedæmonians had not a citadel of conspicuous elevation, 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 (i.e. of the bronze house), begun by Tyndareus, 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. Col. Leake observes that the only point in Pausanias's description which can be determined with certainty is the theatre, the position of which was such that the Agora was in the hollow of the great height behind it, with its eastern extremity not far distant from an opening, still observable towards the middle of the bank of hills which overlooks the valley of the Eurotas, and forms the front of Sparta on the north-east. This opening is itself nearly opposite an old bridge over the Eurotas, so that it would seem that all the roads from the east of Laconia crossed the river into the city, and then proceeded to the Agora.

Of the remaining parts of Sparta the most important to determine is the Acropolis. From the description of Pausanias it seems to have been situated on the hill at the extreme north of the city, which was detached from the others, and better suited for an Acropolis than any of them. VOL. XXII-2 S

From the antient authorities it appears that Sparta was divided into five local tribes, viz. the Pitanatæ, the Limnatæ or Marshmen, the Messoatæ, the Ægida, and Cynosurenses. Col. Leake has determined their position, as laid down in the annexed sketch, with considerable probability. The general form of the city was circular, or rather semicircular, and, according to Polybius, its circumference was forty-eight stades, or about six Roman miles.

It was not regularly fortified till the time of the Roman interference in Greece, though fortifications had been hastily thrown up against the attacks of Demetrius Poliorcetes (B.C. 280) and Pyrrhus (B.c. 272): it was at last 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. The soil of the plain in which Sparta is situated is in general a poor mixture of white clay and stones, difficult to plough, and better adapted for olives than corn; exactly agreeing in this respect with the words of Euripides (Strab., viii., p. 366), who contrasts Messenia with Laconia, and describes the latter as a poor land, in which there is plenty of arable soil, but hard to work. The women of Mistra and the plain, says Colonel Leake, are taller and more robust than the other Greeks, have more colour in general, and look healthier; a statement agreeing with Homer's expression, Λακεδαίμονα καλλιγύναικα (Lacedaemon with handsome

women).

The chief modern authorities on the topography of Sparta are: Dodwell; Sir W. Gell, Itinerary of the Morea; and Leake's Travels in the Morea.

The Constitution and Government of Sparta.-This was of a very mixed nature, consisting of three or even four distinct elements, viz. 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 conquest of the Peloponnesus by the Spartans, and was always shared by two persons at the same time, so that it was, properly speaking, a diarchy, or divided royalty, 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 Laconia was achieved. According to the national legend, the establishment of the diarchy arose from the circumstance of Aristodemus having twins born to him, but as the sanction of the Pythian oracle was said to have been procured for the arrangement, it may not have been purely accidental, but rather a work of design and contrivance. (Herod., vi. 52.) The constitutional powers of the kings were very limited. They presided over the council of elders as principes senatus,' and though it seems probable that the kings of the older house had a casting vote (Herod., vi. 57; Thucyd., i. 20), still the vote of each counted for no more than that of a private senator. Nevertheless the kings had some important prerogatives. In common with other magistrates 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, as in the case of heiresses claimed by different parties. But it was in foreign affairs that their prerogatives and powers were greatest. 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. Some of the Ephors indeed sometimes accompanied the kings on their expeditions, but the operations of the latter were not under the control of those magistrates; they merely watched over the proceedings of the army. However, there can be little doubt (and es pecially after the increase of the Ephoral authority) that the kings on their return home were accountable for their conduct as generals. In fact in some instances the kings were dethroned or punished for misconduct and mismanagement as generals. Nor were their military powers connected with any political or diplomatic functions; they were not allowed to conclude treaties, or to determine the fate of cities, without communicating with the authorities at home. In the most antient times the two kings had a joint command, but this led to inconvenience, and a law was consequently passed, that in future one only of the two kings should have the command of the army on foreign

service. The honours and privileges of the Spartan kings were greater than their prerogatives and powers. They united the characters of priest and king (Herod., vi. 50), and officiated as high priest of the nation at all the public sacrifices offered for the state. They were well provided by the community with the means of exercising the heroic virtue of hospitality. Whenever any citizen made a public sacrifice to the gods, the kings were invited, and treated with especial honour: a double portion of food was given them, and they made the first libation to the gods. (Herod., vi. 57.) These, and other distinctions of a like kind, were however of a simple and old-fashioned nature, and prove that to a certain extent the Spartan royalty was of the same character as that which Homer describes as existing in what are called the Heroic times.

The accession and demise of the Spartan kings were marked by observances of an Oriental character. Whenever the former event occurred, all debts due, from private individuals, 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 business for ten days. (Herod., vi. 58.)

A second element in the Spartan polity was the Gerusia (yepovoia), or assembly of elders. This was the aristocratical element of the constitution, and not peculiar to Sparta alone, but also found in other Dorian states. It included the two kings, who sat as presidents (apxayέrat), and consisted of thirty members, ten from each of the three tribes, and one from each of the divisions called oba (Bai). It was confined to men of distinguished character and station: no one was eligible to it till he was sixty years of age (Plut., Lycur., 26), and the additional qualifications were also of an aristocratic nature. (Arist., Pol., ii. 6, 15.) The election was determined by vote, and the office was holden for life, and irresponsible: as if a person's previous character and the near approach of death formed a sufficient security for uprightness and moderation. The duties of the counsellors were deliberative, judicial, and executive. In the first capacity they prepared measures and passed preliminary laws, which were laid before the popular assembly; so that they had the important privilege of initiating changes in the government or laws. As a criminal court they could punish with death or degradation (áriuía), 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. Gell., xviii. 3), and probably were allowed a kind of patriarchal authority to enforce the observance of antient usage and discipline. (Thirl, Hist. of Greece, i., p. 318.) It is not however easy to ascertain accurately what was the original extent of their functions; especially in the last-mentioned capacity, since the Ephors not only encroached from time to time upon the prerogative of the kings and the council, but also possessed in very early times a censorial power which they were more likely to extend than suffer to be diminished.

The third element was the Ecclesia (ikkλnoía), or general assembly of the Spartan citizens. From various autho rities quoted by Müller (Dorians, iii., c. 5, 8), it appears that the general assembly was not competent to origi nate any measure, but only to adopt or reject without alteration the laws and measures submitted to it by the proper authorities, a limitation which almost fixed the character of the Spartan constitution, and justifies an observation of Demosthenes (c. Lept., p. 489), that the yepovoía at Sparta was in many respects supreme. All citizens above the age of thirty, not labouring under any disabilities, were admissible to the ixxAnoia, or anella, as it was called in the old Dorian dialect; but except magistrates, and especially the ephors and kings, no one addressed the people without being called upon. The same public officers also put the question to the vote; and as the magistrates only were the speakers and leaders of the assembly, the resolutions of the whole people are e(particularly in foreign matters) spoken of as the decrees of those authori ties alone. The close connection of the ephors with the assembly is shown by a phrase of frequent occurrence in the decrees of the assembly: Resolved by the ephors and assembly,' &c. The voting was by acclamation, and the place of meeting to the west of the city between the brook Knakiôn and the bridge Baby ca. The regular meetings

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were holden every full moon, and in cases of emergency | recognised the principle that the citizen was born only for extraordinary assemblies were called.

The functions and powers of the Spartan ikkλnoia are thus described by Müller, in his Treatise on the Dorians (iii.; iv. 9). 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. And with regard to domestic affairs, the highest officers 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.' So that the general assembly, according to the theory of the constitution, 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 established 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 principles and privileges.

The free citizens of the community were divided into two classes: one composed of the Spartans, or descendants of the Dorian conquerors 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, and called Pericci, 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.

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the state; that his powers and energies were to be devoted to its service; and that any sacrifice, however painful or costly, was to be made by him for its welfare. Now it is almost evident that no legislator could so far have acted upon the minds of a nation as to have created the spirit implied in such a principle. It must either have been natural to the people actuated by it, or the result of the circumstances in which they were placed, an isolated handful of men, in an unwalled town, surrounded by an unfriendly population, superior to themselves in number, and yet ruled by them as their subjects and serfs. We cannot therefore, it would seem, assert that the peculiar features both of public and private life at Sparta, and the principles which in the best days of her history pervaded and modified her social institutions and regulated the conduct of her citizens, were the creation of her lawgiver Lycurgus. Still there can be no doubt that in legislating for his country he both availed himself of a disposition which he found already existing, and gave a greater and more systematic development to the principle of which we have been speaking, than it had received before his time. The influence and bearing of this principle were strongly marked in the distribution of private property as settled by Lycurgus, who assigned an equal portion of land to every one of 9000 Spartan citizens. But we may illustrate its force more fully in all the various regulations by which a Spartan citizen was trained for the service of the state, and which affected the arrangements even of families and private houses. 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 management of his parents, though under their care, and at the age of seven he entered upon The various elements we have mentioned have given rise a course of public discipline, increasing in severity as he to the question-'What was the nature of the Spartan con- approached manhood. The education of the young indeed, stitution? By antient authors it is generally spoken of as and to a certain extent the care of all the elder citizens, an aristocracy; but it has been maintained (Arnold, Thucyd., was under the especial superintendence of a public officer vol. i., Appen. II.) that this aristocracy was one of con- appointed for this purpose (the raidovóμog), and he again quest, in which the Spartan conquerors and their descend-selected a number of the best qualified young men, just ants stood to the Periceci in the relation of nobility to above twenty years of age, to act as captains of the comvassals, and that it is in this respect principally that the panies (ayiλat) into which the boys were divided; and as Sparian constitution was of an oligarchic or anti-popular this education had only one end in view, that of training character. But this is not altogether true. For the fact is citizens to serve and defend their country, the discipline that, in theory and name, the constitution as settled by was in every respect subservient to this object. No accomLycurgus was a democracy, with two hereditary magistrates plishments or arts, except of a military character, were at its head; but in practice (at least before the encroach- taught, while every effort was made to ensure military ments of the ephoralty) it worked as if the supreme authority skill, activity, fortitude, and bravery. The Spartan was to had been placed in the hands of a minority, and therefore be taught both to dare and to bear with fortitude; and for was in reality a limited aristocracy, independent and irre- this purpose he was inured from his youth to a coarse and spective of the relation between the subject and the ruling scanty fare, to insufficient clothing, to self denial, and the classes. The chief circumstances which justify this conclu- severest trials of pain and hardship. One of these is said sion are the restraints imposed upon the assembly, the ex- to have been instituted by Lycurgus, in which noble youths tensive powers of the councillors, their election for life, standing by the altar of Artemis vied with each other in their irresponsibility, the absence of written laws, of paid submitting to the lash, and sometimes died in the contest offices, of appointments determined by lot,' and of other without uttering a groan. Cicero, Tus. Quaest., v. 27.)! peculiarities which the Greeks considered characteristic of By another custom, the Spartan youths were compelled, a democracy. Aristotle (Politica, ii. 6) gives the follow- sometimes from hunger, sometimes at the command of ing account of the Spartan constitution, and the opinions their captains, to get provisions or anything else by foragwhich prevailed about it: Some affirm that the best forming in the fields or plundering houses: if successful, they of government is one mixed of all the forms, wherefore they retained their spoil, and were honoured with praise; if praise the Spartan constitution; for some say that it is com- detected, they were punished, not for the attempt, but for posed of an oligarchy, and a monarchy, and a democracy-a their want of ingenuity. We scarcely need observe that monarchy, on account of the kings; an oligarchy, on account this practice must not be considered as a violation of the of the councillors; and a democracy, on account of the rights of property; the community agreed to submit to it, ephors; but others say that the ephoralty is a tyranny, for the sake of the advantages which they conceived to be whereas, on the other hand, the public tables and the regu- derived from it. Even what might be considered the lations of daily life are of a democratic tendency.' accomplishments of a Spartan youth were cultivated in the same spirit. He was taught music, to sing, and to play on the flute and the harp; but only with the view of forming his moral tastes; and therefore the airs and the songs that he learnt were of a sacred or martial character. Hence the poetry of Homer, with its lively description of the Heroic age, was in very early times introduced and welcomed at Sparta; and Tyrtæus, the lame schoolmaster of Attica, but martial poet, was held in especial honour, as animating and encouraging their youth. Gymnastic dancing also formed a part of Spartan education; and the Pyrrhic dance was taught to boys as a warlike exercise, imitative of the movements and actions of a combatant in battle. But the lessons most strongly impressed upon the young Spartan, and the duties most carefully inculcated, were those of

Many of these regulations however, and the social institution of Sparta, were suggested, and almost rendered necessary, by the position in which her citizens stood with respect to their subjects and serfs. They were in fact 'like an army of occupation, or a beleaguered garrison,' surrounded by a number of enemies ready to overpower and crush them on every opportunity. Hence all the regulations and usages of daily life at Sparta were subservient to the development of a martial spirit, and contributed to maintain the superiority of the dominant classes over the inferior population; with a view to which results, individual interests and comforts were always made subordinate to the real or supposed interest of the state. The spirit indeed of Spartan legislation and Spartan feeling established and

of the Spartan forces was in the heavy-armed infantry which was superior to that of any other state in Greece. Cavalry service was not thought highly of amongst them, the country being not fitted for the production of horses. The horsemen of Sparta, in the Peloponnesian war, were at first only 400, and afterwards rose to 600 men (Müller, iii. 12, 6), a very small force for so powerful and warlike a state. The naval service was chiefly confined to the Periceci. From what has been stated it is evident that the Spartan institutions were almost entirely of a military spirit and tendency; but they also incidentally served other important ends, such as the invigoration and health of the body, and the production of physical beauty. (Müller, iv. 5, 8.) That these results were produced by them appears from the fact that about 540 B.C. the Spartans were the most healthy of the Greeks (Xenop., Rep. Lacon., v. 9), and that the handsomest men and women were found amongst them. But the systematic training which we have described was not coupled with excellence in the arts and sciences which embellish and ameliorate man's condition. Nor indeed could it be expected that Sparta should produce among her citizens the painter, the sculptor, the poet, or the historian. They were all warriors; and therefore the cultivation of the arts and sciences, and even of agriculture, was left almost entirely to the Pericci and the Helots. Lyrical and choral poetry indeed, for which the Dorian communities were famous, were cultivated and en

modesty, obedience, and respect to rank and age; qualities and habits of vital importance to the permanence of the constitution, as securing a ready compliance with the commands of the magistrates, and inconsistent with innovations m the laws and form of government. Together with all this, the young Spartan was impressed, both by precept and example, with a sense of shame; and taught to consider dishonour and disgrace as more terrible than death, when met either for the honour or at the command of his country. At the expiration of eighteen years, the Spartan youths passed from boyhood; and from this period to thirty they were considered to be in a state of transition to manhood. At twenty they served in the ranks, but were perhaps chiefly employed in such duties as the Crypteia, and other service within the frontiers, like the Athenian youth called Peripoli (Пepizodot). (Müller, Dorians, iv. 5, 3.) But even after maturity, the Spartans, though not under a course of training, were still expected to employ themselves in gymnastic exercises and amusements, such as the chase, which served as a preparation for war. (Xenop., De Rep. Lacon., v. 7.) Nor were they exempt from military service till sixty. The last years of their life were spent in the service of the community, in the council of the Gerusia, or in superintending the education of the young; and nowhere, it has been remarked by Cicero, had old age a more agreeable or more honourable position than at Sparta. When advancing years disabled them from active service, they still had the resource of the Lesche (Néoxn), a place of resort for public conversa-couraged, but chiefly for religious purposes; several foreign tion, where they might enjoy the society of their equals, and live over again their past lives. Another important feature of the Spartan institutions. was the Syssitia, or public meals, in which all the citizens of a suitable age joined. The guests were divided into societies, or clubs, generally of fifteen men; any vacancy was filled by ballot, and unanimous consent was requisite for the admission of new members. The repast of each club was of a frugal and temperate character, but enlivened by social and cheerful conversation, and the entertainment was provided by the contributions of the individual members. It is evident that an institution of this sort was.calculated to unite the citizens in the closest relations of intimacy and friendship, and to in-gular training. With respect to architecture and sculpture crease the power of public opinion; every individual of the state being thus brought under the inspection of his fellows, and made dependent for his happiness and honour upon their esteem. Moreover the Syssitia served important purposes in a military point of view, as each company formed a small band in itself, the members of which were bound by every tie to assist and protect each other in the field, after living together as brethren at home.

The care and attention which the Spartans bestowed upon military exercises, and the military spirit which pervaded all their institutions, illustrate the fact that no nation considered war as an art in the same sense and to the same degree as they did.' War seemed to be their element and delight, and all pains were taken to make it attractive. The life in the city was, to a certain extent, like that of a camp; but the life of the camp was comparatively more easy, being freed from many of the restraints and duties of the city. On the eve of a battle they combed their long hair and crowned it with chaplets as if for a festival, and entered upon it rather as a contest for glory than as a struggle for life or death; but still even in battle and in war the Spartans did not forget the caution which was in general their characteristic, for we are told of a maxim of Lycurgus which forbade them to make war too often on the same enemy, lest they should teach others their own tactics, and convert a weak adversary into a bold and formidable one. This maxim indeed was not always observed. Agesilaus in particular was charged with violating it. But there was another rule dictated by the same spirit, and which we are told by Thucydides (v. 73) was really enforced, that of pursuing a foe only so far as was necessary to secure a victory. Müller indeed observes that in these rules we may recognise the antient principles of Greek humanity; but they seem rather to have been the dictates of policy and prudence.

The tactics of the Spartan army were distinguished for simplicity, though apparently of a very complicated character, and are praised by Xenophon for this quality. The point of their superiority thought worthy of notice was the rapidity with which the general's orders were passed through a whole army, by means of a well-regulated subordination and connection of the various officers. The chief strength

lyric poets were naturalized among them, even in spite of their jealousy of foreigners, and the names of some native writers of lyric odes have come down to us. Still we have no remains of Spartan lyric poetry, with the exception of some of a poet called Alcman. Nor do we read of any distinguished epic poets, or dramatists, or historians, or philosophic writers among the Spartans. The arts of rhetoric and eloquence too were studiously discouraged among them, as being instruments of deceit and misre presentation, and inconsistent with the concise and sententious method of expression on which the Spartans prided themselves, and which they enforced on their youth by a re

our information is scanty and of a negative character; but we have every reason for supposing that these arts were confined to a few, especially in their higher departments, as there was little room for the employment of either, except in the building and decoration of the national temples. At any rate, history has not transmitted to us the names of any Spartans eminent as painters, sculptors, or architects. Trade and commerce also were alien to their character. They were thought beneath their dignity, and inconsistent with the enjoyment of leisure; hence they were left entirely to their provincial subjects. Any extensive trade indeed was rendered almost impossible by the want of a gold and silver coinage, iron being till the latest time their only legal currency; a regulation ascribed to Lycurgus, but probably of later' origin, if, as is generally supposed, the use of silver money was not known to the Greeks for more than a century after his time. The very possession of gold or silver money was prohibited by their laws: an interdiction which would of course contribute to preserve a simplicity of manners, though, from the tendency of human nature to long for what is forbidden, it probably increased, if it did not cause, the venality and avarice of which many instances are mentioned among the Spartans. 'Avarice appears to have been the vice to which the Spartan was most prone: money, for which he scarcely had any use, was a bait which even the purest patriotism could not resist.' (Thirl., Hist. of Greece, i. 326.) The law however was evaded by the money being deposited in foreign countries; and after the time of Lysander, (B.C. 400) the possession of the precious metals must have been allowed to individuals under certain restrictions. (Müller, iii. 10.)

We have already described the education of the Spartan young men; the female sex, at least the unmarried portion, were in many respects brought up similarly and with similar views. The Spartan women had their own gymnasia, and practised themselves in running, wrestling, and other exercises, which contributed to their health and vigour of constitution, in order that they might prove the mothers of a healthy progeny. Their costume too was different from that of the rest of Greece. The Spartan virgins, even in the company of men, generally wore but a single robe, without an upper garment; in which respect they were distinguished

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