Plutarch · a new plain-English translation from the Greek
When each newcomer enters the common messes, the eldest man present points to the doors and says, "Through these no word goes out." Among them the so-called black broth was especially prized, so that the older men had no need of meat, but yielded it to the young men. It is said that Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, for this reason bought a Laconian cook and ordered him to prepare it, sparing no expense; but when he tasted it he was disgusted and spat it out, and the cook said, "Your Majesty, this broth needs to be seasoned by one who has exercised the Laconian way and bathed in the Eurotas." After drinking moderately at the common messes, the Spartans depart without a torch; for it is not permitted to walk toward a light on that road or on any other, so that they may become accustomed to travel through darkness and night with courage and without fear. They learned letters only for practical use.
Of all other kinds of learning they made a wholesale expulsion, no less of the men who taught them than of their teachings. Their education aimed at learning to obey well, to endure hardship, and, in fighting, to conquer or die. They went about continually without a tunic, receiving a single cloak for the year, keeping their bodies unwashed and for the most part abstaining from baths and ointments. The young men slept together,
by troop and by company, on pallets which they gathered themselves, breaking off with their bare hands, without iron, the tips of the rushes growing by the Eurotas. In winter they added in the so-called "wolf's-bane" and mixed it into their bedding, since this material was thought to have some warming quality. It was permitted to love the boys who were noble in soul; but to have carnal relations with them was considered shameful, on the ground that
the lovers were lovers of the body and not of the soul; and one accused of approaching a boy for shameful purposes was disgraced for life. It was also customary for the younger men to be asked by their elders where they were going and for what purpose, and for one who did not answer, or who wove excuses, to be reproved; and one who failed to reprove a wrongdoer in his presence was liable to the same penalty as the wrongdoer
himself. And one who resented being reproved was held in great disgrace. If anyone was caught doing wrong, he had to go around a certain altar in the city, singing a song of blame composed against himself, which was nothing other than reproving himself to himself. The young men were taught to revere not only their own fathers and be obedient to them, but also all
the older men, giving way to them on the roads, yielding their seats, and falling silent in their presence. For this reason each man exercised authority not merely, as in other cities, over his own children, slaves, and property, but as over his own and his neighbor's alike, so that they might share in and care for them as far as possible as their own kin. If a boy was punished by someone and reported it to his father, it was disgraceful
for the father not to inflict further punishment upon hearing of it; for they trusted one another, on the basis of their ancestral upbringing, never to order their children to do anything shameful. The young men also steal whatever food they can, learning to attack cleverly those who are asleep or keep careless watch; the penalty for one caught was blows and going hungry. For their dinner is meager, so that by their own efforts, defending themselves against
want, they might be compelled to be bold and resourceful. This was the purpose of the scanty rations: it was meant both to make them thin and to accustom them never to become full, but to be able to endure hunger; for they believed that in this way they would also be more useful in war, if they could endure hardship even while unfed, and more self-controlled and frugal, if they could get by for a longer time on little expense; and that enduring a lack of relish, so that they consumed
whatever food came to hand, made their bodies healthier, produced from a deficient diet, since they believed that bodies pressed by effort toward depth and breadth were thereby raised up in height, and also became more shapely; for lean and empty frames yielded readily to proper articulation, while overfed ones resisted it because of their weight. They also took no less trouble over their songs and odes,
for these had a goad that roused spirit and high resolve and stirred an enthusiastic and effective impulse to action. And their diction was plain and unadorned, containing nothing but praises of those who had lived nobly and died for Sparta, and were called blessed, and blame of those who had shown cowardice, as living a painful and ill-starred life, along with promises and boasts of valor fitting to
their several ages. There were three choruses corresponding to the three ages, formed at the festivals: the chorus of old men began by singing, "We once were valiant young men"; then the chorus of men in their prime answered, "We are that now; if you wish, put us to the test"; and the third, the chorus of boys, sang, "But we shall be far mightier still." And the marching
rhythms were such as to spur men on to courage, boldness, and contempt of death, which they used both in choruses and, to the accompaniment of the flute, as they advanced against the enemy. For Lycurgus yoked love of music to training for war, so that the excess of the warlike spirit, tempered by what was harmonious, might have concord and balance; and this is why the king, before battles, sacrificed to the Muses, so that
those fighting might perform deeds worthy of note and of glorious remembrance. And if anyone transgressed at all against the ancient music, they would not allow it; indeed, even Terpander, though a rather archaic figure and the finest lyre-player of his day and a celebrator of heroic deeds, was nonetheless fined by the ephors, who carried off and nailed up his lyre, because he had strung one extra string beyond what was needed for
variety of tone; for they approved only the simpler kinds of songs. And when Timotheus was competing at the Carneia, one of the ephors took a knife and asked him from which side he should cut off the greater number of the seven strings. Lycurgus also did away with all superstitious fear surrounding burials, permitting the dead to be buried within the city and their monuments to be kept close to the temples. He also did away with
pollutions connected with burial. He allowed nothing to be buried with the dead, but ordered that the body be wrapped, alike for all, in a scarlet cloth and olive leaves. He also abolished inscriptions on tombs, except for those who died in war, and did away with mourning and lamentation. They were not permitted to travel abroad, so that they might not partake of foreign customs and undisciplined ways of life. He also introduced
the expulsion of foreigners, so that those who slipped into the city might not become teachers of any evil to the citizens. Any citizen who did not endure the training of the boys had no share in the rights of the city. Some say that any foreigner too who endured such training in accordance with the wish of Lycurgus shared in the portion of citizenship established from the beginning. It was not permitted
to sell land. It was customary to use one's neighbors' servants as if they were one's own, if there was need, and likewise their dogs and horses, unless the owners themselves needed them; and in the countryside, if anyone lacking something had need of it, he would open another man's stores, take what was needed, and, after marking the seals, leave them so. In wars they used scarlet cloaks, partly because
the color seemed to them manly, and partly because the bloody hue causes greater fear in the inexperienced, and also because it is not easily detected by the enemy if one of them is wounded, its being of the same color being useful in that respect. Whenever they defeated the enemy by stratagem, they sacrifice an ox to Ares; but when they win in open battle, a cock, thereby accustoming their leaders to be not merely warlike but
also skilled in generalship. To their prayers they add the request to be able to endure being wronged. Their prayer is to grant good things in return for good deeds, and nothing more. They worship Aphrodite armed, and they make all the gods, female and male alike, bear spears, on the view that all of them possess warlike valor. And those given to proverbs also say that the hand that is extended calls fortune to itself, meaning that one
ought to call upon the gods only along with setting one's hand to some undertaking and acting, and not otherwise. They used to make the helots drunk and display them to the boys, as a deterrent against excessive drinking. It was their custom not to knock on the outer doors but to call out from outside. They used strigils not of iron but of reed. They did not attend comedies or tragedies, so that they might hear the words of those who spoke against the laws neither in earnest nor in jest. Archilochus
the poet, when he came to Lacedaemon, they expelled that very hour, because they learned that he had written that it is better to throw away one's shield than to die: "Some Saian now delights in the shield I left, unwillingly, blameless, beside a bush; but I myself escaped the end of death: let that shield go; I shall get another no worse." Girls and boys share the same religious rites. The ephors fined Sciraphidas,
because he was wronged by many people. They put to death Saccophorus, because he sewed a purple border onto his cloak. They rebuked the young man from the gymnasium, because he knew the road to Pylaea. They expelled Cephisophon, who said that about anything at all he could speak for a whole day, saying that a good speaker ought to make his speech match the subject matter. Among them the boys, whipped throughout the whole
day at the altar of Artemis Orthia, often endure it, sometimes to the point of death, cheerfully and proudly, competing with one another for victory as to which of them can hold out longer and better under the blows; and the one who prevails is especially renowned. This contest is called the diamastigosis, and it takes place every year. Lycurgus was thought to have provided the citizens with one of the finest and most blessed of things,
an abundance of leisure: for it was altogether forbidden to engage in any menial craft, and there was no need at all to concern themselves with the laborious business of amassing wealth, since he had made riches wholly unenviable and dishonored. The helots worked their land for them, paying over the fixed rent from above. It was accursed to hire out a helot at a higher rate, so that
the helots might serve willingly, gaining thereby, while the masters might not seek more than was fixed. They were forbidden to be sailors or to fight at sea; later, however, they did fight at sea, and having gained mastery of the sea, they gave it up again, seeing that the character of the citizens was being corrupted. But again they changed back, as in all other matters; and indeed, when money had been collected for the Lacedaemonians, those who had collected it were condemned to death. For to Alcamenes and Theopompus, the kings, an oracle was given:
"Love of money will destroy Sparta, and nothing else." Yet nonetheless Lysander, after conquering the Athenians, brought in much gold and silver, and they accepted it and honored the man. So then, as long as the city used the laws of Lycurgus and abided by its oaths, it held first place in Greece for good order and reputation for five hundred years; but as these were gradually transgressed and greed and love of wealth crept in, its power was diminished
and its allies for this reason grew ill-disposed toward it. Yet even in this condition, after Philip of Macedon's victory at Chaeronea, when all the Greeks proclaimed him leader by land and sea, and in the interval also proclaimed his son Alexander leader after the overthrow of the Thebans, the Lacedaemonians alone, although they had an unwalled city and were very few in number because of their
continual wars, and had become much weaker and easier to overcome, still preserving certain very small sparks of the legislation of Lycurgus, neither campaigned together with these kings nor with the Macedonian kings who came between them, nor entered any common council, nor paid tribute; until at last, having utterly disregarded the legislation of Lycurgus, they were made subject to tyranny by their own citizens, no longer preserving anything of their ancestral training, and, becoming like all the rest,
they cast aside their former good repute and freedom of speech and passed into slavery, and now they have become subject to the Romans, just like the other Greeks.