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Lycurgus of Sparta

Lycurgus of Sparta
Lycurgus was the traditional law-giver of Sparta.
Statue of Lycurgus of Sparta, at the Law Courts of Brussels, December 30, 2013.jpg
Nineteenth-century statue of Lycurgus at the neoclassical Palais de Justice in Brussels, Belgium

Lycurgus (/lˈkɜːrɡəs/; Greek: Λυκοῦργος, Lykoûrgos, Ancient Greek: [lykôrɡos] c. 900 – 800 BC) was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta who established the military-oriented reformation of Spartan society in accordance with the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. All his reforms were directed towards the three Spartan virtues: equality (among citizens), military fitness, and austerity.

He is referred to by ancient historians and philosophers Herodotus, Xenophon, Plato, Polybius, Plutarch, and Epictetus. It is not clear if Lycurgus was an actual historical figure; however, many ancient historians believed he was responsible for the communalistic and militaristic reforms that transformed Spartan society, most notably the Great Rhetra.

The following account comes almost exclusively from Plutarch's "Life of Lycurgus" (part of Parallel Lives), which is more of an anecdotal collection than a real biography. The actual person Lycurgus may or may not have existed, but as a symbolic founder of the Spartan state he was looked to as the initiator of many of its social and political institutions; much, therefore, of Plutarch's account is concerned with finding the "origin" of contemporary Spartan practices.

It is said that Lycurgus had risen to power when his older brother, the king, had died. With his father deceased, he was offered the throne. Lycurgus' brother, however, had died with a pregnant wife. When this child was born, Lycurgus named the child, Charilaus ("joy of the people") and transferred his kingship to the baby. After that, Lycurgus was said to be a man who could lay down the supreme power easily out of respect for justice, so it was easy for Lycurgus to rule the Spartans in his capacity as the guardian of his nephew Charilaus. However, the young king's mother and her relatives envied and hated Lycurgus. Among other slanders, they accused Lycurgus of plotting the death of Charilaus.


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