Lycurgus of Sparta
Lycurgus of Sparta was a very important figure in the history of Sparta as well as that of the world because of his actions that have shaped history and have put Sparta on the historical map. He is well known for the military reforms he brought to Sparta. He was born at around the eight century BC, and this is according to how some ancient historians put it. His life, actions as well as his legacy have mostly been depicted through Plutarch’s work with the most notable being ‘life of Lycurgus’ and is a form of collection of Lycurgus history in a more or less anecdotal form since there was limited information about him in history (Talbert 2005).
He was the brother to the king who died leaving a pregnant woman. The woman bared a son called Charilaus. However, Lycurgus was expected to assume the position of the throne as the king died but Lycurgus decided to just become the guardian of the throne until the child was in full capacity to take over the throne. However, because Lycurgus had influence on the people, and they loved him many especially those close to him envied him, for example, his relatives as well as the mother of Charilaus. They went to the extent of framing him in case anything happened to Charilaus. They even accused him of planning to kill Charilaus. With these tensions at hand, Lycurgus decided to travel until the Charilaus was all grown up. This move was to prevent him from being frame in case anything bad happened to Charilaus. He had sensed the negative atmosphere developed around him and so he left. It is through this process of leaving that he encountered various experiences that led him to develop the various ideologies that he used to change Sparta (DiPrimio 2013).
Lycurgus leaving had him leave behind his authority, and his first destination was Crete; an island. In Crete Lycurgus, studied the way the people were governed and gathered much information that would later on help him. During this time, he met a poet called Thaletas who was, in fact, a civilian teacher. He used Thaletas by convincing him to go to Sparta and use his songs as well as poems to prepare the people for the coming Lycurgus together with his new teachings that he would introduce to them. Lycurgus the left for Lonia, and here he became fascinated with the Lonia’s love for pleasure and used this aspect to combine with the one he learned in Crete to develop the ideologies he would use in Sparta. The aspects from the two places were distinctively different from each other. He also used works of Homer for his work. Homer's works mainly entailed aspects such as morality as well as statecraft, and they became very useful to Lycurgus. Lycurgus is also said to have been in Egypt from where he obtained much knowledge from the Egyptians that entailed the military mainly about the importance of separating the military from other works. With all these information Lycurgus decided to go back home with the goal of initiating change the society. He changed the laws of Sparta based on guidance from the wise (Hopkinson 2012).
Before he could initiate his ideologies to the people, Lycurgus had to seek first the guidance of the oracle who gave him the go ahead. Lycurgus first reforms were to lower the king’s powers and increase the government’s stability by instituting a Gerousia. This involving appointing twenty-eight men and giving them powers equal to the two Spartan royal houses. Lycurgus also initiated the aspect of the ability of the people to vote regarding important issues influencing them. However, the Gerousia made the decision on when to vote. The Gerousia also had the power to protect the people from public speakers who would trick the people to vote on their favours. The reduction of the king’s powers was also very helpful to them because it protected them from the jealousy of the people and protected them from losing all their powers. Lycurgus further led to the development of certain important institutions that were helpful to the Spartan people. He led to the refinement of the Spartan army by first of all separating the military men from the workers. The other important aspect is the reduction in the disparities that existed between the rich and the poor by increasing equality among all citizens. He facilitated for the equitable distribution of resources among the people especially the land by subdividing it to the people equally. He also brought about the aspect of equality by encouraging everyone to be having their meals at the same table with each person giving contributions of food and money to his or her table. This helped bring the people together, and even the king was forced to have his meals with the people (Hodkinson 2012).
Works Cited
DiPrimio, Pete. Ancient Sparta. Hockessin, Del.: Mitchell Lane Publishers, 2013. Print.
Hodkinson, Stephen. Sparta in modern thought: politics, history and culture. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales ;, 2012. Print.
Talbert, Richard J. A.. Plutarch on Sparta. Rev. ed. London: Penguin, 2005. Print.
