When a stranger entered Sparta and noted the lack of defensive fortifications surrounding the city, he inquired of Agesilaus, “Where are Sparta’s walls?” Immediately, Agesilaus pointed to the armed citizens and declared, “These are the Spartans’ walls.”
In Grecian Sparta, the state was strictly regulated to fashion a sense of duty to the state, communal strength, and domestic independence. Their forms of government and social life reflected these three vital issues.
Lycurgus was believed to be the founder of the traditional Spartan system. Due to political unrest at home, he journeyed to Crete, parts of Asia, and according to the Greek historian Herodotus, to Egypt, where he explored various sorts of government. Returning to Sparta, he overthrew the system and posited himself as a benevolent dictator. Sparta was to cling to Lycurgus’s resulting rules for many years to come. There were three main parts to Lycurgus’s reforms.
The first was a revamped government. At the top were the two kings, who generally handed the kingship down to posterity. Next was the Council of Elders, a group of twenty-eight lawmakers. And third was the populace, which had very limited voting rights, mainly property-owning males. Beginning with the reign of Theopompus, another level was introduced – the ephors. At first a temporary replacement for unavailable kings, it was later instituted as an oligarchy. They became responsible for much havoc in Sparta, as evidenced by their condemnation of Agis’s and Cleomenes’ attempts to reform or eliminate them.
A second reform was the redistribution of wealth and property. The official coinage of Sparta was designated as iron bars, which discouraged foreign trade. Each adult male was assigned a land lot, and was expected to maintain it. This system continued until, one on occasion, a man begrudged giving his land to his son, and soon initiated a law that allowed land to freely shift lands. This quickly resulted in a land-owning superior class and the concentration of wealth.
The third reform was a more strictly regulated community, centered on “messes,” communal places of eating. Each individual was required to join a communal mess and monthly contribute black broth, barley, wheat and other items. This required Spartans to associate with each other and fashion of sense of familial community.
This system was instituted by Lycurgus in a sequence of oral commands called “rhetras” and was considered to be divinely inspired by the Oracle of Delphi.
This form of government led to a specific sort of community, in both public and private life.
In public, each individual was required to join a mess. These became avenues promoting friendship and peer mentoring, fostering a spirit of community.
Personal hobbies, especially manual labor, were discouraged. Such corporal tasks were left to the Helots, the residing race of slaves in Sparta. People were expected to spend their time in communal arenas or in the gymnasium, improving their fitness and assisting others.
Sexual relations were also communal affairs. Older men generally engaged in homoerotic relationships with younger men. Additionally, each man was required to marry and beget children. Now, adultery was not illegal; at one’s request, one could have intercourse with another man’s wife, and deposit, in the words of Lycurgus, his “noble seed.”
The goals of community and strength extended to citizens’ private lives. At the age of seven, boys were removed from their homes and arranged in Troops, where they were taught physical fitness and survival skills. Failure was punished brutally. Upon completion of training at young adulthood, the male would be a certified warrior and eligible for full citizenship. Women were also expected to regularly participate in physical activities, so as to prepare them for the rigors of childbirth.
Perhaps the greatest regulation of private life was the apparent lack of one. Rules and social practices were consistently geared towards producing men and women of the state. Even religion became a tool for constructing community. The Spartan gods were headed by Castor and Pollux, a fearsome divine boxing duo. Everything was organized to establish group affiliation and individual resilience.
For all his the apparent orthodoxy and strict regime, however, Sparta consistently strayed and wavered in its idealistic pursuit of perfection. Wealth and greed continually crept into the city, and it was only through much turmoil that it was routed. In the reign of Cleomenes, the Ephors urged him to not be so hasty to return to Sparta’s past glory. Yet for all the bickering, a true Spartan never doubted who he was – fierce, dedicated, and most of all, a member of the state.
Sources:
Plutarch. “On Sparta.” 2005. Print.
Wikipeda.com. “Sparta.” 2008. Web.
Sikyon.com. “Sparta: Training.” 2010. Web.
