Lycurgus, as Plutarch says, was the author of the establishment of life in Lacedaemon, one of the most famous cities of Greece. Lycurgus’ key to the Lacedaemonians was the education system. This institution was intended to be holistic and differed from modern educational concepts in that its sole purpose was to produce citizens who possessed physical strength, loyalty to the state, and a higher level of excellence to achieve the state’s goals. Lycurgus, for this reason, no one else carried the freedom of Lacedaemon. Few modern observers agree with this assessment.
One of the most famous aspects of the Spartans’ physical life is related to virtue. Even infants born had to show courage or risk being victims of childhood (Plutarch, n. 16). Physical training began at a young age and was given to both men and women (14). And the children, once at the age of seven, are placed in “herds” where they will be subjected to extreme training. While some of this training became intellectual, most of it became physical and was designed for obedience, obedience, increasing strength, and teaching martial arts (16).
All these things, of course, were of great importance to the perseverance of the Spartans. It is unlikely that the soldiers could have survived for long without a strong force. In the development of courage and military skills he allowed the Lacedaemonians to defend their territory against outside enemies, such as the Athenians; internals are possible as helots – slaves living in their lands that were conquered by Sparta (28). One part of this system of training, in krypteia. In this the young men are armed, and sent into the fields, who observe the helots. At night they watched the strongest posts. This therefore served the dual purpose of teaching the young men survival skills, and of weakening their ability to fight with machines by instilling fear in them and removing the strongest men.
“Herds” were not the end of the education of the Spartans. He continued into adulthood, as Plutarch reports (24). Various corrections were instituted by Lycurgus to educate the adult population. These included such things as the land crisis, financial reform (especially the abolition of privately held capital), anti-luxury laws and communal feasts. These reforms taught the citizens to think first of the republic, to put the needs of their population first, and to live according to the Spartan ideals of goodness and virtue.
These were the reforms that made Sparta one of the most powerful states in ancient Greece. Plutarch writes that before the crisis of the land, the people of the land, who pressed on the city and threatened the social order (8). The land fleet represented this threat to the security and stability of the state and, as such, had to prevent chaos. Lycurgus’ answer to this was to reduce the land. This being done, every man had an equal share in which to live, and the problem was thus removed.
When Lycurgus was led to a firm republic, Lycurgus tried to divide his personal goods further, but when he found that this was not possible, he instead instituted a financial reform (9). The effect of this reform would be to make the accumulation of wealth not only virtually impossible, but entirely inadvisable. When the Lacedaemonians no longer concentrated on the abundance of wealth, they were able to concentrate their energies on the republic and pursue their valor.
A land partition scheme and financial reform, Lycurgus also implemented an anti-luxury law (13). According to this law the Spartans lived in simple houses. Homes should go with simple simple home furniture and have simple clothes. This was also the cause of many of the previous amendments. Due to land partition and financial reform, few people build enough surplus to afford any luxury. But the luxuries of the Spartans and what they were. All these had to look at the intemperance of the way of life. Through the equality of living simply, people had more opportunity to focus on creating a strong state and pursue the goal of personal excellence and power.
This desire for equality and uniformity also led to their dining practices with the creation of common banquets (10-12). All the people of the Lacedaemonians needed to have a feast, in which there was a common apartment. Each member in turn will bring a quantity of soup food. By instituting common feasts, Lycurgus taught the Lacedaemonians that they wished to share provisions among themselves, and to live better among themselves, when the harvests of camaraderie among the members increased. The common diet also ensured that all Spartans had equality of food, and that they were healthy citizens. of the city
Despite the fact that they were seen as the most dominant society, the Spartans saw themselves not only as Greeks, but as truly free Greeks. It seems that there were two main reasons for this attitude: their equality and manual deficiency. As mentioned earlier, the Spartans saw equality as a way to strengthen the republic and importance to developing-characters of individuals. Since the Spartans had used this discipline of discipline, the Spartans saw that they were in no way likely to be Greeks in unnecessary matters.
Unlike all the Greeks, the Lacedaemonians were free from mausal labor (24). This allowed them the freedom to fully serve the Spartan republic. This also allowed the Lacedaemonians to see her increase in strength and courage. Thus, while other Greeks were occupied with crops to feed themselves or ventured into business to accumulate wealth, the Lacedaemonians were free to pursue perfection.
In the comparison of liberty with the opinions of the modern Spartans, there appears one great similarity, but several differences. This similitude is devotion to the principle of equality. In both the Spartan system and the modern concept of liberty, equality exists on several levels. He is in equal right before the law. This is the key to almost every modern concept of freedom. While there is less agreement on the concept of economic equality in the modern view, it exists to some extent in all societies that are called free, either actual equality or mere strategic equality.
That being said, there remain significant differences between Spartan and modern ideas of freedom. All modern beliefs of the state of freedom are that the institution of slavery is unlawful. The system of the Lacedaemonians was based on group slavery (2). Without this system the Lacedaemonians would not have had the leisure necessary to serve a perfect republic and the near total equality of citizens. Most modern people would argue that true freedom cannot be achieved through the passion of the many for the benefit of the few.
By the most recent standards, the society of the Lacedaemonians had a totalitarian nature. Plutarch speaks of this, and seems to approve of it (24). All aspects of life revolved around the Spartan state and each individual was seen only in the giant machine. Even as they pursued their much admired excellence and personal courage, they had to conform firmly to the standards of society. The most modern societies, even collectivist ones, value much greater freedom for individuals. If it is safe to say, although there are some documents that even today the system of Lycurgus can teach us, its totalitarian nature, combined with the institution of slavery, the Spartan system, which is the whole cost, is in no way incompatible with modern freedom. .
Source:
Plutarch “Lycurgus.” In Greek Vine. Translated by Robin Waterfield. Edited by Philip A. Stadter. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. 3-41.
