Aristot. Œcon. vi. 6. 11. p. 278, seq. Cf. Xen. Rep. Lac. vi. 3. 4. Aristot. Pol. ii. 2. 5. Plut. Laced. Instit. Footnote 1518: Dorians, ii. 218. ----- Money, we are incessantly told, was prohibited at Sparta; but, nevertheless, it seems to have been in constant use. It is affirmed, indeed, by a writer somewhat too prone to panegyric, that “it was employed more often as a medium of comparison than of exchange; small coins were chiefly used, and no value was attributed to the possession of large quantities.”[1519] But I do not see what is meant by employing money “as a medium of comparison;” and with regard to the value set on money by the Spartans, history incapacitates us for accepting the generous gloss of Mr. Müller. It is perhaps true that Lycurgos aimed at eradicating avarice from the Spartan breast, but, in the means to be adopted for that end, only showed his ignorance of human nature; since, though he might bring his vinegar-cooled iron medium of comparison into contempt, he could not thereby diminish the value of the things exchanged, that is of real wealth, which accordingly was estimated as highly at Sparta as elsewhere. Thus we see that poor men, not able to contribute their quota of provisions, were excluded from the common tables, which therefore resembled the hospitality and common tables of an inn,[1520] Where the Red Lion staring o’er the way, Invites each passing stranger—_that can pay_. ----- Footnote 1519: Müll. Dor. ii. 219. Bœckh. Econ. of Athen. ii. 389. Footnote 1520: Ἀναγκαῖον ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ πολιτείᾳ τιμᾶσθαι τὸν πλούτον, ἄλλως τε κἂν τύχωσι γυναικοκρατούμενοι, καθάπερ τὰ πολλὰ τῶν στρατιωτικῶν καὶ πολεμικῶν γενῶν. Aristot. Polit. ii. 9. -----