The book of the ancient Greeks: An introduction to the history and civilization of Greece from the coming of the Greeks to the conquest of Corinth by Rome in 146 B.C. — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The book of the ancient Greeks: An introduction to the history and civilization of Greece from the coming of the Greeks to the conquest of Corinth by Rome in 146 B.C.
John Stuart Mill · en
having considered their several forms of government, and got an
acquaintance with the principal men amongst them, some of their
laws he very much approved of and resolved to make use of them in
his own country. From Crete he sailed to Asia, with design, as
is said, to examine the difference betwixt the manners and rules
of life of the Cretans who were very sober and temperate, and
those of the Ionians, a people of sumptuous and delicate habits,
and so to form a judgment. Lycurgus was much missed at Sparta,
and often sent for, "for kings indeed we have," the people said,
"who wear the masks and assume the titles of royalty, but as for
the qualities of their minds, they have nothing by which they are
to be distinguished from their subjects."
Lycurgus only, they said, knew both how to rule and how to make the
people obey him.
{78} So Lycurgus returned, but on his way he went to Delphi to
consult Apollo, and the oracle called him "beloved of God," and said
to him:
Lo, thou art come, O Lycurgus, to this rich shrine of my temple,
Beloved thou by Zeus and by all who possess the abodes of
Olympus. Whether to call thee a god, I doubt, in my voices
prophetic, God or a man, but rather a god I think, O Lycurgus.[2]
The oracle then went on to say "that his prayers were heard, that his
laws should be the best, and the commonwealth which observed them the
most famous in the world."
On his return to Sparta, the first thing Lycurgus did was to reform
the government. This was now to consist of three parts: the Kings,
the Senate or Council, and the Assembly. Sparta had always had two
Kings at a time, who succeeded each other from father to son. It was
they who had the right of commanding the army in war, they were
always accompanied by a bodyguard of specially picked men, at the
public sacrifices and games they had special seats of honour, and at
all banquets and feasts double portions of everything were served to
them. When it was necessary for the State to consult the Oracle, it
was one of the Kings who decided on the messenger to be sent.
The Senate or Council consisted of the two Kings who were members by
right of their birth, and of twenty-eight other men who were elected
as Senators {79} for life. Every candidate had to be sixty years
old, for Lycurgus believed that until a man had reached that age, he
was not wise enough nor fit enough to be