Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Lycurgus (/ laɪˈkɜːrɡəs /; Greek: Λυκοῦργος Lykourgos) was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, credited with the formation of its eunomia ('good order'), [1] involving political, economic, and social reforms to produce a military-oriented Spartan society in accordance with the Delphic oracle. The Spartans in the historical period ...
Attributed to the mythical figure of Lycurgus, the legendary law-giver, the Spartan system of government is known mostly from the Constitution of the Lacedaemonians, a treatise attributed to the ancient Greek historian Xenophon, describing the institutions, customs, and practices of the ancient Spartans.
Sparta. The Great Rhetra (Greek: Μεγάλη Ῥήτρα, literally: Great "Saying" or "Proclamation", charter) was used in two senses by the classical authors. In one sense, it was the Spartan Constitution, believed to have been formulated and established by the quasi-legendary lawgiver, Lycurgus. In the legend Lycurgus forbade any written ...
Though Athens is commonly cited in discussions about Greek law, Sparta also developed a lasting legal code, attributed early on to Lycurgus. Though there is controversy about the existence of Lycurgus, the first written record of Lycurgus as the Spartan lawgiver is attributed to Herodotus in the 5th century BCE. [ 14 ]
It appears that the event most likely to have impressed Xenophon was the victory of Sparta over Athens during the Peloponnesian War, which occurred when Xenophon was a young man. [4] He describes all Spartan laws and practices as deriving from Lycurgus's reforms which were also believed to have been sanctified by Apollo at Delphi. [2]
Sparta was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which were supposedly introduced by the semi-mythical legislator Lycurgus. His laws configured the Spartan society to maximize military proficiency at all costs, focusing all social institutions on military training and physical development.
Spartan law codified under Lycurgus expressed the importance of child-bearing to Sparta. Bearing and raising children was considered the most important role for women in Spartan society; equal to male warriors in the Spartan army. [52] Spartan women were encouraged to produce many children, preferably male, to increase Sparta's military population.
Lycurgus (Greek: Λυκοῦργος Lykurgos; fl. 219–217 BC) was a king of Sparta, who reigned from 219 BC until his death shortly before 211 BC. Of obscure background and possibly of non-royal descent, Lycurgus led Sparta in the Social War against Macedon with varying success, and underwent multiple exiles during his checkered reign.