Research topic: Lycurgus

Lycurgus , traditional name of the founder of the Spartan constitution. The earliest mention of him is in Herodotus. Nothing is known of his life—when he lived or if he was a real man, a god, or a mythical figure. However, he is generally associated with the 7th cent. BC at the time when a revolt of the Messenian subjects nearly ruined Sparta. Lycurgus led a reform in the government and in the city's social system to establish a machine of war that would preclude further trouble from the helots and other subjects. Some features of the unique Spartan system were certainly more recent than... Read more