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 600 BC Later classical writers added details to his life as the tradition developed until Plutarch actually wrote a biography.

Lycurgus c.396-c.325 BC, one of the Ten Attic Orators of the Alexandrian canon; pupil of Isocrates. A capable and honored public official, he administered the state finances from 338 to 326 BC and led (with Demosthenes) the anti-Macedonian party. One of his official acts ordered the editing and preserving of the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. A single oration ( Against Leocrates ) is extant.

Lycurgus (active c.625 bc) Semi-mythical lawgiver of ancient Sparta. He has been cited as the author of the political and social system in Sparta. Many scholars now doubt that one individual was responsible for the Spartan social system.