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Lycurgus The Lawgiver. Lycurgus the Lawgiver. Biography. Uncertain whether he was a real person. If he was, his life must be placed in the 7th century. He introduced a set of laws called ‘The Great Rhetra’ This was believed to be the constitution of Sparta in the classical period
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Biography • Uncertain whether he was a real person. • If he was, his life must be placed in the 7th century. • He introduced a set of laws called ‘The Great Rhetra’ • This was believed to be the constitution of Sparta in the classical period • In reality, although conservative, the laws of Sparta were a larger collection accumulated over time, and much of them was unwritten custom, rather than written law in the modern sense.
The text of the Great Rhetra • When thou has built a temple to Zeus Syllanius and Athena Syllania, divided the people into phylai, and divided them into 'obai', and established a Gerousia of thirty including the Archagetai, then from time to time 'appellazein' between Babyka and Knakion, and there introduce and repeal measures; but the Demos must have the decision and the power. • (Later addition:) But if the Demos should choose badly, the Gerontes and Kings shall be 'apostateres'
Historical Judgement: • For its day, the great Rhetra was a radical concept, and a remarkable document, as it established direct democracy for the first time in human history. • However, its message was eroded later • The political conservatism of Sparta had already rendered it archaic by the end of the 5th c. when Sparta reached its peak • It was never applied properly • It was not followed by any other reform in the coming centuries.
The Messenian Wars • First Messenian War (743-24) • The Messenians successfully resist Spartan attacks for years from the heavily fortified position of Mt. Ithome • After the death of king Aristodemos, Ithome fell and Messenia was enslaved.
The Second Messenian War (685-668) • The enslaved Messenians revolted under Aristomenes, who was eventually declared king of Messenia. For a long time they successfully resisted Sparta, but in the end they were defeated and became helots, until 370 BC, when the Theban Epameinondas reinstated Messenian Independence. • Historians have argued that the Spartans were enslaved to the enslaved Messenians.
