any occupation but war and government. They lived within their
city, which was a fortified camp, and ate in common at public tables, and
on the simplest fare. Every virtue and energy were concentrated on
self-discipline and sacrifice, in order to fan the fires of heroism and
self-devotion. They were a sort of stoics--hard, severe, proud, despotic,
and overbearing. They cared nothing for literature, or art, or philosophy.
Even eloquence was disdained, and the only poetry or music they cultivated
were religions hymns and heroic war songs. Commerce was forbidden by the
constitution, and all the luxuries to which it leads. Only iron was
allowed for money, and the precious metals were prohibited. Every
exercise, every motive, every law, contributed to make the Spartans
soldiers, and nothing but soldiers. Their discipline was the severest
known to the ancients. Their habits of life were austere and rigid. They
were trained to suffer any hardship without complaint.

(M359) Besides these Spartan citizens were the _Perioeci_--remnants of the
old Achaean population, but mixed with an inferior class of Dorians. They
had no political power, but possessed personal freedom. They were landed
proprietors, and engaged in commerce and manufactures.

(M360) Below this class were the Helots--pure Greeks, but reduced to
dependence by conquest. They were bound to the soil, like serfs, but dwelt
with their families on the farms they tilled. They were not bought and
sold as slaves. They were the body servants of the Spartan citizens, and
were regarded as the property of the State. They were treated with great
haughtiness and injustice by their masters, which bred at last an intense
hatred.

(M361) All political power was in the hands of the citizen warriors, only
about nine thousand in number in the time of Lycurgus. From them emanated
all delegated authority, except that of kings. This assembly, or
_ecclesia_, of Spartans over thirty years of age, met at stated intervals
to decide on all important matters submitted to them, but they had no
right of amendment--only a simple approval or rejection.

(M362) The body to which the people, it would seem, delegated considerable
power, was the Senate, composed of thirty members, not under sixty years
of age, and elected for life. They were a deliberative body, and judges in
all capital charges against Spartans. They were not chosen for noble birth
or property qualifications, but for merit and wisdo