y all the civil power, so that the kings had little more to do
than to command the army and lead it to war. The kings, however, were at
the head of the religious establishment of the country, and were
respected by the people as descendants of the gods.

The government of Sparta thus became an aristocracy or oligarchy. The
ephors came from the people, and were appointed in their interest, but
they came to rule the state so completely that neither the kings, the
senate, nor the assembly had much voice in the government. Such was the
outgrowth of the governmental institutions of Lycurgus.

It is the civil laws made by Lycurgus, however, which are of most
interest, and in which Sparta differed from all other states. The people
of Laconia, the country of which Sparta was the capital, were composed
of two classes. That country had originally been conquered by the
Spartans, and the ancient inhabitants, who were known as Helots, were
held as slaves by their Spartan conquerors. They tilled the ground to
raise food for the citizens, who were all soldiers, and whose whole life
and thought were given to keeping the Helots in slavery and to warlike
activity. That they might make the better soldiers, Lycurgus formed laws
to do away with all luxury and inequality of conditions, and to train up
the young under a rigid system of discipline to the use of weapons and
the arts of war. The Helots, also, were often employed as light-armed
soldiers, and there was always danger that they might revolt against
their oppressors, a fact which made constant discipline and vigilance
necessary to the Spartan citizens.

Lycurgus found great inequality in the state. A few owned all the land,
and the remainder were poor. The rich lived in luxury; the poor were
reduced to misery and want. He divided the whole territory of Sparta
into nine thousand equal lots, one of which was given to each citizen.
The territory of the remainder of Laconia was divided into thirty
thousand equal lots, one of which was given to each Perioecus. (The
Perioeci were the freemen of the country outside of the Spartan city
and district, and did not possess the full rights of citizenship.)

This measure served to equalize wealth. But further to prevent luxury,
Lycurgus banished all gold and silver from the country, and forced the
people to use iron money,--each piece so heavy that none would care to
carry it. He also forbade the citizens to have anything to do with
commerce or