zens decreased instead
of increasing. At the time of the Persian war there were eight thousand
of them. At a late date there were but seven hundred, of whom one
hundred possessed most of the land. Whether Lycurgus really divided the
land equally or not is doubtful. At any rate, in time the land fell into
a few hands, the poor increased in number, and the people steadily died
out; while the public mess, so far as the rich were concerned, became a
mere form.

But we need not deal with these late events, and must go back to the
story told of Lycurgus. It is said that when he had completed his code
of laws, he called together an assembly of the people, told them that he
was going on a journey, and asked them to swear that they would obey his
laws till he returned. This they agreed to do, the kings, the senate,
and the people all taking the oath.

Then the law-giver went to Delphi, where he offered a sacrifice to
Apollo, and asked the oracle if the laws he had made were good. The
oracle answered that they were excellent, and would bring the people the
greatest fame. This answer he had put into writing and sent to Sparta,
for he had resolved to make his oath binding for all time by never
returning. So the old man starved himself to death.

The Spartans kept their oath. For five hundred years their city
continued one of the chief cities of Greece, and their army the most
warlike and dreaded of the armies of the earth. As for Lycurgus, his
countrymen worshipped him as a god, and imputed to him all that was
noble in their institutions and excellent in their laws. But time brings
its inevitable changes, and these famous institutions in time decayed,
while the people perished from over-strict discipline or other causes
till but a small troop of Spartans remained, too weak in numbers fairly
to control the Helots of their fields.

In truth, the laws of Lycurgus were unnatural, and in the end could but
fail. They were framed to make one-sided men, and only whole men can
long succeed. Human nature will have its way, and luxury and corruption
crept into Sparta despite these laws. Nor did the Spartans prove braver
or more successful in war than the Athenians, whose whole nature was
developed, and who were alike great in literature, art, and war.

_ARISTOMENES, THE HERO OF MESSENIA._

We have told by what means the Spartans grew to be famous warriors. We
have now to tell one of the ancient stories of how they used their
wa