What does evidence reveal about the Lykurgun reforms in the Spartan constitution?
The controversial existence of Lycurgus and the policies he implemented in the creation of the Spartan constitution is still a topic greatly debated to this day. According to ancient historian Plutarch, Lycurgus was a law giver, responsible for the reformation of the Spartan constitution, which has created many problems for historians due to these policies extending far beyond his lifetime. Modern historian W.G. Forrest suggest that, “others may have thought of him as a hero or god whose protection under which the new order was placed.” According to Plutarch, whose historical reliability stems from documents of early Sparta, tells that Lycurgus journeyed to Apollo’s oracle of Delphi, in order to retrieve his famous text, ‘The Great Rhetra’, the outline for which Spartan society was based upon.
At the head of Spartan government were two kings, which modern historian Buckley writes, “There were to hereditary kings from the family of the Agiads and the family of the Eurypontids… whom were constitutionally equal in authority and thus acted as a check on each other’s power. The kings of Sparta served many roles both military, judicial and religious. Kings had the power to declare war on any land in which Herodotus exclaims, “the right of making war against whatsoever land they please”. Furthermore two ephors would accompany the king during his war where they would act as a supervisor and punish the king if the campaign failed. The kings had a limited judicial role where they would decide on marriages of orphaned heiresses where Herodotus states, “the kings alone give decision about the maiden and who inherits her father’s property”. The only other role the Kings had were on the adoption of children where Herodotus further states, “if any man desire to adopt a son, he must do it in the presence of the kings.” Religiously, Kings were priests and acted as intermediaries between the gods and men, supported by Xenophon, “the King shall offer all the public sacrifices on behalf of the state.” Each king was the priest of either Zeus Lacedaemonios or Zeus Uranios of their respective families. Every 9th year, Ephors would look to the skies for any sign of the gods approval or disapproval. Kings also made sacrifices to Zeus before campaigns, “On the first and seventh day of every month animal sacrifice to Zeus would be made” where only if omens were favourable that the army could proceed to the frontier.
Below the Kings was the government consisting of the Gerousia, Ephorate and the Ekklesia. The Gerousia consisted of thirty members, two of which were kings depicted in Bury and Meiggs words, “the council consisted of thirty members, including the two kings and other 28 whom must be over 60 years old. These men held their offices for life after a rewarding and distinctive career in the military. The Gerousia was the oligarchic element of the constitution, and a probleutic body that deliberated on bills presented to the assembly for voting as well as was a court of justice for criminal cases. Plutarch supports this, “Gerousia came about as part of Lycurgus’ attempt to safeguard the state”. However election into the Gerousia as Bury and Meiggs states, “Though elected by the people, they were not elected from the people, where nobility of birth still held political significance”.
The Ephorate was a board of five ephors in which ancient historian Xenophon affirms, “The ephors were 5 officials, who in addition had wide extensive and judicial powers”. The Ephors were the chief magistrates and administrative officials of Sparta and were created by kings to carry on government whilst away from war. The position was held for a year and was eligible to all Spartans over the age of thirty, with election held by the loudness of acclamation, which Aristotle highly criticizes, “the present method of selection strikes me as childish”. Ehpors exchanged monthly oaths with kings and had total training of Spartan youths as well as determined whether newborn babies were fit to join Spartan society. All misconduct was reported to them including the Krypteia or secret police of Sparta. Xenophon also depicts ephors as receivers of any foreign messengers in which he states, “All foreign representatives had to halt at border and wait for the permission of ephors before entering”.
The Ecclesia was an assembly for all Spartan over thirty, held once a month which modern historian Buckley affirms, “all male Spartiates were elegible to attend Ekklesia… had the right to elect members of the Gerousia and Ephors. The role of the Ekklesia was not to discuss or amend proposals but to simply vote for or against them. The undemocratic part of this assembly was that if ephors disapproved of a motion passed by the assembly, they could refuse to proclaim it, causing it to lapse. Plutarch mentions a combination of all these aspects helped to produce security within the Spartan states referencing Plato, “according to Plato, its combination of the kings arrogant rule, and the right to equal vote on the most important matters, produced security”.