1.Lycurgus did all he could to keep the Spartans from giving their thoughts to wealth rather than to virtue and courage,and to keep the rich people from looking down on the poor.He got the rich people as well as the poor to give up all their lands,and then the whole was divided equally among all the families.
2.Instead of taking their food at home,as we do,every one had to eat at public mess-tables,as our soldiers do.All the men of the city were divided into companies of fifteen or twenty,and each of these companies met daily at their own table,for which they had to provide among themselves a certain amount of food every month.
3.Thus no selfish person could indulge in rich food.
And it would not do either to eat privately at home before coming to the public table;for if one could not eat and drink his fair share when he came there,he was sure to be laughed at as weak and unmanly.
4.The food which was used at these tables was of the very plainest kind.A kind of black broth made with goat's flesh was most liked.This,along with bread and dried fruits,and wine from their own vineyards,formed their usual diet .
5.You can well believe that this law was much disliked by the rich.Indeed,it nearly cost Lycurgus his life at first;for he was stoned in the market-place,and saved his life only by his speed in running away.
6.The boys had mess-tables of their own;but they were allowed to be present at those of the men,in order that they might learn how to behave,and that they might be instructed of their elders.
7.The Spartans gave much care to the training of the young,but they cared only for such training as would make them brave soldiers and a terror to the enemy.This is not the kind of training which we need most in our country;and so we find that the Spartan boys were taught somewhat differently from ours.
8.When the Spartans first settled in their country,they had conquered the former inhabitants and made them slaves.These slaves did all the hard work,in the fields and in the houses;so the Spartan boys had no need to learn a trade in order to make their living.They looked upon labour of any kind as fit only for slaves.
9.When boys were seven years old,they were taken away from their parents,and trained to be soldiers.They did not get much of what we call education,though they were all taught to read and write.They went through all sorts of exercises to strengthen the body,and make them able to bear pain and fatigue .
10.The girls had a training of somewhat the same kind;and indeed the women of Sparta were as brave as the men.When a young man first went out to battle,his mother gave him his shield,with the words,"Return with this,or on it."What did she mean?
11.The shield was a long one,and if a man ran away from his enemies,he had to throw away his shield to help his flight.If a man was killed or severely wounded,his companions carried him home on his shield.Thus to return without it was a mark of disgrace,while to return on it showed that the man had done his duty in the battle.
