The early Dorians were ever ready to uphold the ancient customs as opposed to innovations. In the management of public affairs they trusted to the ties of relationship rather than to political organization based on property. The policy of the Athenians, on the contrary, as enunciated4 by Pericles, was that “it is not the country and the people, but movable and personal property, in the proper sense of the word, which make states great and powerful.” The one policy was essentially5 Doric, the other Ionic.182
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The exact time at which Lycurgus occupied the position of lawgiver to the Spartans is not known, but it is claimed by Xenophon that he lived shortly after the age of Homer. If the accounts of the Laced?monians which have come down to us in connection with the name of this legislator belong to that early age, if scarcely one ethnical period had elapsed since woman’s influence was supreme6 in the home and in the group, we would naturally expect to find in their customs, usages, and regulations for the management of society, certain traces of a former state of female independence, and a hint, at least, of those principles of liberty and equality in the establishment of the commonwealth7 which were the result of female influence; especially would this be true as we are informed that the Spartans were a conservative people, clinging to the prejudices of more ancient times. A glance at Spartan3 institutions at the time indicated, furnishes ample proof of the fact that the Laced?monians were still to a considerable extent living under conditions which had been established under the archaic8 rule of the gens.
The Spartan senate as reconstructed by Lycurgus was composed of thirty members including the two kings or military leaders.183 These chiefs were the heads of the several gentes. The Ecclesia, or assembly of the people,287 “contained originally all the free males who dwelt within the city were of a legal age.”184 Hence may be observed the fact that the constitution of the state was the same as that in the Upper Status of barbarism; yet the spectacle of a double monarchy9 (notwithstanding the fact that it has been designated as a kind of irresponsible generalship)185 shows that the power attached to the office of basileus had become a menace to the liberties of the people; hence this equal division of responsibility and authority.
The Spartan men were warriors10 who had subjugated11 the country, making serfs of the original inhabitants. In the time of Lycurgus these gentlemen soldiers constituted an aristocratic class who spent their lives in the performance of public duties, leaving the cultivation12 of the soil to the serfs. Helots, the name given to the serfs, signifies “captives.” They were the slave population of Laconia.186 The manufacturers and tradespeople of the towns and country districts around Sparta were free, but had been deprived of their political rights. It is evident from these facts that although the constitution of the state had not been changed, the division of the people into classes, a division which since the latter part of the Second Status of barbarism had been threatened, had through spoliation and conquest already taken place. Add to this the fact that property had passed into the hands of private individ288uals, and we shall observe that the conditions had already become favourable13 for the development of that thirst for wealth and power which characterizes monarchial14 institutions.
If we carefully note the early condition of Spartan society, and studiously observe the processes involved in the growth of human institutions, we shall be enabled to perceive the nature of the “load” under which the Spartans “groaned15” in the time of Lycurgus. The fact has been noted16 that, throughout an entire ethnical period, human ingenuity17 had been taxed to the utmost to subdue18 or keep in check the growing tendency toward usurpation19 and tyranny, and the spectacle of a double monarchy, or of two military chieftains as they appeared in ancient Sparta, indicates an attempt on the part of the people to divide the power which had become attached to this office, and which was doubtless already menacing the popular rights.
In addition to the turmoil20 and strife21 engendered22 by the thirst for power were the turbulence23 and frequent insurrections of the serfs, who, it will be remembered, had previously24 been free, and who were therefore restless and impatient under the tyranny of their Spartan masters.
Although wealth had greatly increased in Sparta during the ages immediately preceding the Lycurgan system, yet that the disorders25 which prevailed were in no wise attributable to luxury and enervation27 is shown in the fact as given by Aristotle,289 that the men during their frequent campaigns had become inured28 to the rigours and hardships of a soldier’s life. He says:
For, during the wars of the Laced?mons, first against the Argives, and afterwards against the Arcadians and Messenians, the men were long away from home, and on the return of peace, they gave themselves into the legislator’s hands, already prepared by the discipline of a soldier’s life (in which there were many elements of virtue29), to receive his enactments30.187
It is indeed plain that the state of disorder26 which prevailed at Sparta in the time of Lycurgus can be accounted for in no other way than that the people were no longer able to keep in check the constantly increasing egoism and selfishness developed within the governing classes.
The extent to which all wise regulations are attributed to the governing head is plainly apparent in the view taken of the management of Sparta which Herodotus and Plutarch ascribe to Lycurgus, but which in the very nature of the case must have originated from other sources.
It is in no wise probable that Lycurgus instituted any such radical32 changes in the constitution of the state as have been ascribed to him by the above writers, for, as we have seen, prior to his appearance as lawgiver the government was administered by a military chieftain or basileus, a senate, and an assembly of the people. In order290 to strengthen their authority, the kings had made common cause with the assembly of the people, and through this means had drawn33 to themselves nearly all the powers originally vested in that body; while the senate, destitute34 of support, had gradually yielded up its functions to them.
Before accepting the statements of these writers, attributing to Lycurgus that almost unparalleled degree of genius by means of which was originated an entirely35 new set of institutions, all the accessible facts relative to these institutions should without prejudice be closely scrutinized36, especially as they involve principles and actions which could scarcely have been forced upon a people through an arbitrary stretch of power in the hands of a single individual.
Doubtless the principal changes in the government inaugurated by Lycurgus were, first, the importance which he caused to be attached to the assembly of the people, and second, the restoration of the senate. By strengthening this body, which was originally composed of the heads of the gentes, the gentile organization was in a measure restored to its original dignity. The extreme anxiety felt in the time of Lycurgus lest the people’s rights be invaded, is shown in the fact that the three administrative38 functions of the government were supplemented by five ephors chosen annually39 as agents of the people, whose chief prerogative40 it was to scrutinize37 the acts of the chief magistrate41 and other guardians42 of the commonwealth. Al291though the office of the ephors is much older than the Lycurgan legislation,188 it had previously been abolished, or had sunk into disuse. The ephors of Lycurgus were “probably appointed for the special purpose of watching over the Lycurgan discipline, and punishing those who neglected it.”189
Later, however, when through the greed for gain and the inordinate43 thirst for power, the ephors in their turn had drawn to themselves the greater share of the powers belonging to the state, the military commander, or so-called king, became responsible to them for his conduct even while directing the army in the field. He received his orders from them, and although in cases of emergency he was authorized44 to exercise the power of life and death, according to Xenophon, they could accuse the king and compel him to defend his acts or suffer the penalty of death. By a gradual process of usurpation the ephors had, “by the time of Thucydides, completely superseded45 the king as the directors of affairs at Sparta.”
The fact has been observed that the authority of the senate, a body which in earlier times had been composed of the heads of the genets, who were elected by all the people, and who held their office only during good behaviour, had, in the time of Lycurgus, through the growth of the monarchial and aristocratic party become weakened; and292 that, as the kings had drawn to themselves the powers formerly46 belonging to the popular assembly, the people were no longer represented, but had been obliged to surrender their independence to the authority of the military leaders. It is altogether likely, therefore, that the load under which the Spartans are said to have groaned, and from which Lycurgus is supposed to have released them, was the undue47 assumption of power by the basileus and the aristocratic party; and that the chief service which he lent to the state was the sanction which he gave to those principles of equality and liberty which had been recognized and practised at a time when the gens as the unit of human society was still in its original vitality48 and strength, and when woman’s influence was therefore in the ascendency.
Most modern writers agree in the opinion that Lycurgus instituted no fundamental changes in the constitution of the state; indeed all the accessible facts relative to this subject go to prove that the attempt at legislative49 reform in the time of this lawgiver did not begin with him; but, on the contrary, that all along the line of development, for an entire ethnical period, there had been a struggle between the people on the one hand and the constantly increasing power exercised by their rulers on the other.
Concerning the measures instituted by Lycurgus, and the way in which the political power was distributed by him, we are assured that it was293 according to a Rhetra of this legislator given under the direction of the Pythian Apollo:
Build a temple to Jupiter Hellanius and Minerva Hellania; divide the tribes, and institute thirty obas; appoint a council, with its princes; convene50 the assembly between Babyca and Cnacion; propose this, and then depart; and let there be a right of decision and power to the people.190
By this decree the assembly was invested with authority to reject or accept any proposed measures of the council and princes. Later, however, when the chiefs and the military leaders would draw to themselves a portion of the power which had been delegated to the people, we find subjoined to the original document of the priestess the following clause: “But if the people should follow a crooked51 opinion, the elders and the princes shall dissent52.” Or, according to Plutarch: “If the people attempt to corrupt53 any law, the senate and chiefs shall retire,” meaning that “they shall dissolve the assembly and annul54 the alterations55.”191
According to the testimony56 of Plutarch, when Lycurgus entered upon the duties of lawgiver he went to Crete, and while there examined the laws of that people; those of them which he considered wise and suited to the needs of a commonwealth and which were based on principles involving the294 highest interests of the people, he incorporated into his system. Now the Cretans were a branch of the Doric stock,192 and as among them descent and rights of succession were still traced through women, it would seem that they had preserved much of that simplicity57 of manner which characterizes primitive58 society. Upon his return from Crete Lycurgus made an equal division of the land, and as he could not induce the people to surrender their treasures, he prohibited the use of gold and silver currency and substituted iron in its place. To a great quantity and weight of this metal he assigned a slight value, so that to lay up a small amount of wealth a whole room was required, and for the removal of a moderate sum of money a yoke59 of oxen must be employed. When this became current many kinds of injustice60 ceased in Laced?monia. “Who would steal or take a bribe61, who would defraud62 or rob, when he could not conceal63 the booty, when he could neither be dignified64 by the possession of it, nor if cut in pieces be served by its use?”193 There is little evidence in support of the statement of Plutarch that Lycurgus attempted to establish a community of goods among the Spartans. Although he caused the landed possessions which had been parcelled out to individuals to be returned to the state, too much interest had already become attached to personal possessions to have made a division of this kind of wealth possible.
295
A legislator may not enact31 laws with the expectation of seeing them enforced which are not in accord with the temper of the people, and the degree of success which attended the legislation ascribed to Lycurgus proves that the great mass of the people were in sympathy with many of the measures which he proposed for the government of Sparta.
It is plain that the object of the person or persons, whom history has named Lycurgus, was a return to the simpler manners and purer customs of a more primitive age, which the growth of the aristocratic spirit and the accumulation of wealth in masses in the hands of the few threatened entirely to subvert65; and, as a community of goods was at this time impossible, he, or they, sought to level the distinctions between rich and poor by exalting66 virtue and moral excellence67 above the mere68 possession of wealth and hereditary69 titles.
It is the opinion of some writers that although Lycurgus did not inaugurate a new set of institutions, nor materially change the constitution of the state, the great service which he rendered to the Spartans was the remarkable70 system of discipline which he is supposed to have inaugurated. Of this Mr. Rawlinson says: “It must always remain one of the most astonishing facts in history, that such a system was successfully imposed upon a state which had grown up without it.”194 Of the fact, however, that the state had not grown296 up without it there is ample evidence. On this subject Curtius remarks:
It is certain that the Spartan discipline in many respects corresponds to the primitive customs of the Dorians, and that by constant practice, handed down from generation to generation, it grew into the second nature of the members of the community.195
From the facts at hand it is quite evident that Lycurgus did not originate that system of discipline through which it is claimed Spartan greatness was achieved. The fact has been noted that when he entered upon the duties of lawgiver he sailed for Crete, and, “having been struck with admiration71 of some of their laws,” he resolved to make use of them in Sparta.196 As the discipline of Lycurgus constitutes the principal feature of the government ascribed to him, and as his models were for the most part drawn from the Cretans, it is only reasonable to suppose that this remarkable system was itself, in part at least, copied from them. It appears that among the Cretans, as among all peoples among whom female influence is in the ascendency, the children belonged to the mother, and that women owned, or at least controlled, their own households; they did not, therefore, follow the fathers of their children to their homes. In Crete,297 “the young Dorians were left in the houses of their mothers till they grew up into youths.”197 As Cretan mothers had charge of their sons until they were grown up, it is not unlikely that the discipline which Lycurgus attempted to copy was a system inaugurated under matriarchal usages, but which in Sparta in the time of Lycurgus may have become somewhat relaxed. However, that the primitive discipline of the Dorian people was not extinct among the Spartans of this time is observed in the warlike character of the males, and in the express testimony of Aristotle that Spartan men had become inured to hardships by means of their frequent campaigns. To restore, or rather to intensify72 this discipline, seems to have been the object of Lycurgus; yet that he lacked greatly in judgment73 is shown by the measures which he put into execution. We are informed that
Spartan boys were as early as their eighth year taken into public training, and assigned their places in their respective divisions, where they had to go through all the exercises introductory to military service, and accustom74 their bodies to endurance and exercise, in exact obedience75 to the forms acquired by the state through its officers.198
This interference with the natural development of the Spartan youth was not without its effect upon his character; and especially so as the policy adopted was such as to narrow his mental horizon, and confine his ideas within the scope of Spartan possibilities.
298
From all the evidence to be gathered about the individual whom historians call Lycurgus, it would appear that he was a fanatic76, who, doubtless feeling deeply the disorders which had fastened themselves upon society, attempted to manage not only the affairs of the state, but to impose his authority also upon individual conduct.
Of the position occupied by women at the time when Lycurgus is said to have been lawgiver at Sparta, there seems to be much evidence going to show that they were in the possession of a remarkable degree of liberty, and that they were possessed77 of great power and influence. We have seen that while the men of Sparta were away from their homes engaged in warfare78, the country had become wealthy and prosperous. Not only was the land controlled by women, but nearly two-fifths of it was theirs by actual possession.199 Therefore, when Aristotle informs us that when Lycurgus “wanted to bring the women under his laws, they resisted, and he gave up the attempt,”200 we are by no means surprised. Indeed, Aristotle himself says that this license79 of the Laced?monian women existed from the earliest times, and was only what might be expected.201 It is altogether likely that in the time of Lycurgus, Spartan women had not been brought under subjection to male authority.
According to the accounts given by Aristotle and Plutarch, under regulations made by Lycurgus, the men dined on the plainest fare at the299 public table, or mess, while the women remained within their own homes. That a considerable degree of success crowned this legislator’s efforts to control the conduct and private life of men, from the facts at hand may not be doubted; among the women, however, the case seems to have been altogether different. Of the Spartans, Aristotle says: “In the days of their greatness many things were managed by their women. But what difference does it make whether women rule, or the rulers are ruled by women.”202 Because, however, the Spartan women preferred to remain within their own homes, and refused to allow their private affairs to be controlled by Lycurgus, Aristotle accuses them “of intemperance80 and luxury.” He says:
For a husband and a wife, being each a part of every family, the state may be considered as about equally divided into men and women; and, therefore, in those states in which the condition of the women is bad, half the city may be regarded as having no laws. And this is what has actually happened at Sparta, the legislator wanted to make the whole state temperate81, and he has carried out his intentions in the case of the men, but he has neglected the women, who live in every sort of intemperance and luxury.203
So far, however, from the Spartan women refusing to concur82 in those movements which were in operation to make the whole state hardy83 and tem300perate, we have ample evidence going to prove that it was women themselves who in former times had encouraged the healthful and moderate exercise of body and limb among the youth of both sexes. Indeed, from natural inferences to be drawn from the facts at hand, it is probable that these exercises which had originated among the primitive Dorians, while under the matriarchal system, had not only been encouraged, but practised, by women while their husbands and fathers were absent on their campaigns.
We have seen that, according to Aristotle, women refused to unite in those movements in operation in the time of Lycurgus for the strengthening and general improvement of the youth. Plutarch, on the contrary, ascribes all the physical strength and vigour84 of mind possessed by Spartan women to the wise regulations of Lycurgus; and, notwithstanding the fact that, according to his own testimony, they were possessed of great liberty and power, he imputes85 to this legislator the inauguration86 of all those practices for the promotion87 of perfect freedom among women which were so salutary in producing or continuing a healthful state of public morals.
It is plain that the position occupied by Spartan women presented difficulties to the minds of Aristotle and Plutarch which they were wholly unable to explain. With regard to the supposition of Plutarch that the exercises performed by the young women of Sparta while in a nude88 or semi301-nude condition were inaugurated by Lycurgus, it is too unreasonable89 for serious consideration. It is to be doubted if there has ever existed, either in ancient or modern times, a legislator, who, unaided and alone, and simply through a stretch of arbitrary power, has been able to regulate the dress, amusements, bodily exercise, and general movements of women in possession of a reasonable degree of personal freedom and liberty of action.
Respecting the wise regulations instituted by Lycurgus for the management of women, Plutarch says:
In order to take away the excessive tenderness and delicacy90 of the sex, the consequence of a recluse91 life, he accustomed the virgins93 occasionally to be seen naked as well as the young men, and to dance and sing in their presence on certain festivals.204
Perhaps throughout the entire narrative94 of Plutarch concerning Lycurgus and his laws, there is nothing so absolutely devoid95 of reason as this. If, as he assures us, women were possessed of that excessive tenderness and delicacy which are the result of a recluse life; and if, as he supposes, they had hitherto been trained according to masculine ideas of female modesty96 and decorum, it is greatly to be doubted if the laws of Lycurgus, or even the lightnings of Zeus could have driven these virgins302 into the presence of the opposite sex under the conditions named.
Doubtless the Spartan people had not at this stage of their career departed so far from the customs of a gynecocracy that women were unable to exercise absolute control over their persons. Being free from the domination of the opposite sex, all those exercises and habits of body in use to increase their own vigour and that of the entire race had doubtless been instigated97 by women, or at least had been instituted at a time when female influence was in the ascendency. Concerning the position occupied by the women of Sparta, Plutarch says they had assumed to themselves great liberty and power “on account of the frequent expeditions of their husbands, during which they were left sole mistresses at home, and so gained an undue deference98 and improper99 titles.”205
It is evident that this writer was unacquainted with the fact that at a time not far distant in the past from the age of Lycurgus, the influence of women in the family and in the gens had been supreme; hence, like others who have attempted to deal with the subject of primitive peoples, he was unable to conceive of a condition of society in which women’s natural instincts played a conspicuous100 part in regulating the social customs and in formulating101 the laws by which they were governed.
The extreme modesty and sensitiveness which303 are observed as a characteristic of both sexes in the marriage relation, and the reserve of the youths at festivals in which young women are reported to have appeared naked, may not be ascribed to the laws of Lycurgus, but on the other hand appear as direct results of those checks upon the animal instincts in the male which the former strength and independence of women had imposed.206
At a later age, for instance that of Plutarch, the spectacle of young maidens102 appearing on occasions of public festivity in a single garment, loose, and reaching a little below the knee, would have been associated with ideas of disgrace and shame; but, under a condition of society in which the animal instincts had not wholly gained the ascendency over the higher faculties103, or in which the characters peculiar104 to women had not been overshadowed or subdued105 by the grosser elements developed in human nature, such a proceeding106 might not, as we have seen, be inconsistent with the purest motives107 and the highest aims.
Something of the extent to which the influence304 of women was exerted to stimulate108 bravery and courage in the opposite sex is shown in the description by Plutarch of the festivals in which the young people appeared before each other in a semi-nude state to practise the popular games of strength and skill. Concerning these festivals this writer remarks that the young women engaged in little raillery upon those who lacked skill, or who had not done their best, while “on such as deserved them they sang encomiums, thus exciting in the young men a useful emulation109 and love of glory.” Plutarch observes also that “those who were praised for their bravery and celebrated110 among the virgins went away perfectly111 happy, while their satirical glances were no less cutting than serious admonitions.”207
These facts indicate something of the extent to which female influence still survived in ancient Sparta, and reveal plainly the fact that although in the time of Lycurgus the coarser instincts developed in human nature had made considerable headway, they had not totally eclipsed the finer characters peculiar to women, as was the case at a later period of Grecian history—more particularly among the Athenians. “As for the virgins appearing naked,” Plutarch himself assures us,
there was nothing disgraceful in it, because everything was conducted with modesty, and without one indecent word or action. Nay112, it caused a simplicity of305 manner and an emulation for the best habit of body; their ideas too were naturally enlarged while they were not excluded from their share of bravery and honour.
Regarding the commingling113 of the sexes among the Spartans, Mr. Grote says:
When we read the restrictions114 which Spartan custom imposed upon the intercourse115 even between married persons, we shall conclude without hesitation116 that the public intermixture of the sexes led to no such liberties between persons not married, as might be likely to arise from it under other circumstances.208
It was a Dorian who first threw aside his heavy girdle during the Olympian contests and ran naked to the goal. In an allusion117 to this incident, and also to the custom of Spartan virgins appearing in a semi-nude state in the presence of the opposite sex during the performance of their gymnastic feats118, C.?O. Müller says that a display of the naked form when all covering was unnecessary and inconvenient119 was quite in keeping with the character and temper of the Dorians.209
Concerning the style of dress adopted by the Doric virgins, it is said to have consisted of a loose woollen garment called a himation. It was without sleeves and was fastened over the shoulders with large clasps. The himation was completely joined only on one side, the other side being left loose and fastened with a buckle120 or clasp. Doubt306less this adjustment of the gown was to enable the wearer to open it and throw it back, thereby121 securing greater freedom to the limbs while running and wrestling. This simple garment reached only to the calf122 of the leg, and was worn sometimes with a girdle, sometimes without.
The pure state of morals in Sparta furnishes an explanation of that peculiar style of dress among women which has elicited123 so much comment among later writers, and which has stamped the Spartan women as creatures especially “devoid of modesty.” True modesty was evidently one of the leading characteristics of this people among both sexes, but the simulation of it, which, by the way, is usually practised just in proportion as the lower propensities124 have gained the ascendency over the higher faculties, was doubtless absent in Spartan society.210
307
An illustration of the state of public morals in ancient Sparta may be observed in the following dialogue. A stranger once asked a Spartan what penalty their law attached to adultery. The reply was: “My friend, there are no adulterers in our country.” Upon being further interrogated125, “But what if there should be one?” the Spartan replied: “Why then, he must forfeit126 a bull so large that he might drink of the Eurotus from the top of Mount Taygetus.” When the stranger asked: “How can such a bull be found?” the man answered with a smile, “How can an adulterer be found in Sparta?”211
Commenting on the relative position of Doric and Athenian women, C.?O. Müller says:
The domestic relation of the wife to her husband among the Dorians was in general the same as that of the ancient western nation, described by Homer as universal among the Greeks, and which existed at Rome till a late period; the only difference being that the peculiarities127 of the custom were preserved by the Dorians more strictly128 than elsewhere.
Amongst the Dorians of Sparta, the wife was honoured by her husband with the title of mistress (a gallantry belonging to the north of Greece, and also practised by the Thessalians), which was used neither ironically nor unmeaningly. Nay, so strange did the importance which the Laced?monian women enjoy, and the influence which they exercised as the managers of their household, and mothers of families,308 appear to the Greeks, at a time when the prevalence of Athenian manners prevented a due consideration for national customs, that Aristotle supposed Lycurgus to have attempted, but without success, to regulate the lives of women as he had regulated that of the men; and the Spartans were frequently censured130 for submitting to the yoke of their wives.
It has been truly said that nowhere else in Greece do we find traces of that power exercised by women over their sons when arrived at manhood observed among Spartan mothers. When a woman of another country said to Gorgo, the wife of Leonidas, “You of Laced?mon are the only women in the world that rule the men,” she replied, “We are the only women that bring forth131 men.”212
With our present knowledge respecting the influence and independence of the Spartan women, it is folly132 for certain writers to assert that married women were confined within the house and that only virgins appeared in public. There is some evidence going to prove that at Crete, at Sparta, and at Olympia, women were not only spectators at the Olympian games, but that they engaged personally in the chariot contests. According to an inscription133 in Della Cella, it is shown that women presided over the public gymnastic exercises in that town.
One very important fact going to show whence proceeded the reforms of Lycurgus is that the309 mandates134 of the oracle135 were supreme. The oracles136 controlled the rulers, but women always controlled or interpreted the oracles. The celebrated Rhetra of Lycurgus, in which unlimited137 authority is given to the people to reject or adopt the proposals of the king, was given according to the direction of the Pythian Apollo, whose mandates were interpreted by women.
In an earlier age the chiefs of the gentes were elected by all the people, and they held their office by virtue of their relationship to the leader of the gens, who was a woman. That the honour due to women was still recognized in Sparta is shown in the following from Plutarch in relation to the election of senators. The person who had received the loudest acclamations was declared duly elected, whereupon he was crowned with a garland, and a number of young men followed him about to extol138 his virtues139. The women sang his praises and blessed his life and conduct. Two portions were set before him, one of which he carried to the gates of the public hall, where the women were in waiting to receive him. To the one for whom he had the greatest esteem140 he presented the portion, saying: “That which I received as a mark of honour I give to you.” The woman thus honoured “was conducted home with great applause by the rest of the women.”213
Spartan men were forbidden to marry foreign women, hence, contrary to the customs of sur310rounding nations at this early period, wives as well as husbands were native-born. All were Spartans, which fact probably accounts in a measure for the exalted141 position occupied by women.
Both in Sparta and in Crete the form of marriage was by capture; thus, although in the time of Lycurgus the Spartan men and women both belonged to the same stock, it is plain that originally they were of different tribes. Of capture as practised in Sparta, Müller says that it was clearly an ancient national custom, founded on the idea that “the young woman could not surrender her freedom and virgin92 purity, unless compelled by the violence of the stronger sex.”214 According to Plutarch, after the arrangements for the wedding had been completed, the bridegroom rushed in, seized the bride from among her assembled friends, and bore her away.
The Dorian stock alone seems to have preserved the ancient customs, and among these peoples, wherever they are found, woman’s influence is in the ascendency. According to Herodotus and Aristotle, the Spartans, the Cretans, and the Lycians were related. The people of Crete still preserved their ancient usages, hence may be observed the reason why Lycurgus visited that country in quest of information before enunciating the laws which were to restore order among the Spartans. In Lycia, as in Crete, woman’s influ311ence must still have been considerable. Of the Lycians Herodotus says:
Their customs are partly Cretan, partly Carian.... They take the mother’s and not the father’s name. Ask a Lycian who he is, and he answers by giving his own name, that of his mother, and so on in the female line. Moreover, if a free woman marry a man who is a slave, their children are full citizens; but if a free man marry a foreign woman, or live with a concubine, even though he be the first person in the state, the children forfeit all the rights of citizenship142.215
On the manner of reckoning descent through women which prevailed in Lycia, Curtius remarks that the usage extends far beyond the territory commanded by the Lycian nationality. It is still extant in India; it was practised in ancient Egypt, among the Etruscans, and among the Cretans, who were closely related to the Lycians. This writer observes that if
Herodotus regards the usage in question as thoroughly143 peculiar to the Lycians, it must have maintained itself longest among them of all the nations related to the Greeks, as is also proved by the Lycian inscriptions144.216
As the Sabines who united with the Romans in founding Rome claimed relationship with the Dorians, we may reasonably expect to find among them somewhat of that womanly influence which312 characterized the Spartans, and some hint among their customs of an earlier age of female independence. Although the Sabine women did not “voluntarily” assume the position of wives to the Romans but were captured by them, when the two nations united, the Sabines were regarded rather in the light of conferring honour upon Rome than as detracting from its dignity.
Of the early Romans, Ortolan says:
The connubium, or right of marriage, did not exist between males and females of different cities unless by special agreement between those cities. Thus it was that the primitive Romans, according to tradition, were compelled to resort to ambuscade and force in order to carry off their first wives.217
The Roman family, like the Roman state, began with slavery. Of the Romans it has been said that they acquired their territory, their property, and even their wives by the lance.
With them the lance became the symbol of property, and even had a place in their judicial145 procedure. Their slaves were booty, their wives were booty, and their children, begotten146 of them, the fruit of their possessions.218
The right of fathers, under Romulus, to sell their sons, upon the accession of Numa the Sabine ruler, to the office of lawgiver, was withdrawn,313 and the reason given for it was consideration for women. According to Plutarch, Numa “reckoned it a great hardship, that a woman should marry a man as free, and then live with him as a slave.”219
In the life of Numa by Plutarch we have a hint of a former age of universal freedom. It was one of this ruler’s institutions, that once a year the slaves should be entertained along with their masters at a public feast, there to enjoy the fruits “which they had helped to produce.” The same writer assures us that some are of the opinion that this is a remnant of that equality which was in existence in the times of Saturn147, when there was neither master nor slave, but all were upon the same footing. Plutarch quotes from Macrobius, who says that this feast was celebrated in Italy long before the building of Rome.
From all the facts to be gathered relative to the relations of the sexes in the age of Numa, it is plain that that freedom of action exercised by women in a former age among the Dorians, was rapidly declining, and that the early independence which has characterized the Sabine women was beginning to bring upon them the condemnation148 of their Roman lords. This is shown in the fact that it soon became Numa’s arduous149 task to institute certain restrictions on their former liberties. In a comparison between Lycurgus and Numa, Plutarch, in referring to this subject, observes:
314
Numa’s strictures as to virgins tended to form them to that modesty which is the ornament150 of their sex; but the great liberty which Lycurgus gave them, brought upon them the censure129 of the poets, particularly Ibycus.
The grossness which had been developed during the four or five hundred years following the age of Lycurgus, and the jealousy151 with which the movements of women had come to be regarded, are illustrated152 by the following stanza153 from Euripides:
These quit their homes, ambitious to display,
Amidst the youths, their vigour in the race,
Or feats of wrestling, whilst their airy robe
Flies back and leaves their limbs uncovered.220
It is evident that not only in private life, but in their desire for public activity also, the independence of the Sabine women failed to comport154 with the ideas already in vogue155 among their Roman husbands regarding the “proper sphere” of women. Consequently their behaviour was thought to be
too bold and too masculine, in particular to their husbands; for they considered themselves as absolute mistresses in their houses; nay, they wanted a share in affairs of state, and delivered their sentiments with great freedom concerning the most weighty matters.221
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A woman even appeared in the Forum156 to plead her own cause, whereupon the grave senators ordered that the oracles be consulted that the true import of the singular phenomenon might be revealed.222
Plutarch, who lived in the first century of the Christian157 era, after having recounted these misdemeanours, assures us that “what is recorded of a few infamous158 women is a proof of the obedience and meekness159 of Roman matrons in general.”223
Doubtless, in Plutarch’s time, Roman women had lost much of that influence which characterized the female sex in an earlier age; it is not, therefore remarkable that by this writer the Sabine women should have been regarded as too forward and as altogether infamous. That their conduct was not all that could be desired by the outlaws160 and bandits who founded Rome, and who had stolen them for wives, is evident; and the regulations of their rulers respecting them show plainly that much judicious161 training and a vast amount of repression162 were required before they were fitted for the peculiar duties devolving upon them as sexual slaves.
We are told by Plutarch that the regulations established by Lycurgus, instead of encouraging that licentiousness163 of the women which prevailed at a later period, operated to render adultery unknown amongst them; yet this writer forgets to mention the fact that in Sparta, in the time of this316 ruler, there was no demand for prostitution by a class who held all the wealth and power, and who were therefore in a position to regulate this matter to suit their own tastes and inclinations165. On the contrary, the female sex was free, not only in the matter of sexual relations, but in the exercise of all their natural tendencies, and in the direction of all their movements. The idea of sex, which among later and more thoroughly sensualized nations became first and foremost, among the Dorians, so far as equal rights, obligations, and duties were concerned, was ignored or left to nature to regulate.
Plutarch, like most writers who have dealt with the relations of the sexes, fails to observe the fact that just to the extent in the past history of mankind to which women have been free and independent, licentiousness has disappeared, and that just in proportion as the influence of women has declined, in just such proportion have shame, profligacy166, disease, and infamy167 prevailed. To produce a state of society in which the animal instincts ruled supreme, and in which passion was the recognized god, women had first to become physically168 dependent and mentally enslaved.
For so long a time have women been judged by masculine standards, it is not perhaps remarkable that male writers of these later times can discern in the simplicity and chastity existing among the Dorians, in the age of Lycurgus, no evidence of a former era of female independence. Neither is it317 singular, as for so many ages women have been subject to the pleasure and control of the opposite sex, that we should be repeatedly told by writers who have dealt with the usages of the Spartans, that their women were “permitted” to do this, and “allowed” to do that, although the facts in the case prove that in all their movements they were guided by their own wills, exercised either directly, or through the oracles of the gods.
When the customs of the ancient Dorians are viewed without prejudice, the fact will doubtless be observed that they originated not in a depraved and licentious164 state of society, but, on the contrary, that they were the direct result of that freedom of action which characterizes purity of life and a high standard of thought and action.
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1
authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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spartans
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| n.斯巴达（spartan的复数形式） | |
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spartan
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| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
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enunciated
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| v.（清晰地）发音( enunciate的过去式和过去分词 )；确切地说明 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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archaic
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| adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的 | |
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monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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subjugated
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| v.征服，降伏( subjugate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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monarchial
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| 国王的，帝王风度的 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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18
subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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19
usurpation
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| n.篡位；霸占 | |
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20
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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21
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
turbulence
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| n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流 | |
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24
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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disorders
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| n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调 | |
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26
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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27
enervation
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| n.无活力，衰弱 | |
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28
inured
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| adj.坚强的，习惯的 | |
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29
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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30
enactments
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| n.演出( enactment的名词复数 )；展现；规定；通过 | |
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31
enact
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| vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演 | |
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32
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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33
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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34
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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35
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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36
scrutinized
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
scrutinize
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| n.详细检查，细读 | |
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38
administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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39
annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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40
prerogative
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| n.特权 | |
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41
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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42
guardians
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| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
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43
inordinate
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| adj.无节制的；过度的 | |
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44
authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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45
superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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46
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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47
undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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48
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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49
legislative
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| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
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50
convene
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| v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合 | |
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51
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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52
dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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53
corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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54
annul
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| v.宣告…无效，取消，废止 | |
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55
alterations
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| n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变 | |
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56
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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57
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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58
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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59
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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60
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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61
bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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62
defraud
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| vt.欺骗，欺诈 | |
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63
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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64
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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65
subvert
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| v.推翻；暗中破坏；搅乱 | |
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66
exalting
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| a.令人激动的，令人喜悦的 | |
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67
excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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68
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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69
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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70
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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71
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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72
intensify
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| vt.加强；变强；加剧 | |
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73
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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74
accustom
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| vt.使适应，使习惯 | |
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75
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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76
fanatic
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| n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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77
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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78
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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79
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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80
intemperance
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| n.放纵 | |
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81
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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82
concur
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| v.同意，意见一致，互助，同时发生 | |
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83
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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84
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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85
imputes
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| v.把（错误等）归咎于( impute的第三人称单数 ) | |
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86
inauguration
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| n.开幕、就职典礼 | |
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87
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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88
nude
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| adj.裸体的；n.裸体者，裸体艺术品 | |
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89
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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91
recluse
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| n.隐居者 | |
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92
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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93
virgins
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| 处女，童男( virgin的名词复数 )； 童贞玛利亚（耶稣之母） | |
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94
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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95
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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96
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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97
instigated
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| v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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98
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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99
improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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101
formulating
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| v.构想出( formulate的现在分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
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102
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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103
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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104
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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105
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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108
stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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109
emulation
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| n.竞争；仿效 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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111
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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112
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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113
commingling
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| v.混合，掺和，合并( commingle的现在分词 ) | |
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114
restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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115
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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116
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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117
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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118
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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119
inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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buckle
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| n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲 | |
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121
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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122
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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123
elicited
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| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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interrogated
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| v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询 | |
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126
forfeit
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| vt.丧失；n.罚金，罚款，没收物 | |
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127
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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128
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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129
censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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130
censured
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| v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 ) | |
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131
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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132
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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133
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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134
mandates
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| 托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式） | |
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135
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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136
oracles
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| 神示所( oracle的名词复数 )； 神谕； 圣贤； 哲人 | |
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137
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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138
extol
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| v.赞美，颂扬 | |
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139
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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142
citizenship
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| n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份) | |
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143
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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144
inscriptions
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| （作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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145
judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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146
begotten
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| v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 )；产生，引起 | |
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Saturn
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| n.农神，土星 | |
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148
condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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149
arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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150
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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152
illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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153
stanza
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| n.（诗）节，段 | |
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154
comport
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| vi.相称，适合 | |
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155
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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156
forum
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| n.论坛，讨论会 | |
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157
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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158
infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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meekness
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| n.温顺，柔和 | |
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160
outlaws
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| 歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯 | |
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161
judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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162
repression
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| n.镇压，抑制，抑压 | |
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163
licentiousness
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| n.放肆，无法无天 | |
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164
licentious
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| adj.放纵的，淫乱的 | |
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165
inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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166
profligacy
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| n.放荡，不检点，肆意挥霍 | |
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167
infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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168
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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