Lycurgus

Biography

A multitude of ancient sources mention Lycurgus, but their accounts evolved according to contemporary political priorities and are profoundly inconsistent. The oldest account is that of Herodotus, written in the latter half of the fifth century BC, likely based on oral accounts from both Spartans and non-Spartans. The two royal dynasties of Sparta, the Agiads and Eurypontids, both claimed Lycurgus in their ancestries. However, Lycurgus does not feature in the earliest preserved Spartan source, the poet Tyrtaeus, leading many historians today to doubt his historicity; Massimo Nafissi writes that he is probably mythical.

Others have attempted to glean some kernel of truth from the surviving myths, but most historians would subscribe to the judgement of Antony Andrewes: if there was a real Lycurgus, we know nothing of him. There is no consensus as to when a historical Lycurgus lived, either today or in the ancient world; Plutarch makes this remark in the opening paragraph of his Life of Lycurgus. Most attempts to date his life are based on when the Great Rhetra occurred.

The most accepted ancient date, based on the genealogy of Ephorus and the chronology of Eratosthenes, places the rhetra at c. 885 BC. An excursus in Thucydides indicates the reforms were instituted some four hundred years prior to the end of the Peloponnesian war, placing them to 804 or 821 BC. Xenophon claimed Lycurgus was responsible for the creation of the Lacedaemonian dual monarchy, placing him during the reign of the Heraclid kings Eurysthenes and Procles, dated to c. 1003 BC.

Modern scholars generally date the Great Rhetra to before the First Messenian War, prior to 736 BC. Little consensus exists for any more specificity, and the rhetra may have been a charter created in the seventh century to justify Sparta's institutions.

Attributed reforms

The Spartans credited Lycurgus with almost every aspect of their society, the sole exception being their dual kingship. Because so many laws and customs were attributed to him, it is impossible to know which, if any, he actually created. Modern comparisons with other early Greek city-states show that Spartan practices like communal men’s dining halls, age-based groups, and iron currency were not unique; other Greek cities had them too. What set Sparta apart was how long it preserved these institutions.

The economic and social changes linked to Lycurgus were supposedly meant to make citizens compete on merit rather than wealth. Yet many of these social reforms actually appeared centuries later, between 600 and 500 BC, after Spartan conquests freed up land. The economic reforms that were said to create equality among citizens never existed; they were invented later, during the Hellenistic period, to justify policies of redistribution. Lycurgus’s political reforms were said to come from a Great Rhetra he received from the Pythia, but this document is not authentic and contains anachronisms.

Plutarch records that the Rhetra included rules on Spartan religious and political life. He also claims that a later addition, called the “rider,” allowed the elders and kings to override decisions made by the apella. However, the grammar of the preserved Rhetra suggests this provision was part of the original text, not a later insertion. Some scholars, like Massimo Nafissi, argue that the story of the rider being added later was itself a fabrication from the fourth century BC.

Legacy

The Spartans credited Lycurgus with inventing their entire way of life. Xenophon, writing in support of Sparta, described him without hesitation as the definitive lawgiver who permanently set their society in order. Because his work was believed to have turned Sparta into Greece’s leading power, Lycurgus received a hero cult, which may have gradually evolved into full divine status by the time of the Roman Empire. According to Pausanias, his temple and sanctuary contained a grave for his son, named Eukosmos—meaning good order—alongside the graves of the wives of Sparta’s two founding kings.

The broader Greek tendency to idealize Sparta, often called the Spartan mirage, also fueled admiration for Lycurgus elsewhere. The idea of a timeless, divinely approved lawgiver gave Sparta’s constitution extra authority but also made it rigid. When later Spartan kings like Agis IV and Cleomenes III tried to reform their state during the Hellenistic period, these efforts were framed not as innovations but as a return to Lycurgus’ original design. Each generation of Spartans reinvented his story, and as Sparta declined, praise for Lycurgus shifted to celebrating him for creating a perfect, uncorrupted version of the city that no longer existed.

Respect for the customs supposedly set by Lycurgus lasted well into the Roman era, with only a pause during the second century when Sparta was part of the Achaean League. Aristotle, for example, admired the Lycurgan agoge as a system of universal education that helped keep the Spartan state stable. Under Roman rule, Sparta received special treatment partly because the Romans wanted to preserve Greek traditions for tourists. This tourist-oriented Sparta sometimes went to extremes, but it also maintained its Lycurgan heritage through buildings, theater, and the continuation of distinct political institutions.