Lycurgus and Spartan Government- With reference to Ancient sources you have researched, explain the Spartan System of Government

There is no doubt of the Spartan existence; however there is the legend of Spartan constitution, a mixture of all pre-existing schemes that holds uncertainty.

The Spartan laws and constitution were supposedly the creation of a man named Lycurgus. There is much controversy and doubt concerning Lycurgus. The origin of Lycurgus’ legal reforms and the man himself is wrapped in legend. Is he a man or a myth and how did he embark on the laws for the city-state? The Historians; Plutarch, Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle and Herodotus explore the uncertainties of Lycurgus using historiography.

Plutarch (c. 45-126 AD) was a Greek historian who wrote a series of biographies comparing Greek life to Roman life- illuminating their common moral virtues and failings. In his Life of Lycurgus he brought forth the issue that surrounded Lycurgus- the travels he embarked on, the laws that he supposedly made and the city-state which he founded.

English: Spartan Great Rhetra

Zeus with eagle. Tondo from a black-figured Laconi...

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Plutarch detailed the arguments of the period in which Lycurgus lived “in general nothing can be said which is not disputed.” (Plutarch) Plutarch informs us that Aristotle- (c. 4th century BC) a Historian devoted to the constitution; had the opinion that Lycurgus thrived in the time of Iphitus and jointly “contrived the order for the cessation of arms during the Olympic Games” (Plutarch). However, Apollodorus (c.180BC) a Greek grammarian and Eratosthenes (c.276-194BC) a mathematician, geographer, and astronomer; declared he was more ancient than the Olympic Games by calculating the succession of the Spartan kings. Plutarch also examined Timaeus (c.345-250 BC), an ancient Greek Historian, who devoted much attention to chronology. He had the theory of more then one Lycurgus’- “…there were two Lycuguses at Sparta at different times and that to one of them the achievements of both were ascribed.” (Plutarch) There was speculation to say Lycurgus lived long...