Lycurgus: How one visionary transformed ancient Sparta into a fierce military state

Before these changes, the city of Sparta faced several problems that weakened its unity and stability. 

For instance, it was located in the fertile Eurotas Valley and had good land, but remained open to threats from neighbouring territories. 

By the 8th century BCE, powerful families competed for influence, and the gap between rich landowners and poorer citizens grew wider. 

To get more resources, leaders fought the First Messenian War, usually dated to about 743–724 BCE, although historians note these dates are only estimates. 

That conflict took control of Messenia and forced thousands of Messenians into servitude as helots, whose work supported the Spartan economy.

By the late 7th century BCE, there was a major helot revolt around 665 BCE led by Aristomenes. Earlier unrest is less clear in how often it happened. 

Following these events, tensions stayed high between helots and citizens, straining resources and making it harder for people to unite. 

At the same time, political power was held by a small elite, as offices often stayed within a few noble families, causing anger among lower-status Spartiates.

Also, its culture grew more slowly than peers such as Athens, which began trying different political systems, and its society devoted most resources just to survival, leaving little room for arts or philosophy. 

Because there was no clear written code early on, the city operated under local customs that could change.

This situation made it hard to govern everyone in the same way. 

Historians note that before any single lawgiver made changes, it stayed loosely organised and lacked the strong identity it showed later.

Ancient writers say he came from the Eurypontid royal family and may have been a younger son of King Eunomus, a position that did not make him heir to the throne. 

When his older brother died, some accounts say he became regent for his nephew, the true heir, and managed affairs during a time of social tension.

To gain perspective, later stories say he travelled to Crete to learn about their laws and to Ionia to see societies rich in art and luxury, examples meant to show what to avoid. 

Plutarch adds that he might have reached Egypt or visited the oracle at Delphi, but these journeys come from later tales rather than records from his own time. 

After he returned, he suggested a series of reforms to fix social inequality and military weakness.

He is credited with introducing the Great Rhetra, a set of rules that changed how the city was governed, likely during the 7th century BCE, but historians argue over the exact timing and how it began. 

Specifically, according to tradition, it set up the gerousia (a council of elders made up of twenty-eight men over sixty and the two kings).

Some experts think this council grew over time rather than appearing all at once. 

The Rhetra also gave power to the apella, an assembly of male citizens that probably included Spartiates at least thirty years old and voted on ideas from the gerousia. 

Later sources say the Rhetra banned building defensive walls, a rule that encouraged citizens to rely on their training rather than walls, though Plutarch mentions this but records from that period do not. 

However, actual walls around the city appear only in later centuries, such as during the Theban siege of 378 BCE. 

Eunomia, which meant proper order, likely was a value emphasised by these rules, and they urged citizens to place common welfare above private interests. 

Economic steps linked to Lycurgus included the use of iron currency.

Archaeological finds show that Spartan iron took the form of spits or cast bars rather than stamped coins, discouraging saving and trade with other states. 

This approach resulted in bars that held little value and proved hard to use for wide trade, and that outcome matched the aim of promoting self-reliance.

Under the changed system, education focused on the agoge, a programme that took boys at age seven into communal training for physical strength, fighting skills, and loyalty. 

They practised wrestling, spear and shield drills, and a form of public speaking to teach restraint and obedience.

Historians note that exact practices changed over time. 

After training, young Spartiates faced tests of survival and self-control, and those who succeeded joined the citizen-soldiers; their membership showed the team spirit that defined identity.

Lycurgus’ rules also set social classes as Spartiates (full citizens), perioeci (free non-citizens), and helots (state workers). 

Spartiates focused on military service; helots worked in agriculture and provided food, which allowed full citizens to focus on fighting. 

Helots, mainly from Messenia, faced strict control measures; later stories describe how the Spartans conducted raids on the helot population to reinforce their control and suppress any potential uprisings. 

Meanwhile, perioeci worked as traders and craftspeople and fought in the army when needed, supporting self-reliance without having full citizenship. 

To form a disciplined phalanx, soldiers trained to fight shoulder to shoulder in a formation that required careful coordination and trust. 

Then, they carried large round shields called aspis and eight-foot spears; they practised drills focused on rhythm and team movement.

This training made their phalanx hard to break. 

Next, joining a syssitia (a common meal group) strengthened bonds among citizens; the exact size and joining age changed over time, but being part of a syssitia remained necessary for full citizenship. 

Also, men who met these requirements formed an elite group; writers mention 8,000 Spartiates in the 7th or early 6th century BCE, but numbers dropped by the classical era to perhaps 2,000–3,000, showing changes in population and society. 

Stories credit Lycurgus with splitting land into kleroi, which were equal plots given to each Spartan citizen, to reduce economic differences, but modern research suggests these plots may have appeared gradually instead of all at once. 

Subsequently, families relied on helot labour to work these kleroi, creating an economy meant for self-reliance; limited trade with other states helped keep stability but also limited contact with them.

Later writers say he left the city and never came back, as they say he swore at Delphi to keep his laws unchanged. 

Herodotus and Plutarch say he was responsible for key reforms, but no records from that time include his name.

In that case, many scholars see him as a legend that embodies customs which likely developed over years. 

However, if he was real, his reforms show deliberate steps to solve social problems in early Sparta; if he was not, the story shows how citizens created a founding myth to support rules that valued discipline, simple living, and loyalty. 

The question of his existence shows how shared memory influenced people and their institutions.