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Home , Solon, Spartiate

48 Behavior Analysisand Social Action- Volume 71 Numbers 1 & 21 1989

Lycurgus, Legendary -gfver of 800 B.C. : Cultural Engineer A. Ph. Paschalis University of Patras, Greece Jerome D. Ulman Ball State University

The historian E.H. Carr (1961) argues that lithe func­ students of history, we will accept that Ly­ tion of the historian is neither to love the pastnor to emanci­ curgus lived around 800 B.C., long before the Greek alpha­ pate himself from the past, but to master and understand it bet was fully developed. Our purpose, however, is not to as the key to the understanding of the present" (p. 35). How argueaboutthe accuracyof hisbiographybutto examine800 well we understand the present will of course determine B.C. Sparta as a remarkable feat of cultural engineering in how effective we canbe in planning ourfuture. Presumably, B.F. Skinner's (1971) sense of the term (i.e., the establish­ then, behavioristsconcerned with progressive social change ment of practices which induce members to work for the sur­ may benefit from the study of history. Yet historical facts vival of their culture). belong to the past, irretrievably; time machines exist only in Spartansocietywas rigidly dividedinto three classes: a fiction. Consequently, the selection, interpretation, and of citizens - or Spartans proper - con­ synthesis of such facts (or assumed facts) are unavoidably, stituting5 to 10 percent of the population; an oppressed and in part, a function of the historian's reinforcement history exploited class of , outnumbering the citizen by about and current circumstances, both personal and cultural. 10 to 1; and a small peripheral group call perioikoi, mostly Hence, behaviorists concerned with understanding the past farmers, miners, and small merchants. Neither the perioikoi face a challengingtask: to renderinterpretations of historical nor the helots had any political rights. They were denied writings consistent with our best guess as to the controlling admission to the ranks of the Spartans and prohibited from variables operating at the levels of behavior and culture at intermarrying with them. thetime. As a caseinpoint, we offerthe following exercise in These divisions were the result of Sparta's interpretation drawn from the the extraordinarily remote history. Spartans were descendants of the Dorian con­ culture of ancient Sparta - specifically, the accomplish­ querors who had invaded southern Peloponnesus and occu­ ments attributed to Lycurgus, one of the most controversial pied one of the most fertile valleys in Greece, the plain of and interesting figures of the ancient world. . The conquered population was promptly reduced We must first qualify our title. Not only is Lycurgus to the status of helots. During the subsequent period of colo­ considered the legendary law-giver of Sparta; as often, he is nization the problem of overpopulation arose in Laconia. viewedas a semimythicalhistorical figure. Even the ancients The Spartans met this problem, not by encouraging emigra­ were in doubt about what he actually did or even when he tion abroad as did other Greek city-states, but mostly by an­ lived, with estimates ranging from the 10th to the 8th cen­ nexing adjacent territories, thus initially making it an expan­ tury B.C. Moreover, while Lycurgus is credited with the es­ sionistic culture until it's population became stabilized and tablishment of the Spartan , contemporary Sparta became a unified state. "The luckier descendants of scholars argue that the institutions and reforms attributed to Spartas'sonce independentneighbors becameperioikoi; the him probably developed over centuries. However, there is rest became helots" (Brinton, et aI., 1960, p. 60). general agreement among modem scholars that there was a By the time of Lycurgus the class system was firmly Spartan constitution and that it has been preserved in the entrenched. The Spartan citizens - numbering about 8,000­ works ascribed to the Greek historian (B.C. 434?­ 9,000 (Anderson, 1974, p. 35) - had reduced the great 355?). As Moore (1975)notes, this document isn't so much a masses of helots to a condition of and treated them constitution as it is a discussion of the way of life of the Spar­ harshly, occasionally executing a few to discourage recalci­ tans. trance. The helots revolted unsuccessfully a number of In short, "although Lycurgus may have been a wholly times. Sparta was also threatened by the danger of foreign mythical personage, the [Spartan] constitution reflects the invasion. Under these precarious circumstances, as legend realities of Sparta's history and social system" (Brinton, has it, Lycurgus began the task of designing a culture that Christopher, & Wolff, 1960, p. 60). In accordance with most would change the Spartan people and tum them into an in-

Reprints may be obtained from Jerome D. Ulman, Department of Special Education, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana 47306. LYCURGUS: 800B.C. CULTURALENGINEERI A. Ph. Paschalis andJerome D. UlmanI 49

vincible force. As a result, Spartan culture proved to be mili­ cient supply of oil and wine. The awarding of tarily unequalled in the whole of Greece for a period of well wentalongwiththe awardingof anestate andeverythingon over 500 years. These, then, were the social circumstances it, including livestock and slaves. By law, Spartans did not under which Lycurgus presumably engineered Spartan cul­ produce their means of subsistence; they lived off the labor ture - not an aesthetically refined culture like that of of the helots. At the same time, luxuries were discouraged; , but a culture well suited for survival within the only distinction allowed among Spartans was one of rec­ the surrounding hostile social environment: in the immedi­ ognition of merit and virtue through the performance of ate area, a large population of oppressed and exploited peo­ worthy acts. Of course, what the state gave, the state could ple struggling for liberation and, at a farther distance, the take away. Thus, the state "was capable also of suspending very real danger of invading armies. the civic rights of a Spartiate [Spartan], orof rescindingthem According to the Greekbiographer (46?-120?) altogether for specified offences, of which the most flagrant (1864), during the reign of Lycurgus' father there was "anar­ was that of cowardice in the face of the enemy" (Hooker, chy and confusion in Sparta" (p. 50). Determined to put an 1980, p. 118). Such were the reinforcement and response­ end to it, Lycurgus resolved to construct a constitution for cost contingencies of ancient Spartan culture. "The upshot Sparta. About which, Plutarch writes: of this system was to create an intense collective unity among the Spartiates, who proudly designated themselves [Lycurgus] applied himself without loss of time, to a hoihomoioi - the 'Equals" (Anderson, 1974, p. 34). thorough reformation, and resolved to change the Other ancient law-givers attempted to preserve equal­ whole face of the commonwealth; for whatcoulda few ity among their people but to no avail. For example, Solon, particular and a partial alteration avail? He must law-giver of Athens, tried to limit the amount of land one . act as wise physicians do, in the case of one who la­ could possess. The Locrians forbade the sale of property ex­ bours under a complication of diseases, by force of cept in extreme circumstances (, 1939, p. 51). None­ medicines ... change his whole temperament and theless, both land and wealth eventually passed into the then sethim upon a regimen of diet. (Plutarch, 1864, P: hands of the few. To prevent such from happening in 52). Sparta, Lycurgus is believed to have instituted one of the Among the many changes that Lycurgus made, the most unusual monetary policies in history. Silver and gold first and the most important was the establishment of a were abolished as the medium of exchange and replaced council of elders having equal power with the two kings (a with money in the form of heavy iron rods. Because of its quirkof Spartanhistory), ata time wheneverywhereelse the great unit weight and supply relative to the precious metals, word of a king was law. "The Spartan "kings' were merely this new money was worth very little. Hence, as a medium members of the , participants without special of exchange, the reinforcing value of this new money was privileges in the thirty-man council of elders ... which origi­ offset by the aversive effects of having to lug it around. As nally ruled the city" (Anderson, 1974, p. 34). The proceed­ one result, the rate of such antisocial behavior as stealing, ings of the council were held in the open and the public and robbing, bribing, and whoring was probably reduced sub­ all citizens could attend and be kept informed of state affairs. stantially if not totally (Conttrell, 1977). Citizens could notvote orspeak, butthey could criticize and Anotherplannedoutcomeof Lycurgus' newmonetary comment, and show approval or disapproval of major deci­ policy was to ensure that Sparta would never end with its sions of the council and kings (e.g., declarations of war). economy suffocating under the burden of a foreign ex­ Like Marx's analysis some 2700 years later, Lycurgus change trade-deficit (i.e., debt peonage, a problem common contended that political democracy was a worthless gift un­ to many poor countries in today's world). "Merchants sent less it was accompanied by economic equality (for Lycurgus, no shiploads into Spartan port ... and no itinerate fortune­ however, only insofar as it affected the Spartan warrior teller, no harlot-mongers set foot in a country where there class). Plutarch noted that "the most hazardous task he [Ly­ was no money (Plutarch, 1864, p. 56). To further isolate curgus] ever undertook was making a new division of their Spartans from the potentially corrupting influence of the [the citizens'] lands. For there was extreme inequality outside world, Lycurgus forbade them to travel abroad and amongst them and wealth centered upon a very few" (1864, also forbade anyonefrom abroad to visitSparta. Spartawas a p. 55). With Lycurgus, Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) (1939, pp. 42­ land-locked city-state and produced vary little for export. 43) noted, equal lots of land were given to citizens of new Concludes Plutarch (1984), Lycurgus "was careful to protect found cities such as in Magna Grecia ( and Southern the city from the infection of foreign habits that might de­ Italy). Such redistribution of land to eliminate inequalities stroy the harmony of the State" (p. 73). had never been attempted before. As the story goes (cf. An­ To obliterate any vestige of inequality among the Spar­ derson, 1974, pp. 33-34, Lycurgus dividedthe landinto forty tan citizenry, Lycurgus is credited with ordainingthatall the thousand lots which he then distributed among the citizens. Spartans would eat in common messes where the food Each lot was calculated to yield about eighty-five bushels of served was the same for everyone including the kings. The grain for a newly married couple, enough to obtain a suffi- meals were frugal but healthy and non-fattening (thus ex- SO/A. Ph. Paschalis andJerome D. Ulman/ LYCURGUS: 800 B.C. CULTURALENGINEER

emplifying the Greek motto, "a healthy mind in a healthy would develop healthyand strongbodies capable of bearing body"). Indeed, Spartan men were not even permitted as children and be unafraid of the pains of childbirth. In con­ much as to eat at home with their wives and then attend the trast/ in the other Greek city-states women were given the messes. So strictwas this rule that, when King Agis returned plainestfare, notallowed to drinkwine, and ordered to keep from a victory over the Athenians and asked for food to be quiet and not complain about doing "women's work" sent home for him to dine with his wife, he was not only (Xenophon, 1968/ p. 137). Although child bearing was con­ refused but fined for even making the request. sidered to be the most important function of Spartan In death tOO, equality was regulated. Lycurgus is be­ women, according to Aristotle (1939/ p. 52)/ many things in lieved to have prohibited Spartans from putting anything in Sparta were done by the authority of the women. Morever, the graves except an olive-tree branch and the deceased unlike women in the surrounding city-states, they could in­ cloak (Conttrell, 1977). No names were to be written on their herit property; nearly two-fifths of the whole country be­ tombs, including tombs of the kings. longed to women. Lycurgus was apparently the first statesman to realize Even the institution of marriage was not left to chance, that education was of paramount importance for the well­ but was deliberately organized in the interest of perpetuat­ being of the state and its citizens. Education was designed ing Spartan culture. In the processions and festivals held af­ for all Spartans overthe age of 7/ irrespective of sex. Plutarch ter the returnhome from a war campaign, Lycurgus ordered (1864) stated that "every end and object of law and enact­ that the women and the young maidens went naked (as did ment it was his design that education should effect" (p. 59). the young men). The processionals thus served as entice­ The rigorous life of the Spartans began at birth when ment to marriage. And considering the length of the war they were first bathed - not in water, as was the custom of campaigns, from early spring until late autumn, it is not sur­ other states- butin wine, based on the belief that defective prising that this bit of cultural engineering was quite effec­ children might waste away while those who were healthy tive. Additionally, might become vigorous, strong, firm, and tempered like in Sparta, celibacy was a crime. Streetgangs of women steel. To further ensure that in Sparta only the strong sur­ beat up bachelors. Unmarried men and girls [in pairs] vived/ the elders hurled unfit babies from nearby cliffs (Con­ might be thrust into the same dark room, where [they ttrell, 1977). mated] ... Spartans, wrote Plutarch, "sometimes had Infants were not swaddled butwere unconstrained by children by their wives before they saw their faces by clothing. Their nurses trained them to eat all kinds of food, daylight." (Conttrell, 1977/ p. 178) not to be afraid of the dark, to tolerate discomfort, and not to cry. Spartan children were required to make their beds by The processionals served another important function cutting or breaking rushes from the bank of the Eurotas for the survival of Spartan culture, strengthening the com­ River. Lycurgus emphasized instructing children, not bative behaviorof the . Participantsinthe festivities merely through verbal behavior, butby having them follow danced and sang songs in praise of those who performed the examples set by their elders. Every Spartan man consid­ gallant actions in battle. But they also made jests at the ex­ ered himself as a father to every boy and never lost an occa­ pense of any warrior whose performance in battle was less sion to instruct/ advice, and chastise if necessary. than commendable. The entire city, including the kings and At the age of 7/ boys began eating in the common elders, witnessed these processions, presumably adding to messes as part of their education. Experienced statesmen in­ the quality of social reinforcement for good combative be­ structed them in state affairs - in contrast to neighboring havior. states where slaves served as companions and tutors Regarding the conduct of war, Lycurgus must have (Xenophon, 1968/ p. 145). Spartan boys learned how to con­ been aware of the process of imitation learning. According verse with humor, to make and take jests without being of­ to one of his rhetras (divine revelations and sanctions), Spar­ fended/ and to praise or criticize one another's behavior on tan warriors should not engage the same enemy force in the basis of whether or not it contributed to the common combat often or long lest the latter should learn effective de­ good of Spartan life. At the same time, Spartan instructors fensive practices. On this account, King Agisilaus, because did not suffer loose and incontinent talkers (hence, the ori­ of his continual incursions into , was blamed for gin of the word laconic, derived from Laconia, the greaterarea making the Thebans a match for the Spartans. So when the in which Sparta was the main city). kingwas subsequentlywounded in battle, a compatriottold While the art of conversation, poetry and verse, music him he was very well paid for making the Thebans good sol­ and song, and dance and manners, were the Spartans/ com­ diers (Plutarch, 1864). mon pasttimes, their chief preoccupations were athletic con­ Because Spartan society was organized on a military tests/ hunting, and all sorts of other vigorous physical exer­ basis, we might surmise that it was an imperialist power. cises. The same exercises were prescribedfor bothmales and However/ onceSparta'5 territoryhadbeenestablishedin the females - races, trials of strength, wrestling, throwing the Laconian plain and thenin Messenia to the west, a conquest quoit, and casting the dart. In so doing, female Spartans incorporated long before Lycurgus' time, the opposite was LYCURGUS: 800B.C. CULTURAL ENGINEERI A. Ph. Paschalis and Jerome D. Ulman I 51

true. The Spartans made war only when their safety was the outside world and bring home rich spoils from the wars. threatened; their primary political goal was to have friendly The reintroduction of gold and silver engendered luxury governments in neighboring states (Moore, 1975). In con­ and greed, the antithesis of the Spartan tradition of simplic­ trast, with respect to the rights and individual freedoms ity and equality. As Anderson (1974) notes, granted to its citizens, Athens was a more democratic state The decline of Sparta after the (albeit, its economy wasbased on ). Yet it was "demo­ [431-404 B.C.] was accompanied ... by a dramatically cratic" Athens which became imperialistic and turned widened economic gulf between wealthy and impov­ friendly allies (people living on the many islands of the erished citizens, amidst demographic contraction and Agean) into unfriendlytributary subjects- premisedonthe political demoralization. But the traditions of marital rationalization that since Athens held at bay the Persian dan­ equality remained so fierce and deep that in the 2nd ger of invasion and conquest, it had the right to exact tribute century B.C., Sparta gave birth to the astonishing epi­ from its "allies" whom it protected. sodes of the radical king... (P. 58, fn. 5) With its constitution and laws, the Spartan state ar­ ranged cultural contingencies in such a way as to shape a Virtually nothing remains of ancient Sparta today. uniquesbehavioral repertoire in a distinctbody of people on What conclusions can we draw from the study of an­ a scale never before achieved. This Spartan "personality" cient Spartan culture? Two voices from antiquity epitomise differed from all the rest of and indeed the the verdict of the Greeks. Plutarch states, "With a common world over. Historians have since described Spartans as fru­ staff and a coarse coat they [the Spartans] gained the willing gal, witty, to the point, and courageous. They endured pain and joyful obedience of Greece" (1864, p. 73). And some­ and entered the field of battle with joy and enthusiasm- as what less admiringly, Xenophon states, "All men praise ifpartakingin a grand feast- for theywere well trained and their institutions but no state chooses to imitate them" (1968, motivated for combat. Their respect for their elders was pro­ p. 169). In sum, although for five subsequent centuries the verbial and their rigorous self-discipline was renowned Spartan state never passed beyond the boundaries of aris­ throughout Greece. It was characteristic of Spartan warriors tocracy and , it did go one step beyond the ancient to show exceptional valor in battle, courage in the face of monarchies. Additionally, it set the stage for the historically adversity, and severe simplicity in their everyday lives. amazing but brief period of radical reforms of 2nd century Two examples suffice to contrast the Spartan "person­ B.C. Sparta- "probablythe mostcoherentand far-reaching ality" with those of the rest of the people of ancient Greece. setof revolutionary measures ever formulated in Antiquity" , the famous Athenian orator and politician, (Anderson, 1974, p. 58), about which will be the topic of our devoted a lifetime attempting to rouse his fellow citizens next paper. against the Macedonian danger of conquestand consequent References loss of freedom (very real threats posed by King Philip and ), mostly by delivering fiery speeches in Anderson, P. (1974). Passages fromantiquitytofeudalism. London: NLB. the general assembly. When it came time for Demosthenes Aristotle, (1939). On politics (W. Ellis, Trans.). London: Denton. to physically defend the ideals for which he chronically har­ Brinton, C., Christopher, J.B., & Wolff, R.L. (1960). A historyofciviliza- ranged, he "fled, deserting his place disgracefully, and tion (Vol. I, 2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Carr, E.H. (1961). What is history? New York: Vintage Books. throwing away his arms" (Plutarch, 1864, p. 1033). Conttrell, L. (1977). Seekingscenes of Grecian glory. InG.M. Grosvenor The second example is contained in the verse of Archi­ (Ed.), Greece and Rome: Builders of our world (pp. 148-184). Wash­ lochus, a romantic Greek poet of the sixth century B.C. The ington, DC: National Geographic Society. verse is self-explanatory (translation by the first author): Edmonds, J.M. (1968). Greek elegyand Iambus. London: William Heine­ "Some Saian is happy with my shield which I, unwillingly, mann. left spotless by a bush. However, I escaped death, and as for Hooker, J.T. (1980). TheAncient Spartans. London: J.M. Dent & Sons. Moore, J.M. (1975). Aristotleand Xenophon on democracy and . the shield, to hellwithit, I'll getmeanotherone justas good" Berkely, CA: University of California Press. (Edmonds, 1968, p. 100). Whereas, it became common Plutarch (1864).Lives ofthenoble Grecians andRomans (Ed., A.H. Clough; knowledge about Spartan warriors that "when, in tight Trans., J. Dryden). London: The Bodley Head. ranks, they marched to war, Spartan mothers bade them, Skinner, B.F. (1971). Beyond freedom and dignity. New York: Alfred A. 'Return with your shield or on it'" (Conttrell, 1977, p. 179). Knopf. Xenophon (1968). Constitution of the Lacedaemonians, Scipta Minora. The constitution attributed to Lycurgus and the In (E.C. Marchant, Trans.). London: Wil­ uniques Spartan culture lasted for over five centuries, that liam Heinemann. is, until the Spartans began to come into close contact with