"How and Why Lycurgus Was Forced to Reform Sparta"

 
Tags:Hercules
All this time Lycurgus went through the kinds of government Crete had and jotted down whatever could be of any use to Sparta (Plutarch 1816). Furthering his research for ruling a nation, he even went to lavish Ionia in order to study them and compare them with the more sober Cretans. However, his absence made the Spartans write to him to come back and rule them. After his return to Sparta, Lycurgus visited the Oracle in order to find some guidance and he was told that he should go ahead with what he had in mind and that his state would be well known throughout the world.

Encouraged, he then brought about several major changes in the government which he thought would be beneficial to society. The first thing Lycurgus did was instituting a senate of twenty-eight men (Schiller and Hempel 1861). They had the same power as that of the two Spartan royal houses. These twenty-eight senators were the colleagues of the kings. Although people could vote in order to cast their opinion the ultimate decision was of the senate as they had the power to decide if a vote is required.

Prior to such a system, Sparta had remained a dictatorship where the common people had certainly no say in anything. The next issue Lycurgus looked at was land ownership. During those times extreme inequality existed in Sparta and there were just a few who had the majority of wealth and land. Because of this inequality, the rich were extremely arrogant and lived a life of luxury, making the poorer people envious and dissatisfied. It also led to more crime. To solve this Lycurgus took over all the land and everyone was given an equal piece in order to ensure that money does not become a cause of dissatisfaction or crime.

Although this reduced the problems there was another issue to be taken care of. They also existed money in the form of gold and silver and thus there was inequality in this case as well. For that purpose, Lycurgus introduced only iron money as that does not have any intrinsic value. This proved to be very beneficial for the state as the Spartans stop importing luxurious items and there no longer was any robbery or bribery.