ἡ δὲ περὶ τὰς ᾠδὰς καὶ τὰ μέλη παίδευσις οὐχ ἧττον ἐσπουδάζετο τῆς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις εὐζηλίας καὶ καθαριότητος, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ μέλη κέντρον εἶχεν ἐγερτικὸν θυμοῦ καὶ παραστατικὸν ὁρμῆς ἐνθουσιώδους καὶ πραγματικῆς, καὶ ἡ λέξις ἦν ἀφελὴς καὶ ἄθρυπτος ἐπὶ πράγμασι σεμνοῖς καὶ ἠθοποιοῖς. ἔπαινοι γάρ ἦσαν ὡς τὰ πολλὰ τῶν τεθνηκότων ὑπὲρ τῆς Σπάρτης εὐδαιμονιζομένων, καὶ ψόγοι τῶν τρεσάντων, ὡς ἀλγεινὸν καὶ κακοδαίμονα βιούντων βίον, ἐπαγγελία τε καὶ μεγαλαυχία πρὸς ἀρετὴν πρέπουσα ταῖς ἡλικίαις·
Nor was their training in music and poetry any less serious a concern than the emulous purity of their speech, nay, their very songs had a stimulus that roused the spirit and awoke enthusiastic and effectual effort; the style of them was simple and unaffected, and their themes were serious and edifying. They were for the most part praises of men who had died for Sparta, calling them blessed and happy; censure of men who had played the coward, picturing their grievous and ill-starred life; and such promises and boasts of valour as befitted the different ages.
ὧν ἕνεκα δείγματος οὐ χεῖρόν ἐστιν ἕν τι προενέγκασθαι. τριῶν γάρ χορῶν κατὰ τὰς τρεῖς ἡλικίας συνισταμένων ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς, ὁ μὲν τῶν γερόντων ἀρχόμενος ᾖδεν ἄμμες πόκʼ ἦμες ἄλκιμοι νεανίαι. ὁ δὲ τῶν ἀκμαζόντων ἀμειβόμενος ἔλεγεν ἄμμες δὲ γʼ εἰμὲν αἰ δὲ λῇς, αὐγάσδεο. ὁ δὲ τρίτος ὁ τῶν παίδων ἄμμες δὲ γʼ ἐσσόμεσθα πολλῷ κάρρονες.
Of the last, it may not be amiss to cite one, by way of illustration. They had three choirs at their festivals, corresponding to the three ages, and the choir of old men would sing first:— We once did deeds of prowess and were strong young men. / Then the choir of young men would respond:— We are so now, and if you wish, behold and see. / And then the third choir, that of the boys, would sing:— We shall be sometime mightier men by far than both. /
ὅλως δὲ ἄν τις ἐπιστήσας τοῖς Λακωνικοῖς ποιήμασιν, ὧν ἔτι καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἔνια διεσώζετο, καὶ τοὺς ἐμβατηρίους ῥυθμοὺς ἀναλαβών, οἷς ἐχρῶντο πρὸς τὸν αὐλὸν ἐπάγοντες τοῖς πολεμίοις, οὐ κακῶς ἡγήσαιτο καὶ τὸν Τέρπανδρον καὶ τὸν Πίνδαρον τὴν ἀνδρείαν τῇ μουσικῇ συνάπτειν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ οὕτως πεποίηκε περὶ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἔνθʼ αἰχμά τε νέων θάλλει καὶ μοῦσα λίγεια / καὶ δίκα εὐρυάγυια /
In short, if one studies the poetry of Sparta, of which some specimens were still extant in my time, and makes himself familiar with the marching songs which they used, to the accompaniment of the flute, when charging upon their foes, he will conclude that Terpander and Pindar were right in associating valour with music. The former writes thus of the Lacedaemonians:— Flourish there both the spear of the brave and the Muse’s clear message, / Justice, too, walks the broad streets—. /
Πίνδαρος δέ φησιν ἔνθα βουλαὶ γερόντων / καὶ νέων ἀνδρῶν ἀριστεύοντι αἰχμαὶ / καὶ χοροὶ καὶ Μοῦσα καὶ ἀγλαΐα. / Μουσικωτάτους γὰρ ἅμα καὶ πολεμικωτάτους ἀποφαίνουσιν αὐτούς· ῥέπει γὰρ ἄντα τῶ σιδάρω τὸ καλῶς κιθαρίσδεν, ὡς ὁ Λακωνικὸς ποιητὴς εἴρηκε. καὶ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς μάχαις προεθύετο ταῖς Μούσαις ὁ βασιλεύς, ἀναμιμνήσκων, ὡς ἔοικε, τῆς παιδείας καὶ τῶν κρίσεων, ἵνα ὦσι πρόχειροι παρὰ τὰ δεινὰ καὶ λόγου τινὸς ἀξίας παρέχωσι τὰς πράξεις τῶν μαχομένων.
And Pindar says:— There are councils of Elders, / And young men’s conquering spears, / And dances, the Muse, and joyousness. / The Spartans are thus shown to be at the same time most musical and most warlike; In equal poise to match the sword hangs the sweet art of the harpist, / as their poet says. For just before their battles, the king sacrificed to the Muses, reminding his warriors, as it would seem, of their training, and of the firm decisions they had made, in order that they might be prompt to face the dread issue, and might perform such martial deeds as would be worthy of some record.
τότε δὲ καὶ τοῖς νέοις τὰ σκληρότατα τῆς ἀγωγῆς ἐπανιέντες, οὐκ ἐκώλυον καλλωπίζεσθαι περὶ κόμην καὶ κόσμον ὅπλων καὶ ἱματίων, χαίροντες, ὥσπερ ἵπποις, γαυριῶσι καὶ φρυαττομένοις πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας, διὸ κομῶντες εὐθὺς ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἐφήβων ἡλικίας, μάλιστα περὶ τοὺς κινδύνους ἐθεράπευον τὴν κόμην λιπαράν τε φαίνεσθαι καὶ διακεκριμένην, ἀπομνημονεύοντές τινα καὶ Λυκούργου λόγον περὶ τῆς κόμης, ὅτι τοὺς μὲν καλοὺς εὐπρεπεστέρους ποιεῖ, τοὺς δὲ αἰσχροὺς φοβερωτέρους.
In time of war, too, they relaxed the severity of the young men’s discipline, and permitted them to beautify their hair and ornament their arms and clothing, rejoicing to see them, like horses, prance and neigh for the contest. Therefore they wore their hair long as soon as they ceased to be youths, and particularly in times of danger they took pains to have it glossy and well-combed, remembering a certain saying of Lycurgus, that a fine head of hair made the handsome more comely still, and the ugly more terrible.
ἐχρῶντο δὲ καὶ γυμνασίοις μαλακωτέροις παρὰ τὰς στρατείας, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην δίαιταν οὐχ οὕτω κεκολασμένην οὐδʼ ὑπεύθυνον τοῖς νέοις παρεῖχον, ὥστε μόνοις ἀνθρώπων ἐκείνοις τῆς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον ἀσκήσεως ἀνάπαυσιν εἶναι τὸν πόλεμον. ἤδη δὲ συντεταγμένης τῆς φάλαγγος αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν πολεμίων παρόντων, ὁ βασιλεὺς ἅμα τήν τε χίμαιραν ἐσφαγιάζετο καὶ στεφανοῦσθαι παρήγγελλε πᾶσι καὶ τοὺς αὐλητὰς αὐλεῖν ἐκέλευε τὸ Καστόρειον μέλος·
Their bodily exercises, too, were less rigorous during their campaigns, and in other ways their young warriors were allowed a regimen which was less curtailed and rigid, so that they were the only men in the world with whom war brought a respite in the training for war. And when at last they were drawn up in battle array and the enemy was at hand, the king sacrificed the customary she-goat, commanded all the warriors to set garlands upon their heads, and ordered the pipers to pipe the strains of the hymn to Castor;
ἅμα δ’ ἐξῆρχεν ἐμβατηρίου παιᾶνος, ὥστε σεμνὴν ἅμα καὶ καταπληκτικὴν τὴν ὄψιν εἶναι, ῥυθμῷ τε πρὸς τὸν αὐλὸν ἐμβαινόντων καὶ μήτε διάσπασμα ποιούντων ἐν τῇ φάλαγγι μήτε ταῖς ψυχαῖς θορυβουμένων, ἀλλὰ πρᾴως καὶ ἱλαρῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ μέλους ἀγομένων ἐπὶ τὸν κίνδυνον. οὔτε γάρ φόβον οὔτε θυμὸν ἐγγίνεσθαι πλεονάζοντα τοῖς οὕτω διακειμένοις εἰκός ἐστιν, ἀλλʼ εὐσταθὲς φρόνημα μετʼ ἐλπίδος καὶ θράσους, ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ συμπαρόντος.
then he himself led off in a marching paean, and it was a sight equally grand and terrifying when they marched in step with the rhythm of the flute, without any gap in their line of battle, and with no confusion in their souls, but calmly and cheerfully moving with the strains of their hymn into the deadly fight. Neither fear nor excessive fury is likely to possess men so disposed, but rather a firm purpose full of hope and courage, believing as they do that Heaven is their ally.
ἐχώρει δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἔχων μεθʼ ἑαυτοῦ στεφανίτην ἀγῶνα νενικηκότα. καὶ φασὶ γέ τινα χρημάτων πολλῶν ἐν Ὀλυμπίοις διδομένων αὐτῷ μὴ δεξάμενον, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ πόνῳ καταπαλαίσαντα τὸν ἀνταγωνιστήν, ὥς τις εἶπεν αὐτῷ, τί σοι πλέον, ὦ Λάκων, γέγονε διὰ τῆς νίκης; φάναι μειδιάσαντα, πρὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τεταγμένος μαχοῦμαι τοῖς πολεμίοις.
The king marched against the enemy in close companionship with one who had been crowned victor in the great games. And they tell of a certain Spartan who refused to be bought off from a contest at Olympia by large sums of money, and after a long struggle outwrestled his antagonist. When some one said to him then: What advantage, O Spartan, hast thou got from thy victory? he answered, with a smile: I shall stand in front of my king when I fight our enemies.
τρεψάμενοι δὲ καὶ νικήσαντες ἐδίωκον ὅσον ἐκβεβαιώσασθαι τὸ νίκημα τῇ φυγῇ τῶν πολεμίων, εἶτα εὐθὺς ἀνεχώρουν, οὔτε γενναῖον οὔτε Ἑλληνικὸν ἡγούμενοι κόπτειν καὶ φονεύειν ἀπολεγομένους καὶ παρακεχωρηκότας. ἦν δὲ οὐ μόνον καλὸν τοῦτο καὶ μεγαλόψυχον, ἀλλὰ καὶ χρήσιμον. εἰδότες γὰρ οἱ μαχόμενοι πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὅτι τοὺς ὑφισταμένους ἀναιροῦσι, φείδονται δὲ τῶν ἐνδιδόντων, τοῦ μένειν τὸ φεύγειν ἡγοῦντο λυσιτελέστερον.
When they had conquered and routed an enemy, they pursued him far enough to make their victory secure by his flight, and then at once retired, thinking it ignoble and unworthy of a Hellene to hew men to pieces who had given up the fight and abandoned the field. And this was not only a noble and magnanimous policy, but it was also useful. For their antagonists, knowing that they slew those who resisted them, but showed mercy to those who yielded to them, were apt to think flight more advantageous than resistance.
αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν Λυκοῦργον Ἱππίας μὲν ο σοφιστὴς πολεμικώτατόν φησι γενέσθαι καὶ πολλῶν ἔμπειρον στρατειῶν, Φιλοστέφανος δὲ καὶ τὴν κατʼ οὐλαμοὺς τῶν ἱππέων διανομὴν Λυκούργῳ προστίθησιν εἶναι δὲ τὸν οὐλαμόν, ὡς ἐκεῖνος συνέστησεν, ἱππέων πεντήκοντα πλῆθος ἐν τετραγώνῳ σχήματι τεταγμένων, ὁ δὲ Φαληρεὺς Δημήτριος, οὐδεμιᾶς ἁψάμενον πολεμικῆς πράξεως ἐν εἰρήνῃ καταστήσασθαι τὴν πολιτείαν.
Hippias the Sophist says that Lycurgus himself was very well versed in war and took part in many campaigns, and Philostephanus attributes to him the arrangement of the Spartan cavalry by oulamoi, explaining that the oulamos, as constituted by him, was a troop of fifty horsemen in a square formation. But Demetrius the Phalerean says he engaged in no warlike undertakings, and established his constitution in a time of peace.
ἔοικε δὲ καὶ τῆς Ὀλυμπιακῆς ἐκεχειρίας ἡ ἐπίνοια πρᾴου καὶ πρὸς εἰρήνην οἰκείως ἔχοντος ἀνδρὸς εἶναι, καίτοι φασί τινες, ὡς Ἕρμιππος μνημονεύει, τὸν Λυκοῦργον οὐ προσέχειν οὐδὲ κοινωνεῖν ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἴφιτον, ἀλλὰ τυγχάνειν ἄλλως ἐπιδημοῦντα καὶ θεώμενον ἀκοῦσαι δὲ φωνὴν ὥσπερ ἀνθρώπου τινὸς ἐξόπισθεν ἐπιτιμῶντος αὐτῷ καὶ θαυμάζοντος ὅτι τοὺς πολίτας οὐ προτρέπεται κοινωνεῖν τῆς πανηγύρεως· ὡς δὲ μεταστραφέντος οὐδαμοῦ φανερὸς ὁ φθεγξάμενος ἦν, θεῖον ἡγησάμενον, οὕτω πρὸς τὸν Ἴφιτον τραπέσθαι καὶ συνδιακοσμήσαντα τὴν ἑορτὴν ἐνδοξοτέραν καὶ βεβαιοτέραν καταστῆσαι.
And indeed the design of the Olympic truce would seem to bespeak a man of gentleness, and predisposed to peace. And yet there are some who say, as Hermippus reminds us, that at the outset Lycurgus had nothing whatever to do with Iphitus and his enterprise, but happened to come that way by chance, and be a spectator at the games; that he heard behind him, however, what seemed to be a human voice, chiding him and expressing amazement that he did not urge his fellow-citizens to take part in the great festival; and since, on turning round, he did not see the speaker anywhere, he concluded that the voice was from heaven, and therefore betook himself to Iphitus, and assisted him in giving the festival a more notable arrangement and a more enduring basis.
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