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Dive into the fascinating history of Pyrrhus, the formidable king of Epirus from 336 to 321 BC. Renowned as a brilliant soldier and conqueror, he left his mark on both Macedon and Italy, giving rise to the term Pyrrhic victory that echoes through history. Join Deon Gines as he unravels the legacy of this extraordinary leader.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter eleven of Paris by Jacob Abbott. This LibriVox recording
is in the public domain recording by Dion Jins Salt
Lake City, Utah, Sparta BC. One thousand to two seventy two.
The war in which Paris was invited to engage at
(00:22):
the time referred to at the close of the last chapter,
arose out of a domestic quarrel in one of the
royal families of Sparta. Sparta was one of the principal
cities of the Peloponnesus, and the capital of a very
powerful and warlike kingdom. The institutions of government in this
(00:47):
commonwealth were very peculiar, and among the most extraordinary of
them all was the arrangement made in respect to the
kingly power. There were two dynasties or lines of kings
reigning conjointly. The division of power between the two incumbents
(01:07):
who reigned at any one time may have been somewhat
similar to that made in Rome between the consuls, but
the system differed from that of the consular government in
the fact that the Spartan kings were not elected magistrates
like the Roman consuls, but hereditary sovereigns, deriving their power
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from their ancestors, each in his own line. The origin
of this extraordinary system was said to be this. At
a very early period of the Spartan history, a king
died suddenly, leaving two children twins as his heirs, but
without designating either one of them as his successor. The
(01:54):
Spartans then applied to the mother of the two children
to know which of them was the first born. She
pretended that she could not tell. They then applied to
the oracle at Delphi, asking what they should do. The
response of the oracle directed them to make both the
(02:14):
children kings, but to bestow the highest honors upon the oldest.
By this answer, the Spartans were only partially relieved from
their dilemma, for under the directions of the oracle, the
necessity of determining the question of priority in respect to
(02:34):
the birth of the two children remained, without any light
or guidance being afforded them in respect to the mode
of doing it. At last, some persons suggested that a
watch should be set over the mother, with a view
to ascertain for which of her children she had the
(02:55):
strongest affection. They supposed that she really knew which was
the first born, and that she would involuntarily give to
the one whom she regarded in that light the precedents
in the maternal services and duties which she rendered to
the babes. This plan succeeded. It was discovered which was
(03:19):
the first born and which was the younger, and the
Spartans accordingly made both the children kings, but gave the
highest rank to the former, as the oracle had directed.
The children both lived and grew up to be men,
and in due time were married. By a singular coincidence,
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they married twin sisters. In the two families, thus arising
originated the Spartan lines of kings that reigned jointly over
the kingdom for many successive generations. To express this extraordinary
system of government, it has sometimes and said that Sparta,
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though governed by kings, was not a monarchy, but a diarchy.
The diarchy, however, as might have been expected, was found
not to work very successfully in practice. Various dissensions and
difficulties arose, and at length, about two hundred years after
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the original establishment of the two lines, the kingdom became
almost wholly disorganized. At this juncture, the celebrated lawgiver Lycurgis arose.
He framed a system of laws and regulations for the kingdom,
which were immediately put in force and resulted not only
(04:45):
in restoring the public affairs to order at the time,
but were the means in the end of raising Sparta
to the highest condition of prosperity and renown Lycurgis was
indebted for his success in the measures which he adopted,
not merely to the sagacity which he exercised in framing
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them and the energy with which he carried them into effect.
He occupied personally a very peculiar position, which afforded him
great facilities for the performance of his work. He was
a member of one of the royal families, being a
younger son of one of the kings. He had an
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elder brother named Polydectus. His father died suddenly from a
stab that he received in a fray. He was not
personally engaged in the fray himself as one of the combatants,
but only went into it to separate other persons who
had by some means become involved in a sudden quarrel.
(05:53):
In the struggle, he received a stab from a kitchen
knife with which one of the combat maltens was armed,
and immediately died, Polyductus, of course, being the eldest son,
succeeded to the throne. He, however, very soon died, leaving
a wife but no children. About eight months after his death, however,
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a child was born to his widow, and this child,
according to the then received principles of hereditary descent, was
entitled to succeed his father, as however, at the time
of Polyductus's death the child was not born Lysergis, the brother,
(06:38):
was then apparently the heir. He accordingly assumed the government
so far as the government devolved upon the line to
which his brother had belonged, intending only to hold it
in the interim and to give it up ultimately when
the proper heir should appear. In the meantime, the widow
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supposed very naturally that he would like to retain the
power permanently. She was herself also ambitious of reigning as queen,
and she accordingly made to Lysurgius the atrocious and unnatural
proposal to destroy the life of her child on condition
(07:21):
that he would marry her and allow her to share
the kingdom with him. Lysurgius was much shocked at receiving
such a proposition, but he deemed it best for the
time being to appear to accede to it. He accordingly
represented to the queen that it would not be best for
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her to make the attempt which she had proposed, lest
she should thereby endanger her own safety. Wait, said he,
and let me know as soon as the child is born,
then leave everything to me. I will do myself what
what ever is required to be done. Lysurgis moreover had
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attendants provided with orders to keep themselves in readiness when
the child should be born, and if it proved to
be a son, to bring the babe to him immediately,
wherever he might be, or however he might be engaged.
If it proved to be a daughter, they were to
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leave it in the hands of the woman who had
charge of the queen. The babe proved to be a son,
the officers took it accordingly and brought it at once
to Lycurgus. The unnatural mother, of course, understood that it
was taken away from her to be destroyed, and she
acquiesced in the supposed design, in order by sacrificing her
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child to perpetuate her own queenly dignity and power. Lysurgis, however,
was intending to conduct the affair to a very different result.
At the time when the attendants brought the new born
babe to Lysergis's house, Lycurgus was engaged with a party
(09:10):
of friends whom he had invited to a festival. These
friends consisted of nobles, generals, ministers of state, and other
principal personages of the Spartan commonwealth, whom Lysurgis had thus
assembled in anticipation, probably of what was to take place.
(09:30):
The attendants had been ordered to bring the child to
him without delay, wherever they might find him. They accordingly
came into the apartment where Lysurgis and his friends were assembled,
bringing the infant with them in their arms. Lysurgis received
him and, holding him up before the company, called out
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to them in a loud voice, Spartans, I present to you,
your newborn king. People received the young prince with the
most extravagant demonstrations of joy, and Lycurgius named him Charles,
which means dear to the people. The conduct of Lycurgis
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on this occasion was thought to be very generous and noble,
since by bringing the child forward as the true heir
to the crown, he surrendered at once all his own
pretensions to the inheritance, and made himself a private citizen.
Very few of the sons of kings, either in ancient
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or modern times, would have pursued such a course. But
though in respect to his position he abased himself by
thus descending from his place upon the throne to the
rank of a private citizen, he exalted himself very highly
in respect to influence and character. He was at once
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made protector of the person of the child and regent
of the realm during the young king's minority, and all
the people of the city, applauding the noble deed which
he had performed, began to entertain toward him feelings of
the highest respect and veneration. It proved, however, that there
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were yet very serious difficulties which he was destined to
meet and surmount, before the way should be fully open
for the performance of the great work for which he
afterward became so renowned. Although the people generally of Sparta
greatly applauded the conduct of Lysurgius and placed the utmost
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confidence in him, there were still a few who hated
and opposed him. Of course, the Queen herself, whose designs
he had thwarted, was extremely indignant at having been thus deceived.
Not only was her own personal and bility disappointed by
the failure of her design, but her womanly pride was
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fatally wounded in having been rejected by Lycurgus in the
offer which she had made to become his wife. She
and her friends therefore were implacably hostile to him. She
had a brother named Leonidas, who warmly espoused her cause.
Leonidas quarreled openly with Lycurgis. He addressed him one day,
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in the presence of several witnesses, in a very violent
and threatening manner. I know very well, said he that
your seeming disinterested ness and your show of zeal for
the safety and welfare of the young king are all
an empty pretense. You are plotting to destroy him and
(12:52):
to raise yourself to the throne in his stead. And
if we wait a short time, we shall see you
accomplishing the results at which you are really aiming in
your iniquitous and hypocritical policy. On hearing these threats and denunciations, Lisurgis,
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instead of making an angry reply to them, began at
once calmly to consider what it would be best for
him to do. He reflected that the life of the
child was uncertain, notwithstanding every precaution which he might make
for the preservation of it, and if by any casualty
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it should die, his enemies might charge him with having
secretly murdered it. He resolved therefore to remove at once
and forever all possible suspicion, present or prospective of the
purity of his motives, by withdrawing altogether from Sparta until
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the child should come of age. He accordingly made arrangements
for place seeing the young king under protectors who could
not be suspected of collusion with him for any guilty purpose,
and also organized an administration to govern the country until
the king should be of age. Having taken these steps,
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he bade Sparta farewell and set out upon a long
and extended course of travels. He was gone from his
native land many years, during which period he visited all
the principal states and kingdoms of the earth, employing himself
wherever he went, in studying the history, the government, and
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the institutions of the countries through which he journeyed, and
in visiting and conversing with all the most distinguished men.
He went first to Crete, a large island which lay
south of the Aegean Sea, its western extremity being not
far from the coast of Peloponnesus. After remains for some
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time in Crete, visiting all its principal cities, and making
himself thoroughly acquainted with its history and condition, he sailed
for Asia Minor and visited all the chief capitals there.
From Asia Minor he went to Egypt, and after finishing
his observations and studies in the cities of the Nile,
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he journeyed westward and passed through all the countries lying
on the northern coast of Africa, and then from Africa
he crossed over into Spain. He remained long enough in
each place that he visited to make himself very thoroughly
acquainted with its philosophy, its government, its civilization, its state
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of progress in respect to the arts and usages of
social life, with everything in fact which could have a
bearing upon national prosperity and welfare. In the meantime, the
current of a affairs at Sparta flowed by no means smoothly.
As years rolled on and the young Prince Charless advanced
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toward the period of manhood, he became involved in various
difficulties which greatly embarrassed and perplexed him. He was of
a very amiable and gentle disposition, but was wholly destitute
of the strength and energy of character required for the
station in which he was placed. Disagreements arose between him
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and the other king. They both quarreled too, with their
nobles and with the people. The people did not respect them,
and gradually learned to despise their authority. They remembered the
efficiency and the success of Lysergis's government, and the regularity
and order which had marked the whole course of public
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affairs during his administration. They appreciated now too more fully
than before, the noble personal qualities which Lycurgis had evinced,
his comprehensiveness of view, his firmness of purpose, his disinterestedness,
his generosity. And they contrasted the lofty sentiments and principles
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which had always governed him with the weakness, the childishness,
and the petty ambition of their actual kings. In a word,
they all wished that Lycurgis would return. Even the kings
themselves participated in this wish. They perceived that their affairs
were getting into confusion, and began to feel apprehension and anxiety.
(17:45):
Lycurgis received repeated messages from them and from the people
of Sparta, urging him to return, but he declined to
accept these proposals and went on with his travels and
his studies as before. At last, however, the Spartans sent
a formal embassy to Lysurgis, representing to him the troubled
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condition of public affairs in Sparta and the dangers which
threatened the commonwealth, and urging him in the most pressing
manner to return. These ambassadors, in their interview with Lysurgis,
told him that they had kings indeed at Sparta, so
far as birth and title and the wearing of royal
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robes would go, but as for any royal qualities beyond
this mere outside show, they had seen nothing of the
kind since Lysurgis had left them. Lysurgis finally concluded to
comply with the request, he returned to Sparta. Here he
employed himself for a time in making a careful examination
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into the state of the country, and in conversing with
the principal men of enfluence in the city and renewing
his acquaintance with them. At length, he formed a plan
for an entire organization of the government. He proposed this
plan to the principal men, and, having obtained the consent
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of a sufficient number of them to the leading provisions
of his new constitution, he began to take measures for
the public promulgation and establishment of it. The first step
was to secure a religious sanction for his proceedings, in
order to inspire the common people with a feeling of
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reverence and awe for his authority. He accordingly left Sparta,
saying that he was going to consult the oracle at Delphi.
In due time, he returned, bringing with him the response
of the oracle. The response was as follows, Lycurgis is
beloved of the gods, and is himself divine. The laws
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which he has framed are perfect, and under them a
commonwealth shall arise, which shall hereafter become the most famous
in the world. This response, having been made known in Sparta,
impressed everyone with a very high sense of the authority
of Lysurgis, and disposed all classes of people to acquiesce
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in the coming change. Lycurgis did not, however, rely entirely
on this disposition. When the time came for organizing the
new government, he stationed an armed force in the marketplace
one morning at a very early hour, so that the people,
when they came forth as usual into the streets, found
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that Lycurgis had taken military possession of the city. The
first feeling was a general excitement and alarm. Charles, the king,
who it seems had not been consulted in these movements
at all, was very much terrified. He supposed that an
insurrection had taken place against his authority, and that his
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life was in danger. To save himself, he fled to
one of the temples as to a sanctuary. Lysurgis sent
to him informing him that those engaged in the revolution
which had taken place intended no injury to him, either
in respect to his person or his royal prerogatives. By
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these assurances, the fears of Charilus were allayed, and thenceforth
he cooperated with Lysurgis in carrying his measures into effect.
This is not the place for a full account of
the plan of government which Lycurgis introduced, nor any of
the institutions which gradually grew up under it. It is
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sufficient to say that the system which he adopted was
celebrated throughout the world during the period of its continuance,
and has since been celebrated in every age as being
the most stern and rugged social system that was ever framed.
The commonwealth of Sparta became under the institutions of Lycurgius
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one great camp. The nation was a nation of soldiers.
Every possible device was resorted to endure all classes of
the population, the young and the old, the men and
the women, the rich and the poor, to every species
of hardship and privation. The only qualities that were respected
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or cultivated were such stern virtues as courage, fortitude, endurance,
insensibility to pain and grief, and contempt for all the
pleasures of wealth and luxury. Surges did not write out
his system. He would not allow it to be written out.
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He preferred to put it in operation and then leave
it to perpetuate itself as a matter of usage and precedent. Accordingly,
after fully organizing the government on the plan which he
had arranged, and announcing the laws and establishing the customs
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by which he intended that the ordinary course of social
life should be regulated, he determined to withdraw from the
field and await the result. He therefore informed the people
that he was going away again on another journey, and
that he would leave the carrying forward of the government
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which he had framed for them and initiated in their hands.
And he required of them a solemn oath that they
would make no change in the Cia until he returned.
In doing this, his secret intention was never to return.
Such was the origin, and such the general character of
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the Spartan government in the time of Paris. The system
had been in operation for about five hundred years. During
this period, the state passed through many and various vicissitudes.
It engaged in wars, offensive and defensive. It passed through
many calamitous and trying scenes, suffering from time to time
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under the usual ills which in those days so often
disturbed the peace and welfare of nations. But during all
this time the commonwealth retained in a very striking degree
the extraordinary marks and characteristics which the institutions of Lysurgius
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had stamped upon it. The Spartans still were terrible in
the estimation of all mankind. So stern and indomitable was
the spirit which they manifested in all the enterprises in
which they engaged. It was from Sparta that the message
came to Paris asking his assistance in a war that
(25:19):
was then waging there. The war originated in a domestic
quarrel which arose in the family of one of the
lines of kings. The name of the prince who made
the application to Paris was Cleonymus. He was the younger
son of one of the Spartan kings. He had had
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an older brother named Acritatus. The crown, of course, would
have devolved on this brother if he had been living
when the father died, but he was not. He died
before his father, having a son, however, named Areus as
his heir. Arius of course claimed the throne when his
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grandfather died. He was not young himself at this time,
he had advanced beyond the period of middle life and
had a son who had grown up to maturity. Cleonymus
was very unwilling to acquiesce in the accession of Arius
to the throne. He was himself the son of the
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king who had died, while Arius was only the grandson.
He maintained therefore that he had the highest claim to
the succession. He was, however, overruled, and Arius assumed the crown.
Soon after his accession, Arius left Sparta and went to Crete,
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intrusting the government of his kingdom in the meantime to
his son. The name of this son was Acritatus. Cleonymus
of course, looked with a particularly evil eye upon this
young man, and soon began to form a de signs
against him. At length, after the lapse of a considerable period,
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during which various events occurred which cannot be here described,
a circumstance took place which excited the hostility which Cleonymus
felt for Acutadis to the highest degree. The circumstances were these. Cleonymus,
though far advanced in life, married about the time that
(27:27):
the events occurred which we are here describing a very
young lady named Sheladonnas. Saladonnas was a princess of the
royal line and was a lady of great personal beauty.
She however, had very little affection for her husband, and
at length Aqritadis, who was young and attractive in person,
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succeeded in winning her love and enticing her away from
her husband. This affair excited the mind of Cleonymus to
a perfect friend of jealousy and rage. He immediately left Sparta, and,
knowing well the character and disposition of Pearis, he proceeded
northward to Macedon laid his case before Pearis and urged
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him to fit out an expedition and march to the Peloponnesus,
with a view of aiding him to put down the usurpers,
as he called them, and to establish him on the
throne of Sparta. Instead, Pearis immediately saw that the conjuncture
opened before him a prospect of a very brilliant campaign
(28:37):
in a field entirely new, and he at once determined
to embark forthwith in the enterprise. He resolved accordingly to
abandon his interests in Macedon and march into Greece. End
of Chapter eleven.
Chapter eleven of Paris by Jacob Abbott. This LibriVox recording
is in the public domain recording by Dion Jins Salt
Lake City, Utah, Sparta BC. One thousand to two seventy two.
The war in which Paris was invited to engage at
(00:22):
the time referred to at the close of the last chapter,
arose out of a domestic quarrel in one of the
royal families of Sparta. Sparta was one of the principal
cities of the Peloponnesus, and the capital of a very
powerful and warlike kingdom. The institutions of government in this
(00:47):
commonwealth were very peculiar, and among the most extraordinary of
them all was the arrangement made in respect to the
kingly power. There were two dynasties or lines of kings
reigning conjointly. The division of power between the two incumbents
(01:07):
who reigned at any one time may have been somewhat
similar to that made in Rome between the consuls, but
the system differed from that of the consular government in
the fact that the Spartan kings were not elected magistrates
like the Roman consuls, but hereditary sovereigns, deriving their power
(01:30):
from their ancestors, each in his own line. The origin
of this extraordinary system was said to be this. At
a very early period of the Spartan history, a king
died suddenly, leaving two children twins as his heirs, but
without designating either one of them as his successor. The
(01:54):
Spartans then applied to the mother of the two children
to know which of them was the first born. She
pretended that she could not tell. They then applied to
the oracle at Delphi, asking what they should do. The
response of the oracle directed them to make both the
(02:14):
children kings, but to bestow the highest honors upon the oldest.
By this answer, the Spartans were only partially relieved from
their dilemma, for under the directions of the oracle, the
necessity of determining the question of priority in respect to
(02:34):
the birth of the two children remained, without any light
or guidance being afforded them in respect to the mode
of doing it. At last, some persons suggested that a
watch should be set over the mother, with a view
to ascertain for which of her children she had the
(02:55):
strongest affection. They supposed that she really knew which was
the first born, and that she would involuntarily give to
the one whom she regarded in that light the precedents
in the maternal services and duties which she rendered to
the babes. This plan succeeded. It was discovered which was
(03:19):
the first born and which was the younger, and the
Spartans accordingly made both the children kings, but gave the
highest rank to the former, as the oracle had directed.
The children both lived and grew up to be men,
and in due time were married. By a singular coincidence,
(03:41):
they married twin sisters. In the two families, thus arising
originated the Spartan lines of kings that reigned jointly over
the kingdom for many successive generations. To express this extraordinary
system of government, it has sometimes and said that Sparta,
(04:02):
though governed by kings, was not a monarchy, but a diarchy.
The diarchy, however, as might have been expected, was found
not to work very successfully in practice. Various dissensions and
difficulties arose, and at length, about two hundred years after
(04:23):
the original establishment of the two lines, the kingdom became
almost wholly disorganized. At this juncture, the celebrated lawgiver Lycurgis arose.
He framed a system of laws and regulations for the kingdom,
which were immediately put in force and resulted not only
(04:45):
in restoring the public affairs to order at the time,
but were the means in the end of raising Sparta
to the highest condition of prosperity and renown Lycurgis was
indebted for his success in the measures which he adopted,
not merely to the sagacity which he exercised in framing
(05:08):
them and the energy with which he carried them into effect.
He occupied personally a very peculiar position, which afforded him
great facilities for the performance of his work. He was
a member of one of the royal families, being a
younger son of one of the kings. He had an
(05:29):
elder brother named Polydectus. His father died suddenly from a
stab that he received in a fray. He was not
personally engaged in the fray himself as one of the combatants,
but only went into it to separate other persons who
had by some means become involved in a sudden quarrel.
(05:53):
In the struggle, he received a stab from a kitchen
knife with which one of the combat maltens was armed,
and immediately died, Polyductus, of course, being the eldest son,
succeeded to the throne. He, however, very soon died, leaving
a wife but no children. About eight months after his death, however,
(06:17):
a child was born to his widow, and this child,
according to the then received principles of hereditary descent, was
entitled to succeed his father, as however, at the time
of Polyductus's death the child was not born Lysergis, the brother,
(06:38):
was then apparently the heir. He accordingly assumed the government
so far as the government devolved upon the line to
which his brother had belonged, intending only to hold it
in the interim and to give it up ultimately when
the proper heir should appear. In the meantime, the widow
(07:00):
supposed very naturally that he would like to retain the
power permanently. She was herself also ambitious of reigning as queen,
and she accordingly made to Lysurgius the atrocious and unnatural
proposal to destroy the life of her child on condition
(07:21):
that he would marry her and allow her to share
the kingdom with him. Lysurgius was much shocked at receiving
such a proposition, but he deemed it best for the
time being to appear to accede to it. He accordingly
represented to the queen that it would not be best for
(07:42):
her to make the attempt which she had proposed, lest
she should thereby endanger her own safety. Wait, said he,
and let me know as soon as the child is born,
then leave everything to me. I will do myself what
what ever is required to be done. Lysurgis moreover had
(08:04):
attendants provided with orders to keep themselves in readiness when
the child should be born, and if it proved to
be a son, to bring the babe to him immediately,
wherever he might be, or however he might be engaged.
If it proved to be a daughter, they were to
(08:24):
leave it in the hands of the woman who had
charge of the queen. The babe proved to be a son,
the officers took it accordingly and brought it at once
to Lycurgus. The unnatural mother, of course, understood that it
was taken away from her to be destroyed, and she
acquiesced in the supposed design, in order by sacrificing her
(08:49):
child to perpetuate her own queenly dignity and power. Lysurgis, however,
was intending to conduct the affair to a very different result.
At the time when the attendants brought the new born
babe to Lysergis's house, Lycurgus was engaged with a party
(09:10):
of friends whom he had invited to a festival. These
friends consisted of nobles, generals, ministers of state, and other
principal personages of the Spartan commonwealth, whom Lysurgis had thus
assembled in anticipation, probably of what was to take place.
(09:30):
The attendants had been ordered to bring the child to
him without delay, wherever they might find him. They accordingly
came into the apartment where Lysurgis and his friends were assembled,
bringing the infant with them in their arms. Lysurgis received
him and, holding him up before the company, called out
(09:53):
to them in a loud voice, Spartans, I present to you,
your newborn king. People received the young prince with the
most extravagant demonstrations of joy, and Lycurgius named him Charles,
which means dear to the people. The conduct of Lycurgis
(10:13):
on this occasion was thought to be very generous and noble,
since by bringing the child forward as the true heir
to the crown, he surrendered at once all his own
pretensions to the inheritance, and made himself a private citizen.
Very few of the sons of kings, either in ancient
(10:35):
or modern times, would have pursued such a course. But
though in respect to his position he abased himself by
thus descending from his place upon the throne to the
rank of a private citizen, he exalted himself very highly
in respect to influence and character. He was at once
(10:58):
made protector of the person of the child and regent
of the realm during the young king's minority, and all
the people of the city, applauding the noble deed which
he had performed, began to entertain toward him feelings of
the highest respect and veneration. It proved, however, that there
(11:20):
were yet very serious difficulties which he was destined to
meet and surmount, before the way should be fully open
for the performance of the great work for which he
afterward became so renowned. Although the people generally of Sparta
greatly applauded the conduct of Lysurgius and placed the utmost
(11:43):
confidence in him, there were still a few who hated
and opposed him. Of course, the Queen herself, whose designs
he had thwarted, was extremely indignant at having been thus deceived.
Not only was her own personal and bility disappointed by
the failure of her design, but her womanly pride was
(12:05):
fatally wounded in having been rejected by Lycurgus in the
offer which she had made to become his wife. She
and her friends therefore were implacably hostile to him. She
had a brother named Leonidas, who warmly espoused her cause.
Leonidas quarreled openly with Lycurgis. He addressed him one day,
(12:30):
in the presence of several witnesses, in a very violent
and threatening manner. I know very well, said he that
your seeming disinterested ness and your show of zeal for
the safety and welfare of the young king are all
an empty pretense. You are plotting to destroy him and
(12:52):
to raise yourself to the throne in his stead. And
if we wait a short time, we shall see you
accomplishing the results at which you are really aiming in
your iniquitous and hypocritical policy. On hearing these threats and denunciations, Lisurgis,
(13:12):
instead of making an angry reply to them, began at
once calmly to consider what it would be best for
him to do. He reflected that the life of the
child was uncertain, notwithstanding every precaution which he might make
for the preservation of it, and if by any casualty
(13:34):
it should die, his enemies might charge him with having
secretly murdered it. He resolved therefore to remove at once
and forever all possible suspicion, present or prospective of the
purity of his motives, by withdrawing altogether from Sparta until
(13:54):
the child should come of age. He accordingly made arrangements
for place seeing the young king under protectors who could
not be suspected of collusion with him for any guilty purpose,
and also organized an administration to govern the country until
the king should be of age. Having taken these steps,
(14:17):
he bade Sparta farewell and set out upon a long
and extended course of travels. He was gone from his
native land many years, during which period he visited all
the principal states and kingdoms of the earth, employing himself
wherever he went, in studying the history, the government, and
(14:38):
the institutions of the countries through which he journeyed, and
in visiting and conversing with all the most distinguished men.
He went first to Crete, a large island which lay
south of the Aegean Sea, its western extremity being not
far from the coast of Peloponnesus. After remains for some
(15:00):
time in Crete, visiting all its principal cities, and making
himself thoroughly acquainted with its history and condition, he sailed
for Asia Minor and visited all the chief capitals there.
From Asia Minor he went to Egypt, and after finishing
his observations and studies in the cities of the Nile,
(15:22):
he journeyed westward and passed through all the countries lying
on the northern coast of Africa, and then from Africa
he crossed over into Spain. He remained long enough in
each place that he visited to make himself very thoroughly
acquainted with its philosophy, its government, its civilization, its state
(15:45):
of progress in respect to the arts and usages of
social life, with everything in fact which could have a
bearing upon national prosperity and welfare. In the meantime, the
current of a affairs at Sparta flowed by no means smoothly.
As years rolled on and the young Prince Charless advanced
(16:08):
toward the period of manhood, he became involved in various
difficulties which greatly embarrassed and perplexed him. He was of
a very amiable and gentle disposition, but was wholly destitute
of the strength and energy of character required for the
station in which he was placed. Disagreements arose between him
(16:33):
and the other king. They both quarreled too, with their
nobles and with the people. The people did not respect them,
and gradually learned to despise their authority. They remembered the
efficiency and the success of Lysergis's government, and the regularity
and order which had marked the whole course of public
(16:55):
affairs during his administration. They appreciated now too more fully
than before, the noble personal qualities which Lycurgis had evinced,
his comprehensiveness of view, his firmness of purpose, his disinterestedness,
his generosity. And they contrasted the lofty sentiments and principles
(17:19):
which had always governed him with the weakness, the childishness,
and the petty ambition of their actual kings. In a word,
they all wished that Lycurgis would return. Even the kings
themselves participated in this wish. They perceived that their affairs
were getting into confusion, and began to feel apprehension and anxiety.
(17:45):
Lycurgis received repeated messages from them and from the people
of Sparta, urging him to return, but he declined to
accept these proposals and went on with his travels and
his studies as before. At last, however, the Spartans sent
a formal embassy to Lysurgis, representing to him the troubled
(18:08):
condition of public affairs in Sparta and the dangers which
threatened the commonwealth, and urging him in the most pressing
manner to return. These ambassadors, in their interview with Lysurgis,
told him that they had kings indeed at Sparta, so
far as birth and title and the wearing of royal
(18:30):
robes would go, but as for any royal qualities beyond
this mere outside show, they had seen nothing of the
kind since Lysurgis had left them. Lysurgis finally concluded to
comply with the request, he returned to Sparta. Here he
employed himself for a time in making a careful examination
(18:54):
into the state of the country, and in conversing with
the principal men of enfluence in the city and renewing
his acquaintance with them. At length, he formed a plan
for an entire organization of the government. He proposed this
plan to the principal men, and, having obtained the consent
(19:15):
of a sufficient number of them to the leading provisions
of his new constitution, he began to take measures for
the public promulgation and establishment of it. The first step
was to secure a religious sanction for his proceedings, in
order to inspire the common people with a feeling of
(19:36):
reverence and awe for his authority. He accordingly left Sparta,
saying that he was going to consult the oracle at Delphi.
In due time, he returned, bringing with him the response
of the oracle. The response was as follows, Lycurgis is
beloved of the gods, and is himself divine. The laws
(20:00):
which he has framed are perfect, and under them a
commonwealth shall arise, which shall hereafter become the most famous
in the world. This response, having been made known in Sparta,
impressed everyone with a very high sense of the authority
of Lysurgis, and disposed all classes of people to acquiesce
(20:24):
in the coming change. Lycurgis did not, however, rely entirely
on this disposition. When the time came for organizing the
new government, he stationed an armed force in the marketplace
one morning at a very early hour, so that the people,
when they came forth as usual into the streets, found
(20:46):
that Lycurgis had taken military possession of the city. The
first feeling was a general excitement and alarm. Charles, the king,
who it seems had not been consulted in these movements
at all, was very much terrified. He supposed that an
insurrection had taken place against his authority, and that his
(21:09):
life was in danger. To save himself, he fled to
one of the temples as to a sanctuary. Lysurgis sent
to him informing him that those engaged in the revolution
which had taken place intended no injury to him, either
in respect to his person or his royal prerogatives. By
(21:32):
these assurances, the fears of Charilus were allayed, and thenceforth
he cooperated with Lysurgis in carrying his measures into effect.
This is not the place for a full account of
the plan of government which Lycurgis introduced, nor any of
the institutions which gradually grew up under it. It is
(21:56):
sufficient to say that the system which he adopted was
celebrated throughout the world during the period of its continuance,
and has since been celebrated in every age as being
the most stern and rugged social system that was ever framed.
The commonwealth of Sparta became under the institutions of Lycurgius
(22:21):
one great camp. The nation was a nation of soldiers.
Every possible device was resorted to endure all classes of
the population, the young and the old, the men and
the women, the rich and the poor, to every species
of hardship and privation. The only qualities that were respected
(22:45):
or cultivated were such stern virtues as courage, fortitude, endurance,
insensibility to pain and grief, and contempt for all the
pleasures of wealth and luxury. Surges did not write out
his system. He would not allow it to be written out.
(23:06):
He preferred to put it in operation and then leave
it to perpetuate itself as a matter of usage and precedent. Accordingly,
after fully organizing the government on the plan which he
had arranged, and announcing the laws and establishing the customs
(23:26):
by which he intended that the ordinary course of social
life should be regulated, he determined to withdraw from the
field and await the result. He therefore informed the people
that he was going away again on another journey, and
that he would leave the carrying forward of the government
(23:49):
which he had framed for them and initiated in their hands.
And he required of them a solemn oath that they
would make no change in the Cia until he returned.
In doing this, his secret intention was never to return.
Such was the origin, and such the general character of
(24:11):
the Spartan government in the time of Paris. The system
had been in operation for about five hundred years. During
this period, the state passed through many and various vicissitudes.
It engaged in wars, offensive and defensive. It passed through
many calamitous and trying scenes, suffering from time to time
(24:36):
under the usual ills which in those days so often
disturbed the peace and welfare of nations. But during all
this time the commonwealth retained in a very striking degree
the extraordinary marks and characteristics which the institutions of Lysurgius
(24:56):
had stamped upon it. The Spartans still were terrible in
the estimation of all mankind. So stern and indomitable was
the spirit which they manifested in all the enterprises in
which they engaged. It was from Sparta that the message
came to Paris asking his assistance in a war that
(25:19):
was then waging there. The war originated in a domestic
quarrel which arose in the family of one of the
lines of kings. The name of the prince who made
the application to Paris was Cleonymus. He was the younger
son of one of the Spartan kings. He had had
(25:40):
an older brother named Acritatus. The crown, of course, would
have devolved on this brother if he had been living
when the father died, but he was not. He died
before his father, having a son, however, named Areus as
his heir. Arius of course claimed the throne when his
(26:01):
grandfather died. He was not young himself at this time,
he had advanced beyond the period of middle life and
had a son who had grown up to maturity. Cleonymus
was very unwilling to acquiesce in the accession of Arius
to the throne. He was himself the son of the
(26:23):
king who had died, while Arius was only the grandson.
He maintained therefore that he had the highest claim to
the succession. He was, however, overruled, and Arius assumed the crown.
Soon after his accession, Arius left Sparta and went to Crete,
(26:43):
intrusting the government of his kingdom in the meantime to
his son. The name of this son was Acritatus. Cleonymus
of course, looked with a particularly evil eye upon this
young man, and soon began to form a de signs
against him. At length, after the lapse of a considerable period,
(27:05):
during which various events occurred which cannot be here described,
a circumstance took place which excited the hostility which Cleonymus
felt for Acutadis to the highest degree. The circumstances were these. Cleonymus,
though far advanced in life, married about the time that
(27:27):
the events occurred which we are here describing a very
young lady named Sheladonnas. Saladonnas was a princess of the
royal line and was a lady of great personal beauty.
She however, had very little affection for her husband, and
at length Aqritadis, who was young and attractive in person,
(27:50):
succeeded in winning her love and enticing her away from
her husband. This affair excited the mind of Cleonymus to
a perfect friend of jealousy and rage. He immediately left Sparta, and,
knowing well the character and disposition of Pearis, he proceeded
northward to Macedon laid his case before Pearis and urged
(28:14):
him to fit out an expedition and march to the Peloponnesus,
with a view of aiding him to put down the usurpers,
as he called them, and to establish him on the
throne of Sparta. Instead, Pearis immediately saw that the conjuncture
opened before him a prospect of a very brilliant campaign
(28:37):
in a field entirely new, and he at once determined
to embark forthwith in the enterprise. He resolved accordingly to
abandon his interests in Macedon and march into Greece. End
of Chapter eleven.
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