58 HISTORICAL TALES,

was discouraged, and a brief or laconic manner sedu-
lously cultivated. But while all this had its advan-
tages, it had its defects. The number of citizens
decreased instead of increasing. At the time of the
Persian war there were eight thousand of them.
Ata late date there were but seven hundred, of whom
one hundred possessed most of the land. Whether
Lycurgus really divided the land equally or not is
doubtful. At any rate, in time the land fell into a
few hands, the poor increased in number, and the
people steadily died out; while the public mess, so
far as the rich were concerned, became a mere form.

But we need not deal with these late events, and
must go back to the story told of Lycurgus. It is
‘said that when he had completed his code of laws,
he called together an assembly of the people, told
them that he was going on a journey, and asked
them to swear that they would obey his laws till
he returned. This they agreed to do, the kings, the |
senate, and the people all taking the oath.

Then the law-giver went to Delphi, where he
offered a sacrifice to Apollo, and asked the oracle
if the laws he had made were good. The oracle
answered that they were excellent, and would brin g
the people the greatest fame. This answer he had
put into writing and sent to Sparta, for he had re-
solved to make his oath binding for all time by never
returning. So the old man starved himself to death.

The Spartans kept their oath. For five hundred
years their city continued one of the chief cities of
Greece, and their army the most warlike and dreaded
of the armies of the earth. As for Lycurgus, his