LYCURGUS AND THE SPARTAN LAWS. 59

countrymen worshipped him as a god, and imputed
to him all that was noble in their institutions and
excellent in their laws. But time brings its in-
evitable changes, and these famous institutions in
time decayed, while the people perished from over-
strict discipline or other causes till but a small troop
of Spartans remained, too weak in numbers fairly
to control the Helots of their fields.

In truth, the laws of Lycurgus were unnatural,
and in the end could but fail. They were framed to
make one-sided men, and only whole men can long
succeed. Human nature will have its way, and
luxury and corruption crept into Sparta despite
these laws. Nor did the Spartans prove braver or
more successful in war than the Athenians, whose
whole nature was developed, and who were alike
great in literature, art, and war.