§29ἐπιλέγουσι δὲ καὶ οἱ παροιμιαζόμενοι
"τὰν χεῖρα ποτιφέροντα τὰν τύχαν καλεῖν,"
ὡς δέον ἐπικαλεῖσθαι τοὺς θεοὺς μετὰ τοῦ ἐγχειρεῖν τι καὶ πράττειν, ἄλλως δὲ μή. §30τοῖς παισὶν ἐπεδείκνυον τοὺς εἵλωτας μεθύσαντες εἰς ἀποτροπὴν πολυοινίας. §31ἔθος ἦν αὐτοῖς μηδὲ κόπτειν τὰς αὐλείους ἀλλʼ ἔξωθεν βοᾶν. §32Στλεγγίσιν οὐ σιδηραῖς ἀλλὰ καλαμίναις ἐχρῶντο. §33κωμῳδίας καὶ τραγῳδίας οὐκ ἠκροῶντο, ὅπως μήτε ἐν σπουδῇ μήτε ἐν παιδιᾷ ἀκούωσι τῶν ἀντιλεγόντων τοῖς νόμοις. §34Ἀρχίλοχον τὸν ποιητὴν ἐν Λακεδαίμονι γενόμενον αὐτῆς ὥρας ἐδίωξαν, διότι ἐπέγνωσαν αὐτὸν πεποιηκότα ὡς κρεῖττόν ἐστιν ἀποβαλεῖν τὰ ὅπλα ἢ ἀποθανεῖν· "
ἀσπίδι μὲν Σαΐων τις ἀγάλλεται, ἣν περὶ θάμνῳ ἔντος ἀμώμητον κάλλιπον οὐκ ἐθέλων·
And those who use proverbs also say: "While applying your hand, call upon Fortune," on the grounds that one should call upon the gods only when undertaking and doing something, but not otherwise.\n They used to exhibit the Helots to the boys after making them drunk, to deter them from excessive drinking.\n It was their custom not even to knock on the outer doors, but to call out from the outside.\n They used strigils that were not made of iron, but of reed.\n They did not listen to comedies and tragedies, so that they might not, either in earnest or in jest, hear people speaking against the laws.\n When the poet Archilochus arrived in Lacedaemon, they banished him at that very hour, because they discovered that he had written in his poetry that it is better to throw away one's weapons than to die:\n"\nSome Saian glories in my shield, which, a blameless weapon, I left behind unwillingly by a bush;\nbut I myself escaped the end of death.
αὐτὸς δʼ ἐξέφυγον θανάτου τέλος· ἀσπὶς ἐκείνη ἐρρέτω· ἐξαῦθις κτήσομαι οὐ κακίω. " §35κόραις καὶ κόροις κοινὰ τὰ ἱερά. §36Σκιραφίδαν ἐζημίωσαν οἱ ἔφοροι, ὅτι ὑπὸ πολλῶν ἠδικεῖτο. §37Σακκοφόρον ἀνεῖλον, διότι παρυφὴν εἰς τὸν σάκκον ἐνέβαλεν. §38τὸν ἐκ τοῦ γυμνασίου νεανίσκον ἐπετίμων, ὅτι τὴν εἰς Πυλαίαν ὁδὸν ἠπίστατο, §39Κηφισοφῶντα, εἰπόντα περὶ τοῦ τυχόντος δύνασθαι ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν λέγειν, ἐξέβαλον, φάμενοι τὸν ἀγαθὸν μυθητὰν δεῖν τοῖς πράγμασιν ἴσον τὸν λόγον ἔχειν. §40οἱ παῖδες παρʼ αὐτοῖς ξαινόμενοι μάστιξι διʼ ὅλης τῆς ἡμέρας ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ τῆς Ὀρθίας Ἀρτέμιδος μέχρι θανάτου πολλάκις διακαρτεροῦσιν ἱλαροὶ καὶ γαῦροι, ἁμιλλώμενοι περὶ νίκης πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὅστις αὐτῶν ἐπὶ πλέον τε καὶ μᾶλλον καρτερήσειε τυπτόμενος·
Let that shield go to ruin; I shall acquire another hereafter, no worse.\n"\n For the girls and the boys, the sacred rites were in common.\n The ephors fined Sciraphidas because he was wronged by many.\n They put to death a wearer of sackcloth because he sewed a decorative border onto his sackcloth.\n They reprimanded the youth from the gymnasium because he knew the road to Pylaea.\n They banished Cephisophon, who had said that he was able to speak the whole day long about any trivial matter, saying that a good speaker ought to make his speech equal to the facts.\n Among them, the boys, being scourged with whips the whole day long at the altar of Artemis Orthia, often endure even to death, cheerful and proud, contending with one another for victory as to which of them can endure longer and better while being beaten.
καὶ ὁ περιγενόμενος ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα ἐπίδοξός ἐστι.
And the one who prevails is highly esteemed.
καλεῖται δὲ ἡ ἅμιλλα διαμαστίγωσις γίγνεται δὲ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἔτος. §41ἕν δέ τι τῶν καλῶν καὶ μακαρίων ἐδόκει παρεσκευακέναι τοῖς πολίταις ὁ Λυκοῦργος ἀφθονίαν σχολῆς·
This contest is called Diamastigosis, and it takes place every year.\n One of the beautiful and blessed things that Lycurgus was thought to have provided for the citizens was an abundance of leisure.
τέχνης μὲν γὰρ ἅψασθαι βαναύσου τὸ παράπαν οὐκ ἐξῆν χρηματισμοῦ δὲ συναγωγὴν ἔχοντος ἐργώδη καὶ πραγματείαςοὐδʼ ὁτιοῦν ἔδει διὰ τὸ κομιδῇ τὸν πλοῦτον ἄζηλον πεποιηκέναι καὶ ἄτιμον.
For it was not permitted at all to touch any vulgar trade, and there was no need whatsoever for money-making that involved laborious accumulation and business, because he had made wealth entirely unenviable and dishonorable.
οἱ δὲ εἵλωτες αὐτοῖς εἰργάζοντο τὴν γῆν ἀποφέροντες ἀποφορὰν τὴν ἄνωθεν ἱσταμένην.
The Helots tilled the land for them, paying the tribute established from of old.
ἐπάρατον δʼ ἦν πλείονός τινα μισθῶσαι, ἵνα ἐκεῖνοι μὲν κερδαίνοντες ἡδέως ὑπηρετῶσιν, οὗτοι δὲ μὴ πλέον ἐπιζητῶσιν. §42ἀπείρητο δʼ αὐτοῖς ναύταις εἶναι καὶ ναυμαχεῖν ὕστερον μέντοι ἐναυμάχησαν, καὶ τῆς θαλάττης κρατήσαντες πάλιν ἀπέστησαν, διαφθειρόμενα τὰ ἤθη τῶν πολιτῶν θεωροῦντες.
It was accursed to lease for more, so that the Helots, gaining profit, might serve gladly, and the Spartans might not seek more.\n It was forbidden for them to be sailors and to fight at sea. Later, however, they fought at sea, and having gained control of the sea, they drew back again, seeing that the characters of the citizens were being corrupted.
ἀλλὰ πάλιν μετεβάλοντο καθάπερ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις πᾶσι· καὶ γὰρ χρημάτων συναχθέντων τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις, οἱ συναγαγόντες θανάτῳ κατεδικάσθησαν.
But they changed back again, just as in all other things; for when money was collected for the Lacedaemonians, those who had collected it were condemned to death.
Ἀλκαμένει γὰρ καὶ Θεοπόμπῳ τοῖς βασιλεῦσι χρησμὸς ἐδόθη
"ἁ φιλοχρηματία Σπάρταν ὀλέει. "
ἀλλʼ ὅμως Λύσανδρος ἑλὼν Ἀθηναίους πολὺν χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον εἰσήγαγε, καὶ παρεδέξαντο καὶ ἐτίμησαν τὸν ἄνδρα.
For an oracle had been given to the kings Alcamenes and Theopompus: "Love of money will destroy Sparta." Nevertheless, Lysander, having defeated the Athenians, brought in much gold and silver, and they accepted it and honored the man.
τοῖς μὲν οὖν Λυκούργου χρωμένη νόμοις ἡ πόλις καὶ τοῖς ὅρκοις ἐμμείνασα ἐπρώτευε τῆς Ἑλλάδος εὐνομίᾳ καὶ δόξῃ χρόνον ἐτῶν πεντακοσίων·
Now, while the city used the laws of Lycurgus and remained true to its oaths, it held the first place in Greece in good government and glory for a period of five hundred years.
κατʼ ὀλίγον δὲ παραβαινομένων καὶ πλεονεξίας καὶ φιλοπλουτίας παρεισδυομένης, καὶ τὰ τῆς δυνάμεως ἠλαττοῦτο καὶ οἱ σύμμαχοι διὰ ταῦτα δυσμενῶς εἶχον πρὸς αὐτούς.
But as the laws were violated little by little, and greed and love of wealth crept in, the elements of their power were diminished, and the allies for these reasons became hostile toward them.
ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὕτως ἔχοντες μετὰ τὴν Φιλίππου τοῦ Μακεδόνος ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ νίκην, πάντων αὐτὸν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἡγεμόνα κατά τε γῆν καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν ἀναγορευσάντων, καὶ μεταξὺ δʼ Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν υἱὸν μετὰ τὴν Θηβαίων καταστροφήν, μόνοι Λακεδαιμόνιοι, καίπερ ἀτείχιστον πόλιν ἔχοντες καὶ ὀλίγοι πάνυ ὄντες διὰ τοὺς συνεχεῖς πολέμους καὶ πολὺ ἀσθενέστεροι καὶ εὐχείρωτοι γενόμενοι, πάνυ βραχέα τινὰ ζώπυρα διασῴζοντες τῆς Λυκούργου νομοθεσίας, οὔτε συνεστράτευσαν οὔτε τούτοις οὔτε τοῖς μεταξὺ Μακεδονικοῖς βασιλεῦσιν, οὔτʼ εἰς συνέδριον κοινὸν εἰσῆλθον οὐδὲ φόρον ἤνεγκαν·
Nevertheless, even in this state, after the victory of Philip of Macedon at Chaeronea, when all the Greeks declared him leader both by land and sea, and subsequently his son Alexander after the destruction of the Thebans, the Lacedaemonians alone—although they had an unwalled city and were very few in number because of continuous wars, and had become much weaker and easy to conquer, preserving only some very small sparks of the legislation of Lycurgus—neither campaigned with them, nor with the Macedonian kings who came in between, nor did they enter into the common council, nor did they pay tribute.
ἕως οὗ παντάπασιν ὑπεριδόντες τὴν Λυκούργου νομοθεσίαν ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων πολιτῶν ἐτυραννεύθησαν μηδὲν ἔτι σῴζοντες τῆς πατρίου ἀγωγῆς, καὶ παραπλήσιοι τοῖς ἄλλοις γενόμενοι τὴν πρόσθεν εὔκλειαν καὶ παρρησίαν ἀπέθεντο καὶ εἰς δουλείαν μετέστησαν, καὶ νῦν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίοις καθάπερ οἱ ἄλλοι Ἕλληνες ἐγένοντο.
This continued until, utterly disregarding the legislation of Lycurgus, they came under the tyranny of their own citizens, preserving nothing more of their ancestral training, and becoming similar to the others, they laid aside their former glory and freedom of speech, passed into slavery, and now, like the other Greeks, have come under the Romans.