§1.65.1τοὺς μέν νυν Ἀθηναίους τοιαῦτα τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον ἐπυνθάνετο ὁ Κροῖσος κατέχοντα, τοὺς δὲ Λακεδαιμονίους ἐκ κακῶν τε μεγάλων πεφευγότας καὶ ἐόντας ἤδη τῷ πολέμῳ κατυπερτέρους Τεγεητέων.
Now Croesus learned that, as for the Athenians, such things were besetting them at this time, while as for the Lacedaemonians, he learned that they had escaped from great evils and were by now superior to the Tegeans in war.
ἐπὶ γὰρ Λέοντος βασιλεύοντος καὶ Ἡγησικλέος ἐν Σπάρτῃ τοὺς ἄλλους πολέμους εὐτυχέοντες οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι πρὸς Τεγεήτας μούνους προσέπταιον.
For during the reigns of Leon and Hegesicles in Sparta, though the Lacedaemonians were successful in their other wars, they suffered defeats against the Tegeans alone.
§1.65.2τὸ δὲ ἔτι πρότερον τούτων καί κακονομώτατοι ἦσαν σχεδὸν πάντων Ἑλλήνων κατά τε σφέας αὐτοὺς καὶ ξείνοισι ἀπρόσμικτοι· μετέβαλον δὲ ὧδε ἐς εὐνομίην.
But even prior to this, they had been under the worst laws of almost all the Greeks, both among themselves and being unsociable toward strangers; but they changed to good laws in this way.
Λυκούργου τῶν Σπαρτιητέων δοκίμου ἀνδρὸς ἐλθόντος ἐς Δελφοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ χρηστήριον, ὡς ἐσήιε ἐς τὸ μέγαρον, εὐθὺς ἡ Πυθίη λέγει τάδε. §1.65.3"
ἥκεις ὦ Λυκόοργε ἐμὸν ποτὶ πίονα νηόν
Ζηνὶ φίλος καὶ πᾶσιν Ὀλύμπια δώματʼ ἔχουσι.
When Lycurgus, a distinguished man among the Spartans, went to Delphi to consult the oracle, as he entered the inner hall, the Pythia immediately spoke these words: "You have come, Lycurgus, to my rich temple, dear to Zeus and to all who hold Olympian dwellings.
δίζω ἤ σε θεὸν μαντεύσομαι ἢ ἄνθρωπον.
I am in doubt whether I shall declare you a god or a human.
ἀλλʼ ἔτι καὶ μᾶλλον θεὸν ἔλπομαι, ὦ Λυκόοργε.
But yet more, I expect you to be a god, Lycurgus.
" §1.65.4οἳ μὲν δή τινες πρὸς τούτοισι λέγουσι καὶ φράσαι αὐτῷ τὴν Πυθίην τὸν νῦν κατεστεῶτα κόσμον Σπαρτιήτῃσι.
"Now some say in addition to this that the Pythia also declared to him the order that is now established for the Spartans.
ὡς δʼ αὐτοὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι λέγουσι, Λυκοῦργον ἐπιτροπεύσαντα Λεωβώτεω, ἀδελφιδέου μὲν ἑωυτοῦ βασιλεύοντος δὲ Σπαρτιητέων, ἐκ Κρήτης ἀγαγέσθαι ταῦτα.
But as the Lacedaemonians themselves say, Lycurgus brought these institutions from Crete when he was guardian to Leobotes, his own nephew who was king of the Spartans.
§1.65.5ὡς γὰρ ἐπετρόπευσε τάχιστα, μετέστησε τὰ νόμιμα πάντα, καὶ ἐφύλαξε ταῦτα μὴ παραβαίνειν· μετὰ δὲ τὰ ἐς πόλεμον ἔχοντα, ἐνωμοτίας καὶ τριηκάδας καὶ συσσίτια, πρός τε τούτοισι τοὺς ἐφόρους καὶ γέροντας ἔστησε Λυκοῦργος.
For as soon as he became guardian, he changed all the laws and took care that they should not be transgressed; and afterwards, Lycurgus established things pertaining to war—the enomotiai, the triacades, and the syssitia—and in addition to these, the ephors and the elders.