Lycurgus8217s Economic Reforms The Ancient Brady Bunch, Political


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Lycurgus8217s Economic Reforms The Ancient Brady Bunch

Lycurgus8217s Economic Reforms The Ancient Brady Bunch In the ancient Greek writing “Lycurgus”, the Spartan king introduces various political, social, and economic reforms that were simple enough to guide the ancient Greeks, but still complex enough to govern entire nations. The intuition and intelligence of Lycurgus, and his ability to communicate with his people at a personal level earned him unquestioned loyalty and fervent love from his subjects. His temperance and wisdom were often tested, but the great king never folded in the heat of battle. All of the aforementioned qualities became evident when Lycurgus introduced his economic reforms. The socioeconomic structure of ancient Sparta was unbalanced and disproportioned, and because of the social unrest between the citizens of Sparta economic reforms were desperately needed. Plutarch highlights this issue when he says: For there was an extreme inequality amongst them, and their state was overloaded with a multitude of indigent and necessitous persons, while its whole wealth centered upon a very few. To the end therefore, that he might expel from the state arrogance and envy, luxury and crime, and those yet more inveterate diseases of want and superfluity (Plutarch 9). The first of Lycurgus’s economic reforms was the division of land into thirty-nine thousand equal shares that where to be divided amongst the state and the people. The city received nine thousand shares of land and the remaining thirty thousand were divided equally between the people. The division of land Lycurgus implemented provided enough food and necessities for every family in Sparta, and Plutarch emphasizes this when he says: It is reported, that, as he returned from a journey shortly after the division of lands, in harvest time the ground being newly reaped, seeing the stacks all standing equal and alike, he smiled, and said to those about him, “Methinks all Laconia looks like one family estate just divided amongst a number of brothers.” (Plutarch 10) The second economic reform initiated by Lycurgus changed the currency of the country from gold and silver to a type of money made out of heavy iron of very little worth. The enormous size and weight of the new currency required a large area of storage space and a great deal of strength in order to remove the money from the storage area. This strategy implied by Lycurgus was brilliant because for the first time having an abundance of money was more of a hassle than a convenience. The abolishment of a valuable currency system forced the Spartan citizens to rely on each other because all trade and commerce disappeared from Sparta when Lycurgus reformed the currency system. The reform of the currency system was rejected by some of Sparta’s wealthy men because they didn’t believe the state had the right to take away their possessions. The main obstacle standing in the way of Lycurgus’s was human nature, and in particular avarice. Man’s desire for wealth is has kept the economic world alive throughout recorded history. Lycurgus’s able leadership his mild temperament won over the Spartan nobles and extinguished their greed The final economic reform implemented by Lycurgus was the disposal of needless and extravagant art. The banning of art blocked the last available avenue for the people to obtain gold and silver or to use it. This law benefited the people because the people learned how to make chairs, tables and other necessities that some of the citizens once took for granted. The reforms that Lycurgus implemented were not accepted without opposition, but ultimately they were proven to benefit the people and the country. Lycurgus transformed the country into a close-knit community and consequently turned Sparta into a power in the Greek world. The laws that Lycurgus used in his governing of the city were upheld for centuries after his death. The laws he made were unchanged for five hundred years and the Spartan rulers that succeeded him made no alterations in the laws Lycurgus made. The concept of land sharing and equality of the people are basic concepts of socialism, and the use of a worthless monetary system is still practiced today in some communistic country’s Lycurgus was successful in making his people adhere to his laws because he was an able leader. “For people do not obey, unless rulers know how to command; obedience is a lesson taught by commanders” (Plutarch 22). Bibliography:

Word Count: 716