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The History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great. to Which Is Added, a Summary Account of the Affairs of Greece to the Sacking of
The History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great to Which Is Added a Summary Account of the Affairs of Greece to the Sacking of Author:Oliver Goldsmith Title: The History of Greece ... to the Death of Alexander the Great. to Which Is Added, a Summary Account of the Affairs of Greece ... to the Sacking of Constantinople by the Othomans General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1823 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and ... more »there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER II. OP THE GOVERNMENT OP SPARTA, AND THE LAWS OF LYCURGUS. Although the kingdom of Lacedaemon was not so considerable as that of Athens, yet as it was of much earlier institution, it demands our first attention. Lacedaemon, as observed above, was in the beginning governed by kings, of which thirteen held the reins of power in succession, of the race of the Pelopidae. As during this dark interval there were no fixed laws to limit the prerogative, nor any ideas of true government among the people, it does not appear that there were any considerable encroachments made either on the side of the king or that of the people. Under the race of the Heraclidae, who succeeded, instead of one king the people admitted two, who governed with equal authority. The cause of this change seems to have sprung from a very particular accident; for Aristodemus dying, left two sons, Eurysthenes and Procles, twins, so much alike, that it was hardly possible to distinguish them asunder. From hence the hint was taken by the mother of fixing the crown upon both; so that when the Spartans came for a king, she was either unwilling or unable to decide which of them was first born, or which had the justest pretensions. This form continued for several succeeding centuries, and though the one was almost ever at variance with his associate on the throne, yet the government remained entire. It was during this succession that slavery was first ins...« less