=Laconism.=—­These warriors had a rude life, with clean-cut aims and proud disposition.  They spoke in short phrases—­or as we say, laconically—­the word has still persisted.  The Greeks cited many examples of these expressions.  To a garrison in danger of being surprised the government sent this message, “Attention!” A Spartan army was summoned by the king of Persia to lay down his arms; the general replied, “Come and take them.”  When Lysander captured Athens, he wrote simply, “Athens is fallen.”

=Music.  The Dance.=—­The arts of Sparta were those that pertained to an army.  The Dorian conquerors brought with them a peculiar sort of music—­the Dorian style, serious, strong, even harsh.  It was military music; the Spartiates went into battle to the sound of the flute so that the step might be regular.

Their dance was a military movement.  In the “Pyrrhic” the dancers were armed and imitated all the movements of a battle; they made the gestures of striking, of parrying, of retreating, and of throwing the javelin.

=Heroism of the Women.=—­The women stimulated the men to combat; their exhibitions of courage were celebrated in Greece, so much so that collections of stories of them were made.[64] A Spartan mother, seeing her son fleeing from battle, killed him with her own hand, saying; “The Eurotas does not flow for deer.”  Another, learning that her five sons had perished, said, “This is not what I wish to know; does victory belong to Sparta?” “Yes.”  “Then let us render thanks to the gods.”

THE INSTITUTIONS OF SPARTA

=The Kings and the Council.=—­The Spartiates had at first, like the other Greeks, an assembly of the people.  All these institutions were preserved, but only in form.  The kings, descendants of the god Herakles, were loaded with honors; they were given the first place at the feasts and were served with a double portion; when they died all the inhabitants made lamentation for them.  But no power was left to them and they were closely watched.

The Senate was composed of twenty-eight old men taken from the rich and ancient families, appointed for life; but it did not govern.

=The Ephors.=—­The real masters of Sparta were the Ephors (the name signifies overseers), five magistrates who were renewed every year.  They decided peace and war, and had judicial functions; when the king commanded the army, they accompanied him, directed the operations, and sometimes made him return.  Usually they consulted the senators and took action in harmony with them.  Then they assembled the Spartiates in one place, announced to them what had been decided and asked their approbation.  The people without discussing the matter approved the action by acclamation.  No one knew whether he had the right to refuse assent; accustomed to obey, the Spartiate never refused.  It was, therefore, an aristocracy of governing families.  Sparta was not a country of equality.  There were some men who were called Equals, but only because they were equal among themselves.  The others were termed Inferiors and had no part in the government.