[867]. Plut. Ages. § i.
[868]. Müll. Dor. ii. 315.
[869]. On the democratic tendency of Spartan discipline see Bœckh. in Plat. Min. 181. sqq. Isocrat. Areop. § 14–16.
[870]. Plut. Lycurg. § 17. Inst. Lac. § 5. Xen. de Rep. Lac. ii. 4.
[871]. Plut. Inst. Lac. § 10.
[872]. Ælian. V. H. xiv. 7. Plut. Inst. Lac. § 13. Athen. xii. 74.—Apropos of this subject, the ancients have left us a very curious anecdote. Dionysios, son of Clearchos, the first tyrant of Heraclea, having succeeded to the government of his country, became insensibly so corpulent by his daily excess and extreme niceness in the choice of his viands, that he was nearly suffocated by the enormous mass of his fat. Every time he fell into a deep slumber it was feared he would never wake again; and, to rouse him from his lethargy, the physicians were often compelled to thrust long, sharp needles into his body until they reached the quick, upon which he would again exhibit signs of animation. Of this prodigious obesity his majesty was so much ashamed, however, that, when transacting business or giving audience to strangers, he would ensconce himself behind a large trunk, so that no part of him was visible but his face. Yet, in spite of this infirmity, he lived fifty-five years and reigned thirty-three; and, to the honour of corpulence be it remarked, that no tyrant ever before exhibited so much mildness and moderation.—Id. xii. 72.
[873]. Xen. Rep. Lac. ii. 6.—This writer observes, that what might be filched was determined by law.—Anab. iv. 6. 14. And Plutarch explains, that they might take as much food as they could.—Inst. Lac. § 12.
[874]. Xen. de Rep. Lac. ii. 7.
[875]. Anab. iv. vi. 14.
[876]. De Rep. Lac. ii. 8.