6. But the Cretan institution of the syssitia was, at least according to the judgment of Aristotle, founded more upon the principle of community of goods than the same establishment in Sparta, since in the former country the expenses of it were defrayed by the state, and not by the contributions of the citizens.[946] This institution of the ancient Dorians, or rather of the ancient Greeks in general, we will consider in a subsequent part of this work, with reference to manners and taste; here it must be viewed as affecting the public economy. In Sparta every member of the phiditia contributed to them, as has been already stated, from his own stock;[947] the amount required was about one Attic medimnus and a half of barley-meal, eleven or twelve choëis of wine,[948] five minas of cheese, with half the same quantity of figs, together with dates,[949] and ten Æginetan oboli for meat.[950] The approximate statement of one Attic medimnus and a half is probably meant as an equivalent to one Æginetan medimnus;[951] the ten oboli are equal to a Corinthian stater, or a Syracusan decalitre; the whole is doubtless the monthly contribution of an individual,[952] and is amply sufficient for the consumption of one person. For the daily allowance being elsewhere [pg 211] reckoned at two chœnices, and one cotyla of wine (although the latter is an extremely small quantity),[953] this contribution would give rather more than two chœnices, and five cotylas for each day. There appears to have been only a small allowance for meat, but the want of it was partly supplied by the frequent sacrifices, and partly by the excellent institution of the ἐπάϊκλα, which were additions to the regular meal or αἶκλον. The poorer members of the syssition furnished these from the proceeds of the chase, while wealthier persons supplied wheaten bread (the common provision being barley cakes, μᾶζαι), with young cattle from their flocks, birds prepared as ματτύα, and the fruits of the season from their lands.[954] Voluntary gifts of this kind were probably seldom wanting, so long as the spirit of community influenced their minds; it was also natural that they should contribute largely, in order to give variety and grace to their otherwise uniform banquet.
7. In the Cretan institution, however, the state provided for all the citizens and their wives.[955] The revenues received by the community from the public lands, and from the tributes of the Periœci, were divided according to the months of the year into twelve parts;[956] and also into two according to the purpose to which it was appropriated; so that one half defrayed the sacrifices and the expenses of the government, the other [pg 212] went to the public banquets.[957] Now this latter half was divided among the different families, and each gave his share into the company of syssitia (ἑταιρία) to which he belonged.[958] It may be asked why the state did not allot these sums directly among the syssitia, instead of making the payment indirectly through the members: it is, however, probable that these companies were formed at will by the several messmates. The division of the public revenue is in some measure similar to the proceeding of the Athenians with respect to the Laurian silver-mines.[959] In addition to this, every citizen furnished a tenth of the produce of his lands, and every Clarotes an Æginetan stater for his master.[960]
Although the meaning and object of this institution is quite intelligible, it is not easy to obtain a clear notion of the Lacedæmonian system. The produce of a lot amounted for the Spartans, according to a passage above quoted, to 82 medimni. If we suppose these to be Attic medimni, as was there assumed upon a mere approximate calculation, each lot would have enabled three men to contribute to the syssitia (54 medimni), and would also have furnished a scanty subsistence at home to three women. But this would leave a surplus, in addition to whatever money was [pg 213] required as a subscription to the syssitia, for all other household expenses. Now it is true that among the poorer citizens these could not have been considerable, since the younger children went with their fathers to the public tables, and the elder were educated and maintained by the state; to which might be added the produce of the chase, and the charity of other persons. But after making all allowance for these causes, the expenses for dwellings, clothing, furniture, and partly for food not provided by the syssitia, still remain undefrayed. It is, however, evident that there would have been sufficient income to meet these demands, if we suppose that the 82 medimni were not Attic, but Æginetan, which were considerably larger.[961] But even upon this supposition one lot could not have maintained more than six persons, unless the rent of the Helots is assumed higher: and it might also be the case (which however, according to Aristotle, appears to have been of rare occurrence), that they were not able to pay their contributions.
8. Of the domestic economy of Lacedæmon we have little knowledge; although Aristotle, or rather Theophrastus (who is now known to be the author of the first book of the Economics), gives it a separate place in treating of this subject. Every master of a family, if he received his share of the produce of the soil, laid by a portion sufficient for the year's consumption, and sold the rest in the market of Sparta:[962] the exchange being probably effected by barter, and not [pg 214] by the intervention of money.[963] It should be observed, that the system of keeping the fruits in store had something peculiar,[964] and the regularity was celebrated, by which every thing could be easily found and made use of.[965] We are also informed that the Spartans had granaries (ταμιεῖα) upon their estates, which, according to ancient custom, they kept under a seal; it was however permitted to any poor person, who for example had remained too long in the chase, to open the granary, take out what he wanted, and then put his own seal, his iron ring, upon the door.[966]
9. In the market of Sparta, money was employed more often as a medium of comparison than of exchange; small coins were chiefly used, and no value was attributed to the possession of large quantities.[967] This usage Lycurgus had established, by permitting only the use of iron coin, which had been made useless for common purposes, by cooling in vinegar, or by some other process.[968] In early times iron spits or bars had been really used as money,[969] which after the time of Phidon the Argive were replaced by coined metal. The chief coin was called from its shape, and perhaps [pg 215] also from its size, πέλανορ, the cake used in sacrifices; its value was equal to four chalcûs, that is, to a half obolus, or the twelfth of a drachma[970] (manifestly of the Æginetan standard, as the Spartan coinage must necessarily have been adapted to this measure), and weighed an Æginetan mina.[971] Now as a mina of silver contained 1200 half oboli, the price of silver must have been to that of iron as 1200 to one; an excessive cheapness of the latter metal, which can only be explained by the large quantity of iron found in Laconia, and the high price of silver in early times. Ten Æginetan minas of money were, according to this calculation, equal in weight to 1200 minas, and it is easy to see that it would have required large carriages for transport, and an extensive space when kept in store.[972]
10. That, however, the possession of gold and silver money was expressly interdicted to the citizens of Sparta, is abundantly proved by the prohibition renewed at the time of Lysander by Sciraphidas or Phlogidas:[973] and how strong was the hold of this ancient custom is seen from the punishment of death which was threatened to those who secretly transgressed it. The possession of wrought precious metals does not appear to have been illegal. This decree, however, expressly permitted to the state the possession of gold and silver:[974] which enactment was also doubtless a [pg 216] restoration of ancient custom. Without the possession of a coin of general currency, Sparta would have been unable to send ambassadors to foreign states, to maintain troops in another country, or to take foreign, for instance Cretan, mercenaries into pay. We also know that the Lacedæmonians sent sacred offerings to Delphi, as for example, the golden stars of the Dioscuri dedicated by Lysander;[975] and Lacedæmonian artists made for the state statues of gold and ivory.[976] This took place about the time of the Persian war. A century indeed earlier, Sparta had not enough gold to gild the face of the statue of Apollo at Thornax, and endeavoured to buy it in Lydia, probably in exchange for silver.[977] It follows from this, that in Sparta the state was sole possessor of the precious metals, at least in the shape of coin (though it did not coin any money of its own before the time of Alexander),[978] which it used in the intercourse with foreign nations. The individual citizens however, who were without the pale of this intercourse, only required and possessed iron coin;[979] in a manner precisely similar to that proposed by Plato in the Laws, viz., that the money [pg 217] generally current should be at the disposal of the state, and should be given out by the magistrates for the purposes of war and foreign travel, and that within the country should be circulated a coinage in itself worthless, deriving its value from public ordinance.[980]
Still however, some difficult questions remain to be considered. In the first place, it is evident that whatever commerce was carried on by Laconia,[981] could not have existed without a coinage of universal currency. Now it is impossible that this trade could have been carried on by the state, since it would have required a proportionate number of public officers; consequently it was in the hands of the Periœci. We must therefore suppose that the possession of silver coin was allowed to this class of persons; in general, indeed the Spartan customs did not without exception extend to the Periœci. Nor could this have had much influence upon the Spartans, since they had not any personal connexion with the Periœci, the latter being only tributary to the state. In the market of Sparta in which the Spartans and Helots sold their corn and the products of native industry were exposed, all foreigners being entirely excluded,[982] doubtless none but the iron coin was used; and so also in the whole of Laconia it was current at its fixed value; but those Lacedæmonians who were not of Doric origin must have possessed a currency of their own, probably under [pg 218] certain restrictions. And the tributes of these persons were doubtless the chief source from which the state derived its silver and gold coins. Besides this, the kings must also have been privileged to possess silver and gold. If some permission of this kind had not existed, Pausanias (who was in strictness only guardian of the king) would not have been able to receive among other spoils ten talents from the plunder of Platæa;[983] and Pleistonax and Agis the First could not have been fined in the sums of fifteen talents, and 100,000 drachmas:[984] at a later time also, as has been already remarked, Agis the Third was possessed of six hundred talents.[985] The estates of the kings were also situated in the territory of the Periœci, in which silver money was in circulation, and it is at least possible that the payments may have been made to them in this coinage. Herodotus states that every king at the beginning of his reign remitted all the debts of the citizens both to the state and to the kings:[986] they therefore cancelled all certificates of debt, which in Sparta were called κλάρια, or mortgages, probably because the land (and in early times the produce of the land only) was assigned as security.[987] This was a wise institution, by [pg 219] which those persons in particular were relieved who had, for a particular object, received from the kings or the state, gold or silver, which on account of the small value of the iron coinage they were seldom able to repay. Now gold and silver were, for example, necessary to all persons who had to undertake a journey out of Laconia, and these they could not obtain otherwise than from the magistrates or the king,[988] a measure which must have placed great obstacles in the way of foreign travel.
11. It is, however, well known that in this respect the ancient severity of custom was gradually relaxed. Even in the third generation before the Persian war, the just Glaucus was tempted to defraud a Milesian of a sum of money deposited with him. The Persian war only increased the public wealth, and the Persian subsidies were confined to the payment of national expenses. When at length Lysander brought vast sums of money into Sparta, and made this state the most wealthy in Greece,[989] the citizens are reported still to have maintained the same proud indigence. But was it possible for individuals to despise what the state esteemed so highly, and would they not naturally endeavour to found their fame upon that on which the power of the nation depended? Even Lysander, who, with all the artfulness and versatility of his manners, had a considerable severity of character, was still unwilling to enrich himself;[990] a credible witness[991] indeed [pg 220] relates, that he had deposited a talent and fifty-two minas of silver, together with eleven staters, probably in case he should have occasion for them when out of the country; but how small is this sum when compared with the acquisitions of others in similar situations!
It appears, however, to have been at that time customary to deposit money without the boundaries, especially in Arcadia, and this was the first means adopted for evading the law.[992] Lysander, however, was far exceeded by Gylippus in love for money, in whose family avarice appears to have been hereditary; for his father Cleandridas had been condemned for taking bribes.[993] Lastly, after the death of Lysander, the possession of precious metals must have been allowed to private individuals, under certain conditions with which we are unacquainted. At least some supposition of this kind must be adopted, to enable us to account for the fact, that Phœbidas was fined 100,000 [pg 221] drachmas for the taking of the Cadmea, and Lysanoridas an equally large sum for his weak defence of the same citadel.[994]
No regular taxation of the citizens of Sparta existed in any shape.[995] Extraordinary contributions and taxes were, however, raised for the purposes of war, which, on account of their unusual and irregular occurrence, were collected with difficulty.[996] This will serve to explain the exemption from duties (ἀτέλεια) that is sometimes mentioned.[997] When in the time of Agis the Third the ephor Agesilaus extended the annual period of his office for a month, in order to increase his receipts,[998] it is probable that he reckoned upon large fines;[999] of which he, as it seems, would receive a part. There was no public treasure at Sparta up to the time of the Peloponnesian war;[1000] the revenue and expenditure were therefore nearly equal; and the Spartans were honest enough to require from the allies only the sums which were necessary,[1001] The altered state of these circumstances in later times lies without the sphere of our inquiries.