Xenophon
ταῖς πόλεσι παρασκευάζει, ταῦτα ἔταξε 3μόνα ἔργα αὑτῶν νομίζειν. καὶ γὰρ δὴ τί πλοῦτος ἐκεῖ γε σπουδαστέος, ἔνθα ἴσα μὲν φέρειν εἰς τὰ ἐπιτήδεια, ὁμοίως δὲ διαιτᾶσθαι τάξας ἐποίησε μὴ ἡδυπαθείας ἕνεκα χρημάτων ὀρέγεσθαι; ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδ᾿ ἱματίων γε ἕνεκα χρηματιστέον· οὐ γὰρ ἐσθῆτος πολυτελείᾳ, ἀλλὰ σώματος εὐεξίᾳ κοσμοῦνται. 4οὐδὲ μὴν τοῦ γε εἰς τοὺς συσκήνους1 ἔχειν δαπανᾶν χρήματα ἀθροιστέον, ἐπεὶ τὸ τῷ σώματι πονοῦντα ὠφελεῖν τοὺς συνόντας εὐδοξότερον ἐποίησεν ἢ τὸ δαπανῶντα,2 ἐπιδείξας τὸ μὲν ψυχῆς, τὸ δὲ πλούτου ἔργον.
5Τό γε μὴν ἐξ ἀδίκων χρηματίζεσθαι καὶ ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις διεκώλυσε. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ νόμισμα τοιοῦτον κατεστήσατο, ὃ δεκάμνων3 μόνον ἂν εἰς οἰκίαν εἰσελθὸν οὔτε δεσπότας οὔτε οἰκέτας λάθοι· καὶ γὰρ χώρας μεγάλης καὶ ἁμάξης ἀγωγῆς 6δέοιτ᾿ ἄν. χρυσίον γε μὴν καὶ ἀργύριον ἐρευνᾶται, καὶ ἄν τί που φανῇ, ὁ ἔχων ζημιοῦται. τί οὖν ἂν ἐκεῖ χρηματισμὸς σπουδάζοιτο, ἔνθα ἡ κτῆσις πλείους λύπας ἢ ἡ χρῆσις εὐφροσύνας παρέχει;
VIII. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὅτι μὲν ἐν Σπάρτῃ μάλιστα πείθονται ταῖς ἀρχαῖς τε καὶ τοῖς νόμοις, ἴσμεν ἅπαντες. ἐγὼ μέντοι οὐδ᾿ ἐγχειρῆσαι οἶμαι πρότερον τὸν Λυκοῦργον ταύτην τὴν εὐταξίαν4
The Lacedaemonians, viii.
on their regarding as their own concern only those activities that make for civic freedom. Indeed,3 how should wealth be a serious object there, when he insisted on equal contributions to the food supply and on the same standard of living for all, and thus cut off the attraction of money for indulgence’ sake? Why, there is not even any need of money to spend on cloaks: for their adornment is due not to the price of their clothes, but to the excellent condition of their bodies. Nor yet is there any reason for4 amassing money in order to spend it on one’s messmates; for he made it more respectable to help one’s fellows by toiling with the body than by spending money,1 pointing out that toil is an employment of the soul, spending an employment of wealth.
By other enactments he rendered it impossible to5 make money in unfair ways. In the first place the system of coinage that he established was of such a kind that even a sum of ten minae2 could not be brought into a house without the master and the servants being aware of it: the money would fill a large space and need a wagon to draw it. Moreover,6 there is a right of search for gold and silver, and, in the event of discovery, the possessor is fined. Why, then, should money-making be a preoccupation in a state where the pains of its possession are more than the pleasures of its enjoyment?
VIII. To continue: we all know that obedience to the magistrates and the laws is found in the highest degree in Sparta. For my part, however, I think that Lycurgus did not so much as attempt