According to Plutarch and other ancient authors, the life of Lycurgus falls approximately in the first half of the VTI c. BC.
It was a time of unrest and lawlessness. Lycurgus came from a royal family and after the death of his father from a stab and the death of his older brother, he became king, but he ruled for only eight months. Having ceded power to his nephew, he left Sparta. Traveling through Crete, Egypt and the Greek policies on the coast of Asia Minor, Lycurgus studied the laws and way of life of people and dreamed, upon returning to his homeland, to completely change the structure of his community and establish laws that would forever end the enmity between the Spartans. Before returning to Sparta, Lycurgus went to Delphi, where there was a temple of the god Apollo with an oracle (soothsayer). In those days, not a single important decision for the entire state was made without seeking advice from the priests of the god Apollo of Delphi. The priestess-soothsayer (Pythia) conveyed predictions to those seeking advice, which the deity herself allegedly informed her. The Pythia called Li-curgus "God-loving" and said that Apollo promised to give Sparta the best laws.
According to Plutarch, after returning from Delphi, Lycurgus, together with thirty noble citizens loyal to him, set about implementing his plan. He ordered his friends to arm themselves and go to the square in order to intimidate the enemies and force everyone to obey the new laws. The establishment of new orders, apparently, caused discontent and resistance of some of the rich and noble citizens. Once they surrounded the legislator and, shouting angrily, threw stones at him. Lycurgus fled, but one of the pursuers knocked out his eye with a stick.
The orders established by Lycurgus were admired by some, condemned and criticized by others. One of the first reforms of Lycurgus was the organization of the administration of the civil community. Ancient writers claim that Lycurgus created a council of elders (gerousia) of 28 people. Elders (geronts) - not younger than 60 years old - were elected by the people's assembly of citizens (apella). The Gerousia also included two kings, one of whose main duties was to command the army in war. Apel-la initially, apparently, had great power and solved all the most important issues in the life of the community. Over time, power in the state passed into the hands of the ephors.
In VIH c. BC. in Sparta, as in other Greek policies, there was an acute shortage of land. The Spartans solved this problem by conquering the neighboring region of Messenia, and its inhabitants were enslaved. The conquered land and the enslaved population were declared the property of all citizens of Sparta. And the management system, and the supreme ownership of all citizens on the land - all this did not distinguish Sparta from other Greek policies. As elsewhere in the states of Ancient Greece, the principle was in effect here: we own together, we manage together, we protect together. But in Sparta it was carried out with such consistency that it turned it into something ugly, into a "historical curiosity", as some historians call it.
The reason for this was a special form of slavery that arose in Ancient Sparta. In most Greek policies, slaves were brought from distant countries. Cut off from their homes, of different nationalities, they were disunited and it was difficult for them to agree with each other and revolt against their masters. The population of Laconica and Messenia, converted into slaves (helots), remained to live where their ancestors also lived. They ran an independent household, had property and a family. They paid their owners a tax (apophora), but they could dispose of the rest of the products at their discretion. This created favorable conditions for uprisings, which the helots, many times outnumbering their masters, raised quite often.
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