In order to achieve harmony and peace, Lycurgus decided to forever eradicate wealth and poverty in the state. He divided all the land owned by the community into approximately equal plots (clairs). 9,000 clairs were given to the Spartans - according to the number of families, 30,000 were given to the perieks - residents of the surrounding areas. Perieki were free people, but were not included in the number of full citizens. The resulting land could neither be sold nor donated. Helots processed it, and perieks were engaged in crafts. The Spartans, on the other hand, considered any work, except military affairs, shameful for themselves. Having received the opportunity to live quite comfortably at the expense of the labor of the helots, they turned into professional warriors. Their whole daily life has become a constant and exhausting preparation for war.
To preserve universal equality, Lycurgus forbade the use of gold and silver coins in Sparta, which were used throughout Greece, and introduced iron money, so heavy that even a small amount required a whole wagon. With this money it was possible to buy only what was produced in Sparta itself, while the perieks were strictly forbidden to produce luxury items, they were allowed to produce only simple dishes and clothes, weapons for the Spartans. All Spartans, from the king to the common citizen, had to live in exactly the same conditions. Special regulations indicated what houses could be built, what clothes to wear, and even food had to be the same for everyone. Spartan citizens did not know the peace of home life, they could not manage their time at their own discretion. Their whole life from birth to death passed under vigilant control. The Spartan married when the community allowed him, but young married men lived separately from their families for a long time. Even the children did not belong to their parents. The father brought a newborn baby to the forest, where the elders met. The child was carefully examined, and if found sick and frail, then they were sent to Apothetes (a cliff on the Tayget mountain range) and left there to die.
From the age of seven, boys were taken away from their parents and brought up in detachments (agels). The harsh system of education was aimed at ensuring that they grew up strong, obedient and fearless. Children were taught to read and write, taught to be silent for a long time and speak briefly and clearly (succinctly). Adults, watching the children, deliberately quarreled them, causing a fight, and watched who was smarter and bolder in a fight. For a year, the boys were given only one dress, they were allowed to wash only a few times a year. They fed the children poorly, taught them to steal, but if someone came across, they beat them mercilessly, not for theft, but for awkwardness.
Mature young men after 16 years were subjected to a very severe test at the altar of the goddess Artemis. The young men were severely scourged, while they were supposed to be silent. Some failed the test and died. Another test for the young men was cryptia - secret wars against the helots, who from time to time declared ephors. During the day, young Spartans hid in secluded corners, and at night they went out to hunt helots, killing the strongest men, which made it possible to keep the helots in constant fear.
The will of the legislator and the constant threat from the helots created an unusually close-knit civil community that did not know internal unrest for several centuries. But the Spartans paid a heavy price for this. Severe discipline, militarization of all aspects of life led to the spiritual impoverishment of the people, the economic backwardness of Sparta in comparison with other Greek policies. It has not given world culture a single philosopher, poet, orator, sculptor or artist. All that Sparta could create was a strong army. The unlimited right of the ephors to control all aspects of the life of the community made their power, according to Aristotle, "close to tyranny." Gradually, Sparta became the stronghold of political reaction for all of Greece.
