Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 14, 2025
"There were ephors, too," he reminded me, and we laughed. Hammerfeldt was our ephor. There was a banquet that night. I sat at the head of the table, with my mother opposite and Hammerfeldt at her right hand. The Prince gave my health after dinner, and passed on to a warm and eloquent eulogy on those who had trained me.
The ephors refused at first to accept or distribute this gold, saying that the love of wealth was the root of all evil; but they finally decided to use it for the improvement of their city. Lysander himself was as noble a man as he was a good general, and kept none of the booty for his own use.
All the lives of the Spartans were spent in exercising for war, and the affairs of the state were managed not so much by the kings, but by five judges called Ephors, who were chosen every year, while the kings had very little power. They had to undergo the same discipline as the rest—dressed, ate, and lived like them; but they were the high priests and chief captains, and made peace or war.
"But that was the first night of the Ionian's arrival." Percalus. "Since then, I believe that thy father and others of the Ephors overruled Periclides and Zeuxidamus, for I have heard all that passed between my father and mother on the subject.
He never attempted to oppose or thwart the Ephors or the Senate, and even showed a marked deference to them, referring the initiative of all state affairs to them, hurrying into their presence when summoned, and rising from his royal throne whenever they appeared, while he presented each senator, on his election, with a cloak and an ox, to congratulate him on joining the Senate.
"For my part," said a third, a man of a severe but noble countenance, the father of Lysander, and, what was not usual with the Ephors, belonging to one of the highest families of Sparta, "I have always held that Sparta should limit its policy to self-defence; that, since the Persian invasion is over, we have no business with Byzantium.
They had scarcely more power than the Roman consuls; they commanded the armies, and offered the public sacrifices, and were revered as the descendants of Hercules. They could even arrest kings, and bring them to trial before the Senate. Two of the five ephors accompanied the king in war, and were a check on his authority.
Whilst he set others on to manage this accusation, he with his colleagues went to observe the sign, which was a custom they had, and performed in this manner. Every ninth year, the ephors, choosing a starlight night, when there is neither cloud nor moon, sit down together in quiet and silence, and watch the sky.
Thus he appeared to exalt the power of the Ephors and to court their favour, but he himself was by far the greatest gainer, as his own personal influence was greatly increased, and the power of the crown much strengthened by the general good will which he inspired.
He received not a single wound, either because the gods admired his bravery and protected him, or else because he appeared to his foes to be something more than man. After this exploit we are told that the Ephors crowned him for his bravery, and fined him a thousand drachmas for having fought without his shield.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking