Lycurgus of Sparta

Lycurgus of Sparta was the legendary lawgiver credited with creating Sparta's eunomia, or good order, through political, economic and social reforms intended to produce a military oriented Spartan society in keeping with the Delphic oracle, and Spartans of the historical period honored him as a god. As a historical figure almost nothing is known for certain about him, including when he lived or what he did, with ancient traditions dating him anywhere from the eleventh century BC to as late as the early eighth century BC, and some modern scholars deny that he existed at all. The reforms attributed to him touch nearly every aspect of Spartan society, including the Spartan constitution, the common mess halls called syssitia, the redistribution of land among citizens, and Sparta's distinctive customs of austerity, frugality, and marriage and funeral practice, though modern scholarship dates most of these reforms to the late sixth century BC, centuries after his supposed lifetime, and considers some of them, such as the land redistribution, to be fictitious.