which he established. But least of all are the times agreed upon in
which this great man lived. For some say he flourished at the same time
with Iphitus, and joined with him in settling the cessation of arms
during the Olympic games. Among these is Aristotle the philosopher, who
alleges for proof an Olympic quoit, on which was preserved the
inscription of Lycurgus's name. But others who, with Eratosthenes and
Apollodorus, compute the time by the succession of the Spartan kings,
place him much earlier than the first Olympiad. Timæus, however,
supposes that, as there were two Lycurguses in Sparta at different
times, the actions of both are ascribed to one, on account of his
particular renown; and that the more ancient of them lived not long
after Homer: nay, some say he had seen him. Xenophon too confirms the
opinion of his antiquity, when he makes him contemporary with the
Heraclidæ. It is true, the latest of the Lacedæmonian kings were of the
lineage of the Heraclidæ; but Xenophon there seems to speak of the first
and more immediate descendants of Hercules. As the history of those
times is thus involved, in relating the circumstances of Lycurgus's
life, we shall endeavour to select such as are least controverted, and
follow authors of the greatest credit.

Simonides the poet, tells us, that Prytanis, not Eunomus, was father to
Lycurgus. But most writers give us the genealogy of Lycurgus and Eunomus
in a different manner; for, according to them, Sous was the son of
Patrocles, and grandson of Aristodemus, Eurytion the son of Sous,
Prytanis of Eurytion, and Eunomus of Prytanis; to this Eunomus was born
Polydectes, by a former wife, and by a second, named Dianassa, Lycurgus.
Eutychidas, however, says Lycurgus was the sixth from Patrocles, and the
eleventh from Hercules. The most distinguished of his ancestors was
Sous, under whom the Lacedæmonians made the Helotes their slaves, and
gained an extensive tract of land from the Arcadians. Of this Sous it is