Polıteía 41
ranks, she had to keep their rivalry firmly under control. Among the Greek
writers, there was no one who praised the competitive spirit with greater vigor
than the Theban poet Pindar. But he, too, could preach moderation, chanting,
“The men in the póleıs who court phılotımía to an excess—they stir up a vis-
ible and palpable grief.” Their own warlike character posed a problem for the
Spartans, and they dealt with that problem—as other cities also tried to do,
albeit with less success^14 —through their polıteía: by encouraging ambition
and at the same time subordinating the pursuit of honor to the needs of the
pólıs. The Lacedaemonian constitution was designed—above all else—to rein-
force the fundamental consensus and to regulate the struggle for office, for
power, and for glory.
Sparta was neither a monarchy nor a democracy. We hear little of court
intrigue and even less of demagoguery. The most subtle of the ancient authors
described it as a mixed regime. According to Aristotle, the two kings [basıleîs]
represented the monarchical element; the council of elders [gerousía], the oli-
garchic element; and the ephorate, the democratic element.^15 In order to se-
cure the consent of the governed, Sparta ensured the participation of every
element of the citizen population in the administration of the city; in order to
prevent the emergence of an overmighty subject, she employed an elaborate
system of balances and checks to restrain her magistrates from excess. These
safeguards were essential. In general, ancient policy really was violent—and
nowhere more so than at Lacedaemon. The fostering of citizen virtue and the
enforcement of the Spartan regimen necessitated the establishment and main-
tenance of a vigorous inquisitorial tribunal. This could not be accomplished
without a concentration of extraordinary power in the hands of Sparta’s
officials.
Basıleía
The most dangerous element within the Spartan regime was, without a
doubt, the kingship.^16 Even a cursory glance at the privileges and prerogatives
associated with that office is adequate to demonstrate the truth of this propo-
sition. Two Spartiates were not among “the equals.” Two held office for life;
two escaped the agōgē ́; two took their meals outside the barracks. Other Spar-
tiates served in the gerousía, but only a king or his regent could serve in that
venerable body before his sixtieth year. Other Spartiates sacrificed to the gods,
but only a king or regent could do so year after year on the city’s behalf. Other