The 48 Laws Of Power

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420 LAW 48

TRANSGRESSIONOFTHELAW

By

the

eighthcentury

B.C.,

the

city-states

ofGreecehad

grown

so

large

and

prosperous

that

they

hadrunoutoflandto

support

their

expanding

popu-

lations.

So

they

turnedtothe

sea,

establishing

coloniesinAsia

Minor,

Sicily,

theItalian

peninsula,

evenAfrica.The

city-state

of

Sparta,

however,

was landlocked and surrounded

by

mountains.

Lacking

access tothe

Mediterranean,

the

Spartans

never became

a

seafaringpeople;

instead

they

turnedonthecitiesaround

them,and,

in

aseries

of

brutal,

violent

conflicts

lasting

morethanahundred

years,managed

to

conquer

anim-

menseareathatwould

provide

enough

landfortheircitizens.Thissolution

totheir

problem,

however,

brought

a

new,

more

formidable

one:

How

could

they

maintainand

police

their

conquered

territories?The

subordi-

nate

peoplesthey

rulednowoutmimberedthemtentoone.

Surely

this

hordewouldtakeahorrible

revenge

onthem.

Sparta’s

solutionwastocreatea

society

dedicatedtotheartofwar.

Spartans

wouldbe

tougher,stronger,

andfiercerthantheir

neighbors.

This

was

the

onlywaythey

couldensuretheir

stability

andsurvival.

Whena

Spartanboy

reachedthe

age

of

seven,

he

was

takenfromhis

motherand

placed

ina

military

clubwherehewastrainedto

fight

andun-

derwentthestrictest

discipline.

The

boysslept

onbedsof

reeds;

they

were

allotted

only

oneouter

garment

to

wearforan

entire

year.They

studied

noneofthe

arts;indeed,

the

Spartans

banned

music,

and

permittedonly

slavesto

practice

thecraftsthatwere

necessary

tosustainthem.The

only

skillsthe

Spartanstaught

werethoseofwarfare.Childrenseenas

weaklings

werelefttodieinacaverninthemountains.No

system

of

money

ortrad-

ing

wasallowedin

Sparta;acquired

wealth,

they

believed,

wouldsowself-

ishnessand

dissension,

weakening

theirwarrior

discipline.

The

onlyway

a

Spartan

could

earn

a

living

was

throughagriculture,mostly

onstate—owned

lands,

which

slaves,

called

helots,

wouldworkforhim.

The

Spartans’

single-mindedness

allowedthemto

forge

themost

pow-

erful

infantry

intheworld.

They

marchedin

perfect

orderand

fought

with

incomparablebravery.

Their

tighbknitphalamxes

could

vanquish

an

army

tentimestheir

size,

as

they

proved

in

defeating

thePersiansat

Thermopy-

lae.A

Spartan

columnonthemarchwouldstriketerrorinthe

enemy;

it

seemedtohavenoweaknesses.Yet

although

the

Spartansproved

them~

selves

mighty

warriors,

they

hadnointerestin

creating

an

empire.They

only

wanted

to

keep

what

they

had

alreadyconquered

andtodefend

it

against

invaders.Decadeswould

pass

withouta

singlechange

inthe

system

thathadsucceededsowellin

preservingSpa.rta’s

status

quo.

Atthesametimethatthe

Spartans

were

evolving

theirwarlike

culture,

another

city—state

was

rising

to

equalprominence:

Athens,Unlike

Sparta,

Athens

hadtaken

tothe

sea,

not

somuchtocreatecoloniesasfor

purposes

oftrade.TheAtheniansbecame

great

merchants;

their

currency,

thefa-

mous“owl

coins,”

spread

throughout

theMediterranean.Unlikethe

rigid

Spartans,

theAthenians

responded

to

everyproblem

withconsummate

creativity,adapting

totheoccasionand

creating

newsocialformsandnew