Lycurgus (Spartan Lawgiver) by Marcus Niebuhr Tod
Caption: Lycurgus marble bas-relief, one of 23 reliefs of great historical lawgivers in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives in the United States Capitol. Sculpted by C. Paul Jennewein in 1950. Diameter 28 inches. In Greek history, the reputed founder of the Spartan constitution. Plutarch opens his biography of Lycurgus with these words: “About Lycurgus the lawgiver it is not possible to make a single statement that is not called in question. His genealogy, his travels, his death, above all, his legislative and constitutional activity have been variously recorded, and there is the greatest difference of opinion as to his date.” Nor has modern historical criticism arrived at any certain results. Many scholars, indeed, suppose him to be in reality a god or hero, appealing to the existence of a temple and cult of Lycurgus at Sparta as early as the time of Herodotus, (i. 66), and to the words of the Delphic oracle (Herod. i. 65)— δίζω ἤ σε θεὸν μαντεύσομαι ἤ ἄνθρω