PLUTARCH, PLATO AND SPARTA

Abstract

In the Life of Lycurgus, Plutarch appears to say that Plato embraced the Spartan constitution as a socio-political ideal. This claim generates a puzzle. On the one hand, the Republic's preferred form of government, a meritocratic aristocracy, is incompatible with the 'mixed' Spartan constitution, which balances power between different organs of state; on the other, the ardent Platonist Plutarch cannot reasonably be thought to have misunderstood the fundamentals of his teacher's political philosophy. This paper explores possible resolutions of the antinomy. It is concluded that while the Platonic republic can be regarded as an extension and idealisation of Spartan socio-economic arrangements, the cities' formal governmental structures are irreconcilable. Plutarch's attribution of the Spartan constitution to Plato is not strictly correct; the question of whether its assertion can be explained in terms of literary and rhetorical goals is left for future research.