The Great Rhetra was used in two senses by the classical authors. On the one hand it was the Spartan Constitution

Spartan Constitution

The Spartan Constitution, or Politeia, refers to the government and laws of the Dorian city-state of Sparta from the time of Lycurgus, the legendary law-giver, to the incorporation of Sparta into the Roman Empire: approximately the 8th century BC to the 2nd century BC, Every city-state of Greece...

, believed to have been formulated and established by the legendary lawgiver, Lycurgus

Lycurgus (Sparta)

Lycurgus was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, who established the military-oriented reformation of Spartan society in accordance with the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi...

. In the legend Lycurgus forbade any written constitution. It was therefore presumed to have been oral.

In a second sense the rhetra refers to an oracle of Delphi

Delphi

Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...

, which was believed to have contained the entire constitution in verse. The credo of being unwritten fails in this case, as a written record of all oracles was maintained by the priests at Delphi. They and others consulted it frequently. It survived long after the demise of the oracle but is missing now, except for fragments handed down by classical authors.

The classical authors and the literate population of Sparta knew better than to suppose that the rhetra went into effect as written by an oracle and remained unchanged. A double tradition developed: tales of the oracular rhetra and stories of the laws of Lycurgus. As there is no history of any constitutional issues dividing the Spartans, they seem to have had no problem accepting its contradictions, perhaps because they knew it was legendary.

Also, the concept of the constitution being truly oral and a state secret presents certain paradoxes, such as how the classical authors knew so much about it. Moreover, the workings of the government of a major Greek state over centuries cannot have been either unwritten or a secret. For example, Cyrus the Younger

Cyrus the Younger

Cyrus the Younger, son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis, was a Persian prince and general. The time of his birth is unknown, but he died in 401 B.C. The history of Cyrus and of the retreat of the Greeks is told by Xenophon in his Anabasis. Another account, probably from Sophaenetus of...

 knew perfectly well that Lysander

Lysander

Lysander was a Spartan general who commanded the Spartan fleet in the Hellespont which defeated the Athenians at Aegospotami in 405 BC...

 was forbidden by law to hold a second term as navarch, and yet he requested the Spartan government to make an exception. And finally, if the Spartans were forbidden to write anything down, the existence of inscriptions in the Eurotas valley becomes problematic. The institution of the rhetra in fact coincides with the innovation of the Greek alphabet based on the Phoenician alphabet.

Herodotus' version

According to Herodotus

Herodotus

Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...

, at some time before the reigns of Leon of Sparta and Agasicles

Agasicles

Agasicles, Agesicles or Hegesicles was a king of Sparta, the thirteenth of the line of Procles.He was contemporary with the Agid Leon, and succeeded his father Archidamus I, probably about 590 BC or 600. During his reign the Lacedaemonians carried on an unsuccessful war against Tegea, but...

, the Spartans "had been the very worst governed people in Greece." Lycurgus

Lycurgus

Lycurgus or Lykurgus may refer to:People:* Historical:** Lycurgus of Sparta, creator of constitution of Sparta** Lycurgus of Athens, one of the ten notable orators at Athens,...

, "a man of distinction among the Spartans," decided to ask advice of the Delphic oracle

Pythia

The Pythia , commonly known as the Oracle of Delphi, was the priestess at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. The Pythia was widely credited for her prophecies inspired by Apollo. The Delphic oracle was established in the 8th century BC...

. On reaching the inner sanctum of the temple, he heard:

"Oh! thou great Lycurgus, that com'st to my beautiful dwelling,

Dear to Jove, and to all who sit in the halls of Olympus,

Whether to hail thee a god I know not, or only a mortal,

But my hope is strong that thou a god wilt prove, Lycurgus."

Thereupon the oracle delivered the entire constitution of Sparta, which Lycurgus took back and implemented. But, says Herodotus, the Lacedaemonians tell a different story. Lycurgus while regent for his nephew, Labotas, seized the opportunity to establish a new state. Imitating customs he found in Dorian Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

 he innovated the Gerousia

Gerousia

The Gerousia was the Spartan senate . It was made up of 60 year old Spartan males. It was created by the Spartan lawgiver Lycurgus in the seventh century BC, in his Great Rhetra...

, the Ephor

Ephor

An ephor was the leader of ancient Sparta and shared power with the Spartan king...

ate, the Enomotiae, the Triacades and the Syssitia

Syssitia

The syssitia was, in Ancient Greece, a common meal for men and youths in social or religious groups, especially in Crete and Sparta, though also in Megara in the time of Theognis and Corinth in the time of Periander .The banquets spoken of by Homer relate to this tradition...

. Herodotus does not mention the oracle in the second report.

The associated kings offer a rough date for the genesis of the Great Rhetra. Agasicles and Leon of Sparta both acceded to their thrones about 590 BC. As they were not the first dual kings, the rhetra must have been formulated before then. Labotas on the other hand began his reign in 870, implying an early 9th century date of the rhetra. If there was an oracle, the question of what writing system, if any, was the vehicle of the oracles is moot. Linear B was gone and the alphabet had not yet arrived in Greece.

Plutarch's version

The younger source, Plutarch

Plutarch

Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

, speaks less confidently of the details of Lycurgus' life, being faced by that time with multiple traditions, and having no way to judge between them. He says: "There is so much uncertainty in the accounts which historians have left us of Lycurgus, the lawgiver of Sparta, that scarcely any thing is asserted by one of them which is not called into question or contradicted by the rest." After repeating some of the opinions of sources available to him he launches into his own reconstruction based, he says, on the majority opinion. Lycurgus was the younger son of the Eurypontid king, Eunomus

Eunomus

Eunomus may refer to several different things:Biology*a bird, the Dusky Thrush Geography*the ancient city also called EuromusHistory*Eunomus, king of Sparta*Eunomus, an Athenian Admiral during the Corinthian War....

. He was thus passed over for the throne in favor of his brother, Polydectes

Polydectes

In Greek mythology, King Polydectes was the ruler of the island of Seriphos, son of Magnes and an unnamed naiad. Polydectes fell in love with Danaë when she and her son Perseus were saved by his brother Dictys . Perseus was very protective of his mother and wouldn't allow Polydectes near Danaë....

, but the latter died. The inheritance changed by law to Lycurgus. However, Polydectes's wife having been found to be pregnant, Lycurgus became regent instead for the first several months of the infant Charilaus

Charilaus

Charilaus, also given as Charillus, was a king of Sparta in the early-mid 8th century BC. He is generally shown as the successor of his grandfather Polydectes, though Pausanias implies that Charilaus' father Eunomus preceded Charilaus....

' life. There is no mention of the Agiad Labotas in this version.

IV

These oracles they from Apollo heard,

And brought from Pytho home the perfect word;

The heaven-appointed kings, who love the land,

Shall foremost in the nation's council stand;

The elders next o them; the commons last;

Let a straight Rhetra among all be passed.

----
¹ Tyrtaeus

Tyrtaeus

Tyrtaeus was a Greek poet who composed verses in Sparta around the time of the Second Messenian War, the date of which isn't clearly establishedsometime in the latter part of the seventh century BC...

, Plutarch

Plutarch

Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

 Parallel Lives: Lycurgus and Numa

Numa Pompilius

Numa Pompilius was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus. What tales are descended to us about him come from Valerius Antias, an author from the early part of the 1st century BC known through limited mentions of later authors , Dionysius of Halicarnassus circa 60BC-...

.