The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

[Date and place of birth and death unknown.] Lycurgus holds an ambiguous place between tradition and history. Nothing authentic is known of him, and a touch of the fabulous pervades his story. He is said to have been of the line of Spartan kings, and, after having travelled in nearly all countries of the world, to have brought back his laws to Sparta, whose constitution he remodelled. Quitting Sparta, he exacted a promise from the Spartans that they would not alter his laws until his return. He never returned. He was honoured with a temple and a yearly sacrifice. He inculcated, according to the tradition, rigid discipline, unquestioning obedience, and military ardour. [From the head of the statue in the Sala delle Muse of the Vatican, Rome. It is another example of conventional or traditional portraiture, but possesses one very remarkable confirmation of an accident related in his life. In one of the disturbances of the populace, he was struck in the eye; and it will be observed that one eye of the bust has the peculiar appearance of being useless. Visconti, who noticed this peculiarity, first named the statue Lycurgus. There is a head in the Naples Museum which corresponds with this, and both are confirmed by the medals which bear his name. The drill holes about the beard are interesting, as they prove that the ancient sculptors worked on the same plan as the moderns.]