'Politics' and Laws in Sparta

Xenophon's The Politeia of the Spartans.

'If someone were to ask me whether I felt that the laws of Lycurgus still remained unchanged, I could not confidently say yes. I know that in the past the Spartans preferred to stay in Sparta in moderate prosperity rather than expose themselves to the flattery and corruption involved in governing other cities. In the past they were afraid of being proved to have gold, byt there are those now who even pride themselves on possessing some. In the past the purpose of the expulsion of foreigners and the ban on foreign travel was to prevent citizens from being infected with idleness by foreigners; now I understand that the apparent leaders of the state are eager to govern foreign cities for the rest of their lives. There was a time when they worked to be worthy of the lead, but now they are far more interested in ruling than in being worthy of their position. This is the reason why, whereas formerly the Greeks used to come to the Spartans and ask them for leadership against reputed wrongdoers, now many are encouraging each other to prevent a revival of Spartan power. There is, however, no cause for surprise that such reproaches are being cast at them; they obviously do not obey either the gods or the laws of Lycurgus.'