He pleased neither party, however; the rich were vexed because he took away their securities for debt, and the poor still more, because he did not redistribute the land, as they had expected, nor make all men equal and alike in their way of living, as Lycurgus did. But Lycurgus was eleventh in descent from Heracles, and had been king in Lacedaemon for many years. He therefore had great authority, many friends, and power to support his reforms in the commonwealth. He also employed force rather than persuasion, insomuch that he actually lost his eye thereby, and most effectually guaranteed the safety and unanimity of the city by making all its citizens neither poor nor rich.
Edition :
Plutarch Lives I: Theseus and Romulus, Lycurgus and Numa, Solon and Publicola, Ed. Jeffrey Henderson, trans. Bernadotte Perrin (The Loeb Classical Library 46), Harvard University Press: Cambridge/MA - London 1967 (first ed. 1914).
Remark :
victim: From Plut. Lyc. 11, we learn that a young man named Alcander stabbed Lycurgus' eye out in the process, presumably in reaction to Lycurgus' using force on his people (including Alcander). longtermconsequence: Plutarch here only goes as far as mentioning Lycurgus losing one of his eyes. For a detailed description, see Plut. Lyc. 11.
