First, to begin at the beginning, I will take
						the begetting of children. The prose
								 Constitution of the Lacedaemonians by Critias began
							with the same point. See Introduction 3. In other states the
						girls who are destined to become mothers and are brought up in the approved
						fashion, live on the very plainest fare, with a most meagre allowance of
						delicacies. Wine is either witheld altogether, or, if allowed them, is
						diluted with water. The rest of the Greeks expect their girls to imitate the
						sedentary life that is typical of handicraftsmen — to keep quiet and do
						wool-work. How, then, is it to be expected that women so brought up will
						bear fine children? But Lycurgus thought the labour of slave women
						sufficient to supply clothing. He believed motherhood to be the most
						important function of freeborn woman. Therefore, in the first place, he
						insisted on physical training for the female no less than for the male sex:
						moreover, he instituted races and trials of strength for women competitors
						as for men, believing that if both parents are strong they produce more
						vigorous offspring.