If some Spartans were noble, every Spartan boasted himself gentle.

His birth forbade him to work, and his only profession was the sword.

The difference between the meanest Spartan and his king was not so great as that between a Spartan and a Perioecus.

Not only the servitude of the Helots, but the subjection of the Perioeci, perpetually nourished the pride of the superior race; and to be born a Spartan was to be born to power.

The sense of superiority and the habit of command impart a certain elevation to the manner and the bearing.