Note 209 — THE ORIGIN OF PROPERTY IN LAND (continued 2)

Xenophon, Commentarii, i. 2, 61, tells us that the Lacedæmonian Lichas was celebrated for the generosity with which he entertained his guests at dinner; Herodotus, vi. 57, represents individuals as inviting a king to dinner in their own houses; Plutarch, Lycurgus, 12, says that every Spartan who made a sacrifice was excused from the public meals, i.e., he could eat at his own home the animal he had sacrificed. It is, therefore, a great mistake to say that the Spartans always ate in common.