This story of Lycurgus has been doubted, but whether there were such a man or not, it is quite certain that these were the laws of Sparta in her most famous days, and that they did their work of making brave and hardy soldiers.  The rule was much less strict in the camp than the city, and the news of a war was delightful to the Spartans as a holiday-time.  All the hard work of their farms was done for them by the Helots, who were such a strong race that it was not easy to keep them down, although their masters were very cruel to them, often killing large numbers of them if they seemed to be growing dangerous, always ill-treating them, and, it is said, sometimes making them drunk, that the sight of their intoxication might disgust the young Spartans.  In truth, the whole Spartan system was hard and unfeeling, and much fitter to make fighting machines than men.