Free Republic

In Part I, we found that nearly eight hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ, Lycurgus toured the various governments of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Combining their best features, he established a republican governing form in Sparta that lasted almost six hundred years. Such was the admiration of our Founding generation, their speeches and writings in the 1776-1788 period were peppered with references to Lycurgus and lessons to be drawn from the ancient Greeks. Where Lycurgus made an actual tour of contemporary governments, James Madison and John Adams took literary tours of dozens of governments as related by the...

The extraordinary longevity of Sparta fascinated 17th and 18th century political writers and philosophers. From Algernon Sidney, to Walter Moyle, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon of Cato’s Letters fame, the idealized lessons drawn from the Spartan experience in government had enormous impact on our Founding generation. Spanning some six hundred years, until the Roman conquest of 146 BC, the Spartan republic remains the longest lived in history. Legend holds that Lycurgus, (circa 800 BC) traveled the eastern Mediterranean to observe various governments. He visited Egypt, Crete, and city-states around the Aegean Sea. Sensing that he could design a better governing...

Did the Prophet Muhammad really exist? This question, which may seem bizarre on the surface, is at the root of a new book by Robert Spencer, a prominent author and the director of Jihad Watch. Spencer, a figure who is praised by his fans and loathed by his detractors, has written numerous books on Islam. Earlier this week, The Blaze spoke with the expert about his controversial, new book, “Did Muhammad Exist?” As can be derived from the title, the text delves into some uncomfortable subject matter, as Spencer examines the historical documentation surrounding the Muslim prophet.The book’s official description...