Xenophon authored Constitution of the Lacedaemonians, a work describing ancient Sparta’s institutions and customs.
The Greek title, Lakedaimonion Politeia, refers to the constitution or way of life of the Lacedaemonians, another name for the Spartans. Xenophon presents Sparta as an unusually disciplined society organized around military training, communal practices, and obedience to law.
The work is traditionally attributed to Xenophon, an Athenian-born soldier and writer who lived in the fourth century BCE. He admired several Spartan practices, so the text is valuable but not entirely neutral. It should be read alongside other evidence, including Herodotus, Thucydides, and archaeological research.
A common mix-up is confusing this work with Aristotle’s lost Constitution of the Lacedaemonians. Aristotle also studied Spartan government, but the surviving work with this title is associated with Xenophon.