1910–1911
Britannica 11th
Encyclopaedia Britannica · 11th edition
SUMPTUARY LAWS (from Lat. sumptuarius, belonging to cost or expense, sumptus), those laws intended to limit or regulate the private expenditure of the citizens of a community. They may be dictated by political, or economic, or moral considerations. They have existed both in ancient and in modern states. In Greece, it was amongst the Dorian races, whose temper was austere and rigid, that they most prevailed. All the inhabitants of Laconia were forbidden to attend drinking entertainments, nor could a Lacedaemonian po…
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- Vol. 26, pp. 83-85