PART 3 SAYINGS

PART 3 SAYINGS

INTRODUCTION

As Plutarch explained and illustrated at som~ length in hi:. Life ~fLyeurgus, to develop 'the techniq.ue of expressmg a range ot ld~as l~.' t few spare words' was an Important part of every Spartiate sJUS a , . . . f hupbringing. Such Spartan 'sayings' caught the imagmanon 0 ot erGreeks and featured in written accounts as early as ~hat of.He~odotusin the fifth century. By the late fourth century Anstotle m. hIS R~et-ode can mention 'Laconic sayings' as a distinct type of maxim whl~han orator will find useful. At the same period such sa~ings ~ls,o ca~~to have special appeal for Diogenes and his ~ollowers m th~Ir Cynicway of'life, which spumed materi~l p,os:e~slOns and questlo~ed con-ventions of every kind. The Cynics vision of S~artan sO~lety a?dtraditional Spartan attitudes so tremendously stirred theIr· ad~u-ation that they were active in developing - or perhaps even. estabh:h-ing - collections of Spartan sayings which continued to enjoy a WIdepopularity for centuries.. . _" .Plutarch's interest in the sayings of Spartans and othe.rs de~lves ~o

a marked extent from his concern for the character of hIS subjects mthe Lives. Thus he acknowledges his failure to give a full account ofthe careers of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, and goes on toexcuse it in the following terms:

For neither is it histories we are writing, but lives, nor is there by anymeans display of merit or vice in the most outstanding actions, but o~ten atrivial matter as well as a remark and some joke have o~ered a better. illus-tration of character than clashes with countless casualties and the biggest

battalions and sieges of cities.

Elsewhere Plutarch mentions that he made a practice of colle<;~inganecdotes and sayings, and it is entirely understandable that vanous

SAYINGS 107

sets of such material should have been attributed to him and pre-served among his Moralia. The two most immediately relevant tothis volume are what editors have called Sayings of Spartans andSayings of Spartan Women. The second of these is much the shorter,as well as being separated from the first by a brief compilation ofmaterial outlining Spartan customs. In addition, considerable dupli-cation occurs between Sayings ifSpartans and the Spartan section ofa further collection called -Sayings of Kings and Generals.

Sayings of Spartans preserves something over 340 sayings of 68named Spartiates arranged in (Greek) alphabetical order, followed'.by 72 anonymous sayings. 'Saying' here admits no strict definition.Most are indeed pointed remarks, but wide variations remain in-their length and in the explanation of their context. Other sayingsare in fact anecdotes of notable exploits or attitudes on the part ofSpartiates. The spread of material among named Spartiates is veryuneven. While as many as 69 sayings are, attributed to Agesilaus, •next in order is Lycurgus withj I, then Agis son of Archidamus andCleomenes son of Anaxandridas with 18 each; at the other end ofthe scale the majority have no more than one or two sayings attri-buted to them. In Sayings of Spartan Women a mere ten sayings areattributed to four named women (even the last name beginning withno more than the fourth letter of the alphabet), followed by 30anonymous sayings.Sufficient accounts of Sparta and Spartan history survive to prove

how the sayings in these collections derive from a wide variety ofsources followed with varying degrees of conscientiousness. His':'torical accuracy, however, was considered much less important thansharp, attractive presentation: occasionally even the Doric forms ofGreek, which Spartans would have used, are introduced for the sakeof 'authenticity'. Attribution of versions of the same saying to twoor more Spartans (legendary figures among them!).is commonplace,but again unimportant to their inventors. The same applies to theconfusion and anachronism which can occur in historical details.How different sayings were formulated and- embroidered over thecenturies can no longer be traced.From all this it follows that the sayings are to be relied upon as

historical sources only with the greatest caution. The sayings aremostly intended to reflect what were considered excellent features ofthe Spartan character, and their value-lies rather in the demonstration

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108 PLUTARCH ON SPARTA

they offer of how Sparta's admirers from the fourth centuryonwards (Plutarch among them) liked to dream of her citizens inbygone days - bold, wise, just, free, unworldly. In Sayings of Spar-tans the correspondences with material in Plutarch's Lives areparticularly close, so that this collection at any rate is most likely tohave achieved its final form around his own time or soon afterwards.What part, if any, he played himself in its compilation or in that ofSayings of Spartan Women cannot be established, but the likelihoodmust be that it was a small one at best.

This translation omits those sayings attributed to Lycurgus whichlargely duplicate what is to be found in Plutarch's Life. Since mostof the Sayings of Unnamed Spartans likewise repeat what may befound elsewhere in this volume, they are omitted also. A few othersayings are omitted because the text is in too poor a condition to. render them comprehensible.

SAYINGS

Sayings of Spartans

AGASICLES '

(Sixth-century Eurypontid king)

I. Agasicles, king of the Spartans, despite his fondness for intellec-tual discourse, would not entertain the sophist Philophanes. Whe~ -208Iisomeone expressed surprise at. this, he declared: 'I want to be thestudent of men whose son I should like to be as well. '

2. When asked how anyone could rule the citizens 'safely withouthaving a bodyguard, he said: 'By ruling them in the way that fathersdo their sons.'

AGESILAUS

(Eurypontid king, 400-360)

I. When the great Agesilaus was once chosen by lot to preside ata drinking session, and the cupbearer asked him how much to serveeach man, his answer was: 'If plenty of wine has been provided,then as much as each requests; but if there is only a little, then giveeveryone an equal amount.'

2. . When some criminal submitted calmly to torture, he remarked:'What an exceptionally wicked man he is to apply such enduranceand fortitude to evil and disreputable ends. '

3: When somebody was praising an orator for his ability to mag-mfy small points, he said: 'In my opinion it's not a good cobblerwho fits large shoes on small feet. '

4· When somebody once said to him, 'You did agree,' and fre-quently repeated the point, he responded: 'Yes, by Zeus, I did, ifit's right to; if not, though I spoke the words, I did not agree.' Whenthe other added: 'But surely kings should fulfil "whate'er they assentto with a nod of the head"," he replied: 'No more than those who

I. ·A reference to Homer, Iliad, 1.527 (Penguin, p. 37).

1°9

)


approach kings should make proper requests and statements, aiming .both for the right moment and for something appropriate to kings."

5. Whenever he heard people being critical or complimentary, heconsidered it just as important to establish the characters of thosetalking as of those being talked about.

6. When he was still a boy, at a celebration of the Gymnopaediaethe choral director put him in an inconspicuous position. Eventhough he was already in line to become king, I he complied, andremarked: 'That's fine, for I shall show that it isn't positions whichlend men distinction, but men who enhance positions. '

7. : When some doctor prescribed for him a rather elaborate andcomplicated course of treatment, he declared; 'By the two gods," Isurely have no prospect of remaining alive if I have to put up withall that.'

8. Once he was standing sacrificing an ox at the altar of Athena ofthe Bronze House and a louse bit him, but he was not upset. Quiteopenly in front. of everybody he caught and killed it, with theremark: 'By the gods, what a pleasure to eliminate the conspiratoreven at the altar.'

9. Another time he watched a mouse being pulled from its hole bya small boy. When the mouse turned round, bit the hand ofits captorand escaped, he pointed this out to those present and said: 'Whenthe tiniest creature defends itself like this against aggressors, whatought men to do, do you reckon?'

10. When he wanted to go to war against Persia with the aim ofliberating the Greeks living in Asia, he consulted the oracle of Zeusat Dodona. Its instructions were to launch the campaign if the person

209 responsible for the decision considered it feasible. He informed theephors of this response, and they told him to go to Delphi and repeathis inquiry. So when he entered the shrine of the oracle, he framed

1. There must be confusion here. since Agesilaus only became king following thedeath of his elder half-brother Agis II and a dispute over the succession. Thus hehad passed through the agoge in the normal way: exceptionally this was noi requiredof an heir apparent. See Plutarch, Agesilaus, Chs. 1-3. . .

2. The divine twins. Castor and Pollux. In myth they were the sons of the king ofLacedaemon, Tyndareus, and his successors as joint kings. Thus the twins had aspecial link with the royal houses and in general were greatly revered at Sparta.

SAYINGS III

his question like this: 'Apollo; is your opinion the same as yourfather's?' When Apollo concurred, Agesilaus was selected and thus.did go on the campaign.

II. From fear of Agesilaus, Tissaphernes' initially concluded atruce with an undertaking that at his request the Greek cities wouldbe given their independence. But meanwhile he called up a substan-tial army from the Great King' and threatened Agesilauswith warunless he would leave Asia, Agesilaus welcomed this reversal ofpolicy and advanced as if making for Caria. Once Tissaphernes had.concentrated his forces there, he set outand invaded Phrygia. Whenhe had captured very many cities and a wealth ofloot, he said to hisfriends that it was impious to inflict injury after concluding a truce,whereas outwitting the enemy was not only fair and honourable,but also enjoyable and lucrative. .

12. Since he was inferior in cavalry he withdrew to Ephesus andcommanded the rich each to furnish a horse and a man as substitutesto release themselves from service. This way suitable horses andmen were quickly collected in place of wealthy cowards. And Agesi-laus said he was copying Agamemnon, who had in fact accepted afine mare and exempted a wealthy but worthless man from service. 3.

13· In accordance with his orders the sellers of booty put prisonersup for sale naked, and though there were plenty of purchasers fortheir clothes, their white bodies, So tender from sheltered living,were ridiculed as useless and good for nothing. AgesiIaus came onthe scene and remarked: 'These clothes are what you're fighting for,but it's these men you're fighting against.' .

14· After routing Tissaphernes in Lydia and killing large numbersof his men, he started to' overrun the Great King's territory .• Thelatter sent him money and requested a cessation of hostilities, butAgesilausstated that to make peace was his city's prerogative. andit gave him pleasure to be making his soldiers rich, rather thanbecoming rich himself; for in his opinion it was honourable thatGreeks did not accept bribes from the enemy, but gained booty.1. Supreme Persian commander in western Asia Minor at this time (396 B.C.); theGreek cities there were under Persian control.

2. The title normally used by Greeks for the ruler of the Persian Empire.3· Homer. Iliad. 23.295 (Penguin, p. 420).4· 39.5 B.C.


15. When Megabates the son of Spithridates, who had a mosthandsome figure, came up to embrace Agesilaus and kiss him -under the impression that he was extremely fond of him - Agesilausrecoiled. Since Megabates then ceased to approach him, Agesilausasked after him. His friends told him that it was his own fault forbeing frightened of a kiss from the handsome youth, but that if hewere willing and wouldn't flinch, then Megabates would return.Agesilaus thought this over in silence for a while and declared: 'Youneedn't try to persuade him, since my view is that Ishould prefer tobe above such things than to take by storm the best-manned city ofmy opponents. For it is better to maintain one's own freedom thanto deprive others of theirs. '

16. Although he was punctilious and law-abiding in otherrespects, where his friends' behaviour was concerned he thoughtthere was no call for excessive rectitude. At least there is an accountof a short note of his pleading with Hidrieus the Carian for one ofhis friends on these lines: 'If Nicias is not guilty, release him; buteven if he is guilty, release. him for my sake; in any case, releasehi 'm.

17. This, then, was how Agesilaus mostly acted on his friends'behalf, though there were occasions when he did take expediencymore into account in dealing with a crisis. Certainly once in thecourse of a fairly confused withdrawal he abandoned the man heloved, who was 'sick. As the latter pleaded with him and in tearscalled out to him, Agesilaus turned away and remarked: 'How bardit is to feel pity and at the same time act rationally.'

18. His personal lifestyle was in no way superior to that of hiscomrades. He totally abstained from eating and drinking to excess,while he treated sleep not as his master; but rather as a subject

210 governed by his own activities. His reactions to heat and 'cold weresuch that he alone always took advantage of the changing seasons.He would pitch his tent in the midst of his troops and had beddingof no better quality than anyone else.

19. He frequently remarked that the commander should outclasshis troops not in fastidiousness and high living, but in stamina andcourage.

SAYINGS

20. Certainly when somebody asked what gain' the laws of.Lycurgus had brought Sparta, he said: 'Contempt for pleasures.'

21. To the man who was amazed at how modest his clothes and~is meals :were, and those of the other Spartans as well, he said:Freedom ISwhat we reap from this way of life, my friend.'

23· Even when he~ad ~rown old he maintained the same regime.So to the man. who inquired wh-y on attaining such an age he stillw~nt,about without any undergarment in the depthsof winter, hesaid: So jhat the young men may do the same, with the oldest men -and office-holders as their example. '

24· As he:was traversing the Thasians' territory with his army,they sent him barley-meal, geese, desserts, honey cakes, and all sortsof expensive thin~~ to ~at and dr~nk. He accepted just the barley-~eal, but .asfor ev~rythi~g else he Instructed those who had broughtIt to take It back, SIncehISmen would have no use for it. Yet whenthey begged and pleaded with him to accept it all the same he told~h;m t~ h~nd it ove~ to the helots. When they asked why.' he said:It s quite Inappr~pn~te for ~hose who profess true manly qualitiest~ accept such delicacies. Things which attract slavish characters areahen to free men. ' .

~5. The Thasians' again, because of their belief that he was bring-In~ the~ such notable benefits, had honoured him with temples anddeification and had despatched an embassy to him in this connectionHe r~ad the list of h?nours conveyed to him by the envoys andenquired whether their country had power to deify humans. Whenthey said it did, he replied: 'Very well, make yourselves gods first,and when you have achieved that, then I shall believe your claimthat you will be able to make me a god too. ' .,~6. :Vhen the Greek peoples in Asia voted to erect statues of him~ntheir mo.st famous .ciries, he was quick in writing to them: 'ThereISto be no Image of me, either painted or modelled or constructed. '

27· On noticing a house in Asia roofed withsquare beams, heasked the owner whether timber grew square in that area. When, .

I. The ~orr:ct proper name has been garbled irrecoverably in the manuscripts. Plu-tarch sLife. Ch. 36, relates no. 24 here in the context of Agesilaus' service inEgypt as a mercenary commander (361 B.C.): for this. see further nos. 76-9 below.

II3


told no, it grew round-he said: 'What then? Ifit were square, would

fii ~u make it round?' '

:.,..", i, <7 ;',1 Asked once how, far, Sparta's b~undaries str~tched, he bran-'c • ) ~hed his spear and said: As far as this can reach,

'~r 29. When somebody else asked why Sparta lacked fortification, , walls, he pointed to the citizens under arms and said: 'These are the

Spartans' walls.'

30. When another person put the same question to him, his replywas: 'Cities shouldn't be fortified with stones or timbers, but withthe valour oftheir inhabitants. '

3I. He recommended his friends to strive to be rich not in pos-sessions, but in courage and merit.

32. Whenever he wanted some job done promptly by his troops,he first got down to it personally in full view of everyone.

33. He was prouder of working just as hard as anyone, and inexercising self-discipline, than he was of being king.

34. Noticing a lame Spartan setting off to fight and looking for ahorse, he said: 'Don't you realize that war requires not men whoflee, but those who stand their ground?'

35. 'Questioned as to how he had gained his great reputation, hesaid: 'By having despised death.' .

211 36. When someone asked why Spartiates go into battle to themusic of pipes, he said: 'So that, as they proceed in step to the music,both the cowards and the brave may be clearly distinguished."

tI ~ When someone was extolling the happy circumstances of ther kfug of the Persians, who :-ras quite a yo~ng ~an, ~e remarked:'But at that age not even Pnam had met WIth disaster.

38. After gaining much of Asia he decided to advance against theGreat King himself with the intention of putting an end to his leisureand his bribery of the Greeks' popular leaders.

I. Presumably the eager advance of the brave will contrast with the nervous shufflingof the 'Cowards.

SAYINGS lIS39· When the ephors recalled him' because Sparta was ringed byGreek enemies thanks to the money sent overiby the Persians, hedeclared that the good commander should be commanded by thelaws, and sailed from Asia, leaving behind deeplonging for himamong the Greeks there.

40. Since it was an archer that was stamped on the Persian coinage,.as he struck camp he remarked that he was being expelled from Asiaby the Great King with 30,000 archers - because it was die factthat Timocrates had arranged for this number of gold dories to beconveyed to Athens and Thebes and distributed to their popularleaderswhich had caused the citizen. bodies there to declare war emthe .Spartiares.

41. He also wrote this letter back to the ephors: 'Agesilaus tothe ephors, greetings. Wehave'subjugated the greater part of Asia,routed the Persians, and established many strongholds in Ionia. Butsince your orders are that I come over by the date set, I am followingafter this letter, and shall nearly be there first. I do not hold thecommand in my own interest, but in that of our city and allies. Afterall, a genuinely dutiful commander is Onewho always exercises hiscommand subject to the instructions of both laws and ephors, or ofwhatever other authorities a city may have.'

42· After crossing the Hellespont he did not make demands of anyof the barbarians as he passed through Thrace, but sent an inquiryto each tribe about whether it would be friendly country, or hostile,that he would be traversing. Now they all gave him a friendlyrecep-tionand let him through, except for the so-called Trochaleis ..EvenXerxes- is said to have presented them with gifts, and theydemanded from Agesilaus 100 talents of silver and the same numberof women in payment for his transit. He gave them the sarcasticreply: 'Why haven't you come straight away to collect all that, then?'He next advanced and engaged them iii' a set battle; after routingthem and killing a substantial number, he moved on. ' '

43· He sent ahead the same query to the king of the Macedonians.When he decla~ed that he would consider it, Agesilaus remarked:

I. 394 B.C.z. The Greek text uses the Doric dialect throughout for the sake of 'authenticity'.3· The Great King who mounted a massive invasion of Greece in 480.

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'So let him consider it, but we shall already be on our way.' Thusamazed and apprehensive at his daring, the king instructed him toadvance as a friend.44. Since the Thessalianswere allied to his enemies he began toplunder their territory. But he sent Xenocles and' Scythes to Larissato discuss an accord. Yet once these two had been arrested andwere being held, the other Spartans were very annoyed and felt thatAgesilaus should ring Larissa with the army and lay siege to it. Buthe said that if it meant losing either of those men he would not wantto gain even the whole of Tbessaly, and he got them back under a

\truce.45. When he learned that a battle had been fought near Corinth, I

and that while Spartiate casualties had been altogether low, they hadbeen very high among the Corinthians and Athenians and their otherallies, he gave no sign of being delighted or excited about the vic-tory, but sighed very deeply and said: 'Alas for Greece, that she hasherself been responsible for the deaths of so many men - the verynumber that would be enough to defeat all the barbarians. '46. When the Pharsalians were pursuing his army and harassingit, he routed them with 500 cavalry and erected a trophy belowMount Narthacium. Of all his victories he was particularly pleasedwith this one, since the formation of the cavalry force had been hisown personal initiative, and using it alone he had defeated menwhotook the greatest pride in their horsemanship. ,

212 47. After Diphridas brought him from home the message that heshould immediately turn aside to invade Boeotia (something whichhe had planned to do- though later, when he was better prepared),he was not disobedient to the magistrates but sent for two of themoras' on service near Corinth and entered Boeotia. At Coronea heengaged Thebans, Athenians, Argives, Corinthians and bothLocrian peoples, and despite the fact that his many wounds had puthim in bad physical shape, he won what was (as Xenophon! states)the greatest of all the battles in his own day.I. 394 B.C.2. Regiments. See Xenophon, Spartan Society. Ch. II.3. For the Athenian Xenophon, see further in general pp. 164-5 below. He foughtin Agesilaus' army at this battle in 394. Strictly his comment in A History of myTimes (4.3.16) is that the battle was quite unlike others in his day. But the likeli-hood is that be tremendously admired Agesilaus' victory all the same.

, SAYINGS 117

48. Once he returned home, such great success and victories didnot prompt him to make any changes in his personal habits andlifestyle.

49· Observing that, just because they bred horses, some of thecitizens arrogantly thought themselves to. be quite something, hepersuaded 'his sister Cynisca to compete at the Olympic Games byentering a chariot, since he wanted to show the Greeks that this kindof activity was unconnected with excellence, but simply a matter ~fhaving wealth and spending it.

50. While he had the company of that learned man Xenophon, hetreated him respectfully and would urge him to send for his childrenand'have them brought up at Sparta, I so that they would be educatedin the finest of lessons, to give orders and to take them.

5I. When asked another time for what particular reason the Sparti-ates enjoyed notably more success than others, he said: 'Becausemore than others they train to give orders and to take them.'

52. He discovered after Lysander's death' that a substantial cabalhad been formed which the latter, as soon as he returned from Asia,intended to deploy against Agesilaus. So he determined to offer fullproof of what kind of a citizen Lysander was when alive, and heread a speech leftin written form, which Cleon ofHalicarnassus hadcomposed but which Lysander intended to learn and deliver beforethe people, on the topic of revolution and reform of governmentsAgesilaus wanted to make this public, but one of the Elders, afterperusing the speech and feeling alarmed at its cunning, advised himnot to disinter Lysander but instead to bury the speech with him,Agesilaus was persuaded and kept quiet.

53. 'It was not his practice to confound openly his secret opponents.Instead he would arrange for some of them always to have postingsas commanders and governors, and would then demonstrate howin wielding their authority they had become vicious and greedy.Next, when they were on trial he would assist them once again and

I. Xenophon did send both of his sons there to complete the agoge and so becometrophlmoi xenoi (compare A History ofmy Times, 5.3.9).

2. 395 B.C.


take their side, so that he made them his friends and converted themto his own cause; as a result he had not a single opponent.

54· When somebody asked him to write to his friends in Asia sothat he might gain justice there, he replied: 'But my friends do whatis right of their own accord, even without a letter from me. '

55· Somebody drew his attention to the solid city-wall with itsexceptionally strong construction and inquired if it made a favour-able impression on him. 'By Zeus,' he said, 'favourable, but forwomen to live inside, not men, '

56. He said to some Megarian who was bragging about his city tohim: 'Young man, a great deal of force is required to back up yourremarks.'

57. He appeared not even to notice things which he saw othersadmiring. Once in fact the tragic actor Callippidas, whose name andreputation were famous among the Greeks and who was treatedwith respect by everyone, first presented himself to him andaddressed him, and then made an exhibition of himself by osten-tatiously thrusting himself upon Agesilaus' escort, in the expectationthat the king-would initiate some cordial exchange. Eventually hesaid: '0 king, don't you recognize me and haven't you heard who Iam?' Agesilaus, however, with a glance at him, asked: 'Yes, aren'tyou Callippidas the deicelictas?' This is the Spartan name for peoplewho perform mimes. '...58. When he was invited to listen to the man who used to imitatethe nightingale's song, he declined, with the statement: 'I've heardthe bird herself often. '

213 59. The doctor Menecrates, who had been hailed as Zeus becauseof his success incertain desperate cases, adopted this nickname withsuch vulgarity that he even had the nerve to. write to Agesilaus asfollows: 'Menecrates Zeus to King Agesilaus, greeting.' Without'reading further Agesilaus wrote back: 'King Agesilaus to Mene-crates, sanity.'

60. The Spartans made peace with the Great King at the timewhen, thanks to the Great King's fleet, Conon and Phamabazuswere enjoying naval supremacy and blockading the coasts of

SAYINGS

Laconia, while the city of Athens had been walJedwith fundsgranted by Phamabazus. J The Spartans sent their citizen Antalcidas .to Tiribazus" and handed over to the Great King the Greeks in Asia,in whose defence Agesilaus had gone to war. Consequently therewas no possibility of Agesilaus being involved in this shamefulscheme. In fact Antalcidas was at odds with him and kept makingevery effort to achieve peace, because in his view the war hadexalted Agesilaus and was bringing him to the height of glory andgreatness. J

61. All the same his response to the man who said that theLacedaemonians were medizing was that instead the Medes werelaconizing.s

62. When asked once which of the two virtues was finer, courageor justice, he declared: 'Courage has no value if justice is not inevidence too; but if everyone were to be just,' then no one wouldneed courage. ' .

63· As for the habit of people living in Asia, of addressing thePersian king as 'Great', Agesilaus said: 'How on earth is he greaterthan I,unless he's both more just and wiser?'

64· He used to remark that those living in Asia were worthless asfree men, but good slaves.'

65. When he was asked how someone might most surely earnpeople's esteem, he replied: 'By the best words and the finestactions. '

66. He used to say that a general needs to show daring towards hisopponents, goodwill towards his subordinates and a cool head incnses.

67· When someone inquired of him what children should learn, hesaid: 'What they will also use when they become men. '

68. When he was trying a case and the prosecutor had spoken well,1. 393 B.C.2. Satrap of Lydia.3· Antalcidas represented Sparta in a series of peace negotiations between 392 and387, when the 'King's Peace' was eventually agreed.

4· In other words, the Spartans were taking the Persian side, and the Persians theSpartan.

119


of the Egyptians. I But the plainness of his dress led the natives toregard him with contempt, since they were expecting to see theperson of the Spartan king, like the Persian one, superbly attired -a misguided notion to have of kings. At any rate, in the meantimeAgesilaus .did demonstrate to them that brains "and courage areneeded to achieve greatness and importance.

77. When he saw that his men were On the verge of giving way intheir fear of the impending danger created by the mass of the enemy(200,000 of them) and the small number of men he had, he decidedto make a sacrifice before marshalling his forces. And without theothers' knowledge he wrote on his hand the word 'Victory' withthe letters facing left. Then, when the diviner gave him the liver, heplaced it on the hand with the writing on it and held it there forasuitable period while appearing puzzled and pretending to be at aloss, until the marks of the letters should have stained the liver andbeen imprinted on it. And then he displayed it to the men who wereabout to accompany him into battle, declaring that by means ofwhat had been written the gods had foretold a victory. Thus hismen's morale was high as they went into battle believing it had beenproved convincingly that they would win.

78. When the enemy, thanks to their huge numbers, were digginga trench around his camp and his ally Nectanabius demanded tomake a sortie and do battle with them, he said that he would notobstruct the enemy in their wish to become equal to themselves.

215 But once the trench was al~ost complete all round, then he mar-shalled his men in front of the remaining space and in a fight whereboth sides were equally matched he achieved a rout, and with' hisfew soldiers caused Widespread slaughter of the enemy as well assending back plenty of money to his city.

79. As he was dying on the voyage back from Egypt, he gaveinstructions to those close to him that they should not be responsiblefor making any image of his person, be it modelled or painted orcopied: 'For if I have accomplished any glorious feat, that will bemy memorial. But if I have not, not even all the statues in theworld - the products of vulgar, worthless men - would make anydifference. 'I. 361 B.C. He went to aid a revolt against Persian rule which had begun as far backas 404.

SAYINGS

AGESIPOLIS SON OF CLEOMBROTUS

(Agird king, 371-370)

~. When someone remarked that Philip had demolished OlynthusIn.a few days, I Agesipolis son ofCleombrotus said: 'By the gods, itwill take him much longer than that to build another equal to it. '

2. . When some~ne el~e re~arked that during his reign he, alongwI~h other me~ In their pnme, had served as hostage, while theirchildren and WIves had not, he responded: 'That was fair since itis entirely proper that we should personally suffer for ~ur ownmistakes.'

3· When he wanted to send for young dogs from home and some-one said: 'We don't permit their export,' he remarked: 'Previouslythe same was true of men too, but it's happened now.'

AGESIPOLIS SON OF PAUSANIAS

(Agiad king, 395-380)

When the.Athenians put to Agesipolis son of Pausanias the proposaltha~ the CItyof Megara should arbitrate complaints which each hadagainst the other; he said: 'Athenians, it is a disgrace that those whoha,:,eb~en the leaders of the Greeks should have a slighter knowledgeof justice than Megarians. ' .

AGIS SON OF ARCHIDAMUS

(Eurypontid king, 427-400)

I. Once .when .the ep?ors said to him: 'Take the young men andmarch agaI~st,thIS.man s countr~: he will personally conduct you tothe acropo~s, Agis son of Archidamus replied: 'And how is it pro-per, ephors, for so many young men to trust this one man who isbetraying his own country?'

/

2. ~h~n asked wha~ form <iftraining was most practised at Sparta,he said: Understanding of how to take orders and to give them.'

3· He remarked that the Spartans do not ask how many the enemyare, but where they are. . .

I. Sinc~ thi~ ?ccurred in 348, the reference mustbe anachronistic. Confusion withAgesipolis' brother and s~ccessor, Cleomenes, seems the most likely explanation.

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PART 3 SAYINGS

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