Histories

When it was the time of the Gymnopaidia,[*](A midsummer festival, celebrated at Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta by bands of naked boys and men.) Leotychides, now king in his place, saw him in the audience and, as a joke and an insult, sent a messenger to him to ask what it was like to hold office after being king.

He was grieved by the question and said that he had experience of both, while Leotychides did not, and that this question would be the beginning for Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta of either immense evil or immense good fortune. He said this, covered his head, left the theater, and went home, where he immediately made preparations and sacrificed an ox to Zeus. Then he summoned his mother.