2. A Spartan, who was sent as ambassador to Pyrrhus when he invaded Sparta in B. C. 272 for the purpose of placing Cleonymus on the throne. [CHELIDONIS; CLEONYMUS.] Plutarch records an apophthegm of Dercyllidas on this occasion with respect to the invader : " If he is a god, we fear him not, for we are guilty of no wrong; if a man, we are as good as he." (Plut. Apophth. Lac. vol. ii. p. 128, ed. Tauchn.; Plut. Pyrrh. 26, where the saying is ascribed to one Mandricidas.)
[E.E]A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology
Smith, William
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890