Doubtless some of you are astonished that I, who heretofore have observed the customsIn Sparta the young were not supposed to appear in public places. Plutarch states (Plut. Lyc. 25) that men were not allowed even in the market-place until after they were thirty years old. of the state more faithfully, I dare say, than any other of my generation, have now so completely changed that I have come forward, in spite of my youth, to offer counsel regarding a subject which even our elders hesitate to discuss.