Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata
Plutarch
Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).
Agis the king said that the Spartans do not ask how many are the enemy, but where are they. [*](Cf. Moralia, 215 D, infra.)
At Mantineia, when efforts were made to dissuade him from risking a battle with the enemy who outnumbered his own men, he said, He who would rule over many must fight with many. [*](Ibid.)
When the Eleans were commended for conducting the Olympic games honourably, he said, What wonderful feat is it if they practise justice on one day in four years ? And when these same persons were persistent in their commendation, he said, What wonder if they practise honourably an honourable thing, that is, justice ? [*](Ibid. 215 F, and Plutarch’s Life of Lycurgus, chap. xx. (52 C).)