Apophthegmata Laconica

Plutarch

Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).

When somebody found fault with Hecataeus the sophist because, when he was received as a member at the common table, he spoke not a word, Archidamidas said, You do not seem to realize that he who knows how to speak knows also the right time for speaking. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Lycurgus, chap. xx. (52 C).)

Archidamus, the son of Zeuxidamus, when someone inquired of him who were at the head of Sparta, said, The laws and the magistrates in accordance with the laws.