Apophthegmata Laconica

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.

In answer to a man who praised a harper and expressed amazement at his ability, he said, My good sir, what honours shall you be able to offer to good men when you have such praise for a harper?

When someone, in introducing a musician to him, remarked, This man is a good musician, he said, And in this country of ours that man there rates as a good soup-maker, thus implying that there was no distinction between giving pleasure through the sound of instruments and giving it through the preparation of appetizing foods and soup. [*](Cf.Moralia, 223 F, infra (15), where the saying is attributed to Cleomenes.)

When somebody promised him to make the wine pleasant to the taste, he said, What for? For more of it will be used, and it will make the men’s eating together less beneficial. [*](See Moralia, 240 D (2), infra, which makes the meaning of this passage quite clear.)

As he was establishing his camp hard by the city of Corinth, he saw hares start up from a spot near the wall. He said therefore to his fellowsoldiers, The enemy are ours. [*](A similar remark is attributed to Lysander in Moralia, 190 E, supra, and 229 D, infra. )

When two persons accepted him as arbiter, he took them to the sacred precinct of Athena of the Brazen House, and made them swear to abide by his decision; and when they had given their oaths, he said, My decision, then, is that you are not to leave this sacred precinct before you compose your differences.

When Dionysius, the despot of Sicily, sent costly raiment to Archidamus’s daughters, he would not accept it, saying, I am afraid that, if the girls should put it on, they would appear ugly to me. [*](Cf. the note on Moralia, 190 D (1), supra. )

Observing that his son was fighting impetuously against the Athenians, he said, Either add to your strength, or subtract from your courage.