Apophthegmata Laconica

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.

Archidamus, the son of Agesilaus, when Philip after the battle of Chaeroneia, wrote him a somewhat haughty letter, wrote in reply, If you should measure your own shadow, you would not find that it has become any greater than before you were victorious.

Being asked how much land the Spartans controlled, he said, As much as they can reach with the spear. [*](Cf. the note on Moralia, 210 E (28), supra. )

Periander, the physician, was distinguished in his profession and commended very very highly, but was a writer of wretched verses. Why in the world, Periander, said Archidamus, do you yearn to be called a bad poet instead of a skilful physician?