Apophthegmata Laconica

In answer to the man who expressed surprise at the plainness of the clothes and the fare both of himself and of the other Spartans, he said, From this mode of life, my friend, we reap a harvest of liberty.

When someone else urged him to relax, and said that, because of the uncertainty of fortune, the opportunity for this might never come to him, he replied, I accustom myself by training to seek to find a change in no change.

Even when he had grown old, he followed the same course; and in answer to someone who asked him the reason why, at his age, he went about with no undergarment in such very cold weather, he said, So that the young men may imitate, having the oldest men and the officials as an example. [*](Cf. Aelian, Varia Historia, vii. 13.)

The Thasians, as he was marching through their country with his army, sent to him flour, geese, sweetmeats, honey-cakes, and other costly foods and drinks of all kinds. The flour alone he accepted, but the rest of the things he bade those who had brought them to carry back because these were of no use to the Spartans. But when the Thasians importuned him and begged him by all means to take all, he gave orders to distribute them among the Helots. And when the Thasians inquired the reason, he said, It is not in keeping that those who practise manly virtues should indulge in such gormandizing, for things that allure the servile crowd are alien to free men. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Agesilaus, chap. xxxvi. (616 F), where the scene is laid in Egypt, as also in Cornelius Nepos, xvii., Agesilaus, 8. 3-4. The story is found also in Athenaeus, 657 B and in Aelian, Varia Historia, iii. 20, where it is told of Lysander.)

At another time the Thasians, because of a feeling that they had been greatly befriended by him, honoured him with temples and deifications, and also sent an embassy to inform him of their action. When he had read the honours which the ambassadors proffered to him, he asked if their country had the power to deify men; and when they answered in the affirmative, he said, Go to; make gods of yourselves first, and if you can accomplish this, then will I believe that you will be able to make a god of me also.

When the Greek peoples of Asia voted to erect statues of him in their most prominent cities, he wrote to them: Let there be no image of me painted or sculptured or constructed. [*](Cf.Moralia, 191 D, supra, and the note. By constructed he probably refers to the gold and ivory statues which were common among the Greeks.)

Seeing in Asia a house roofed with square beams, he asked the owner if timber in that country grew square. And when the man said, No, but round, he said, Well, then, if they were square, would you finish them round? [*](Cf.Moralia, 227 C, infra, and Plutarch’s Life of Lycurgus, chap. xii. (47 C).)

Being asked once how far the bounds of Sparta extended, he said, with a flourish of his spear, As far as this can reach. [*](Cf.Moralia, 190 E (3), supra, and 217 E (7), 218 F (2), 229 C (6), infra, and 267 C.)

When someone else wished to know why Sparta was without walls, he pointed to the citizens in full armour and said, These are the Spartans’ walls. [*](Cf.Moralia, 217 E, infra (Antalcidas); Plutarch’s Life of Lycurgus, chap. xix. (52 B); Plato, Laws, 778 D; Epictetus, in Stobaeus, Florilegium, v. iii.; Demosthenes, Oration xviii. (De corona), 299 (325); Claudius Claudianus, (viii.), Panegyr. de quarto consulatu Honorii, 508. Cf. also Moralia, 228 E (28) infra. )

When another person put the same question, he said, Cities ought not to be fortified with stones and timbers, but with the strong virtues of their inhabitants. [*](See note d on previous page.)

He advised his friends to endeavour to be rich, not in money, but in bravery and virtue.

Whenever he wished a task to be quickly performed by his soldiers, he himself took hold first in the sight of all. [*](Cf. Xenophon, Agesilaus, 5. 3. Plutarch tells the same sort of thing about C. Marius in his Life, chap. vii. (409 B).)

He found more cause for pride in his working quite as hard as anybody, and in his mastery over himself, rather than in his being king. [*](Cf.Moralia, 198 E (8), supra. )

When he saw a lame Spartan going forth to war and asking where he could get a horse, Agesilaus said, Don’t you realize that war has need, not of those who run away, but of those who stand their ground? [*](Cf. 217 C, 234 E, infra: Valerius Maximus, iii. 7, ext. 8.)

Being asked how he had fostered his great repute, he said, By showing contempt for death. [*](Cf. 216 C (18), infra. )

When someone desired to know why Spartans do battle amidst the sound of fifes, he said, So that, as all keep step to the music, the cowardly and the brave may be plainly seen. [*](Cf. Thucydides, v. 70; Xenophon, Constitution of Sparta, 13. 8; Lucian, On Dancing, 10; Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, ii. 16 (37); Valerius Maximus, ii. 6. 2.)

When someone dwelt upon the great good fortune of the king of Persia, who was a very young man, Agesilaus said, But even Priam at that time of life had not met with misfortune. [*](Cf.Moralia, 113 E.)

When he had brought a great part of Asia

When he was summoned home by the Ephors because of the war declared against Sparta by the surrounding Greek states, influenced by the money which had been sent to them by the Persian, he said that the good commander ought to be subject to the command of the laws, and sailed away from Asia, leaving behind a great yearning for him among the Greeks there. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Agesilaus, chap. xv. (p. 603 E): Xenophon, Hellenica, iv. 2. 1-3, and Agesilaus, 1. 36: Cornelius Nepos, xvii., Agesilaus, 4. 1-4. )

Inasmuch as the Persian coinage was stamped with the figure of a bowman, he said, as he was breaking camp, that he was being driven out of Asia by the king with thirty thousand bowmen; for such was the number of gold pieces brought to Athens and Thebes through Timocrates and distributed among the popular leaders; and thus the people were stirred to hostilities against the Spartans. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Agesilaus, chap. xv. (604 C); Life of Artaxerxes, chap. xx. (1021 D); Xenophon, Hellenica, iii. 5. 1. Xenophon (l.c.) says that the Persian gold went to Thebes, Corinth, and Argos, and the Athenians were eager for the war (naturally, as it was a war of revenge) without being bribed.)