Apophthegmata Laconica

Somebody wanted him to write to his friends in Asia so that the petitioner might meet with right treatment there. But, said Agesilaus, my friends of themselves do what is right, even if I do not write to them.

Somebody in a foreign land pointed out to Agesilaus the city wall, high towering and exceedingly massive in its construction, and asked Agesilaus [*]( )

When a man from Megara boasted greatly about his city, Agesilaus said, Young man, your words need a great power to back them. [*](The remark is usually attributed to Lysander; Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Lysander, chap. xxii. (445 D); Moralia, 71 E, 190 E, supra, 229 C, infra. Themistius, Oration xxvii. 334 C. The idea was originally expressed by Adeimantus to Themistocles in Herodotus, viii. 61.)

Things which he saw other people admiring he seemed not even to notice. For example, once upon a time Callippides, the tragic actor, [*](Famous for his impressive acting. Cf. Xenophon, Symposium, 3. 11; Aristotle, Poetics, chap. 26; Plutarch, Moralia, 348 E; Polyaenus, Strategemata, vi. 10.) who had a name and repute among the Greeks, and was received everywhere with the most flattering attention, first of all put himself in front of Agesilaus and addressed him, and then pompously thrust himself into the company that was walking with him, thus making it plain that he expected the king to begin some friendly conversation, and finally he said, Your Majesty, do you not recognize me, and have you not heard who I am? At that Agesilaus looked towards him and said, Are ye no Callippidas the shawman? That is what the Spartans call the strolling players. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Agesilaus, chap. xxi. (607 D).)

When he was invited to hear the man who imitated the nightingale’s voice, he begged to be excused, saying, I hae heard the bird itsel’ mony a time. [*](Life of Agesilaus, chap. xxi. (607 E); Moralia, 191 B; Life of Lycurgus, chap. xx. (52 E). A similar remark is attributed to Pleistarchus, Moralia, 231 C, infra. )

Menecrates the physician, who, because of his success in curing certain persons who had been given up to die, had come to be called Zeus, used to drag

King Agesilaus to Menecrates, health andsanity, supra, and Plutarch’s Life of Agesilaus, chap. xxi. (607 E). Ascribed to Philip of Macedon by Aelian, Varia Historia, xii. 51, and Athenaeus, 289 B.)

When Conon and Pharnabazus with the Great Kings fleet were masters of the sea and blockaded the Spartans’ coast, and the walls of Athens had been rebuilt [*](In 393 B.C. (Xenophon, Hellenica, iv. 8. 10).) with the money provided by Pharnabazus, the Spartans made peace with the king. [*](The peace of Antalcidas, 387 B.C. (Xenophon, Hellenica, v. 1. 29; Plutarch, Life of Artaxerxes, chap. xxi. (1022 A)).) They sent one of their citizens, Antalcidas, to Tiribazus, and surrendered into the king’s power those Greeks in Asia Minor for whose freedom Agesilaus had fought. It follows, therefore, that Agesilaus could not have had the slightest thing to do with this disreputable business; for Antalcidas was at enmity with him, and employed every resource in working for the peace, because he felt that the war made Agesilaus great and enhanced his repute and importance. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Agesilaus, chap. xxiii. (608 C).)

Yet, in answer to a man who said that the Spartans were becoming pro-Persian, Agesilaus said that rather the Persians were becoming pro-Spartan! [*](Ibid. 608 D; Cf. also Plutarch’s Life of Artaxerxes, chap. xxi. (1022 C).)