Apophthegmata Laconica

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?

In the war against Philip, when some proffered the advice that they ought to engage him in battle at a good distance from their own land, [*](The policy of Demosthenes (e.g. Olynthiac i. ad fin.).) Archidamus said, No, that is not what we ought to look to, but where, in fighting, we shall be superior to the enemy.

In answer to those who commended him when he had been victorious in battle [*](The tearless battle in 368 B.C. described by Xenophon, Hellenica, vii. 1. 28-32. Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Agesilaus ) against the Arcadians, he said, It would have been better if we had vanquished them by intelligence rather than by strength.

When he invaded Arcadia, he learned that the Eleans were supporting the Arcadians, and so he sent this letter to them: Archidamus to the Eleans. Quiet is a good thing. [*](The saying is attributed to Periander by Diogenes Laertius, i. 97.)

In the Peloponnesian war, when his allies sought to know how much money would be sufficient, and said it was only fair that he set a limit to their contributions, he said, War does not feed on fixed rations. [*](Cf. the note on Moralia, 190 A, supra. The saying plainly belongs to Archidamus II. (218 C, supra), who lived at the time of the Peloponnesian war. See Plutarch’s Life of Cleomenes, chap. xxvii. (817 E).)

When he saw the missile shot by a catapult, which had been brought then for the first time from Sicily, he exclaimed, Great Heavens! man’s valour is no more! [*](Cf.Moralia, 191 D, supra. )

When the Greeks were not willing to take his advice and break their agreements with Antipater [*](Either Antipater (Wyttenbach’s certain emendation) or Antigonus (MSS.) is too late for Archidamus III., who died in 338 B.C.) and Craterus the Macedonian, and be free, because of a feeling that the Spartans would be harsher than the Macedonians, he said, A sheep or a goat bleats always in the same way, but a man talks in a great variety of ways until he accomplishes what he has set his mind upon.