Apophthegmata Laconica

Plutarch

Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).

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.