Apophthegmata Laconica

When someone inquired for what reason the Spartans drank so little, he said,So that others may not deliberate over us, but we over others.

Leotychidas, the son of Ariston, in answer to a man who said that the sons of Demaratus were speaking ill of him, remarked, Egad, I don’t wonder; for not one of them could ever speak a good word. [*](The same story is found in Diogenes Laertius, ii. 35 (of Socrates), and in Stobaeus, Florilegium, xix. 5 (of Plato).)

When at the adjacent gate a snake had coiled around the key, and the soothsayers declared this to be a prodigy, he said, It doesn’t seem so to me, but if the key had coiled around the snake, that would be a prodigy! [*](The saying is attributed to the others also; Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, viii. 843 ed. Potter; or iii. 18, ed. Stahlin; Cicero, De divinatione, ii. 28 (62).)

This is his retort to Philip, the priest of the Orphic mysteries, who was in the direst straits of poverty, but used to assert that those who were initiated under his rites were happy after the conclusion of this life; to him Leotychidas said, You idiot! Why then don’t you die as speedily as possible so that you may with that cease from bewailing your unhappiness and poverty? [*](Cf. Diogenes Laertius, vi. 4, where the remark is attributed to Antisthenes.)

When someone inquired why they did not dedicate to the gods the arms taken from the enemy, he said that property wrested from its owners owing to cowardice it is not good either for the young men to see, or to dedicate to the gods. [*](Cf.Moralia, 224 B (18), supra. )

When Leo, the son of Eurycratidas, was asked what kind of a city one could live in so as to live most safely, he said, Where the inhabitants shall possess neither too much nor too little, and where right shall be strong and wrong shall be weak.

Seeing that the runners at Olympia were eager to gain some advantage in starting, he said, How much more eager are the runners for a quick start than for fair play!

When someone, at an inappropriate time, discoursed about some matters which were not unprofitable, he said, My friend, in needless time you dwell upon the need! [*](Cf. the note on Moralia, 216 F (2), supra. )

Leonidas, the son of Anaxandridas and the brother of Cleomenes, in answer to a man who remarked, Except for your being king, you are no different from the rest of us, said, But if I were no better than you others, I should not be king.

His wife Gorgo inquired, at the time when he was setting forth to Thermopylae to fight the Persian, if he had any instructions to give her, and he said, To marry good men and bear good children. [*](Cf.Moralia, 240 E (6), infra, and 866 B.)

When the Ephors said that he was taking but few men to Thermopylae, he said, Too many for the enterprise on which we are going. [*](Ibid. Cf. also 225 B (8 and 9), infra, and 866 B.)