Apophthegmata Laconica

Plutarch

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

Once upon a time the Ephors said to Agis the son of Archidamus, Take the young men and march against the country of this man here. He will himself guide you to its citadel. And how, sirs, said Agis, is it right to entrust so many youths to a man who is betraying his own country? [*](See the note on Moralia, 191 E (2), supra, where the saying is attributed to the younger Agis.)