Apophthegmata Laconica

Plutarch

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

Polycratidas was sent, along with others, as ambassador to the king’s generals, and when these asked whether they were there as private citizens or had been sent as public representatives, he said, If we succeed, public; if not, private. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Lycurgus, chap. xxv. (55 C).)