Apophthegmata Laconica

A Spartan had as an emblem on his shield a

Another, when a lyre was brought in at an evening party, said, It is not Spartan to indulge in nonsense. [*](Cf.Moralia, 220 A (3). For the expression of similar sentiments see Plutarch’s Life of Themistocles, chap. ii. (112 C); Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, i. 2 (4).)

A Spartan, being asked if the road into Sparta were safe, said, That depends on what kind of a mon ye are; for the lions gang about where they wull, but the hares we hunt over that land.

In a clinch one wrestler, who had the other by the neck, overpowered him with little effort, and pulled him to the ground. Since the one who was down was at a disadvantage in using his body, he bit the arm that held him. His opponent said, Spartan, you bite like a woman. No, indeed, said he, but like a lion. [*](The same story is told of Alcibiades in Moralia, 186 D (1), and in Plutarch’s Life of Alcibiades, chap. i. (192 C).)

A lame man was going forth to war, and some persons followed after him laughing. He turned around and said, You vile noddles! A man does not need to run away when he fights the enemy, but to stay where he is and hold his ground. [*](Cf.Moralia, 210 F (34), and 217 C; Valerius Maximus, iii. 7, ext. 8.)

Another, [*](Callicrates at the battle of Plataea (Herodotus, ix. 72).) mortally wounded by an arrow, said, as his life was ebbing away, I am not troubled because I must die, but because my death comes at the hands of a womanish archer, and before I have accomplished anything. [*](Repeated by Plutarch, Life of Aristeides, chap. xvii. (329 C).)

A man stopped at an inn and gave the innkeeper a piece of meat to prepare; and when the innkeeper asked for cheese and oil besides, the other said, If I had cheese, what need should I have of meat too? [*](Repeated in Moralia, 995 B, where the meat is fish. Cf. also Aelian, Varia Historia, 787 A; Demosthenes, Or. xxiii. 211 (691).)

In answer to the man who called Lampis [*](Lampis was famous for his ships and his wealth. Cf., for example, Moralia, 787 A; Demosthenes, Or. xxiii. 211 (691).) of Aegina happy, because he seemed very rich in having many cargoes on the sea in ships, a Spartan said, I do not pay much attention to happiness that hangs by ropes! [*](Cf. Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, v. 14 (40).)

When somebody told a Spartan that he was lying, the Spartan replied, Yea, we are free men; but ithers, if they dinna teli the truth, will rue it. [*](Cf.Moralia, 229 A (2).)

When someone set himself to make a corpse stand upright, and, for all his efforts, was unable to do this, he said, Egad, there is need of something inside.

Tynnichus, when his son Thrasybulus was slain, bore it sturdily; and this epigram [*](Attributed to Dioscorides in the Palatine Anthology, vii. 229 (The Greek Anthology in the L.C.L., ii. p. 130).) was written on him:

Lifeless to Pitane came, on his shield upborne, Thrasybulus; Seven the wounds he received, pierced by the Argive spears; All in the front did he show them; and him with his blood-stained body Tynnichus placed on the pyre, saying these words in his eld: Let the poor cowards be mourned, but with never a tear shall I bury You, my son, who are mine, yea, and are Sparta’s as well.

When the keeper of a bath was pouring in a

When Philip of Macedon sent some orders to the Spartans by letter, they wrote in reply, What you wrote about, No. [*](The story is told with slightly more detail in Moralia, 513 A.)

When he invaded the Spartans’ country, and all thought that they should be destroyed, he said to one of the Spartans, What shall you do now, men of Sparta? And the other said, What else than die like men? For we alone of all the Greeks have learned to be free, and not to be subject to others. [*](Cf. Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, v. 14 (42).)

After the defeat of Agis, [*](Agis III., in 331 B.C.) Antipater demanded fifty boys as hostages, but Eteocles, who was Ephor, said they would not give boys, lest the boys should turn out to be uneducated through missing the traditional discipline; and they would not be fitted for citizenship either. But the Spartans would give, if he so desired, either old men or women to double the number. And when Antipater made dire threats if he should not get the boys, the Spartans made answer with one consent, If the orders you lay upon us are harsher than death, we shall find it easier to die. [*](A different version of the Spartans’ reply is given in Moralia, 64 D.)

While the games were being held at Olympia, an old man was desirous of seeing them, but could find no seat. As he went to place after place, he met with insults and jeers, and nobody made room for him. But when he came opposite the Spartans, all the boys and many of the men arose and yielded

His head grey-haired and grey-bearded,[*](Homer, Il. xxii. 74, and xxiv. 516.)

Some say that the same thing happened at Athens also. It was at the time of the Panathenaic festival, and the people of Attica were teasing an old man in an unseemly manner, calling him to them as if they were intending to make room for him, and not making room if he came to them. When he had passed through almost all the spectators and came opposite the delegates of the Spartans, they all arose from where they were sitting and gave him place. The crowd, delighted, applauded the action with great approval, and one of the Spartans said, Egad, the Athenians know what is right and fair, but do not do it. [*](Cf. Cicero, De senectute, 18 (63-64); Valerius Maximus, iv. 5, ext. 2.)

A beggar asked alms of a Spartan, who said, If I should give to you, you will be the more a beggar; and for this unseemly conduct of yours he who first gave to you is responsible, for he thus made you lazy.

A Spartan, seeing a man taking up a collection for the gods, said that he did not think much of gods who were poorer than himself.

A man who caught another in adultery with an ugly woman said, Puir soul! what was yer muckle need? [*](In Moralia, 525 D, the same saying is attributed to a man of Byzantium.)

Another, listening to an orator rolling off long sentences, said, Egad, but the man has courage; he twists his tongue well about no subject at all.

One man who came to Sparta, and observed the honour which the young render to the old, said, Only in Sparta does it pay to grow old. [*](A similar sentiment is attributed to Lysander by Cicero, De senectute, 18 (63).)