Archidamus

Doubtless some of you are astonished that I, who heretofore have observed the customs[*](In Sparta the young were not supposed to appear in public places. Plutarch states (Plut. Lyc. 25) that men were not allowed even in the market-place until after they were thirty years old.) of the state more faithfully, I dare say, than any other of my generation, have now so completely changed that I have come forward, in spite of my youth, to offer counsel regarding a subject which even our elders hesitate to discuss.