In the battle of Leuctra many Spartans ran away to escape the enemy, and these were liable to disgrace as provided by the law. The Ephors, seeing the State bereft of men when it was in great need of soldiers, wished to do away with the disgrace, and also to observe the laws. Accordingly they chose Agesilaus as lawgiver; and he, coming into the public meeting, said, ‘ I would not become a lawgiver to enact another set of laws, for in the present laws I would make no addition, subtraction, or revision. It is good that our present laws be in full force, beginning with the morrow.’ 1
1 Cf. Plutarch's Life of Agesilaus, chap. xxx. (612 F): and the note on Moralia, 191 C (10), supra.
Plutarch. Moralia. with an English Translation by. Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1931. 3.
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