Book 6
1.14
It is about these matters, then, that I have come to you, and I tell you the whole situation there as I myself see it and have heard it from his lips. And I believe that this is the case, men of Lacedaemon, that if you send thither a force such as shall seem, not to me only, but also to the rest of the Thessalians, large enough to make war upon Jason, the cities will revolt from him; for all of them are afraid of the lengths to which the man’s power will go. But if you imagine that emancipated Helots and a private individual i.e., not a king. as commander will suffice, I advise you to remain quiet.
1.15
For, be well assured, the war will be against strong forces and against a man who is so sagacious a general that374 B.C. whatsoever he undertakes to accomplish, whether it be by secrecy, or by getting ahead of an enemy, or by sheer force, he is not very apt to fail of his object. For he is able to make as good use of night as of day, and when he is in haste, to take breakfast and dinner together and go on with his labours. And he thinks it is proper to rest only after he has reached the goal for which he had set out and has accomplished the things that are needful; moreover, he has accustomed his followers also to the same habits. Yet he also knows how to satisfy the wishes of his soldiers when by added toils they have achieved some success; so that all who are with him have learned this lesson too, that from toils come indulgences.
