Constitution of the Lacedaemonians

Sections

1.1 – 1.3 1.4 – 1.6 1.7 – 2.1 2.1 – 2.2 2.3 – 2.4 2.5 – 2.6 2.7 – 2.8 2.9 – 2.11 2.12 – 2.14 3.1 – 3.4 3.5 – 4.3 4.4 – 4.7 5.1 – 5.4 5.5 – 5.7 5.8 – 6.1 6.2 – 6.4 6.5 – 7.4 7.5 – 8.2 8.3 – 8.4 8.5 – 9.3 9.4 – 10.1 10.2 – 10.5 10.6 – 11.1 11.2 – 11.3 11.4 – 11.6 11.7 – 11.9 11.10 – 12.2 12.3 – 12.7 12.7 – 13.2 13.3 – 13.6 13.7 – 13.9 13.10 – 14.3 14.4 – 15.2 15.3 – 15.7 15.8 – 15.9

İngilizce Yunanca

2.7 It was not on account of a difficulty in providing for them that he encouraged them to get their food by their own cunning. No one, I suppose, can fail to see that. Obviously a man who intends to take to thieving must spend sleepless nights and play the deceiver and lie in ambush by day, and moreover, if he means to make a capture, he must have spies ready. There can be no doubt then, that all this education was planned by him in order to make the boys more resourceful in getting supplies, and better fighting men.

2.7 Someone may ask:

2.8 But why, if he believed stealing to be a fine thing, did he have the boy who was caught beaten with many stripes? I reply: Because in all cases men punish a learner for not carrying out properly whatever he is taught to do. So the Spartans chastise those who get caught for stealing badly.