victory we mentioned of a State over itself is not
one of the best things but one of those which are
necessary. For imagine a man supposing that a
human body was best off when it was sick and
purged with physic, while never giving a thought
to the case of the body that needs no physic at
all! Similarly, with regard to the well-being of a
State or an individual, that man will never make
a genuine statesman who pays attention primarily
and solely to the needs of foreign warfare, nor will
he make a finished lawgiver unless he designs his
war legislation for peace rather than his peace
legislation for war.
CLIN. This statement, Stranger, is apparently true; yet, unless I am much mistaken, our legal usages in Crete, and in Lacedaemon too, are wholly directed towards war.
ATH. Very possibly; but we must not now attack them violently, but mildly interrogate them, since both we and your legislators are earnestly interested in these matters. Pray follow the argument closely. Let us take the opinion of Tyrtaeus (an Athenian by birth and afterwards a citizen of Lacedaemon), who, above all men, was keenly interested in our subject. This is what he says:'! “Though a man were the richest of men, though a man possessed goods in plenty (and he specifies nearly every good there is), if he failed to prove himself at all times most valiant in war, no mention should I make of him, nor take account of him at all.”” No doubt you also have heard these poems; while our friend Megillus is, I imagine, surfeited with them.Tyrtaeus, xii. (Bergk). Tyrtaeus wrote war-songs at Sparta about 680 B.o.
