[211]. Ælian. vi. i.
[212]. In justification of this harsh view of the Spartan character, numerous ancient authorities of the greatest weight may be cited. On their extreme licentiousness see the testimony of Agnon. Athen. xiii. 79. Plato de Legg. viii. t. viii. p. 90. On their tolerance of adultery, Plut. Paral. Num. § 3. On their inhospitality and sordid avarice, Aristoph. Pac. 623. Οἱ δ᾽ ἅτ᾽ αἰσχροκερδεῖς καὶ διειρωνόξενοι, κ. τ. λ. On the avarice of Gylippos, see Max. Tyr. Dissert. p. 133. In the Acharnes (v. 306, seq.) Aristophanes, again, briefly but energetically describes the character which the Spartans enjoyed in Greece:
Πῶς δὲ γ᾽ ἂν καλῶς λέγοις ἂν,
εἴπερ ἐσπείσω γ᾽ ἅπαξ,
Οἷσιν οὔτε βωμὸς, οὔτε πίστις,
οὔθ᾽ ὅρκος μένει.
On which the scholiast remarks: ἐπὶ ἀπιστίᾳ γὰρ διεβάλλοντο οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι· καὶ Εὐριπίδης ἐν Ἀνδρομάχῃ·
Σπάρτης ἔνοικοι, δόλια βουλευτήρια.
Τρία δὲ ἐγκλήματα παραβασίας προσέθηκεν αὐτοῖς· αἱ γὰρ συνθῆκαι διὰ τριῶν τελοῦνται, λόγων, ἔργων, χειρῶν, λόγων μὲν, οἱον δι’ ὅρκων, ἔργων δὲ, διὰ τῶν ἐν βωμοῖς θυσιῶν, χειρῶν δὲ, ἐπειδὴ αἱ πίστεις διὰ τῶν δεξιῶν γίνονται. καὶ Ὅμηρος·
Δεξιαὶ, ᾖς ἐπέπιθμεν.