"Upon being asked to listen to a person who could perfectly imitate a nightingale, a Spartan answered, "I have heard t…"

"When an Athenian accused Spartans of being ignorant, the Spartan Pleistoanax agreed: "What you say is true. We alone …"

"A witticism attributed to Lycurgus, the possibly legendary lawgiver of Sparta, was a response to a proposal to set up…"

"On another occasion, Lycurgus was reportedly asked the reason for the less-than-extravagant size of Sparta's sacrific…"

"When he was consulted on how Spartans might best forestall invasion of their homeland, Lycurgus advised, "By remainin…"

"Responding to a visitor who questioned why they put their fields in the hands of the helots rather than cultivate the…"

"King Demaratus, being pestered by someone with a question concerning who the most exemplary Spartan was, answered "He…"

"On her husband Leonidas's departure for battle with the Persians at Thermopylae, Gorgo, Queen of Sparta asked what sh…"

"When Leonidas was in charge of guarding the narrow mountain pass at Thermopylae with just 7,000 allied Greeks in orde…"

"When Ben-Hadad I, king of Aram-Damascus, attacked Ahab, king of Israel, he sent a message: "May the gods deal with me…"