THREAD on Spartan Speech

“Laconic” speech is the term used to describe the short, concise way of speaking used by the ancient Spartans. Spartans were very brief & to the point in all communication. By valuing quality of speech over quantity, their words carried more weight.

By saying less, they carefully considered their words, & thereby said more with less.

They held silence in very high regard. Spartan youths never spoke unless directly addressed. A huge benefit of this practice is seen in their style of war, not just in their communication.

When a Spartiate was severely injured in battle, instead of screaming out in agony, like you’d expect a warrior to do, they said nothing & remained calm as they were taught to do from years of grueling training.

By not shrieking in pain on the battlefield, they did not terrify nor possibly demoralize their fellow soldiers, & also preserved their energy for their damaged bodies to heal.

Also when advancing into battle, they had no battle cry, they only sung, prayed, & made music on their march.

They scoffed at their enemies yelling as they charged at them, believing this to be a false sense of courage, like how a small dog constantly barks to make itself seem bigger & more threatening.

Socrates said this of the Spartans & their speech: “They conceal their wisdom, & pretend to be ignorant, so that they may seem superior only because of their prowess in battle...This is how you may know that I am speaking the truth & that the Spartans are the best educated in

philosophy & speaking: if you talk to any ordinary Spartan, he seems to be stupid, but eventually, like an expert marksman, he shoots in some brief remark that proves you to be only a child.”

A good & well known example of their short style of speaking can be seen when Philip II of Macedon challenged them, saying in a message: “You are advised to submit immediately, for if my army steps foot in Lacedaemon it will raze your crops, kill your men & enslave your society.”

Spartans replied with the single word: “If.”

Another example: an Athenian once asked Queen Gorgo, wife of Leonidas, why Spartan women were the only women who could rule men. She replied “We are the only ones who give birth to men.”

The Greek philosopher Plutarch writes about King Aegsilaus in his book “On Sparta”: “Asked once how Sparta’s boundaies stretched, he brandished his spear & said: ‘As far as this can reach.’”

“When somebody else asked why Sparta lacked fortification walls, he pointed to the citizens under arms & said: ‘These are the Spartan walls.’”

“When asked how someone might most surely earn people’s esteem, he replied: ‘By the best words & the finest actions.’”

I will finish off this thread with another great quote by Plutarch: “For as the Celtiberians make steel of iron by burying it in the ground, thereby to refine it from the gross & earthy part, so the Laconic way of speech has nothing of bark upon it, but by cutting off all

superfluity of words, it becomes steeled & sharpened to pierce the understanding of the hearers. So their consciousness of language, so ready to turn the edge of all manner of questions, became natural by their extraordinary practice of speech.”