Apophthegmata Laconica

In answer to a man who expressed surprise because he debarred the husband from spending the nights with his wife, but ordained that he should be with his comrades most of the day and pass the whole night in their company, and visit his bride secretly and with great circumspection, he said, So that they may be strong of body and never become sated, and that they may be ever fresh in affection, and that the children which they bring into the world may be more sturdy. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Lycurgus, chap. xv. (48 E), and Xenophon, Constitution of Sparta, 1. 5.)

He banished perfume on the ground that it spoiled and ruined the olive oil, [*](Cf. Seneca, Quaestiones Naturales, iv. 13. 9. Perfumes in ancient times were made with a base of oil; Cf. Moralia, 127 B.) and also the dyer’s art on the ground that it was a flattery of the senses.