ἐν ταύταις ταῖς πόλεσι: i.e. in Lacedaemon and the Cretan cities.
γυναῖκες: training and custom made the women in Sparta more nearly equal to the men than elsewhere, and their crisp, spirited sayings also were quoted; as of the mother who handed her son his shield, with the words τέκνον ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς, cf. Plut. ii. 240 b ff., Λακαινῶν ἀποφθέγματα.
εἰ γὰρ ἐθέλει κτἑ.: cf. 324 a, l. 20.
τὰ μὲν πολλά: K. F. Hermann reads τὰ μὲν πρῶτα, but not at first simply, but in general, the conversation of the Spartan is plain and unpretending, and only occasionally does his keenness dart forth.
