Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng3
23.1
23.1
Agathocles was the son of a potter. After he had made himself master of Sicily, and had been proclaimed king, he used to have drinking-cups of pottery placed beside those of gold, and as he pointed these out to the young men he would say,
23.1
That is the sort of thing which I used to do formerly, but this is what I do now because of my diligence and fortitude. Cf. Moralia, 544 B, where the story is repeated in slightly different words.
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23.2
When he was besieging a city, some of the people on the wall reviled him, saying,
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Potter, how are you going to pay your soldiers’ wages ?
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But he, unruffled and smiling, said,
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If I take this town.
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And after he had taken it by storm he sold the captives as slaves, and said,
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If you revile me again, what I have to say will be said to your masters.
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23.3
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When the people of Ithaca complained of his sailors because they had put in at the island and had forcibly carried off some of the animals, he said,
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But your king carne to us, and not only took our flocks, but also blinded their shepherd, The Cyclops, Homer, Od. ix. 375. and went his way.
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