Incertarum fabularum fragmenta (fr. 394)

155

Phot, λ 1
λάβδα (Dindorf: λάμβδα codd.)· έπί ταϊς άσπίσιν οί Λακεδαιμόνιοι επέγραφαν, ώσπερ
οί Μεσσήνιοι Μ. Εϋπολις·-·. ούτως καί Θεόπομπος (FGrH 115 F 402 = Theopomp.
Com. fr. dub. 107)
labda: The Lacedaimonians wrote this on their shields, in the same way that the
Messenians wrote an M. Eupolis: -. Thus also Theopompus (FGrH 115 F 402 -
Theopomp. Com. fr. dub. 107)
Eust. p. 293.39-41 = 1.453.14-18
ιστορείται δέ ότι Λακεδαιμόνιοι λάμβδα έπί ταϊς άσπίσιν αυτών εις παράσημον
έγραφαν έκ τοΰ κατάρχοντος στοιχείου χαρακτηρίζοντες εαυτούς, ώσπερ οί
Μεσσήνιοι, πλησιόχωροι όντες αύτοϊς καί πολέμιοι, τό μΰ. Εϋπολις·-, ήγουν τάς
Λακωνικάς ασπίδας
But it is reported that the Lacedaimonians wrote a lambda on their shields as an
identifying sign, marking themselves with the initial letter (sc. of their people’s name),
in the same way that the Messenians, who were their neighbors and enemies, (used)
a mu. Eupolis:-, that is to say, the Laconian shields

Meter Dactylic hexameter, e. g.

Discussion Kock 1880 i.354; Gomme 1956 III.653; Kaibel ap. K.-A.; Janko 2000.
211

Assignment to known plays Tentatively assigned to Lakdnes by Janko, al-
though it is unclear that Eupolis actually wrote a play by that title.
Citation Context An isolated bit of historical arcana from a source with good
access to early texts. The material cited by Photius and Eustathius is almost
the only evidence that Spartan hoplites had a labda painted on their shields.
The only other information from a literary source is an anecdote preserved at
Paus. 4.28.5-6 that tells how in the late 340s BCE Messenian allies of Philip
II of Macedon placed an unspecified but distinctly Spartan mark on their
shields, rushed to Elis before the Spartans could get there, and thus disguised
were admitted to the city and seized control of it. The historian Theopompus
wrote at length about Philip, and the reference to the Messenian shield device
in Photius and Eustathius is unmotivated except in reference to this story, as
is Eustathius’ observation that the Messenians were the Spartans’ neighbors
and enemies. Pausanias’ source is thus almost certainly Theopompus ca. Book
XLIII, to which section of the History of Philip F 402 can be assigned; perhaps
Theopompus reported that the Messenians, who were in a hurry, painted over
the first and last strokes of the Messenian M and turned their shields upside