his march so as to be able to fall upon the Ephors while they were at their evening meal. VIII. When he drew near to the city, he sent Eurykleidas into the dining-room of the Ephors, on the pretence of bringing a message from the army. After Eurykleidas followed Phoebis and Therukion, two of the foster-brothers of Kleomenes, called _mothakes_[11] by the Lacedæmonians, with a few soldiers. While Eurykleidas was parleying with the Ephors, these men rushed in with drawn swords and cut them down. The president, Agylæus, fell at the first blow and appeared to be dead, but contrived to crawl out of the building unobserved into a small temple, sacred to Fear, the door of which was usually closed, but which then chanced to be open. In this he took refuge and shut the door. The other four were slain, and some few persons, not more than ten, who came to assist them. No one who remained quiet was put to death, nor was any one prevented from leaving the city. Even Agylæus, when he came out of his sanctuary on the following day, was not molested. IX. The Lacedæmonians have temples dedicated not only to Fear, but to Death, and Laughter, and the like. They honour Fear, not as a malevolent divinity to be shunned, but because they think that the constitutions of states are mainly upheld by Fear. For this reason, Aristotle tells us that the Ephors, when they enter upon their office, issue a proclamation ordering the citizens to shave the moustache and obey the laws, that the laws might not be hard upon them. The injunction about shaving the moustache is inserted, I imagine, in order to accustom the young to obedience even in the most trivial matters. It seems to me that the ancient Spartans did not regard bravery as consisting in the absence of fear, but in the fear of shame and dread of dishonour; for those who fear the laws most are the bravest in battle; and those who most fear disgrace care least for their own personal safety. The poet was right who said "Where there is fear, is reverence too;" and Homer makes Helen call Priam "My father-in-law dear, Whom most of all I reverence and fear;" while he speaks of the Greek army as obeying "Its chiefs commands in silence and with fear." Human nature, indeed, leads most men to reverence those whom they fear; and this is why the Lacedæmonians placed the temple of Fear close to the dining-hall of the Ephors, because they invested that office with almost royal authority.