Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Fragments 45 — Epictetus
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Fragments 45
If you wish your house to be well managed, imitate the Spartan Lycurgus. For as he did not fence his city with walls, but fortified the inhabitants by virtue and preserved the city always free; so do you not cast around (your house) a large court and raise high towers, but strengthen the dwellers by good will and fidelity and friendship, and then nothing harmful will enter it, not even if the whole band of wickedness shall array itself against it.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Fragments 45, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/epictetus-fragments/45
Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesProtect your household the way Lycurgus protected Sparta: not with walls and towers but by strengthening the character of the people inside. Goodwill, loyalty and friendship at home keep harm out better than any fortress.
Older wording
- “fidelity”
- — loyalty, faithfulness
- “Lycurgus”
- — the legendary lawgiver of Sparta
Themes and situations
- Family and love
- Virtue and character
- Friendship
- Simplicity and frugality
- Leadership and power
- Family conflict
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.