<head>Philopoemen at Sparta</head>The Spartans wished to find one of their own citizens to speak to Philopoemen about this. But while in most cases there are many enterprising schemers ready to offer such favours and thus take the first steps to recommend and establish friendship, in the case of Philopoemen they could not find a single man willing to offer him this favour,
until at last being hard put to it they appointed by vote Timolaus, who though he was a family friend of Philopoemen and had been intimate with him for long, had visited <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Megalopolis&groupId=745&placeId=1360">Megalopolis</a> twice for this very purpose without being able to summon up courage to mention the matter to him, until spurring himself on and going there a third time he ventured to address him on the subject of the gift.
When Philopoemen, as he never had expected, received the proposal quite courteously,
he was delighted, as he thought he had attained his object, and Philopoemen said he would come to <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sparta&groupId=660&placeId=1208">Sparta</a> in a few days, as he wished to thank all the magistrates for this favour.
Upon his going there later and being invited to attend the Council, he said that he had long recognized the kind feelings the Spartan entertained for him and now did so more than ever from the crown and very high honour that they offered him.
So, he said, he perfectly appreciated their intentions, but was a little abashed by the manner in which they proceeded. For such honours and such crowns, the rust of which he who once put them on would never wash off his head, should never be given to friends,
but much rather to enemies, in order that their friends, retaining the right to speak their minds, might be trusted by the Achaeans when they proposed to help <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sparta&groupId=660&placeId=1208">Sparta</a>, while their enemies, who had swallowed the bait, might either be compelled to support the proposal or have to hold their tongues and be incapacitated from doing any harm.
It is not at all the same to judge of things from hearsay and from having actually witnessed them, but there is a great difference. In all matters a certainty founded on the evidence of one's eyes is of the greatest value.
Walbank Commentary