Did the Spartans really taunt Philip II of Macedon with a single word?
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Accepted answer
Plutarch, in De garrulitate , writes this concerning the brief, concise language used by the Laconians:
The Lacedaemonians to Philip; Dionysius in Corinth. And when Philip wrote thus to the Spartans: If once I enter into your territories, I will destroy ye all, never to rise again; they answered him with the single word, If. To King Demetrius exclaiming in a great rage, What! have the Spartans sent me but one ambassador? the ambassador nothing terrified replied, Yes; one to one. Certainly they that spoke short and concisely were much admired by the [p. 244] ancients.
see also Laconic Phrase, where the following is noted (emphasis mine):
Subsequently, neither Philip nor his son Alexander the Great attempted to capture the city. Philip is also recorded as approaching Sparta on another (?) occasion and asking whether he should come as friend or foe; the reply was "Neither".[5]
So I guess one word was sufficient.
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