14. We have now another instance of the arbitrary manner in which Ephorus composed his history by probable arguments. He proceeds upon the fact that Eurysthenes and Procles, although the founders of Sparta, were not honoured as such (as ἀρχηγέται), that they did not enjoy any divine honour, did not give their name to any tribe, &c. (Now the very first of these statements is false; for Eurysthenes and Procles, according to the native tradition, were _not_ the founders of Sparta, as was shown above.) Hence Ephorus infers that they must have offended the Dorians; and he finds the cause of this offence in the adoption of foreign citizens, through whose assistance they had extended their power. This instance is a sufficient justification for our rejecting the historical system of Ephorus, and neglecting the results which he obtained by it.
There must have been many stories concerning Eurysthenes and Procles current in ancient times which have not come down to us. There was a general tradition of their continual discord; and we know that the military fame of Procles was as great as that of Eurysthenes was insignificant.(370) There is, however, something peculiarly worthy of notice in an incidental remark of Cicero,(371) that Procles died a year before Eurysthenes. Could there have been chronicles of so early a period, or is it possible that tradition should preserve such precise dates? It is also a remarkable statement that the wives of both kings were likewise twin sisters, Lathria and Anaxandra by name, daughters of Thersander king of the Cleonæans, whose descent we mentioned above.(372) Some great heroic actions of Soüs(373) (the “violent”), the son of Procles, were also celebrated in Sparta.(374) It was even said that he had carried on war against the Cleitorians; and it was related, that in the narrow valley of Cleitor, when surrounded by enemies, and oppressed by intolerable thirst, he promised to give up all his conquests, on the condition of himself and his army being allowed to drink from the fountain: that upon this he offered the crown to any one who would abstain from drinking, but, no one being willing to gain it at this price, he moistened himself with water from the fountain, and departed without drinking.(375) But a Spartan king would hardly have ventured, even some centuries afterwards, to lead an army through the hostile territory of Arcadia, to a place at so considerable a distance as Cleitor, leaving behind so many hollow defiles, ravines, and mountains.