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θυλάκῳ περιεργάσθαι: translate ‘they had used “sack” needlessly’, lit. ‘they had been superfluous with the “sack”’. The rude brevity of the retort is characteristic. Others (e.g. Grote, iv. 169) translate ‘your wallet is superfluous’, i.e. the words alone were enough. (Cf. Theophrastus, Char. 13 for περιεργία.) The story is told by Sextus Empiricus (in Mathem. ii. 23) of the Chians, seeking leave to import corn from Laconia. Some think this the original occasion, and find here an instance of the composite nature of H.'s history (cf. c. 80 nn.); but the Chian story is probably an invention based on H.'s narrative, and it is difficult to think that Chios needed to import corn, or that Laconia could export it, before 500 B. C. The version of H. is therefore preferable.

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