To temper the government of one man alone, Arribas, [1] king of Epirus, imagined only a republic. The Molossians, not knowing how to limit the same power, made two kings [2] : they thereby weakened the state more than the command : they wanted rivals and they had enemies.

Two kings were tolerable only in Lacedæmon ; it was not they who shaped the constitution, but they were a part of the constitution.