Philip II King of Macedon was very annoyed with the Spartans. The rest of Greece had sumitted to him, even Athens, goaded to defiance by Demosthenes, and only Sparta held out. He sent his ambassador to the Spartans to bring them to heel.
The ambassador addressed the assembly, and the five ephors, and held out the dire consequences that their contumely would bring on them, "...if King Philip were to turn his attention from more weighty matters to dealing with the Spartans!"
The assembly heard his long and angry diatribe politely, and asked for time till the morrow to respond.
The ambassador was astonished to be told early the next morning that an Ephor awaited him. Normally the Ephors, who ran the state, not their two joint kings, were rarely to be met personally. The ambassador hurried out, with some feeling that such an early visit must mean that the foolish Spartans had spent a bad night and now wanted to make peace. "Well?" he asked the grave old man, "Has Sparta thought about what my master had to say?" The graybeard nodded. "What is your answer?" asked the Macedonian.
The Spartan replied, "If", and turned and walked away.