Or was it an invention of the movie 300 (2007)? It is as good time to revisit 300 as it has been released in a great new transfer on 4K UHD Blu-Ray. Also a good time to read up about the Spartans.

I came across this quote on an Italian website -

http://inesattezze.blogspot.com/2008/03/leonida-1.html

Original: " Secondo Giulio Cesare, i Re spartani erano allenati fin dall'infanzia alla battaglia e avevano un vero e proprio culto, a suo dire, per pettorali e addominali chelonici (da chélys "testuggine")."

Google Translation: " According to Julius Caesar, the Spartan kings were trained from childhood to battle and had a real cult, according to him, for chelonic pectorals and abdominals (from chélys "tortoise")." Tortoise is still sometimes used as modern slang for a highly developed six-pack.

Questions -

1. Is this apocryphal, did Caesar actually say something like this? If yes, where?
2. Is the claim itself true, that the Spartans had a cult for "tortoise-like" pecs and abs?