Pausanias, Description of Greece, W.H.S. Jones (Translator), H.A. Ormerod (Translator), 7.12

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[1]
Though the Oropians had received no help from the Achaeans, nevertheless Menalcidas extorted the money from them. But when he had the bribe in his hands, he began to think it hard luck that he had to share his gains with Callicrates. At first he had recourse to procrastination and deceit about payment, but shortly he plucked up courage and flatly refused to give anything.

[2] It confirms the truth of the proverb that one fire burns more fiercely than another, one wolf is more savage than other wolves, one hawk swifter than another, that Menalcidas outdid in treachery Callicrates, the worst rascal of his time, one who could never resist a bribe of any kind. He fell foul of the Athenians without gaining anything, and, when Menalcidas laid down his office, accused him before the Achaeans on a capital charge. He said that Menalcidas, when on an embassy to Rome , had worked against the Achaeans and had done all he could to separate Sparta from the Achaean League.

[3] Thereupon, as the danger he ran was extreme, Menalcidas gave three of the talents he received from Oropus to Diaeus of Megalopolis, who had succeeded him as general of the Achaeans, and on this occasion was so active, because of the bribe, that he succeeded in saving Menalcidas in spite of the opposition of the Achaeans. The Achaeans, individually and as a body, held Diaeus responsible for the acquittal of Menalcidas, but he distracted their attention from the charges made against him by directing it towards more ambitious hopes, using to deceive them the following pretext.

[4] The Lacedaemonians appealed to the Roman senate about a disputed territory, and the senate replied to the appeal by decreeing that all except capital cases should be under the jurisdiction of the Achaean League. Such was the senate's answer, but Diaeus did not tell the Achaeans the truth, but cajoled them by the declaration that the Roman senate had committed to them the right to condemn a Spartan to death.

[5] So the Achaeans claimed the right to try a Lacedaemonian on a capital charge, but the Lacedaemonians would not admit that Diaeus spoke the truth, and wished to refer the point to the Roman senate. But the Achaeans seized another pretext, that no state belonging to the Achaean League had the right to send an embassy on its own to the Roman senate, but only in conjunction with the rest of the League.

[6] These disputes were the cause of a war between the Lacedaemonians and the Achaeans, and the former, realizing that they were not a match for their opponents, sent envoys to their cities and entered into personal negotiations with Diaeus. The cities all made the same reply, that it was unlawful to turn a deaf ear to their general when he proclaimed a campaign; for Diaeus, who was in command of the Achaeans, declared that he would march to make war, not on Sparta but on those that were troubling her.

[7] When the Spartan senate inquired how many he considered were guilty, he reported to them the names of twenty-four citizens of the very front rank in Sparta . Thereupon was carried a motion of Agasisthenes, whose advice on this occasion enhanced the already great reputation he enjoyed. He bade the twenty-four to go into voluntary exile from Lacedaemon , instead of bringing war upon Sparta by remaining where they were; if they exiled themselves to Rome , he declared, they would before long be restored to their country by the Romans.

[8] So they departed, underwent a nominal trial at Sparta , and were condemned to death. The Achaeans on their side despatched to Rome Callicrates and Diaeus to oppose the exiles from Sparta before the senate. Callicrates died of disease on the journey, and even if he had reached Rome I do not know that he would have been of any assistance to the Achaeans—perhaps he would have been the cause of greater troubles. The debate between Diaeus and Menalcidas before the senate was marked by fluency rather than by decency on either side.

[9] The answer of the senate to their remarks was that they were sending envoys to settle the disputes between the Lacedaemonians and the Achaeans. The journey of the envoys from Rome proved rather slow, giving Diaeus a fresh opportunity of deceiving the Achaeans and Menalcidas of deceiving the Lacedaemonians. Diaeus misled the Achaeans into the belief that the Roman senate had decreed the complete subjection to them of the Lacedaemonians; Menalcidas deceived the Lacedaemonians into thinking that the Romans had entirely freed them from the Achaean League.

Description of Greece. Pausanias. W.H.S. Jones (Translator), H.A. Ormerod (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1918-1935.

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Current edition Perseus

Description of Greece (English) (Pausanias. Pausanias Description of Greece, Volumes 1-4. Jones, W.H.S. (William Henry Samuel), translator; Ormerod, Henry Arderne, translator. London, New York: W. Heinemann, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1918-1935.)

Editions (1)

Ἑλλάδος Περιηγήσεως Perseus (Pausanias. Pausaniae Graeciae descriptio, Volumes 1-3. Spiro, Friedrich, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903.) — 7.12 focus

[1]
Ὠρώπιοι δὲ καὶ ὠφελείας σφίσιν οὐ γενομένης τῆς παρὰ Ἀχαιῶν, ὅμως ὑπὸ Μεναλκίδα τὰ χρήματα ἐξεπράχθησαν· ὁ δὲ ὡς τὸ δωροδόκημα εἶχεν ἐν χειρί, ἐποιεῖτο συμφορὰν εἰ καὶ Καλλικράτει μεταδώσει τῶν λημμάτων. τὰ μὲν δὴ πρῶτα ἀναβολαῖς καὶ ἀπάταις ἐχρῆτο ἐς τὴν δόσιν, μετὰ δὲ οὐ πολὺ ἐτόλμησεν ἀποστερεῖν ἐκ τοῦ εὐθέος.

[2] βεβαιοῖ δὴ τὸ λεγόμενον ὡς ἄρʼ ἦν καὶ πῦρ ἐς πλέον ἄλλου πυρὸς καῖον καὶ λύκος 0 ἀγριώτερος λύκων ἄλλων καὶ ὠκύτερος ἱέραξ ἱέρακος πέτεσθαι, εἴγε καὶ Καλλικράτην ἀνοσιώτατον τῶν τότε Μεναλκίδας μὲν ὑπερῆρεν ἀπιστίᾳ, Καλλικράτην, ὃς ἐλάσσων παντοίου λήμματος καὶ ἐπὶ οὐδενὶ οἰκείῳ κέρδει πόλει τῇ Ἀθηναίων ἀπηχθημένος παυσάμενον μὲν τῆς ἀρχῆς Μεναλκίδαν ἐδίωκεν ἐν τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς θανάτου δίκην· πρεσβεῦσαί τε γὰρ Ἀχαιῶν ἐναντία ἔφασκεν αὐτὸν ἐς Ῥώμην καὶ ἐς τὰ μάλιστα γενέσθαι πρόθυμον ἐξελέσθαι τὴν Σπάρτην συνεδρίου τοῦ Ἀχαιῶν.

[3] ἐνταῦθα ὡς ἀφικνεῖτο ἐς πᾶν ὁ Μεναλκίδας κινδύνου, μεταδίδωσι τάλαντα τρία τῶν ἐξ Ὠρωποῦ Μεγαλοπολίτῃ Διαίῳ. ἐγεγόνει δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ ἀρχῆς διάδοχος τῆς Ἀχαιῶν ὁ Δίαιος· τότε δὲ ὑπὲρ τοῦ λήμματος προθυμούμενος ἔμελλε Μεναλκίδᾳ καὶ ἀκόντων Ἀχαιῶν σωτηρίαν παρέξειν. Ἀχαιοὶ δὲ ἐπὶ μὲν τῇ ἀφέσει τοῦ Μεναλκίδα ἰδίᾳ τε ἕκαστος καὶ ἐν κοινῷ Δίαιον ἐποιοῦντο ἐν αἰτίᾳ· Δίαιος δὲ σφᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐς αὐτὸν ἐγκλημάτων μετῆγεν ἐς πραγμάτων ἐλπίδα μειζόνων, προφάσει χρώμενος τοιᾷδε ἐς τὴν ἀπάτην.

[4] Λακεδαιμόνιοι περὶ ἀμφισβητησίμου χώρας καταφεύγουσιν ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων βουλήν· καταφεύγουσι δὲ αὐτοῖς προεῖπεν ἡ βουλὴ δικάζεσθαι τὰ ἄλλα πλὴν ψυχῆς ἐν συνεδρίῳ τῷ Ἀχαιῶν. ἡ μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ἀπεκρίνατο· Δίαιος δὲ οὐ τὸν ὄντα ἔλεγεν Ἀχαιοῖς λόγον, ψυχαγωγῶν δὲ αὐτοὺς ἔφασκε παρὰ τῆς Ῥωμαίων σφίσιν ἐφεῖσθαι βουλῆς καὶ θάνατον ἀνδρὸς καταγνῶναι τῶν ἐκ Σπάρτης.

[5] οἱ μὲν δὴ δικάζειν Λακεδαιμονίοις 0 ἠξίουν καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἑκάστου ψυχῆς, Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ οὔτε ἀληθῆ συνεχώρουν Δίαιον λέγειν καὶ ἀνάγειν ἤθελον ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων βουλήν. Ἀχαιοὶ δὲ ἀντελαμβάνοντο αὖθις ἄλλου λόγου, πόλεις ὅσαι τελοῦσιν ἐς Ἀχαιοὺς μηδεμίαν ἐφʼ ἑαυτῆς καθεστηκέναι κυρίαν ἄνευ τοῦ κοινοῦ τοῦ Ἀχαιῶν παρὰ Ῥωμαίους ἰδίᾳ πρεσβείαν ἀποστέλλειν.

[6] πόλεμός τε δὴ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀμφισβητημάτων τούτων Ἀχαιοῖς καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις ἤρχετο καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι συνιέντες οὐκ ἀξιόμαχοι πρὸς Ἀχαιοὺς εἶναι πρεσβείαις ἐχρῶντο πρὸς τὰς πόλεις αὐτῶν καὶ ἰδίᾳ πρὸς τὸν Δίαιον λόγοις. αἱ μὲν δὴ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ αἱ πόλεις ἐποιοῦντο τὰς ἀποκρίσεις, οὔ σφισιν ἔξοδον ἐπαγγέλλοντος στρατηγοῦ παρακούειν εἶναι νόμον· Δίαιος γὰρ ἦρχε τῶν Ἀχαιῶν καὶ ἔφασκεν οὐ τῇ Σπάρτῃ, τοῖς δὲ ταράσσουσιν αὐτὴν πολεμήσων ἀφίξεσθαι.

[7] ἐρομένων δὲ τῶν γερόντων ὁπόσους ἡγοῖτο ἀδικεῖν, ἐσπέμπει σφίσι τεσσάρων ὀνόματα ἀνδρῶν καὶ εἴκοσι πρωτευόντων τὰ πάντα ἐν Σπάρτῃ. ἐνταῦθα Ἀγασισθένους ἐνίκησε γνώμη δοκίμου καὶ τὰ πρότερα ὄντος, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς παραινέσεως ταύτης προελθόντος καὶ ἐς πλέον δόξης· ὃς τοὺς ἄνδρας τούτους ἐκέλευσεν ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος ἐθελοντὰς φεύγειν μηδὲ αὐτοῦ μένοντας ἐργάσασθαι τῇ Σπάρτῃ πόλεμον, φυγόντας δὲ ἐς Ῥώμην καταχθήσεσθαι σφᾶς οὐ μετὰ πολὺ ἔφασκεν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων.

[8] καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀπελθόντες ὑπήγοντο ὑπὸ Σπαρτιατῶν ἐς δικαστήριον τῷ λόγῳ καὶ ἀποθανεῖν ἦσαν κατεγνωσμένοι· ἀπεστάλησαν δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ Ἀχαιῶν Καλλικράτης ἐς Ῥώμην καὶ Δίαιος τοῖς φεύγουσιν ἐκ Σπάρτης ἀντιδικήσοντες ἐπὶ τῆς βουλῆς. καὶ αὐτῶν 0 ὁ μὲν κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν Καλλικράτης τελευτᾷ νόσῳ, οὐδὲ οἶδα εἰ ἀφικόμενος ἐς Ῥώμην ὠφέλησεν ἄν τι Ἀχαιοὺς ἢ κακῶν σφισιν ἐγένετο μειζόνων ἀρχή· Δίαιος δὲ ἐς ἀντιλογίαν Μεναλκίδᾳ καταστὰς ἐπὶ τῆς βουλῆς πολλὰ μὲν εἶπε, τὰ δὲ ἤκουσεν οὐ σὺν κόσμῳ.

[9] καί σφισιν ἀπεκρίνατο ἡ βουλὴ ἀποστέλλειν πρέσβεις, οἳ κρινοῦσιν ὅσα Λακεδαιμονίοις καὶ Ἀχαιοῖς διάφορα ἦν ἐς ἀλλήλους. καὶ τοῖς ἐκ Ῥώμης πρέσβεσι σχολαιτέρα πως ἐγίνετο ἡ ὁδός, ὥστε ἐξαπατᾶν ὑπῆρχεν ἐξ ἀρχῆς Διαίῳ τε Ἀχαιοὺς καὶ Μεναλκίδᾳ Λακεδαιμονίους· τοὺς μὲν δὴ παρῆγεν ὁ Δίαιος ὡς τὰ πάντα ἕπεσθαι Λακεδαιμόνιοί σφισιν ὑπὸ τῆς Ῥωμαίων βουλῆς εἰσιν ἐγνωσμένοι, Λακεδαιμονίους δὲ ὁ Μεναλκίδας ἠπάτα παντελῶς τοῦ συνεδρεύειν ἐς τὸ Ἀχαϊκὸν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων αὐτοὺς ἀπηλλάχθαι.

Translations (1)

English (Jones and Ormerod; retranslated Gregory Nagy, CHS, 2018) (OCR draft) Experimental (CHS Pausanias Reader retranslation by Gregory Nagy, based on Jones and Ormerod, with marked Greek terms, notes, quotations, and bibliographic attributions preserved.) — 7.12 focus

[1] Though the Oropians had received no help from the Achaeans, nevertheless Menalkidas extorted the money from them. But when he had the bribe in his hands, he began to think it hard luck that he had to share his gains with Kallikrates. At first he had recourse to procrastination and deceit about payment, but shortly he plucked up courage and flatly refused to give anything.

[2] It confirms the truth of the proverb that one fire burns more fiercely than another, one wolf is more savage than other wolves, one hawk swifter than another, that Menalkidas outdid in treachery Kallikrates, the worst rascal of his time, one who could never resist a bribe of any kind. He fell foul of the Athenians without gaining anything, and, when Menalkidas laid down his office, accused him before the Achaeans on a capital charge. He said that Menalkidas, when on an embassy to Rome, had worked against the Achaeans and had done all he could to separate Sparta from the Achaean League.

[3] Thereupon, as the danger he ran was extreme, Menalkidas gave three of the talents he received from Oropus to Diaios of Megalopolis, who had succeeded him as general of the Achaeans, and on this occasion was so active, because of the bribe, that he succeeded in saving Menalkidas in spite of the opposition of the Achaeans. The Achaeans, individually and as a body, held Diaios responsible for the acquittal of Menalkidas, but he distracted their attention from the charges made against him by directing it towards more ambitious hopes, using to deceive them the following pretext.

[4] The Lacedaemonians appealed to the Roman senate about a disputed territory, and the senate replied to the appeal by decreeing that all except capital cases should be under the jurisdiction of the Achaean League. Such was the senate’s answer, but Diaios did not tell the Achaeans the truth, but cajoled them by the declaration that the Roman senate had committed to them the right to condemn a Spartan to death.

[5] So the Achaeans claimed the right to try a Lacedaemonian on a capital charge, but the Lacedaemonians would not admit that Diaios spoke the truth, and wished to refer the point to the Roman senate. But the Achaeans seized another pretext, that no state belonging to the Achaean League had the right to send an embassy on its own to the Roman senate, but only in conjunction with the rest of the League.

[6] These disputes were the cause of a war between the Lacedaemonians and the Achaeans, and the former, realizing that they were not a match for their opponents, sent envoys to their cities and entered into personal negotiations with Diaios. The cities all made the same reply, that it was unlawful to turn a deaf ear to their general when he proclaimed a campaign; for Diaios, who was in command of the Achaeans, declared that he would march to make war, not on Sparta but on those that were troubling her.

[7] When the Spartan senate inquired how many he considered were guilty, he reported to them the names of twenty-four citizens of the very front rank in Sparta. Thereupon was carried a motion of Agasisthenes, whose advice on this occasion enhanced the already great reputation he enjoyed. He ordered the twenty-four to go into voluntary exile from Lacedaemon, instead of bringing war upon Sparta by remaining where they were; if they exiled themselves to Rome, he declared, they would before long be restored to their country by the Romans.

[8] So they departed, underwent a nominal trial at Sparta, and were condemned to death. The Achaeans on their side despatched to Rome Kallikrates and Diaios to oppose the exiles from Sparta before the senate. Kallikrates died of disease on the journey, and even if he had reached Rome I do not know that he would have been of any assistance to the Achaeans—perhaps he would have been the cause of greater troubles. The debate between Diaios and Menalkidas before the senate was marked by fluency rather than by decency on either side.

[9] The answer of the senate to their remarks was that they were sending envoys to settle the disputes between the Lacedaemonians and the Achaeans. The journey of the envoys from Rome proved rather slow, giving Diaios a fresh opportunity of deceiving the Achaeans and Menalkidas of deceiving the Lacedaemonians. Diaios misled the Achaeans into the belief that the Roman senate had decreed the complete subjection to them of the Lacedaemonians; Menalkidas deceived the Lacedaemonians into thinking that the Romans had entirely freed them from the Achaean League.

New Alexandria Commentaries

Gregory Nagy, Editors: Angelia Hanhardt and Keith DeStone, Web producer: Noel Spencer, Consultant for images: Jill Curry Robbins, \[\[Noel gives this a separate URN\]\]

Pausanias Description of Greece 7.12

W.H.S. Jones (Translator), H.A. Ormerod (Translator)

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