Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. Friedrich Spiro, 10.21

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[1] προελθὼν οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἡρακλείας—ἐπυνθάνετο γὰρ παρὰ αὐτομόλων τοὺς συνειλεγμένους ἐς Πύλας ἀπὸ ἑκάστης πόλεως— ὑπερεφρόνει τε τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ καὶ ἦρχεν ἐς τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν μάχης ἅμα ἀνίσχοντι τῷ ἡλίῳ, οὔτε Ἕλληνα ἔχων μάντιν οὔτε ἱεροῖς ἐπιχωρίοις χρώμενος, εἰ δὴ ἔστι γε μαντεία Κελτική. ἐνταῦθα οἱ Ἕλληνες ἐν σιγῇ τε ἐπῄεσαν καὶ ἐν κόσμῳ· καὶ ὡς ἀφίκοντο ἐς χεῖρας, οὔτε σφίσιν οἱ πεζοὶ τοσοῦτο ἀπὸ τῆς τάξεως ἐξέθεον 0 ὥστε τὴν φάλαγγα ἐπιταράσσειν τὴν οἰκείαν καὶ οἱ ψιλοὶ μένοντες κατὰ χώραν τά τε ἀκόντια ἔπεμπον καὶ ὅσα ἀπὸ τῶν τόξων ἢ σφενδονῶν.

[2] τὰ δὲ ἱππικὰ ἀμφοτέροις ἀχρεῖα ἐγένετο ἅτε οὐ στενοῦ μόνον χωρίου τοῦ μετὰ τὰς Πύλας ὄντος ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ αὐτοφυοῦς πέτρας λείου καὶ διὰ τῶν ῥευμάτων τὸ συνεχὲς τὰ πλείονα καὶ ὀλισθηροῦ. τοῖς δὲ Γαλάταις τὰ μὲν τῆς σκευῆς ἀσθενέστερα ἦν—θυρεοὺς γὰρ τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους εἶχον, καὶ ἄλλο σφίσιν οὐκ ἦν ὅπλον σκέπη σώματος—, πλέον δὲ ἔτι ἐμπειρίᾳ τῇ ἐς τὰ πολεμικὰ ἀπέδεον.

[3] οἱ δὲ ἐν ὀργῇ τε ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐναντίους καὶ θυμῷ μετὰ οὐδενὸς λογισμοῦ καθάπερ τὰ θηρία ἐχώρουν· καὶ οὔτε πελέκεσι διαιρουμένους ἢ ὑπὸ μαχαιρῶν ἡ ἀπόνοια τοὺς ἔτι ἐμπνέοντας ἔτι ἀπέλειπεν, οὔτε ὅσοι βέλεσι καὶ ἀκοντίοις διεπείροντο, ὑφῄρουν τοῦ θυμοῦ, μέχρι οὗ παρέμενεν ἡ ψυχή· οἱ δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῶν τραυμάτων τὰ δόρατα οἷς ἐβέβληντο ἀνασπῶντες ἠφίεσάν τε ἐς τοὺς Ἕλληνας καὶ ἐχρῶντο ἐκ χειρός.

[4] ἐν τούτῳ δὲ οἱ ἐπὶ τῶν τριήρων Ἀθηναῖοι μόγις μὲν καὶ οὐκ ἄνευ κινδύνου, παραπλεύσαντες δὲ ὅμως διὰ τῆς ἰλύος, ἣ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐπέχει τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ τὰς ναῦς ὅτι ἐγγύτατα τῶν βαρβάρων σχόντες, βέλεσί τε παντοίοις ἐς τὰ πλάγια καὶ τοξεύμασιν ἐς αὐτοὺς ἐχρῶντο. καμνόντων δὲ λόγου μειζόνως τῶν Κελτῶν καὶ ἅτε ἐν στενοχωρίᾳ μικρὰ μὲν δρώντων, διπλάσια δὲ καὶ τετραπλάσια πασχόντων, ἀναχωρεῖν ἐς τὸ στρατόπεδον ἐσήμαινόν σφισιν οἱ ἡγεμόνες. οἱ δὲ ἀτάκτως καὶ σὺν οὐδενὶ ἀναστρέφοντες κόσμῳ πολλοὶ μὲν 0 συνεπατήθησαν ὑπὸ ἀλλήλων, πολλοὶ δὲ ἐς τὸ τέλμα ἐμπεσόντες ἠφανίσθησαν κατὰ τοῦ πηλοῦ, καὶ ἀπώλεια οὐκ ἐλάσσων ἀναχωροῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἢ ἐν τοῦ ἀγῶνος συνέβη τῇ ἀκμῇ.

[5]
τοὺς μὲν δὴ Ἕλληνας τὸ Ἀττικὸν ὑπερεβάλετο ἀρετῇ τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην· αὐτῶν δὲ Ἀθηναίων Κυδίας μάλιστα ἐγένετο ἀγαθός, νέος τε ἡλικίαν καὶ τότε ἐς ἀγῶνα ἐλθὼν πολέμου πρῶτον. ἀποθανόντος δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν Γαλατῶν τὴν ἀσπίδα οἱ προσήκοντες ἀνέθεσαν τῷ Ἐλευθερίῳ Διί, καὶ ἦν τὸ ἐπίγραμμα·

† ημαρλα δὴ ποθέουσα νέαν ἔτι Κυδίου ἥβην

ἀσπὶς ἀριζήλου φωτός, ἄγαλμα Διί,

ἇς διὰ δὴ πρώτας λαιὸν τότε πῆχυν ἔτεινεν,

εὖτʼ ἐπὶ τὸν Γαλάταν ἤκμασε θοῦρος Ἄρης.

[6] τοῦτο μὲν δὴ ἐπεγέγραπτο πρὶν ἢ τοὺς ὁμοῦ Σύλλᾳ καὶ ἄλλα τῶν Ἀθήνῃσι καὶ τὰς ἐν τῇ στοᾷ τοῦ Ἐλευθερίου Διὸς καθελεῖν ἀσπίδας· τότε δὲ ἐν ταῖς Θερμοπύλαις οἱ μὲν Ἕλληνες μετὰ τὴν μάχην τούς τε αὑτῶν ἔθαπτον καὶ ἐσκύλευον τοὺς βαρβάρους, οἱ Γαλάται δὲ οὔτε ὑπὲρ ἀναιρέσεως τῶν νεκρῶν ἐπεκηρυκεύοντο ἐποιοῦντό τε ἐπʼ ἴσης γῆς σφᾶς τυχεῖν ἢ θηρία τε αὐτῶν ἐμφορηθῆναι καὶ ὅσον τεθνεῶσι πολέμιόν ἐστιν ὀρνίθων.

[7] ὀλιγώρως δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐς τῶν ἀπογινομένων ἔχειν τὰς ταφὰς δύο ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν τὰ ἀναπείθοντα ἦν, πολεμίους τε ἄνδρας ἐκπλῆξαι καὶ ὅτι ἔστι τεθνεώτων οὐ διʼ ἔθους οἶκτος αὐτοῖς. ἀπέθανον δὲ παρὰ τὴν μάχην τεσσαράκοντα μὲν τοῦ 0 Ἑλληνικοῦ, τοὺς δὲ τῶν βαρβάρων οὐχ οἷόν τε ἦν ἀκριβῶς ἐξευρεῖν· πολὺ γὰρ καὶ τὸ ἀφανισθὲν κατὰ τῆς ἰλύος ἐγένετο ἐξ αὐτῶν.

Description of Greece. Pausanias. ed. Friedrich Spiro. Leipzig. 1903.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

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

Translations (2)

Description of Greece Perseus (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.) — 10.21 focus

[1]
Deserters kept Brennus informed about the forces from each city mustered at Thermopylae . So despising the Greek army he advanced from Heracleia, and began the battle at sun-rise on the next day. He had no Greek soothsayer, and made no use of his own country's sacrifices, if indeed the Celts have any art of divination. Whereupon the Greeks attacked silently and in good order. When they came to close quarters, the infantry did not rush out of their line far enough to disturb their proper formation, while the light-armed troops remained in position, throwing javelins, shooting arrows or slinging bullets.

[2] The cavalry on both sides proved useless, as the ground at the Pass is not only narrow, but also smooth because of the natural rock, while most of it is slippery owing to its being covered with streams. The Gauls were worse armed than the Greeks, having no other defensive armour than their national shields, while they were still more inferior in war experience.

[3] On they marched against their enemies with the unreasoning fury and passion of brutes. Slashed with axe or sword they kept their desperation while they still breathed; pierced by arrow or javelin, they did not abate of their passion so long as life remained. Some drew out from their wounds the spears, by which they had been hit, and threw them at the Greeks or used them in close fighting.

[4] Meanwhile the Athenians on the triremes, with difficulty and with danger, nevertheless coasted along through the mud that extends far out to sea, brought their ships as close to the barbarians as possible, and raked them with arrows and every other kind of missile. The Celts were in unspeakable distress, and as in the confined space they inflicted few losses but suffered twice or four times as many, their captains gave the signal to retire to their camp. Retreating in confusion and without any order, many were crushed beneath the feet of their friends, and many others fell into the swamp and disappeared under the mud. Their loss in the retreat was no less than the loss that occurred while the battle raged.

[5]
On this day the Attic contingent surpassed the other Greeks in courage. Of the Athenians themselves the bravest was Cydias, a young man who had never before been in battle. He was killed by the Gauls, but his relatives dedicated his shield to Zeus God of Freedom, and the inscription ran:—

Here hang I, yearning for the still youthful bloom of Cydias,

The shield of a glorious man, an offering to Zeus.

I was the very first through which at this battle he thrust his left arm,

When the battle raged furiously against the Gaul .

[6]
This inscription remained until Sulla and his army took away, among other Athenian treasures, the shields in the porch of Zeus, God of Freedom. After this battle at Thermopylae the Greeks buried their own dead and spoiled the barbarians, but the Gauls sent no herald to ask leave to take up the bodies, and were indifferent whether the earth received them or whether they were devoured by wild beasts or carrion birds.

[7] There were in my opinion two reasons that made them careless about the burial of their dead: they wished to strike terror into their enemies, and through habit they have no tender feeling for those who have gone. In the battle there fell forty of the Greeks; the losses of the barbarians it was impossible to discover exactly. For the number of them that disappeared beneath the mud was great.

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.) — 10.21 focus

[1] Deserters kept Brennus informed about the forces from each city mustered at Thermopylae. So despising the Greek army, he advanced from Herakleia and began the battle at sunrise on the next day. He had no Greek soothsayer and made no use of his own country’s sacrifices, if indeed the Celts have any art of divination. Then the Greeks attacked silently and in good order. When they came to close quarters, the infantry did not rush out of their line far enough to disturb their proper formation, while the light-armed troops remained in position, throwing javelins, shooting arrows, or slinging bullets.

[2] The cavalry on both sides proved useless, as the ground at the Pass is not only narrow, but also smooth because of the natural rock, while most of it is slippery owing to its being covered with streams. The Gauls were worse armed than the Greeks, having no other defensive armor than their national shields, while they were still more inferior in war experience.

[3] On they marched against their enemies with the unreasoning fury and passion of brutes. Slashed with axe or sword, they kept their desperation while they still breathed; pierced by arrow or javelin, they did not abate of their passion so long as life remained. Some drew out from their wounds the spears, by which they had been hit, and threw them at the Greeks or used them in close fighting.

[4] Meanwhile, the Athenians on the triremes, with difficulty and with danger, nevertheless coasted along through the mud that extends far out to sea, brought their ships as close to the barbarians as possible, and raked them with arrows and every other kind of missile. The Celts were in unspeakable distress, and as in the confined space, they inflicted few losses but suffered twice or four times as many, their captains gave the signal to retire to their camp. Retreating in confusion and without any order, many were crushed beneath the feet of their friends, and many others fell into the swamp and disappeared under the mud. Their loss in the retreat was no less than the loss that occurred while the battle raged.

[5] On this day, the Attic contingent surpassed the other Greeks in courage. Of the Athenians themselves, the bravest was Cydias, a young man who had never before been in battle. He was killed by the Gauls, but his relatives dedicated his shield to Zeus, God of Freedom, and the inscription ran:

Here hang I, yearning for the still youthful bloom of Cydias,
The shield of a glorious man, an offering to Zeus.
I was the very first through which at this battle he thrust his left arm,
When the battle raged furiously against the Gaul.

[6] This inscription remained until Sulla and his army took away, among other Athenian treasures, the shields in the porch of Zeus, God of Freedom. After this battle at Thermopylae, the Greeks buried their own dead and despoiled the barbarians, but the Gauls sent no herald to ask leave to take up the bodies and were indifferent whether the earth received them or whether they were devoured by wild beasts or carrion birds.

[7] There were in my opinion two reasons that made them careless about the burial of their dead: they wished to strike terror into their enemies, and through habit, they have no tender feeling for those who have gone. In the battle there fell forty of the Greeks; the losses of the barbarians it was impossible to discover exactly. For the number of them that disappeared beneath the mud was great.

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 10.21

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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