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[1]
Ἐλάτεια δὲ τῶν ἐν Φωκεῦσι μεγίστη πόλεών ἐστι τῶν ἄλλων μετά γε τοὺς Δελφούς· κεῖται δὲ κατὰ Ἀμφίκλειαν, καὶ ἐς αὐτὴν ὀγδοήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν ὁδός ἐστιν ἐξ Ἀμφικλείας σταδίων, πεδιὰς ἡ πολλὴ καὶ αὖθις οὐκ ἐπὶ πολὺ ἀνάντης ἡ ἐγγυτάτω τοῦ Ἐλατέων ἄστεως. ῥεῖ δὲ ἐν τῇ πεδιάδι ὁ Κηφισός· αἱ δὲ ὠτίδες καλούμεναι παρὰ τὸν Κηφισὸν νέμονται μάλιστα 0 ὀρνίθων.

[2] Ἐλατεῦσι δὲ ἐξεγένετο μὲν Κάσσανδρον καὶ τὴν Μακεδόνων ἀπώσασθαι στρατιάν, ὑπῆρξε δὲ καὶ Ταξίλου Μιθριδάτῃ στρατηγοῦντος τὸν πόλεμόν σφισιν ἐκφυγεῖν· ἀντὶ τούτου δὲ τοῦ ἔργου Ῥωμαῖοι δεδώκασιν αὐτοῖς ἐλευθέρους ὄντας ἀτελῆ νέμεσθαι τὴν χώραν. ἀμφισβητοῦσι δὲ οὗτοι ξενικοῦ γένους, καὶ Ἀρκάδες φασὶν εἶναι τὸ ἀρχαῖον· Ἔλατον γὰρ τὸν Ἀρκάδος, ἡνίκα ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν Φλεγύαι τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς ἐστρατεύσαντο, ἀμῦναί τε τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐν τῇ Φωκίδι ὁμοῦ τῷ στρατεύματι αὐτὸν καταμείναντα Ἐλατείας οἰκιστὴν γενέσθαι.

[3] ἐν δὲ ταῖς Φωκέων πόλεσιν ἃς ὁ Μῆδος ἐνέπρησεν, ἀριθμῆσαι καὶ τὴν Ἐλάτειαν ἔστιν ἐν ταύταις. συμφοραὶ δὲ αἱ μὲν πρὸς Φωκέας τοὺς ἄλλους γεγόνασί σφισιν ἐν κοινῷ, τὰς δὲ καὶ ἰδίᾳ τοῖς Ἐλατεῦσιν ἐκ Μακεδόνων παρεσκεύασεν ὁ δαίμων. καὶ ἐπὶ μὲν Κασσάνδρου πολεμήσαντος Ὀλυμπιόδωρος κατέστη μάλιστα αἴτιος ἄπρακτον τοῖς Μακεδόσι γενέσθαι πολιορκίαν· Φίλιππος δὲ ὁ Δημητρίου τόν τε ἐν Ἐλατείᾳ δῆμον πρὸς τὸ ἔσχατον δέους ἤγαγε καὶ ὑπηγάγετο ἅμα τοὺς δυνατωτέρους δωρεᾷ.

[4] Τίτος μὲν δὴ ὁ ἄρχων ὁ Ῥωμαίων—τὸ γὰρ δὴ Ἑλληνικὸν ἅπαν ἐλευθερώσων ἀπέσταλτο ἐκ Ῥώμης—πολιτείαν τε Ἐλατεῦσιν ἀποδώσειν τὴν ἀρχαίαν ἐπηγγέλλετο καὶ διʼ ἀγγέλων ἐπεκηρυκεύετό σφισιν ἀπὸ Μακεδόνων ἀφίστασθαι· οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ ἀγνωμοσύνης ὁ δῆμος ἢ οἱ ἔχοντες τὰς ἀρχὰς Φιλίππῳ τε ἦσαν πιστοὶ καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ῥωμαίου πολιορκίᾳ παρέστησαν. χρόνῳ δὲ οἱ Ἐλατεῖς ὕστερον Ταξίλου τε Μιθριδάτῃ στρατηγοῦντος καὶ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου βαρβάρων ἀντέσχον τῇ 0 πολιορκίᾳ· ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὲ ἐλευθέρους εἶναι τῷ ἔργῳ δέδοταί σφισιν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων.

[5] τὸ δὲ Κοστοβώκων τε τῶν λῃστικῶν τὸ κατʼ ἐμὲ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἐπιδραμὸν ἀφίκετο καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἐλάτειαν· ἔνθα δὴ ἀνὴρ Μνησίβουλος λόχον τε περὶ αὑτὸν ἀνδρῶν συνέστησε καὶ καταφονεύσας πολλοὺς τῶν βαρβάρων ἔπεσεν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ. οὗτος ὁ Μνησίβουλος δρόμου νίκας καὶ ἄλλας ἀνείλετο καὶ Ὀλυμπιάδι πέμπτῃ πρὸς ταῖς τριάκοντά τε καὶ διακοσίαις σταδίου καὶ τοῦ σὺν τῇ ἀσπίδι διαύλου· ἐν Ἐλατείᾳ δὲ κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ δρομέως Μνησιβούλου χαλκοῦς ἕστηκεν ἀνδριάς.

[6] ἡ δὲ ἀγορὰ αὐτή τέ ἐστι θέας ἀξία καὶ ὁ Ἔλατος ἐπειργασμένος στήλῃ· σαφῶς δὲ οὐκ οἶδα εἴτε τιμῶντες οἷα οἰκιστὴν εἴτε καὶ μνήματος ἐπίθημα ἐποιήσαντο τὴν στήλην. τῷ δὲ Ἀσκληπιῷ ναὸς ᾠκοδόμηται καὶ ἄγαλμα γένεια ἔχον ἐστί· τοῖς ἐργασαμένοις τὸ ἄγαλμα ὀνόματα μὲν Τιμοκλῆς καὶ Τιμαρχίδης, γένους δέ εἰσι τοῦ Ἀττικοῦ. ἐπὶ τῷ πέρατι δὲ τῷ ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς πόλεως θέατρόν τέ ἐστι καὶ χαλκοῦν Ἀθηνᾶς ἄγαλμα ἀρχαῖον· ταύτην τὴν θεὸν λέγουσιν ἀμῦναί σφισιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὁμοῦ Ταξίλῳ βαρβάρους.

[7]
Ἐλατείας δὲ ὅσον σταδίους εἴκοσιν ἀφέστηκεν Ἀθηνᾶς ἐπίκλησιν Κραναίας ἱερόν· ἡ δὲ ὁδὸς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἀναντεστέρα ὡς ἀνιᾶν τὸ μηδὲν καὶ λεληθέναι μᾶλλον αὐτῆς τὸ ἄναντες. λόφος δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῷ πέρατι τὰ πλείω μὲν ἀπότομος, οὐ μέντοι ἄγαν ἢ μεγέθους ἔχων ἐστὶν ἢ ὕψους· ἐπὶ τούτῳ τῷ λόφῳ τὸ ἱερὸν πεποίηται, καὶ στοαί τέ εἰσι καὶ οἰκήσεις διὰ τῶν στοῶν, ἔνθα οἰκοῦσιν οἷς τὴν θεὸν θεραπεύειν καθέστηκε, 0 καὶ ἄλλοις καὶ μάλιστα τῷ ἱερωμένῳ.

[8] τὸν δὲ ἱερέα ἐκ παίδων αἱροῦνται τῶν ἀνήβων, πρόνοιαν ποιούμενοι πρότερον τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἐξήκειν οἱ τὸν χρόνον πρὶν ἢ ἡβῆσαι· ἱερᾶται δὲ ἔτη συνεχῆ πέντε, ἐν οἷς τήν τε ἄλλην δίαιταν ἔχει παρὰ τῇ θεῷ καὶ λουτρὰ αἱ ἀσάμινθοι κατὰ τρόπον εἰσὶν αὐτῷ τὸν ἀρχαῖον. τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα ἐποίησαν μὲν καὶ τοῦτο οἱ Πολυκλέους παῖδες, ἔστι δὲ ἐσκευασμένον ὡς ἐς μάχην· καὶ ἐπείργασται τῇ ἀσπίδι τῶν Ἀθήνῃσι μίμημα ἐπὶ τῇ ἀσπίδι τῆς καλουμένης ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων Παρθένου.

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.) — 10.34 focus

[1]
Elateia is, with the exception of Delphi , the largest city in Phocis . It lies over against Amphicleia, and the road to it from Amphicleia is one hundred and eighty stades long, level for the most part, but with an upward gradient for a short distance quite close to the town of Elateia . In the plain flows the Cephisus, and the most common bird to live along its banks is the bustard.

[2] The Elateans were successful in repelling the Macedonian army under Cassander, and they managed to escape from the war that Taxilus, general of Mithridates, brought against them. In return for this deed the Romans have given them the privilege of living in the country free and immune from taxation. They claim to be of foreign stock, saying that of old they came from Arcadia . For they say that when the Phlegyans marched against the sanctuary at Delphi , Elatus, the son of Arcas, came to the assistance of the god, and with his army stayed behind in Phocis , becoming the founder of Elateia .

[3] Elateia must be numbered among the cities of the Phocians burnt by the Persians. Some disasters were shared by Elateia with the other Phocians, but she had peculiar calamities of her own, inflicted by fate at the hands of the Macedonians. In the war waged by Cassander, it is Olympiodorus who must receive most credit for the Macedonians being forced to abandon a siege. Philip, the son of Demetrius, reduced the people of Elateia to the utmost terror, and at the same time seduced by bribery the more powerful of the citizens.

[4] Titus, the Roman governor, who had a commission from Rome to give all Greeks their freedom, promised to give back to Elateia its ancient constitution, and by messengers made overtures to its citizens to secede from Macedonia . But either they or their government were stupid enough to be faithful to Philip, and the Romans reduced them by siege. Later on the Elateans held out when besieged by the barbarians of Pontus under the command of Taxilus, the general of Mithridates. As a reward for this deed the Romans gave them their freedom.

[5] An army of bandits, called the Costoboes, who overran Greece in my day, visited among other cities Elateia . Whereupon a certain Mnesibulus gathered round him a company of men and put to the sword many of the barbarians, but he himself fell in the fighting. This Mnesibulus won several prizes for running, among which were prizes for the foot-race, and for the double race with shield, at the two hundred and thirty-fifth Olympic festival.¹ In Runner Street at Elateia there stands a bronze statue of Mnesibulus.

[6] The market-place itself is worth seeing, and so is the figure of Elatus carved in relief upon a slab. I do not know for certain whether they made the slab to honor him as their founder or merely to serve as a gravestone to his tomb. A temple has been built to Asclepius, with a bearded image of the god. The names of the makers of the image are Timocles and Timarchides, artists of Attic birth. At the end of the city on the right is a theater, and an ancient bronze image of Athena. They say that this goddess helped them against the barbarians under Taxilus.

[7]
About twenty stades away from Elateia is a sanctuary of Athena surnamed Cranaea. The road to it slopes upwards, but so gentle is the ascent that it causes no fatigue—in fact one scarcely notices it. At the end of the road is a hill which, though for the most part precipitous, is neither very large nor very high. On this hill the sanctuary has been built, with porticoes and dwellings through them, where live those whose duty it is to wait on the god, chief of whom is the priest.

[8] They choose the priest from boys who have not yet reached the age of puberty, taking care beforehand that his term of office shall run out before puberty arrives. The office lasts for five successive years, during which the priest boards with the goddess, and bathes in tubs after the ancient manner. This image too was made by the sons of Polycles. It is armed as for battle, and on the shield is wrought in relief a copy of what at Athens is wrought on the shield of her whom the Athenians call the Virgin.

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.) — 10.34 focus

[1] Elateia is, with the exception of Delphi, the largest city in Phokis. It lies over against Amphicleia, and the road to it from Amphicleia is one hundred and eighty stadium-lengths long, level for the most part, but with an upward gradient for a short distance quite close to the town of Elateia. In the plain flows the Kephisos, and the most common bird to live along its banks is the bustard.

[2] The people of Elateia were successful in repelling the Macedonian army under Kassandros, and they managed to escape from the war that Taxilos, general of Mithridates, brought against them. In return for this deed the Romans have given them the privilege of living in the country free and immune from taxation. They claim to be of foreign stock, saying that of old they came from Arcadia. For they say that when the Phlegyans marched against the sanctuary at Delphi, Elatos, the son of Arkas, came to the assistance of the god, and with his army stayed behind in Phokis, becoming the founder of Elateia.

[3] Elateia must be numbered among the cities of the people of Phokis burned by the Persians. Some disasters were shared by Elateia with the other people of Phokis, but she had peculiar calamities of her own, inflicted by fate at the hands of the Macedonians. In the war waged by Kassandros, it is Olympiodoros who must receive most credit for the Macedonians being forced to abandon a siege. Philip, the son of Demetrios, reduced the people of Elateia to the utmost terror, and at the same time seduced by bribery the more powerful of the citizens.

[4] Titus, the Roman governor, who had a commission from Rome to give all Greeks their freedom, promised to give back to Elateia its ancient constitution, and by messengers made overtures to its citizens to secede from Macedonia. But either they or their government were stupid enough to be faithful to Philip, and the Romans reduced them by siege. Later on the people of Elateia held out when besieged by the barbarians of Pontos under the command of Taxilos, the general of Mithridates. As a reward for this deed the Romans gave them their freedom.

[5] An army of bandits, called the Kostoboes, who overran Greece in my day, visited among other cities Elateia. Whereupon a certain Mnesiboulos gathered round him a company of men and put to the sword many of the barbarians, but he himself fell in the fighting. This Mnesiboulos won several prizes for running, among which were prizes for the foot-race, and for the double race with shield, at the two hundred and thirty-fifth Olympic festival. In Runner Street at Elateia there stands a bronze statue of Mnesiboulos.

[6] The marketplace itself is worth seeing, and so is the figure of Elatos carved in relief upon a slab. I do not know for certain whether they made the slab to honor him as their founder or merely to serve as a tombstone to his tomb. A temple has been built to Asklepios, with a bearded image of the god. The names of the makers of the image are Timokles and Timarchides, artists of Attic birth. At the end of the city on the right is a theater, and an ancient bronze image of Athena. They say that this goddess helped them against the barbarians under Taxilos.

[7] About twenty stadium-lengths away from Elateia is a sanctuary of Athena surnamed Cranaea. The road to it slopes upwards, but so gentle is the ascent that it causes no fatigue—in fact one scarcely notices it. At the end of the road is a hill which, though for the most part precipitous, is neither very large nor very high. On this hill the sanctuary has been built, with porticoes and dwellings through them, where live those whose duty it is to wait on the god, chief of whom is the priest.

[8] They choose the priest from boys who have not yet reached the age of puberty, taking care beforehand that his term of office shall run out before puberty arrives. The office lasts for five successive years, during which the priest boards with the goddess, and bathes in tubs after the ancient manner. This image too was made by the sons of Polykles. It is armed as for battle, and on the shield is worked in relief a copy of what in Athens is worked on the shield of her whom the Athenians call the Virgin.

Abae

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 10.34

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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