Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. Friedrich Spiro, 3.5

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[1]
Πλείσταρχος μὲν οὖν ὁ Λεωνίδου νεωστὶ τὴν βασιλείαν παρειληφὼς ἐτελεύτησε, Πλειστοάναξ δὲ ἔσχε τὴν ἀρχὴν ὁ Παυσανίου τοῦ Πλαταιᾶσιν ἡγησαμένου· Πλειστοάνακτος δὲ ἐγένετο Παυσανίας. οὗτος ἐς τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἀφίκετο ὁ Παυσανίας Θρασυβούλῳ καὶ Ἀθηναίοις πολέμιος τῷ λόγῳ, τοῖς δὲ ἄρχειν ἐπιτραπεῖσιν ὑπὸ Λυσάνδρου καταστησόμενος τὴν τυραννίδα ἐν βεβαίῳ. καὶ μάχῃ μὲν ἐνίκησεν Ἀθηναίων τοὺς ἔχοντας τὸν Πειραιᾶ, μετὰ δὲ τὴν μάχην αὐτίκα οἱ τὸν στρατὸν ἀπάγειν οἴκαδε ἤρεσε μηδὲ ἀνοσίων ἀνδρῶν τυραννίδα αὔξοντα ἐπισπάσασθαι τῇ Σπάρτῃ τὸ αἴσχιστον τῶν ὀνειδῶν.

[2] ὡς δὲ ἐπανῆλθεν ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν μαχεσάμενος ἄπρακτον μάχην, ὑπάγουσιν αὐτὸν ἐς κρίσιν οἱ ἐχθροί. βασιλεῖ δὲ τῷ Λακεδαιμονίων δικαστήριον ἐκάθιζον οἵ τε ὀνομαζόμενοι γέροντες, ὀκτὼ καὶ εἴκοσιν ὄντες ἀριθμόν, καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐφόρων ἀρχή, σὺν δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ ὁ τῆς οἰκίας βασιλεὺς τῆς ἑτέρας. τέσσαρες μὲν δὴ καὶ δέκα τῶν γερόντων, ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτοῖς Ἆγις ὁ τῆς ἑτέρας οἰκίας βασιλεύς, ἀδικεῖν τὸν Παυσανίαν κατέγνωσαν·

[3] τὸ δὲ ἄλλο ἀπέγνω δικαστήριον. μετὰ δὲ οὐ πολὺν 0 χρόνον Λακεδαιμονίων συλλεγόντων ἐπὶ Θήβας στρατιάν—αἰτία δὲ ἥτις ἐγένετο προσέσται τῷ ἐς Ἀγησίλαον λόγῳ—, τότε δὲ Λύσανδρος μὲν ἐς τὴν Φωκίδα ἀφικόμενος καὶ ἀναλαβὼν πανδημεὶ τοὺς Φωκέας οὐδένα ἔτι ἐπισχὼν χρόνον ἔς τε Βοιωτίαν ἐληλύθει καὶ προσβολὰς ἐποιεῖτο ἐς τὸ Ἁλιαρτίων τεῖχος οὐκ ἐθελόντων ἀπὸ Θηβαίων ἀφίστασθαι. ἐσεληλύθεσαν δὲ ἤδη καὶ Θηβαίων καὶ Ἀθηναίων τινὲς κρύφα ἐς τὴν πόλιν, ὧν ἐπεξελθόντων καὶ πρὸ τοῦ τείχους ταξαμένων ἄλλοι τε ἐνταῦθα Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ Λύσανδρος ἔπεσε.

[4] Παυσανίας δὲ ὑστέρησε μὲν τοῦ ἀγῶνος παρὰ Τεγεατῶν καὶ ἐξ Ἀρκαδίας τῆς ἄλλης ἀθροίζων δύναμιν· ὡς δὲ ἐς τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἀφίκετο, ἐπυνθάνετό τε τήν τε ἧτταν τῶν ὁμοῦ Λυσάνδρῳ καὶ αὐτοῦ Λυσάνδρου τὴν τελευτήν, ἐπῆγε δὲ ὅμως ἐπὶ τὰς Θήβας τὸν στρατὸν καὶ διενοεῖτο ὡς μάχης ἄρξων. ἐνταῦθα οἵ τε Θηβαῖοι τὰ ἐναντία ἐτάσσοντο καὶ Θρασύβουλος ἀπέχειν οὐ πολὺ ἀπηγγέλλετο ἄγων τοὺς Ἀθηναίους· ἀνέμενε δὲ ἄρξαι Λακεδαιμονίους μάχης, ἄρξασι δὲ αὐτὸς ἤδη κατὰ νώτου σφίσιν ἔμελλεν ἐπικείσεσθαι.

[5] ἔδεισεν οὖν ὁ Παυσανίας διπλοῦ στρατιωτικοῦ πολεμίων ἀνδρῶν μεταξὺ ἀποληφθῆναι, καὶ οὕτω σπονδάς τε πρὸς τοὺς Θηβαίους ἐποιήσατο καὶ τοὺς ὑπὸ τῷ Ἁλιαρτίων τείχει πεσόντας ἀνείλετο. τοῦτο Λακεδαιμονίοις μὲν ἐγένετο οὐ κατὰ γνώμην, ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπαινῶ τῶνδε ἕνεκα τὸ βούλευμα· ἅτε γὰρ εὖ εἰδὼς ὁ Παυσανίας ὡς τὰ σφάλματα ἀεὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις
γίνονται ἐν μέσῳ πολεμίων ἀποληφθεῖσι, τό τε ἐν Θερμοπύλαις καὶ ἐν τῇ Σφακτηρίᾳ νήσῳ δεῖμα ἐποιήσατο μή σφισι καὶ αὐτὸς τρίτου γένηται κακοῦ πρόφασις.

[6] τότε δὲ ἐν αἰτίᾳ ποιουμένων τῶν πολιτῶν τὴν βραδυτῆτα αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐς Βοιωτίαν οὐχ ὑπέμεινεν ἐσελθεῖν ἐς δικαστήριον, Τεγεᾶται δὲ αὐτὸν τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἱκέτην ἐδέξαντο τῆς Ἀλέας. ἦν δὲ ἄρα τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦτο ἐκ παλαιοῦ Πελοποννησίοις πᾶσιν αἰδέσιμον καὶ τοῖς αὐτόθι ἱκετεύουσιν ἀσφάλειαν μάλιστα παρείχετο· ἐδήλωσαν δὲ οἵ τε Λακεδαιμόνιοι τὸν Παυσανίαν καὶ ἔτι πρότερον τούτου Λεωτυχίδην καὶ Ἀργεῖοι Χρυσίδα, καθεζομένους ἐνταῦθα ἱκέτας, οὐδὲ ἀρχὴν ἐξαιτῆσαι θελήσαντες.

[7]
Παυσανίου δὲ φυγόντος οἱ μὲν παῖδες Ἀγησίπολις καὶ Κλεόμβροτος νέοι παντάπασιν ἔτι ἦσαν, Ἀριστόδημος δὲ ἐπετρόπευεν αὐτοὺς γένους ἐγγύτατα ὤν· καὶ τὸ ἐν Κορίνθῳ Λακεδαιμονίων κατόρθωμα Ἀριστοδήμου σφίσιν ἐγένετο ἡγουμένου.

[8] Ἀγησίπολις δὲ ἐπεὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἔσχεν αὐξηθείς, Πελοποννησίων πρώτοις ἐπολέμησεν Ἀργείοις. ὡς δὲ ἐκ τῆς Τεγεατῶν ἐς τὴν Ἀργολίδα ἤγαγε τὸν στρατόν, πέμπουσι κήρυκα οἱ Ἀργεῖοι σπεισόμενον πρὸς Ἀγησίπολίν σφισι πατρῴους δή τινας σπονδὰς ἐκ παλαιοῦ καθεστώσας τοῖς Δωριεῦσι πρὸς ἀλλήλους. ὁ δὲ οὔτε τῷ κήρυκι ἐσπείσατο καὶ προϊὼν ὁμοῦ τῇ στρατιᾷ τὴν γῆν ἔφθειρεν· ἔσεισέ τε δὴ ὁ θεὸς καὶ ὁ Ἀγησίπολις οὐδʼ οὕτω τὴν δύναμιν ἀπάξειν ἔμελλε, καίτοι Λακεδαιμονίοις μάλιστα Ἑλλήνων—ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ Ἀθηναίοις—δεῖμα αἱ 0 διοσημεῖαι παρείχοντο.

[9] καὶ ὁ μὲν ὑπὸ τὸ τεῖχος κατεστρατοπεδεύετο ἤδη τὸ Ἀργείων καὶ οὐ παρίει σείων ὁ θεὸς καί τινες καὶ ἀπώλοντο τῶν στρατιωτῶν κεραυνωθέντες, τοὺς δὲ καὶ ἔκφρονας ἐποίησαν αἱ βρονταί. οὕτω μὲν δὴ ἐκ τῆς Ἀργολίδος ἀνέζευξεν ἄκων, ἐπὶ δὲ Ὀλυνθίους ἐποιεῖτο αὖθις στρατείαν. κρατοῦντα δὲ αὐτὸν τῷ πολέμῳ καὶ ᾑρηκότα τῶν τε ἄλλων πόλεων τῶν ἐν Χαλκιδεῦσι τὰς πολλὰς καὶ αὐτὴν ἐλπίζοντα αἱρήσειν τὴν Ὄλυνθον νόσος τε ἐξαίφνης καὶ θάνατος ἐπέλαβεν ἀπʼ αὐτῆς.

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

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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.) — 3.5 focus

[1]
Shortly after Pleistarchus the son of Leonidas came to the throne he died, and the kingdom devolved on Pleistoanax, son of the Pausanias who commanded at Plataea . Pleistoanax had a son Pausanias; he was the Pausanias who invaded Attica , ostensibly to oppose Thrasybulus and the Athenians, but really to establish firmly the despotism of those to whom the government had been entrusted by Lysander.¹ Although he won a battle against the Athenians holding the Peiraens, yet immediately after the battle he resolved to lead his army back home, and not to bring upon Sparta the most disgraceful of reproaches by increasing the despotic power of wicked men.

[2] When he returned from Athens with only a fruitless battle to his credit, he was brought to trial by his enemies. The court that sat to try a Lacedaemonian king consisted of the senate, “old men” as they were called, twenty eight in number, the members of the ephorate, and in addition the king of the other house. Fourteen senators, along with Agis, the king of the other house, declared that Pausanias was guilty; the rest of the court voted for his acquittal.

[3] Shortly after this the Lacedaemonians gathered an army against Thebes ; the reason for so doing will be given in my account of Agesilaus. On this occasion Lysander came to Phocis , took along with him the entire Phocian army, and without any further delay entered Boeotia and began assaults upon the wall of Haliartus, the citizens of which refused to revolt from Thebes . Already a band of Thebans and Athenians had secretly entered the city; these came out and offered battle before the wall, and there fell here several Lacedaemonians, including Lysander himself.

[4] Pausanias was too late for the fight, having been collecting forces from Tegea and Arcadia generally; when he finally reached Boeotia , although he heard of the defeat of the forces with Lysander and of the death of Lysander himself, he nevertheless led his army against Thebes and purposed to take the offensive. Thereupon the Thebans offered battle, and Thrasybulus was reported to be not far away with the Athenians. He was waiting for the Lacedaemonians to take the offensive, on which his intention was to launch an attack himself against their rear.

[5] So Pausanias, fearing lest he should be caught between two enemy forces, made a truce with the Thebans and took up for burial those who had fallen under the wall of Haliartus. The Lacedaemonians disapproved of this decision, but the following reason leads me to approve it. Pausanias was well aware that the disasters of the Lacedaemonians always took place when they had been caught between two enemy forces, and the defeats at Thermopylae and on the island of Sphacteria made him afraid lest he himself should prove the occasion of a third misfortune for them.

[6] But when his fellow citizens charged him with his slowness in this Boeotian campaign, he did not wait to stand his trial, but was received by the people of Tegea as a suppliant of Athena Alea. Now this sanctuary had been respected from early days by all the Peloponnesians, and afforded peculiar safety to its suppliants, as the Lacedaemonians showed in the case of Pausanias and of Leotychides before him, and the Argives in the case of Chrysis; they never wanted even to ask for these refugees, who were sitting as suppliants in the sanctuary, to be given up.

[7]
When Pausanias fled, his sons Agesipolis and Cleombrotus were still quite boys, and Aristodemus, their nearest relative, was their guardian. This Aristodemus was in command of the Lacedaemonians when they won their success at Corinth .

[8] When Agesipolis grew up and came to the throne, the first Peloponnesians against whom he waged war were the Argives. When he led his army from the territory of Tegea into that of Argos , the Argives sent a herald to make for them with Agesipolis a certain ancestral truce, which from ancient times had been an established custom between Dorians and Dorians. But Agesipolis did not make the truce with the herald, but advancing with his army proceeded to devastate the land. Then there was an earthquake, but not even so would Agesipolis consent to take away his forces. And yet more than any other Greeks were the Lacedaemonians (in this respect like the Athenians) frightened by signs from heaven.

[9] By the time that he was encamping under the wall of Argos , the earthquakes were still occurring, some of the troops had actually been killed by lightning, and some moreover had been driven out of then senses by the thunder. In this circumstance he reluctantly withdrew from Argive territory, and began another campaign, attacking Olynthus . Victorious in the war, having captured most of the cities in Chalcidice , and hoping to capture Olynthus itself, he was suddenly attacked by a disease which ended in his death.²

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.) — 3.5 focus

[1] Shortly after Pleistarkhos the son of Leonidas came to the throne he died, and the kingdom devolved on Pleistoanax, son of the Pausanias who commanded at Plataea. Pleistoanax had a son Pausanias; he was the Pausanias who invaded Attica, ostensibly to oppose Thrasyboulos and the Athenians, but really to establish firmly the despotism of those to whom the government had been entrusted by Lysander. Although he won a battle against the Athenians holding the Peiraens, yet immediately after the battle he resolved to lead his army back home, and not to bring upon Sparta the most disgraceful of reproaches by increasing the despotic power of wicked men.

[3] Shortly after this the Lacedaemonians gathered an army against Thebes; the reason for so doing will be given in my account of Agesilaos. On this occasion Lysander came to Phokis, took along with him the entire army of Phokis, and without any further delay entered Boeotia and began assaults upon the wall of Haliartos, the citizens of which refused to revolt from Thebes. Already a band of Thebans and Athenians had secretly entered the city; these came out and offered battle before the wall, and there fell here several Lacedaemonians, including Lysander himself.

[4] Pausanias was too late for the fight, having been collecting forces from Tegea and Arcadia generally; when he finally reached Boeotia, although he heard of the defeat of the forces with Lysander and of the death of Lysander himself, he nevertheless led his army against Thebes and purposed to take the offensive. Thereupon the Thebans offered battle, and Thrasyboulos was reported to be not far away with the Athenians. He was waiting for the Lacedaemonians to take the offensive, on which his intention was to launch an attack himself against their rear.

[5] So Pausanias, fearing lest he should be caught between two enemy forces, made a truce with the Thebans and took up for burial those who had fallen under the wall of Haliartos. The Lacedaemonians disapproved of this decision, but the following reason leads me to approve it. Pausanias was well aware that the disasters of the Lacedaemonians always took place when they had been caught between two enemy forces, and the defeats at Thermopylae and on the island of Sphakteria made him afraid lest he himself should prove the occasion of a third misfortune for them.

[6] But when his fellow citizens charged him with his slowness in this Boeotian campaign, he did not wait to stand his trial, but was received by the people of Tegea as a suppliant of Athena Alea. Now this sanctuary had been respected from early days by all the Peloponnesians, and afforded peculiar safety to its suppliants, as the Lacedaemonians showed in the case of Pausanias and of Leotykhides before him, and the Argives in the case of Khrysis; they never wanted even to ask for these refugees, who were sitting as suppliants in the sanctuary, to be given up.

[7] When Pausanias fled, his sons Agesipolis and Kleombrotos were still quite boys, and Aristodemos, their nearest relative, was their guardian. This Aristodemos was in command of the Lacedaemonians when they won their success in Corinth.

[8] When Agesipolis grew up and came to the throne, the first Peloponnesians against whom he waged war were the Argives. When he led his army from the territory of Tegea into that of Argos, the Argives sent a herald to make for them with Agesipolis a certain ancestral truce, which from ancient times had been an established custom between Dorians and Dorians. But Agesipolis did not make the truce with the herald, but advancing with his army proceeded to devastate the land. Then there was an earthquake, but not even so would Agesipolis consent to take away his forces. And yet more than any other Greeks were the Lacedaemonians (in this respect like the Athenians) frightened by signs from the sky [ dio-sēmeiai].

[9] By the time that he was encamping under the wall of Argos, the earthquakes were still occurring, some of the troops had actually been killed by lightning, and some moreover had been driven out of then senses by the thunder. In this circumstance he reluctantly withdrew from Argive territory, and began another campaign, attacking Olynthus. Victorious in the war, having captured most of the cities in Khalkidike, and hoping to capture Olynthus itself, he was suddenly attacked by a disease which ended in his death.

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 3.5

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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