Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. Friedrich Spiro, 4.17

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[1]
ἔστι δὲ Αἴγιλα τῆς Λακωνικῆς, ἔνθα ἱερὸν ἵδρυται ἅγιον Δήμητρος. ἐνταῦθα ἐπιστάμενος ὁ Ἀριστομένης καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ τὰς γυναῖκας ἀγούσας ἑορτὴν ἀμύνεσθαι τῶν γυναικῶν οὐκ ἄνευ τῆς θεοῦ προαχθεισῶν λαμβάνουσιν οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν Μεσσηνίων τραύματα μαχαίραις τε, αἷς τὰ ἱερεῖα αἱ γυναῖκες ἔθυον, καὶ ὀβελοῖς, οἷς τὰ κρέα ἔπειρον ὀπτῶσαι· τὸν δὲ Ἀριστομένην τύπτουσαι ταῖς δᾳσὶ ζῶντα αἱροῦσιν. ἀπεσώθη δὲ ὅμως τῆς αὐτῆς ἐκείνης νυκτὸς ἐς τὴν Μεσσηνίαν. ἀφεῖναι δὲ αὐτὸν ἱέρεια τῆς Δήμητρος αἰτίαν ἔσχεν Ἀρχιδάμεια· ἀφῆκε δὲ οὐκ ἐπὶ χρήμασιν, ἀλλὰ ἐρῶσα ἔτυχεν αὐτοῦ πρότερον ἔτι, προὐφασίζετο δὲ ὡς Ἀριστομένης διακούσας τὰ δεσμὰ ἀποδρὰς οἴχοιτο.

[2]
τρίτῳ δὲ ἔτει τοῦ πολέμου μελλούσης γίνεσθαι συμβολῆς ἐπὶ τῇ καλουμένῃ Μεγάλῃ τάφρῳ καὶ Μεσσηνίοις Ἀρκάδων βεβοηθηκότων ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν πόλεων, Ἀριστοκράτην τὸν Ἱκέτα Τραπεζούντιον, βασιλέα τῶν Ἀρκάδων καὶ στρατηγὸν ὄντα ἐν τῷ τότε, διαφθείρουσιν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι χρήμασι. πρῶτοι γὰρ ὧν ἴσμεν Λακεδαιμόνιοι πολεμίῳ ἀνδρὶ δῶρα ἔδοσαν, καὶ ὤνιον πρῶτοι κατεστήσαντο εἶναι τὸ κράτος τὸ ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις·

[3] πρὶν δὲ ἢ παρανομῆσαι Λακεδαιμονίους ἐς τὸν Μεσσηνίων πόλεμον καὶ Ἀριστοκράτους τοῦ Ἀρκάδος τὴν προδοσίαν, ἀρετῇ τε οἱ μαχόμενοι καὶ τύχαις ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ διεκρίνοντο. φαίνονται δὲ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ ὕστερον, ἡνίκα ἐπὶ Αἰγὸς ποταμοῖς ταῖς Ἀθηναίων ναυσὶν ἀνθώρμουν, ἄλλους τε τῶν στρατηγούντων Ἀθηναίοις καὶ Ἀδείμαντον ἐξωνησάμενοι.

[4] περιῆλθε 0 μέντοι καὶ αὐτοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ἀνὰ χρόνον ἡ Νεοπτολέμειος καλουμένη τίσις. Νεοπτολέμῳ γὰρ τῷ Ἀχιλλέως, ἀποκτείναντι Πρίαμον ἐπὶ τῇ ἐσχάρᾳ τοῦ Ἑρκείου, συνέπεσε καὶ αὐτὸν ἐν Δελφοῖς πρὸς τῷ βωμῷ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἀποσφαγῆναι· καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου τὸ παθεῖν ὁποῖόν τις καὶ ἔδρασε Νεοπτολέμειον τίσιν ὀνομάζουσι.

[5] τοῖς οὖν Λακεδαιμονίοις, ὅτε δὴ μάλιστα ἤνθησαν καὶ Ἀθηναίων τε τὸ ναυτικὸν καθῃρήκεσαν καὶ Ἀγησίλαος κεχείρωτο τὰ πολλὰ ἤδη τῆς Ἀσίας, τότε σφίσι τὴν ἀρχὴν πᾶσαν οὐκ ἐξεγένετο ἀφελέσθαι τὸν Μῆδον, ἀλλὰ σφᾶς ὁ βάρβαρος περιῆλθε τῷ ἐκείνων εὑρήματι, ἐς Κόρινθον καὶ Ἄργος καὶ ἐς Ἀθήνας τε καὶ Θήβας χρήματα ἀποστείλας· ὅ τε ὀνομαζόμενος Κορινθιακὸς πόλεμος ἀπὸ τούτων ἐξήφθη τῶν χρημάτων, ὡς ἀπολείπειν Ἀγησίλαον ἀναγκασθῆναι τὰ ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ.

[6]
Λακεδαιμονίοις μὲν τὸ ἐς Μεσσηνίους σόφισμα ὁ δαίμων ἔμελλεν αὐτοῖς ἀποφανεῖν συμφοράν· Ἀριστοκράτης δὲ ὡς τὰ χρήματα ἐδέξατο ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος, τὸ μὲν παραυτίκα ἔκρυπτεν ἐς τοὺς Ἀρκάδας οἷα ἐπεβούλευε, μελλόντων δὲ ἐς χεῖρας ἤδη συνέρχεσθαι, τηνικαῦτα ἐξεφόβησεν αὐτοὺς ὡς ἐν δυσχωρίᾳ τέ εἰσιν ἀπειλημμένοι καὶ ἀναχώρησις οὐκ ἔσται αὐτοῖς, ἢν κρατηθῶσιν, τά τε ἱερά σφισιν οὐκ ἔφη γεγονέναι κατὰ γνώμην. ἐκέλευεν οὖν πάντα τινά, ἐπειδὰν αὐτὸς σημήνῃ, φυγῇ χρῆσθαι.

[7] ὡς δὲ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι συνέμισγον καὶ ἦσαν ἐς τὸ κατʼ αὐτοὺς οἱ Μεσσήνιοι τετραμμένοι, ἐνταῦθα Ἀριστοκράτης ἀρχομένης τῆς μάχης 0 ἀπῆγε τοὺς Ἀρκάδας, καὶ τοῖς Μεσσηνίοις τό τε ἀριστερὸν καὶ μέσον ἠρήμωτο· οἱ γὰρ Ἀρκάδες σφίσιν εἶχον ἀμφότερα ἅτε ἀπόντων μὲν Ἠλείων τῆς μάχης, ἀπόντων δὲ Ἀργείων καὶ Σικυωνίων. προσεξειργάσθη δὲ καὶ ἄλλο τῷ Ἀριστοκράτει· διὰ γὰρ Μεσσηνίων ἐποιεῖτο τὴν φυγήν.

[8] οἱ δὲ πρὸς τὸ ἀνέλπιστον τῶν παρόντων ἐγένοντο ἔκφρονες καὶ ἅμα ὑπὸ τῆς διεξόδου τῆς κατὰ σφᾶς τῶν Ἀρκάδων ἐταράσσοντο, ὥστε αὐτῶν ἐδέησαν οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ ἐπιλαθέσθαι τῶν ἐν χερσίν· ἀντὶ γὰρ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἐπιφερομένων ἤδη πρὸς τοὺς Ἀρκάδας ἀφεώρων φεύγοντας, καὶ οἱ μὲν παραμεῖναί σφισιν ἱκέτευον, οἱ δὲ καὶ λοιδορίαις ἐς αὐτοὺς ὡς ἐς ἄνδρας προδότας καὶ οὐ δικαίους ἐχρῶντο.

[9] Λακεδαιμονίοις δὲ ἥ τε κύκλωσις τῶν Μεσσηνίων μονωθέντων ἐγένετο οὐ χαλεπὴ καὶ νίκην ἑτοιμοτάτην πασῶν καὶ ἀπονώτατα ἀνείλοντο. Ἀριστομένης δὲ καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ συνέμειναν μὲν καὶ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τοὺς μάλιστα ἐγκειμένους ἀνείργειν ἐπειρῶντο, ὀλίγοι δὲ ὄντες οὐ μεγάλα ὠφέλουν. τῶν δὲ Μεσσηνίων τοῦ μὲν δήμου τοσοῦτον πλῆθος ἀνηλώθησαν, ὡς τὰ πρῶτα Λακεδαιμονίων δεσπότας ἀντὶ δούλων ἔσεσθαι νομίζοντας τότε μηδὲ ἐς τὴν σωτηρίαν αὐτὴν ἔτι ἔχειν ἐλπίδα· ἀπέθανον δὲ καὶ τῶν πρωτευόντων ἄλλοι τε καὶ Ἀνδροκλῆς καὶ Φίντας καὶ λόγου μάλιστα ἀξίως ἀγωνισάμενος Φάνας, ὃς πρότερον τούτων ἔτι δολίχου νίκην Ὀλυμπίασιν ἦν ἀνῃρημένος.

[10]
Ἀριστομένης δὲ μετὰ τὴν μάχην τοὺς διαπεφευγότας τῶν Μεσσηνίων συνήθροιζε, καὶ Ἀνδανίαν μὲν καὶ εἴ 0 τι ἄλλο ἐν μεσογαίᾳ πόλισμα ἔπεισε τὰ πολλὰ ἐκλείπειν, ἐς δὲ τὴν Εἶραν τὸ ὄρος ἀνοικίζεσθαι. συνεληλαμένοις δὲ ἐς τοῦτο τὸ χωρίον προσεκάθηντο οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι πολιορκίᾳ σφᾶς αὐτίκα ἐξαιρήσειν νομίζοντες· ἀντήρκεσαν δὲ ὅμως οἱ Μεσσήνιοι καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐν τῇ τάφρῳ συμφορὰν ἑνί τε καὶ δέκα ἔτεσιν ἀμυνόμενοι.

[11] τὸν δὲ χρόνον τῆς πολιορκίας γενέσθαι τοσοῦτον δηλοῖ καὶ τάδε ἔπη Ῥιανοῦ πεποιημένα ἐς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους·

οὔρεος ἀργεννοῖο περὶ πτύχας ἐστρατόωντο

χείματά τε ποίας τε δύω καὶ εἴκοσι πάσας·

Rhianus, unknown location. χειμῶνας γὰρ καὶ θέρη κατέλεξε, πόας εἰπὼν τὸν χλωρὸν σῖτον ἢ ὀλίγον πρὸ ἀμητοῦ.

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.) — 4.17 focus

[1]
There is a place Aegila in Laconia , where is a sanctuary sacred to Demeter. Aristomenes and his men knowing that the women were keeping festival there . . . the women were inspired by the goddess to defend themselves, and most of the Messenians were wounded with the knives with which the women sacrificed the victims and the spits on which they pierced and roasted the meat. Aristomenes was struck with the torches and taken alive. Nevertheless he escaped to Messenia during the same night. Archidameia, the priestess of Demeter, was charged with having released him, not for a bribe but because she had been in love with him before; but she maintained that Aristomenes had escaped by burning through his bonds.

[2]
In the third year of the war, when an engagement was about to take place at what is called The Great Trench, and the Messenians had been joined by Arcadians from all the cities, the Lacedaemonians bribed Aristocrates the son of Hicetas of Trapezus, who was then king and general of the Arcadians. The Lacedaemonians were the first of whom we know to give bribes to an enemy, and the first to make victory in war a matter of purchase.

[3] Before the Lacedaemonians committed this crime in the Messenian war in the matter of the treachery of Aristocrates the Arcadian, the decision in battle was reached by valor and the fortune of heaven. Again it is clear that at a later date, when they were lying opposite the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami , the Lacedaemonians bought Adeimantus and other Athenian generals.

[4] However in course of time the punishment of Neoptolemus, as it is called, came upon the Lacedaemonians themselves in their turn. Now it was the fate of Neoptolemus the son of Achilles, after killing Priam on the altar of Zeus Herkeios (Of the Courtyard), himself to be slain by the altar of Apollo in Delphi . Thenceforward to suffer what a man has himself done to another is called the Punishment of Neoptolemus.

[5] So in the case of the Lacedaemonians, when they were at the height of their power after the destruction of the Athenian fleet, and Agesilaus had already reduced the greater part of Asia , they were unable to capture the whole empire of the Persians but the barbarian overreached them with their own invention, sending money to Corinth , Argos , Athens and Thebes as the result of this bribery the so-called Corinthian war broke out, compelling Agesilaus to abandon his conquests in Asia .

[6]
Thus it was the purpose of heaven to turn the trick employed by the Lacedaemonians against the Messenians to their own destruction. After receiving the money from Lacedaemon , Aristocrates concealed his plot from the Arcadians for the present, but when they were about to come into action, he alarmed them by saying that they were caught in a difficult place and there would be no means of retreat for them, if defeated, also that the offerings had not been satisfactory. He ordered everyone therefore to take to flight when he gave the signal.

[7] When the Lacedaemonians were about to close and the Messenians were occupied on their own front, then Aristocrates withdrew the Arcadians as the battle began, leaving the Messenian left and center without troops. For the Arcadians occupied both positions in the absence of the Eleians from the battle and of the Argives and Sicyonians. To complete his work Aristocrates caused his men to fly through the Messenians.

[8] They were amazed at the unexpected state of affairs, and moreover were thrown into confusion by the passage of the Arcadians through their ranks, so that they almost forgot what lay before them; for instead of the advance of the Lacedaemonians they watched the Arcadian retirement, some begging them to stand by them, others cursing them for traitors and scoundrels.

[9] It was not difficult for the Lacedaemonians to surround the Messenians thus isolated, and they won without trouble the easiest of victories. Aristomenes and his men held together and tried to check the fiercest of the Lacedaemonian assaults but, being few in number, were unable to render much assistance. So great were the numbers of the people of the Messenians slain that in lieu of their former thoughts of becoming the masters instead of the slaves of the Lacedaemonians they now despaired of safety itself. Among the chieftains killed were Androcles and Phintas, and Phanas after the most glorious resistance. He had previously been victorious in the long foot race at Olympia .

[10]
Aristomenes collected the Messenian survivors after the battle and persuaded them to desert Andania and most of the other towns that lay in the interior and to settle on Mount Eira. When they had been driven to this spot, the Lacedaemonians sat down to besiege them, thinking that they would soon reduce them. Nevertheless the Messenians maintained their resistance for eleven years after the disaster at the Trench.

[11] The length of the siege is proved by these lines of the poet Rhianus, regarding the Lacedaemonians:

In the folds of the white mountain were they encamped, for two and twenty winters and green herbs.

Rhianus, unknown location. He reckons winters and summers, by “green herbs” meaning the green corn or the time just before harvest.

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.) — 4.17 focus

[1] There is a place Aigila in Laconia, where is a sanctuary sacred to Demeter. Aristomenes and his men knowing that the women were keeping festival there … the women were inspired by the goddess to defend themselves, and most of the Messenians were wounded with the knives with which the women sacrificed the victims and the spits on which they pierced and roasted the meat. Aristomenes was struck with the torches and taken alive. Nevertheless he escaped to Messenia during the same night. Arkhidameia, the priestess of Demeter, was charged with having released him, not for a bribe but because she had been in love with him before; but she maintained that Aristomenes had escaped by burning through his bonds.

[2] In the third year of the war, when an engagement was about to take place at what is called The Great Trench, and the Messenians had been joined by Arcadians from all the cities, the Lacedaemonians bribed Aristocrates [Aristokrates] the son of Hicetas of Trapezus, who was then king and general of the Arcadians. The Lacedaemonians were the first of whom we know to give bribes to an enemy, and the first to make victory in war a matter of purchase.

[3] Before the Lacedaemonians committed this crime in the Messenian war in the matter of the treachery of Aristocrates [Aristokrates] the Arcadian, the decision in battle was reached by valor and the fortunes [ tukhai] emanating from the god [ theos]. Again it is clear that at a later date, when they were lying opposite the Athenian fleet at Aigospotamoi, the Lacedaemonians bought Adeimantos and other Athenian generals.

[4] However in course of time the punishment of Neoptolemos, as it is called, came upon the Lacedaemonians themselves in their turn. Now it was the fate of Neoptolemos the son of Achilles, after killing Priam on the altar of Zeus Herkeios (Of the Courtyard), himself to be slain by the altar of Apollo in Delphi. Thenceforward to suffer what a man has himself done to another is called the Punishment of Neoptolemos.

[5] So in the case of the Lacedaemonians, when they were at the height of their power after the destruction of the Athenian fleet, and Agesilaos had already reduced the greater part of Asia, they were unable to capture the whole empire of the Persians but the barbarian overreached them with their own invention, sending money to Corinth, Argos, Athens and Thebes as the result of this bribery the so-called Corinthian war broke out, compelling Agesilaos to abandon his conquests in Asia.

[6] Thus the superhuman force [ ho daimōn] was about to turn the trick employed by the Lacedaemonians against the Messenians to their own destruction. After receiving the money from Lacedaemon, Aristocrates [Aristokrates] concealed his plot from the Arcadians for the present, but when they were about to come into action, he alarmed them by saying that they were caught in a difficult place and there would be no means of retreat for them, if defeated, also that the offerings had not been satisfactory. He ordered everyone therefore to take to flight when he gave the signal.

[7] When the Lacedaemonians were about to close and the Messenians were occupied on their own front, then Aristocrates [Aristokrates] withdrew the Arcadians as the battle began, leaving the Messenian left and center without troops. For the Arcadians occupied both positions, now that the men of Elis were absent from the battle —so too the Argives and Sikyonians. To complete his work Aristocrates [Aristokrates] caused his men to fly through the Messenians.

[8] They were astounded at the unexpected state of affairs, and moreover were thrown into confusion by the passage of the Arcadians through their ranks, so that they almost forgot what lay before them; for instead of the advance of the Lacedaemonians they watched the Arcadian retirement, some begging them to stand by them, others cursing them for traitors and scoundrels.

[9] It was not difficult for the Lacedaemonians to surround the Messenians thus isolated, and they won without trouble the easiest of victories. Aristomenes and his men held together and tried to check the fiercest of the Lacedaemonian assaults but, being few in number, were unable to render much assistance. So great were the numbers of the people of the Messenians slain that in lieu of their former thoughts of becoming the masters instead of the slaves of the Lacedaemonians they now despaired of safety itself. Among the chieftains killed were Androkles and Phintas, and Phanas after the most glorious resistance. He had previously been victorious in the long foot-race at Olympia.

[10] Aristomenes collected the Messenian survivors after the battle and persuaded them to abandon Andania and most of the other towns that lay in the interior and to settle on Mount Eira. When they had been driven to this spot, the Lacedaemonians sat down to besiege them, thinking that they would soon reduce them. Nevertheless the Messenians maintained their resistance for eleven years after the disaster at the Trench.

[11] The length of the siege is proved by these lines of the poet Rhianus, regarding the Lacedaemonians:

“In the folds of the white mountain were they encamped, for two and twenty winters and green herbs.

Rhianus, unknown location.

He reckons winters and summers, by ‘green herbs’ meaning the green wheat or the time just before harvest.

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 4.17

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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