Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. Friedrich Spiro, 8.50

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[1]
ἅτε δὲ ἤδη τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἀφορώντων ἐς αὐτὸν καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐκεῖνον ποιουμένων, τοῖς τεταγμένοις αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ πεζῷ μετέβαλε τῶν ὅπλων τὴν σκευήν· φοροῦντας γὰρ μικρὰ δοράτια καὶ ἐπιμηκέστερα ὅπλα κατὰ τοὺς Κελτικοὺς θυρεοὺς ἢ τὰ γέρρα τὰ Περσῶν, ἔπεισε θώρακάς τε ἐνδύεσθαι καὶ ἐπιτίθεσθαι κνημῖδας, πρὸς δὲ ἀσπίσιν Ἀργολικαῖς χρῆσθαι καὶ τοῖς δόρασι μεγάλοις.

[2] Μαχανίδου δὲ ἐν Λακεδαίμονι ἀναφύντος τυράννου καὶ αὖθις πολέμου τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ Μαχανίδαν συνεστηκότος, ἡγεῖτο μὲν τοῦ Ἀχαϊκοῦ Φιλοποίμην· γινομένης δὲ πρὸς Μαντινείᾳ μάχης Λακεδαιμονίων μὲν οἱ ψιλοὶ τοὺς ἀσκεύους τῶν Ἀχαιῶν νικῶσι καὶ φεύγουσιν αὐτοῖς ἐπέκειτο ὁ Μαχανίδας, τῇ δὲ φάλαγγι ὁ Φιλοποίμην τῶν πεζῶν τρέπεται τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τοὺς ὁπλίτας καὶ ἀναχωροῦντι ἀπὸ τῆς διώξεως Μαχανίδᾳ συντυχὼν ἀποκτίννυσιν αὐτόν. Λακεδαιμονίοις δὲ ἠτυχηκόσι τῇ μάχῃ περιεγεγόνει μείζων ἢ κατὰ τὸ πταῖσμα εὐτυχία, γεγονόσιν ἐλευθέροις ἀπὸ τοῦ τυράννου.

[3] μετὰ δὲ οὐ πολὺ ἀγόντων Νέμεια Ἀργείων ἔτυχε μὲν τῶν κιθαρῳδῶν τῷ ἀγῶνι ὁ Φιλοποίμην παρών· Πυλάδου δὲ Μεγαλοπολίτου μὲν ἀνδρὸς γένος, κιθαρῳδοῦ δὲ τῶν ἐφʼ αὑτοῦ δοκιμωτάτου καὶ ἀνῃρημένου Πυθικὴν νίκην, τότε δὲ ᾄδοντος Τιμοθέου νόμον τοῦ Μιλησίου Πέρσας καὶ καταρξαμένου τῆς ᾠδῆς 0

Κλεινὸν ἐλευθερίας τεύχων μέγαν Ἑλλάδι κόσμον,

Timotheus, unknown location. ἀπεῖδεν ἐς τὸν Φιλοποίμενα τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν καὶ ἐπεσημήναντο τῷ κρότῳ φέρειν ἐς ἐκεῖνον τὸ ᾆσμα. τοιοῦτο ἐς Θεμιστοκλέα ἄλλο ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ πυνθάνομαι συμβῆναι· καὶ γὰρ Θεμιστοκλέους ἐς τιμὴν ἐπανέστη τὸ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ θέατρον.

[4] Φίλιππος δὲ ὁ Δημητρίου Μακεδόνων βασιλεύς, ὃς καὶ Ἄρατον φαρμάκῳ τὸν Σικυώνιον ἀπέκτεινεν, ἀπέστειλεν ἄνδρας ἐς Μεγάλην πόλιν φονεῦσαί σφισι Φιλοποίμενα ἐντειλάμενος· ἁμαρτὼν δὲ ἀνὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἐμισήθη πᾶσαν.
Θηβαῖοι δὲ κεκρατηκότες μάχῃ Μεγαρέας καὶ ἤδη τοῦ Μεγαρικοῦ τείχους ἐπιβαίνοντες, ἀπάτῃ τῶν Μεγαρέων μετελθόντων αὐτοὺς ὡς ἥκοι Φιλοποίμην σφίσιν ἐς τὴν πόλιν, ἐς τοσοῦτο εὐλαβείας προῆλθον ὡς οἴκαδε ἀποχωρῆσαι καταλιπόντες ἄπρακτον τοῦ πολέμου τὸ ἔργον.

[5] ἐν δὲ Λακεδαίμονι αὖθις ἐπανέστη τύραννος Νάβις, ὃς Πελοποννησίων πρώτοις ἐπέθετο Μεσσηνίοις· ἐπελθὼν δέ σφισιν ἐν νυκτὶ καὶ οὐδαμῶς τὴν ἔφοδον ἐλπίζουσιν εἷλε μὲν πλὴν τῆς ἀκροπόλεως τὸ ἄστυ, ἀφικομένου δὲ ἐς τὴν ὑστεραίαν στρατιᾷ Φιλοποίμενος ἐξέπεσεν ὑπόσπονδος ἐκ Μεσσήνης.

[6]
Φιλοποίμην δέ, ὡς ἐξῆκέν οἱ στρατηγοῦντι ὁ χρόνος καὶ ἄρχειν ἄλλοι τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ᾕρηντο, αὖθις ἐς Κρήτην διέβη καὶ ἐπεκούρησε Γορτυνίοις πολέμῳ πιεζομένοις. ποιουμένων δὲ ἐν ὀργῇ διὰ τὴν ἀποδημίαν τῶν Ἀρκάδων αὐτόν, ἐπάνεισί τε ἐκ Κρήτης καὶ Ῥωμαίους πόλεμον κατελάμβανεν ἐπανῃρημένους πρὸς Νάβιν.

[7] παρεσκευασμένων δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν Νάβιν ναυτικὸν τῶν Ῥωμαίων, ὁ Φιλοποίμην ὑπὸ προθυμίας μεθέξειν 0 ἔμελλε τοῦ ἀγῶνος· ἅτε δὲ ἐς ἅπαν ἀπείρως θαλάσσης ἔχων τριήρους ἔλαθεν ἐπιβὰς ῥεούσης, ὥστε καὶ ἐσῆλθε Ῥωμαίους καὶ τὸ ἄλλο συμμαχικὸν μνήμη τῶν ἐπῶν ὧν ἐν καταλόγῳ πεποίηκεν Ὅμηρος ἐπὶ τῇ Ἀρκάδων ἀμαθίᾳ τῇ ἐς θάλασσαν.

[8] ἡμέραις δὲ ὕστερον τῆς ναυμαχίας οὐ πολλαῖς Φιλοποίμην καὶ ὁ σὺν αὐτῷ λόχος φυλάξαντες νύκτα ἀσέληνον τὸ στρατόπεδον τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων κατεμπιπρᾶσιν ἐν Γυθίῳ. ἐνταῦθα ἀπέλαβεν ἐν δυσχωρίαις Νάβις Φιλοποίμενά τε αὐτὸν καὶ ὅσοι περὶ αὐτὸν τῶν Ἀρκάδων ἦσαν· ἦσαν δὲ ἄλλως μὲν ἀγαθοὶ τὰ ἐς πόλεμον, ἀριθμὸν δὲ οὐ πολλοί.

[9] Φιλοποίμην δὲ τὴν τάξιν, ἣν τεταγμένους ἀπῆγεν ὀπίσω, ταύτην ὑπαλλάξας τὰ μάλιστα ἰσχυρὰ τῶν χωρίων πρὸς αὑτοῦ καὶ οὐ πρὸς τῶν πολεμίων ἐποίησεν εἶναι· κρατήσας δὲ τῇ μάχῃ Νάβιν καὶ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ καταφονεύσας πολλούς, δόξης ἔτι ἐς πλέον παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἤρθη.

[10] μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Νάβις μὲν ἐς εἰρημένον χρόνον σπονδὰς παρὰ Ῥωμαίων εὑράμενος τελευτᾷ, πρὶν ἤ οἱ τοῦ πολέμου τὰς ἀνοχὰς ἐξήκειν, ὑπὸ ἀνδρὸς Καλυδωνίου κατὰ δὴ συμμαχίας πρόφασιν ἥκοντος, πολεμίου δὲ τῷ ἔργῳ καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτὸ ἐσταλμένου τοῦτο ὑπὸ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν.

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.) — 8.50 focus

[1]
As the Achaeans now turned their gaze on Philopoemen and placed in him all their hopes, he succeeded in changing the equipment of those serving in their infantry. They had been carrying short javelins and oblong shields after the fashion of the Celtic “door” or the Persian “wicker”¹ Philopoemen, however, persuaded them to put on breast-plates and greaves, and also to use Argolic shields² and long spears.

[2] When Machanidas the upstart became despot of Lacedaemon , and war began once again between that city under Machanidas and the Achaeans, Philopoemen commanded the Achaean forces. A battle took place at Mantineia . The light troops of the Lacedaemonians overcame the light-armed of the Achaeans, and Machanidas pressed hard on the fugitives. Philopoemen, however, with the phalanx of infantry put to flight the Lacedaemonian men-at-arms, met Machanidas returning from the pursuit and killed him. The Lacedaemonians were unfortunate in the battle, but their good fortune more than compensated for their defeat, for they were delivered from their despot.

[3] Not long afterwards the Argives celebrated the Nemean games, and Philopoemen chanced to be present at the competition of the harpists. Pylades, a man of Megalopolis , the most famous harpist of his time, who had won a Pythian victory, was then singing the Persians, an ode of Timotheus the Milesian. When he had begun the song:

Who to Greece gives the great and glorious jewel of freedom,

Timotheus, unknown location. the audience of Greeks looked at Philopoemen and by their clapping signified that the song applied to him. I am told that a similar thing happened to Themistocles at Olympia , for the audience there rose to do him honor.

[4] But Philip, the son of Demetrius, king of Macedonia, who poisoned Aratus of Sicyon , sent men to Megalopolis with orders to murder Philopoemen. The attempt failed, and Philip incurred the hatred of all Greece .
The Thebans had defeated the Megarians in battle, and were already climbing the wall of Megara , when the Megarians deceived them into thinking that Philopoemen had come to Megara . This made the Thebans so cautious that they went away home, and abandoned their military operation.

[5] In Lacedaemon another despot arose, Nabis, and the first of the Peloponnesians to be attacked by him were the Messenians. Coming upon them by night, when they by no means were expecting an assault, he took the city except the citadel; but when on the morrow Philopoemen arrived with an army, he evacuated Messene under a truce.

[6]
When Philopoemen's term of office as general expired, and others were chosen to be generals of the Achaeans, he again crossed to Crete and sided with the Gortynians, who were hard pressed in war. The Arcadians were wroth with him for his absence; so he returned from Crete and found that the Romans had begun a war against Nabis.

[7] The Romans had equipped a fleet against Nabis, and Philopoemen was too enthusiastic to keep out of the quarrel. But being entirely ignorant of nautical affairs he unwittingly embarked on a leaky trireme, so that the Romans and their allies were reminded of the verses of Homer, where in the Catalogue³ he remarks on the ignorance of the Arcadians of nautical matters.

[8] A few days after the sea-fight, Philopoemen and his band, waiting for a moonless night, burnt down the camp of the Lacedaemonians at Gythium . Thereupon Nabis caught Philopoemen himself and the Arcadians with him in a disadvantageous position. The Arcadians, though few in number, were good soldiers,

[9] and Philopoemen, by changing the order of his line of retreat, caused the strongest positions to be to his advantage and not to that of his enemy. He overcame Nabis in the battle and massacred during the night many of the Lacedaemonians, so raising yet higher his reputation among the Greeks.

[10] After this Nabis secured from the Romans a truce for a fixed period, but died before this period came to an end, being assassinated by a man of Calydon, who pretended that he had come about an alliance,⁴ but was in reality an enemy who had been sent for this very purpose of assassination by the Aetolians.

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.) — 8.50 focus

[1] As the Achaeans now turned their gaze on Philopoimen and placed in him all their hopes, he succeeded in changing the equipment of those serving in their infantry. They had been carrying short javelins and oblong shields after the fashion of the Celtic “door” or the “wicker” of the Persians [ Persai]. Philopoimen, however, persuaded them to put on breast-plates and greaves, and also to use Argolic shields and long spears.

[2] When Makhanidas the upstart became despot of Lacedaemon, and war began once again between that city under Makhanidas and the Achaeans, Philopoimen commanded the Achaean forces. A battle took place at Mantineia. The light troops of the Lacedaemonians overcame the light-armed of the Achaeans, and Makhanidas pressed hard on the fugitives. Philopoimen, however, with the phalanx of infantry put to flight the Lacedaemonian men-at-arms, met Makhanidas returning from the pursuit and killed him. The Lacedaemonians were unfortunate in the battle, but their good fortune more than compensated for their defeat, for they were delivered from their despot.

[3] Not long afterwards the Argives celebrated the Nemean games, and Philopoimen chanced to be present at the competition of the harpists. Pylades, a man of Megalopolis, the most famous harpist of his time, who had won a Pythian victory, was then singing the Persians, an ode of Timotheus the Milesian. When he had begun the song:

“Who to Greece gives the great and glorious jewel of freedom,”

Timotheus, unknown location

the audience of Greeks looked at Philopoimen and by their clapping signified that the song applied to him. I am told that a similar thing happened to Themistocles at Olympia, for the audience there rose to do him honor.

[4] But Philip, the son of Demetrios, king of Macedonia, who poisoned Aratos of Sikyon, sent men to Megalopolis with orders to murder Philopoimen. The attempt failed, and Philip incurred the hatred of all Greece.The Thebans had defeated the Megarians in battle, and were already climbing the wall of Megara, when the Megarians deceived them into thinking that Philopoimen had come to Megara. This made the Thebans so cautious that they went away home, and abandoned their military operation.

[5] In Lacedaemon another despot arose, Nabis, and the first of the Peloponnesians to be attacked by him were the Messenians. Coming upon them by night, when they by no means were expecting an assault, he took the city except the citadel; but when on the morrow Philopoimen arrived with an army, he evacuated Messene under a truce.

[6] When Philopoimen’s term of office as general expired, and others were chosen to be generals of the Achaeans, he again crossed to Crete and sided with the Gortynians, who were hard pressed in war. The Arcadians were angry with him for his absence; so he returned from Crete and found that the Romans had begun a war against Nabis.

[7] The Romans had equipped a fleet against Nabis, and Philopoimen was too enthusiastic to keep out of the quarrel. But being entirely ignorant of nautical affairs he unwittingly embarked on a leaky trireme, so that the Romans and their allies were reminded of the verses of Homer, where in the Catalogue he remarks on the ignorance of the Arcadians of nautical matters.

[8] A few days after the sea-fight, Philopoimen and his band, waiting for a moonless night, burned down the camp of the Lacedaemonians at Gythium. Thereupon Nabis caught Philopoimen himself and the Arcadians with him in a disadvantageous position. The Arcadians, though few in number, were good soldiers,

[9] and Philopoimen, by changing the order of his line of retreat, caused the strongest positions to be to his advantage and not to that of his enemy. He overcame Nabis in the battle and massacred during the night many of the Lacedaemonians, so raising yet higher his reputation among the Greeks.

[10] After this Nabis secured from the Romans a truce for a fixed period, but died before this period came to an end, being assassinated by a man of Calydon, who pretended that he had come about an alliance, but was in reality an enemy who had been sent for this very purpose of assassination by the Aetolians.

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 8.50

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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