And the place called Limnæum is the temple of Orthian Artemis. The

wooden statue of the goddess is they say the very one which Orestes

and Iphigenia formerly stole from the Tauric Chersonese. And the

Lacedæmonians say it was brought to their country when Orestes was

king there. And their account seems to me more probable than the

account of the Athenians. For why should Iphigenia have left the

statue at Brauron? And when the Athenians were preparing to leave the

place, would they not have put it on board ship? And so great still is

the fame of Tauric Artemis, that the Cappadocians who live near the

Euxine claim that the statue was theirs, and the Lydians who have a

temple of Anaitian Artemis make the same claim. But it appears it was

neglected by the Athenians and became a prey to the Medes: for it was

carried from Brauron to Susa, and afterwards the Syrians of Laodicea

received it from Seleucus and still have it. And the following facts

plainly prove to me that the Orthian Artemis at Lacedæmon is the same

wooden statue which was taken from the barbarians: that Astrabacus

and Alopecus, (the sons of Irbus, the son of Amphisthenes, the son of

Amphicles, the son of Agis), when they found the statue immediately

went mad; and also that the Limnatæ among the Spartans, and the people

of Cynosura, Mesoa, and Pitane, who were sacrificing to Artemis, had

a quarrel and even went so far as to kill one another, and after many

were killed at the altar a pestilence destroyed the rest. And after

that an oracle bade them sprinkle human blood over the altar. And

instead of a person drawn by lot being sacrificed, Lycurgus changed it

to flogging the young men there, and so the altar got sprinkled with

human blood. And the priestess stands by during the operation, holding

the wooden statue, which is generally light from its smallness, but

if the scourgers spare any young man at all in his flogging either

on account of his beauty or rank, then this wooden statue in the

priestess’ hand becomes heavy and no longer easy to hold, and she makes

complaint of the scourgers and says it is so heavy owing to them. So

innate is it with this statue, in consequence of the sacrifices at

the Tauric Chersonese, to delight in human blood. And they not only

call the goddess Orthia, but also _Bound-with-willow-twigs_, because

the statue was found in a willow bush, and the willows so tenaciously

twined round it that they kept it in an upright posture.

CHAPTER XVII.

And not far from that of Orthian Artemis is the temple of Ilithyia:

this temple they say was built, and Ilithyia accounted a goddess,

in obedience to the oracle at Delphi. And the Lacedæmonians have no

citadel rising to a notable height, as the Cadmea at Thebes, or Larissa

among the Argives: but as there are several hills in the city the

highest of these is called the citadel. Here is erected a temple of

Athene called Poliuchus and Chalciœcus. And this temple began to be

built they say by Tyndareus: and after his death his sons wished to

finish the building, and they had an opportunity in the spoils from

Aphidna. But as they too died before the conclusion of the work, the

Lacedæmonians many years afterwards completed the temple, and made a

statue of Athene in brass. And the artificer was Gitiadas a native

of Sparta, who also composed Doric poems and a hymn to the goddess.

Many too of the Labours of Hercules are delineated in brass, and many

of his successes on his own account, and several of the actions of

Castor and Pollux, and their carrying off the daughters of Leucippus,

and Hephæstus freeing his mother from her bonds. I have given an

explanation of all these before, and the legends about them, in my

account of Attica. There too are the Nymphs giving Perseus, as he is

starting for Libya and Medusa, the invisible cap, and the sandals with

which he could fly through the air. There too are representations of

the birth of Athene, and of Amphitrite, and Poseidon, which are the

largest and as it seems to me finest works of art.

There is also another temple there of Athene the Worker. At the South

Porch there is also a temple of Zeus called the Arranger, and the tomb

of Tyndareus in front of it. And the West Porch has two Eagles and two

Victories to correspond, the votive offering of Lysander, and a record

of his two famous exploits, the one near Ephesus when he defeated

Antiochus, the pilot of Alcibiades, and the Athenian gallies, and

the other at Ægos-potamoi where he crushed the Athenian navy. And at

the left of Athene Chalciœcus they have built a temple of the Muses,

because the Lacedæmonians do not go out to battle to the sound of the

trumpet, but to the music of flutes and lyre and harp. And behind

Athene Chalciœcus is the temple of Martial Aphrodite. Her wooden

statues are as old as any among the Greeks.

And on the right of Athene Chalciœcus is a statue of Supreme Zeus,

the most ancient of all brass statues, for it is not carved in one

piece, but forged piece by piece and deftly welded together, and studs

keep it together from falling to pieces. The artificer was they say

Clearchus a man of Rhegium, who some say was the pupil of Dipœnus and

Scyllis, others say of Dædalus. And at what is called the _Scenoma_

there is a figure of a woman, the Lacedæmonians say it is Euryleonis,

who won the prize at Olympia with a pair of horses.

And near the altar of Athene Chalciœcus are erected two figures of

Pausanias the General at Platæa. His fate I shall not relate to people

who know it, for what I have written before is quite sufficient. I

shall merely therefore state what I heard from a man of Byzantium, that

Pausanias was detected plotting, and was the only one of those that

took sanctuary with Athene Chalciœcus that did not get indemnity, and

that for no other reason than that he could not clear himself of the

guilt of murder. For when he was at the Hellespont in command of the

allied fleet, he got enamoured of a Byzantian maiden called Cleonice,

and at nightfall a detachment of his men brought her to him. And

Pausanias had fallen asleep, and when this maiden came into the room

she knocked down inadvertently the light that was burning, and the

noise woke him. And Pausanias, whose conscience smote him for having

betrayed Greece, and who was therefore always in a state of nervous

alarm and panic, was beside himself and stabbed the maiden with a

scimetar. This guilt Pausanias could not clear himself from, though

he endeavoured in every way to propitiate Zeus the Acquitter, and

even went to Phigalia in Arcadia to the necromancers, but he paid to

Cleonice and the deity the fit penalty. And the Lacedæmonians at the

bidding of the oracle made brazen statues for the god Epidotes, and

otherwise honoured him, because he it was who in the case of Pausanias

turned aside the wrath of Zeus the god of Suppliants.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Near the two figures of Pausanias is a statue of Youth-prolonging

Aphrodite, made at the bidding of an oracle, and statues of Sleep and

Death. People have reckoned them to be brothers according to Homer’s

lines in the Iliad.[39] And on the way to Alpium as it is called you

come to the temple of Athene the Eye-preserver, erected they say by

Lycurgus who had one of his eyes knocked out by Alcander, because he

did not find Lycurgus’ legislation agreeable. And he took refuge at

this place, and the Lacedæmonians prevented his losing his remaining

eye, so he built a temple to Athene the Eye-preserver. And as you go

on from thence you come to the temple of Ammon. The Lacedæmonians seem

from time immemorial to have used his oracle in Libya most of all

the Greeks. And it is said that, when Lysander was besieging Aphytis

in Pallene, Ammon appeared to him by night, and told him it would be

better for him and Lacedæmon to raise the siege. And accordingly he

did so, and induced the Lacedæmonians to honour the god even more

than before. And the people of Aphytis honour Ammon as much as the

Ammonians themselves in Libya. And the following is the tradition about

Cnagian Artemis. Cnageus they say was a native of Sparta, and went on

the expedition against Aphidna with Castor and Pollux, and was taken

prisoner in the battle and sold into slavery in Crete, and was slave at

the temple of Artemis in Crete, and in course of time ran off with the

priestess who also took with her the image of the goddess. This is why

they call her Cnagian Artemis. But I cannot help thinking this Cnageus

must have gone to Crete in some other way, and not as the Lacedæmonians

say, for I do not think a battle was fought at Aphidna, as Theseus

was detained in Thesprotia, and the Athenians were not unanimous for

him, but inclined rather to Menestheus. Not but that, if a contest

took place, one might readily believe that prisoners were taken by the

conquerors, especially as it was a decisive victory, for Aphidna was

captured. Let this suffice for the subject.

On the road from Sparta to Amyclæ you come to the river Tiasa. Tiasa

was they think the daughter of Eurotas, and near the river is a temple

of the Graces Phaenna and Clete, whom Alcman has celebrated. And they

think that Lacedæmon erected this temple to the Graces and gave them

these names. The things worth seeing at Amyclæ are the statue of

Ænetus on a pillar (he won all the prizes in the pentathlum, and died

they say directly after being crowned for his victory at Olympia,) and

some brazen tripods, three[40] of which are older they say than the

Messenian War. Under the first of these is a statue of Aphrodite, under

the second one of Artemis, both the design and work of Gitiadas. And

the third is by Callon of Ægina, and under it is a statue of Proserpine

the daughter of Demeter. And the Parian Aristander has represented a

woman with a lyre to signify Sparta no doubt, and Polycletus the Argive

has represented Aphrodite called the Aphrodite near Amyclæan Apollo.

These 3 tripods are bigger than any of the rest, and were dedicated in

consequence of the victory at Ægos-potamoi. And Bathycles the Magnesian,

who made the throne of Amyclæan Apollo, also carved some of the Graces

on the throne and a statue of Artemis Leucophryene. Who he learnt his

art from, or in whose reign he made this throne I pass by, but I have

seen it and will describe it. Before and behind it are two Graces and

two Seasons, on the left is the Hydra and Typhos, and on the right the

Tritons. But to narrate every detail of this work of art would tire my

readers, to make therefore a short summary, since most are well known,

Poseidon and Zeus are carrying off Taygetes, the daughter of Atlas,

and her sister Alcyone. There also is Atlas delineated, and the combat

between Hercules and Cycnus, and the fight of the Centaurs with Pholus.

There too is the Minotaur represented by Bathycles (I know not why) as

fettered and led alive by Theseus. And there is a dance of Phæacians

on the throne, and Demodocus is singing. There too is Perseus’ victory

over Medusa. And not to mention the contest of Hercules with the giant

Thurius, and of Tyndareus with Eurytus, there is the rape of the

daughters of Leucippus. And there is Hermes carrying to heaven Dionysus

as a boy, and Athene taking Hercules to dwell among the gods. And

there is Peleus handing over Achilles for his education to Chiron, who

is said to have been his tutor. And there is Cephalus carried off by

Aurora for his beauty. And there are the gods bringing their gifts at

the wedding of Harmony. There too is the single combat between Achilles

and Memnon, and Hercules slaying Diomede, King of Thrace, and Nessus

by the river Evenus, and Hermes bringing up the goddesses to Paris

for the trial of beauty, and Adrastus and Tydeus stopping the fight

between Amphiarus and Lycurgus the son of Pronax. And Hera is gazing at

Io already changed into a heifer, and Athene is running away from the

pursuit of Hephæstus. There too is Hercules fighting with the hydra,

and bringing up Cerberus from Hades. There too are Anaxis and Mnasinous

each of them on horseback, and Megapenthes, the son of Menelaus, and

Nicostratus both on one horse. And there is Bellerophon killing the

Chimæra in Lycia, and Hercules driving off the cattle of Geryon. And on

each side of the upper portions of the throne are Castor and Pollux on

horseback: under their horses are some Sphinxes and some wild beasts

running above, on Castor’s side a leopard, but near Pollux a lioness.

And at the very top of the throne is a company of the Magnesians who

assisted Bathycles in this work of art. And if you go under the throne

to see its interior parts where the Tritons are, there is the boar

of Calydon, and Hercules slaying the sons of Actor, and Calais and

Zetes driving away the Harpies from Phineus, and Pirithous and Theseus

carrying off Helen, and Hercules throttling the Nemean lion. And there

are Apollo and Artemis transfixing Tityus. And there is the contest of

Hercules with the Centaur Oreus, and of Theseus with the Minotaur, and

the wrestling of Hercules with Achelous, and Hera bound by Hephæstus as

the story goes, and the games established by Acastus in memory of his

father, and what we read in the Odyssey about Menelaus and the Egyptian

Proteus. Lastly there is Admetus yoking to his chariot a boar and a

lion, and the Trojans making their offerings at the grave of Hector.

CHAPTER XIX.

As to the seat for the god on this throne, it is not one continuous

surface but has several partitions with intervals between them. The

largest partition is in the middle, where there is a statue about 30

cubits high I conjecture, for no one has taken its measure. And this is

not by Bathycles but an ancient and inartistic production, for except

the face toes and hands it resembles a brazen pillar. There is a helmet

on its head, and a lance and bow in its hands. And the base of the

statue is like an altar, and they say Hyacinthus is buried there, and

at the festival of Hyacinthus, before they sacrifice to Apollo, they

make offerings to Hyacinthus on this altar through a brazen door which

is on the left of the altar. And carved upon this altar are effigies

of Biris and Amphitrite and Poseidon, and Zeus and Hermes talking

together, and near them Dionysus and Semele, and near Semele Ino. On

this altar too are effigies of Demeter and Proserpine and Pluto, the

Destinies and the Seasons, Aphrodite and Athene and Artemis; and they

are carrying to heaven Hyacinthus and his sister Polybœa who they say

died a virgin. Hyacinthus has a small beard, and Nicias the son of

Nicomedes has represented him as very handsome, hinting at the love

of Apollo for him. There is also a representation of Hercules being

taken to heaven by Athene and the other gods; as also effigies of the

daughters of Thestius and the Muses and the Seasons. As to the Zephyr,

and the story of Hyacinth having been accidentally slain by Apollo, and

the legends about the flower Hyacinth, the traditions may possibly be

baseless, but let them stand.

Amyclæ was destroyed by the Dorians, and is now only a village,

which contains a temple and statue of Alexandra well worth seeing, (by

Alexandra the people of Amyclæ mean Cassandra the daughter of Priam).

There is here also an effigy of Clytæmnestra, and a statue of

Agamemnon, and his supposed tomb. And Amyclæan Apollo and Dionysus are

the chief gods worshipped here, the latter they call very properly in

my opinion Psilax (_Winged_). Psila is the Dorian word for wings, and

wine elevates men and lightens their judgment just as wings elevate

birds. And such is all that is memorable about Amyclæ.

Another road from Sparta leads to Therapne. And on the way is a

wooden statue of Athene Alea. And before you cross the Eurotas a little

above the bank stands the temple of Wealthy Zeus. And when you have

crossed the Eurotas, you come to the temple of Cotylean Æsculapius

built by Hercules, who called Æsculapius Cotylean because in the

first conflict with Hippocoon and his sons he received a wound on his

_cotyle_ or hip. And of all the temples built on this road, the most

ancient is one of Ares, on the left of the road, and the statue of the

god was they say brought by Castor and Pollux from Colchi. And Theritas

gets its name they say from Thero, who was the nurse of Ares. And

perhaps they got the name Theritas from the Colchians, for the Greeks

know nothing of a nurse of Ares called Thero. But I cannot but think

that the name Theritas was given to Ares not on account of his nurse,

but because in an engagement with the enemy one must be mild no longer,

but be like the description of Achilles in Homer, “as a lion he knows

savageness.”[41]

Therapne got its name from Therapne, the daughter of Lelex, and it

has a temple of Menelaus, and they say that Menelaus and Helen were

buried here. But the Rhodians have a different account to that of the

Lacedæmonians, and say that Helen after the death of Menelaus, while

Orestes was still on his travels, was driven away by Nicostratus and

Megapenthes and went to Rhodes, as she was a connection of Polyxo the

wife of Tlepolemus, for Polyxo was of Argive descent, and being the

wife of Tlepolemus fled with him to Rhodes, and there became Queen,

being left with one fatherless child. This Polyxo they say desired

to avenge on Helen the death of Tlepolemus, and when she got her in

her power sent to her as she was bathing some attendants dressed like

the Furies, and they laid hold of Helen and hung her on a tree, and

for this reason the Rhodians have a temple to Helen Hung on the Tree.

And I will record the tradition of the people of Croton about Helen,

which is the same as that of the people of Himera. There is in the

Euxine sea, near the mouth of the Ister, an island sacred to Achilles

called Leuce. It is 20 stades in extent, entirely thick forest and full

of beasts domesticated and wild, and contains a temple and statue of

Achilles. They say Leonymus of Croton was the first that ever sailed

to it. For when there was a war between the people of Croton and the

Locrians in Italy, and the Locrians invited in Ajax the son of Oileus

to aid them because of their kinsmanship to the Opuntians, Leonymus the

general of the Crotonians attacked that part of the enemy’s army where

he was told that Ajax was stationed, and got wounded in the breast,

and, as he suffered very much from his wound, went to Delphi. And the

Pythian Priestess sent him to the island Leuce, and told him that Ajax

would appear there and heal his wound. And in process of time getting

well he returned from Leuce, and said that he had seen Achilles, and

Ajax the son of Oileus, and Ajax the son of Telamon, and that Patroclus

and Antilochus were in the company, and that Helen was married to

Achilles and had told him to sail to Himera, and tell Stesichorus

that the loss of his eyesight was a punishment to him from her. In

consequence of this Stesichorus composed his palinode.

CHAPTER XX.

At Therapne too I saw the fountain Messeis. Some of the Lacedæmonians

say that the fountain called in our day Polydeucea, and not this one

at Therapne, was called by the ancients Messeis. But the fountain

Polydeucea, and the temple of Polydeuces, are on the right of the road

to Therapne. And not far from Therapne is a temple of Phœbus, and in

it a shrine of Castor and Polydeuces, and the youths sacrifice here

to Enyalius. And at no great distance is a temple of Poseidon under

the name of the Earth-holder. And as you go on thence on the road to

Taygetus you come to a place they call Alesiæ (_i.e._ _Mill-town_),

for they say that Myles the son of Lelex was the first that discovered

the use of mills, and first ground here. At Alesiæ there is a

hero-chapel to Lacedæmon the son of Taygete. And as you go on from

thence and cross the river Phellias, on the road from Amyclæ to the sea

you come to Pharis, formerly a populous town in Laconia, and leaving

the river Phellias on the right is the way to Mount Taygetus. And there

is in the plain a shrine of Messapian Zeus. He got this title they say

from one of his priests. As you go thence towards Mount Taygetus there

is a place called Bryseæ, where was formerly a town, and there is still

a temple of Dionysus and his statue in the open air. But the statue in

the temple only women may look upon: and women only conduct the ritual

in connection with the sacrifices. The highest point of Mount Taygetus

is Taletum above Bryseæ. This they say is sacred to the Sun, and they

sacrifice there to the Sun horses and other victims, as do also the

Persians. And not far from Taletum is the forest called Evoras, which

supports several wild beasts and especially wild goats. In fact Mount

Taygetus throughout affords excellent goat-hunting and boar-hunting,

and superfine deer-hunting and bear-hunting. And between Taletum and

Evoras is a place they call Theras, where they say Leto came from

the heights of Taygetus. And there is a temple to Demeter under the

name Eleusinia. Here the Lacedæmonians say Hercules was hidden by

Æsculapius, while he was being cured of his wound. And there is in

it a wooden statue of Orpheus, the work as they say of the Pelasgi.

And I know that Orphic rites take place here also. Near the sea is a

town called Helus, which Homer has mentioned in his catalogue of the

Lacedæmonians,

‘Those who dwelt at Amyclæ and Helus the city by the sea.’[42]

It was founded by Heleus the youngest son of Perseus, and the Dorians

in after days reduced it by siege. Its inhabitants were the first

slaves of the Lacedæmonian commonalty, and were the first called Helots

from the place of their birth. Afterwards Helot was the general name

the Dorians gave their slaves, even when they were Messenians, just

as all the Greeks are called Hellenes from Hellas in Thessaly. From

Helus they bring on stated days the wooden statue of Proserpine, the

daughter of Demeter, to Eleusinium. And 15 stades from Eleusinium is

the place called Lapithæum from a native called Lapithus. It is on

Mount Taygetus, and not far from it is Dereum, where is a statue of

Derean Artemis in the open air, and near it a fountain which they call

Anonus. And next to Dereum, about 20 stades further on is Harplea,

which extends as far as the plain.

On the road from Sparta to Arcadia there is a statue of Athene called

Parea in the open air, and near it a temple of Achilles, which it is

customary to keep shut. But those of the youths who intend to contend

at Platanistas are wont to sacrifice there to Achilles before the

contest. And the Spartans say this temple was built for them by Prax,

who was the great grandson of Pergamus, the son of Neoptolemus. And

as you go on you come to the tomb called _The Horse_, for Tyndareus

sacrificed a horse here and put an oath to all the suitors of Helen,

making them stand by the horse’s entrails. And the oath was to aid

Helen, and whoever should be chosen for her husband, if they were

wronged. And after putting this oath to them he buried the remains of

the horse here. And at no great distance there are seven pillars set

there after some ancient custom, I suppose, to represent the seven

planets. And on the road there is a grove of Carnean Apollo called

Stemmatius, and a temple of Mysian Artemis. And the statue of Modesty,

about 30 stades’ distance from Sparta, is the votive offering of

Icarius, said to have been made on the following occasion. When Icarius

gave Penelope in marriage to Odysseus, he endeavoured to persuade

Odysseus to live at Lacedæmon, but failing in that he begged his

daughter to remain with him, and when she set out for Ithaca followed

the chariot, and besought her earnestly to return. And Odysseus for a

time refused his consent to this, but at last gave Penelope permission

either to accompany him of her own volition, or to go back to Lacedæmon

with her father. And she they say made no answer, but, as she veiled

her face at this proposal, Icarius perceived that she wished to go off

with Odysseus, and let her go, and dedicated a statue of Modesty in

the very place in the road where they say Penelope had got to when she

veiled herself.

CHAPTER XXI.

And 20 stades further you will come to the Eurotas which flows very

near the road, and to the tomb of Ladas, who surpassed all his

contemporaries in swiftness of foot. At Olympia he received the prize

for the long race, but I think he was tired out after his victory, for

he died on this spot and was buried above the public road. Another

Ladas, who also was a victor at Olympia but not in the long race, was

they say an Achæan from Ægium, according to the archives of Elis about

the victors at Olympia. And if you go on you come to the village called

Characoma, and next to it is Pellana, formerly a town, where they

say Tyndareus lived, when he fled from Sparta from Hippocoon and his

sons. And the notable things I have myself seen there are the temple

of Æsculapius and the fountain Pellanis, into which they say a maiden

fell when she was drawing water, and after she had disappeared her veil

was found in another fountain called Lancea. And about 100 stades from

Pellana is a place called Belemina: best off for water of all Laconia,

for not only does the river Eurotas flow through it, but it has also

fountains in abundance.

As you go down to the sea in the direction of Gythium, you come to

the Lacedæmonian village called Croceæ. The stonequarries here are not

one continuous piece of rock, but stones are dug out of them like river

stones, rather difficult to carve, but when they are carved admirably

adapted to adorn the temples of the gods, and add very greatly to the

beauty of fishponds and ornamental waters. And in front of the village

are statues of the gods, as Zeus of Croceæ in stone, and at the quarry

Castor and Pollux in brass. And next to Croceæ, as you turn to the

right from the high road to Gythium, you will come to the small town

called Ægiæ. They say Homer mentions it under the name Augeæ. Here is a

marsh which is called Poseidon’s marsh, and the god has a temple and

statue near it. The natives are afraid however to catch the fish, for

they say that whoever fishes there becomes a fish and ceases to be a

man.

Gythium is about 30 stades from Ægiæ, and is near the sea, and is

inhabited by the Eleutherolacones, whom the Emperor Augustus liberated

from the yoke of slavery imposed on them by the Lacedæmonians of

Sparta. All the Peloponnese except the Isthmus of Corinth is surrounded

by water: and the maritime parts of Laconia furnish shell fish from

which purple dye is obtained, next in excellence to the Tyrian purple.

And the Eleutherolacones have 18 cities, first Gythium as you descend

from Ægiæ to the sea, and next Teuthrone, and Las, and Pyrrhichus,

and near Tænarum Cænepolis, and Œtylus, and Leuctra, and Thalamæ, and

Alagonia, and Gerenia: and opposite Gythium Asopus near the sea, and

Acriæ, and Bœæ, and Zarax, and Epidaurus called Limera, and Brasiæ,

and Geronthræ, and Marius. These are all that remain of what were once

24 cities of the Eleutherolacones. And the other six, which I shall

also give an account of, are tributary to Sparta and not independent

as those we have just spoken of. And the people of Gythium assign no

mortal as their founder, but say that Hercules and Apollo, when their

contest for the tripod was over, jointly built their town. In the

market-place they have statues of Apollo and Hercules, and near them

Dionysus. And in a different part of the town is Carnean Apollo, and a

temple of Ammon, and a brazen statue of Æsculapius; his shrine has no

roof to it, and there is a fountain of the god, and a temple sacred to

Demeter, and a statue of Poseidon the Earth-holder. And the person that

the people of Gythium call the old man, who they say lives in the sea,

is I discovered Nereus, and this name Homer gave him in the Iliad in

the speech of Thetis, ‘Ye now enter Ocean’s spacious bosom, to visit

the old man of the sea and the homes of our sire.’[43] And the gates

here are called Castorides, and in the citadel there is a temple and

statue of Athene.

CHAPTER XXII.

And about 3 stades from Gythium is the White Stone, where they say

Orestes sat to cure himself of his madness. In the Doric tongue the

stone was called Zeus Cappotas. And opposite Gythium lies the island

Cranae, where according to Homer Paris first carried off Helen. Facing

this island on the mainland is the temple of Aphrodite Migonitis, and

the whole place is called Migonium. The temple they say was built by

Paris. And Menelaus, returning home safe 8 years after the capture

of Ilium, placed near the temple of Aphrodite Migonitis statues of

Thetis and Praxidice. There is a mountain too above Migonium sacred to

Dionysus, which they call Larysium: and here at the commencement of

spring they have a feast to Dionysus, alleging among other reasons for

the festival that they found here a ripe cluster of grapes.

On the left of Gythium about 30 stades’ distance you will see on

the mainland the walls of Trinasus, which seems to me to have been

a fort and not a town. And I think it got its name from the three

small islands which lie here near the mainland. And about 80 stades

from Trinasus you come to the ruins of Helus, and 30 stades further

to Acriæ a city on the sea, where is a handsome temple of the Mother

of the Gods, and her statue in stone. And the inhabitants of Acriæ

say that this is the oldest of all the temples of this goddess in the

Peloponnese: though the Magnesians who live north of Sipylus have on a

rock called Coddinus the most ancient statue of the Mother of the Gods;

and the Magnesians say it was made by Broteas the son of Tantalus.

Acriæ once produced a victor at Olympia in Nicocles, who carried off at

two Olympiads five victories in the chariot race. His tomb is between

the gymnasium and the walls near the harbour. It is about 120 stades

from Acriæ to Geronthræ. Geronthræ was inhabited before the Heraclidæ

came to the Peloponnese, and the inhabitants were driven out by the

Dorians of Lacedæmon, who, when they had driven out the Achæans from

Geronthræ, put in colonists of their own. But Geronthræ now belongs

to the Eleutherolacones. On the road from Acriæ to Geronthræ there

is a village called Palæa, and at Geronthræ there is a temple and

grove of Ares, whose festival they celebrate annually, when women are

forbidden to enter the grove. And near the market-place are fountains

of drinkable water. And in the citadel there is a temple of Apollo,

and the head of his image in ivory: all the rest of the image was

destroyed by fire when the old temple was burnt. Another town belonging

to the Eleutherolacones is Marius, 100 stades from Geronthræ. There is

an old temple there common to all the gods, and round it a grove with

fountains, there are also fountains in the temple of Artemis. Marius

indeed has plenty of water if any place. And above Marius is a village

called Glyptia in the interior of the country. And there is another

village called Selinus about 20 stades from Geronthræ.

So much for the interior of Laconia from Acriæ. And the town Asopus

on the sea is about 60 stades from Acriæ. In it is a temple of the

Roman Emperors, and inland from Asopus about 12 stades is a temple of

Æsculapius, they call the god Philolaus there. And the bones that are

honoured in the gymnasium are exceedingly large, but not too big for

a mortal. And there is a temple of Athene called Cyparissia in the

citadel: and at the foot of the citadel there some ruins of a town

called the town of the Paracyparissian Achæans. There is also in this

district a temple of Æsculapius about 50 stades from Asopus, and they

call the place in which this temple is Hyperteleatum. And there is a

promontory jutting out into the sea about 200 stades from Asopus, which

they call _Ass’ jawbone_. This promontory has a temple of Athene,

without either statue or roof, said to have been built by Agamemnon.

There is also a monument of Cinadus, who was the pilot of Menelaus’

ship. And next to this promontory is what is called the Bay of BϾ,

and the city Bœæ is at the head of the bay. It was built by Bœus, one

of the sons of Hercules who is said to have peopled it from the three

towns Etis, Aphrodisias, and Sida. Two of these ancient towns are

reputed to have been built by Æneas, when he was fleeing to Italy and

driven into this bay by storms, his daughter Etias gave her name to

Etis, and the third town was they say called after Sida the daughter

of Danaus. Those who were driven out of these towns enquired where

they should dwell: and the oracle told them that Artemis would shew

them where to dwell. On their starting their journey a hare sprung in

view, this hare they made their guide: and as it hid in a myrtle tree

they built their city on the site of the myrtle tree, and they still

venerate the myrtle tree, and call Artemis their Saviour. There is also

a temple of Apollo in the market-place of BϾ, and in another part of

the city temples of Æsculapius and Serapis and Isis. The ruins of the

three towns are not more than 7 stades from BϾ, and on the road you

see a stone statue of Hermes on the left, and among the ruins can trace

temples of Æsculapius and Hygiea.

CHAPTER XXIII.

And Cythera lies opposite BϾ, and to the promontory of

Platanistus--the point where the island is nearest to the

mainland--from the promontory on the mainland called _Ass’ jaw-bone_

is about 4 stades’ sail. And at Cythera there is a station for ships

called Scandea, and Scandea is about 10 stades from the town of Cythera

as you go along the cliffs. And the temple of Celestial Aphrodite is

the most holy and most ancient of all the temples the Greeks have of

Aphrodite, and the statue is an old wooden one, the goddess is in

complete armour.

As you sail from BϾ to the promontory of Malea there is a harbour

called Nymphæum, and a statue of Poseidon erect, and a cave very near

the sea, and in it a spring of fresh water, and many people live in

the neighbourhood. And as you double the promontory of Malea, and sail

about 100 stades, you come to a place called Epidelium on the borders

of BϾ, where is a temple of Apollo. It is called Epidelium because

the wooden statue of Apollo there now was formerly at Delos. For

Delos being formerly an emporium for the Greeks, and being thought

likely to give security to commerce because of the god, Menophanes a

General of Mithridates, either of his own insolence or obeying the

orders of Mithridates, (for to a man looking only to lucre divine

things come after gain), seeing that Delos had no fortifications and

that the inhabitants were unarmed, sailed to it and slew all the

resident aliens, and the Delians also, and robbed the merchants of much

money, and carried off all the votive offerings, and also enslaved

the women and children, and razed Delos to the ground. And during

the sack and plunder one of the barbarians in very wantonness threw

this wooden statue into the sea, and the waves landed it here at the

place called Epidelium in the district of BϾ. But the fierce wrath

of the god failed not to pursue Menophanes and Mithridates himself,

for Menophanes, when he put to sea again after laying Delos waste, was

lain in wait for by the merchants who had escaped, and his vessel sunk,

and Mithridates subsequently was compelled by the god to be his own

executioner when his power was entirely destroyed, and he driven hither

and thither by the Romans. And some say that he found a violent death

as a favour at the hands of one of his mercenaries. Such was the end of

these men for their impiety.

And adjacent to the district of BϾ is Epidaurus Limera, about

200 stades from Epidelium. And they say that it was colonized and

inhabited not by the Lacedæmonians but by some Epidaurians that lived

in Argolis, who, sailing to Cos to see Æsculapius on public business

put in at Laconia here, and according to visions they had continued

here. And they say that the dragon which they had brought with them

from Epidaurus escaped from the ship and dived into a hole not far from

the sea, and according to their visions and the wonderful behaviour of

their dragon they determined to dwell there. And at the point where the

dragon dived into a hole they erected altars to Æsculapius, and some

olive trees grow in the vicinity. About two stades further there is

on the right hand some water called the water of Ino, in size only a

small lake, but it goes very deep into the ground. Into this water on

the festival of Ino they throw barley cakes. If the water absorbs them

it is thought a lucky sign for the person who throws them in, but if

they float on the surface it is judged a bad sign. The craters at Ætna

have the same prophetic power. For they throw into them gold and silver

vessels, and offerings of all kinds. And if the fire absorbs them they

rejoice at it as a good sign, but if it rejects them they regard it as

a sure sign of misfortune for the person who has thrown them in. And

on the road from BϾ to Epidaurus Limera there is a temple of Artemis

called by the Epidaurians Limnas. The town is at no great distance from

the sea, and is built on an eminence: and the sights worth seeing here

are the temple of Aphrodite, and a statue of Æsculapius in stone erect,

and a temple of Athene in the citadel, and in front of the harbour

a temple of Zeus Soter. And into the sea near the town juts out the

promontory Minoa. And the bay is very similar to all the others in

Laconia made by the encroaches of the sea. And the seashore has pebbles

beautiful in shape and of all kinds of colours.

CHAPTER XXIV.

About 100 stades from Epidaurus Limera is Zarax, in other respects

convenient as a harbour, but especially ravaged of all the towns of

the Eleutherolacones, for Cleonymus, the son of Cleomenes, the son of

Agesipolis, razed to the ground this alone of the Laconian towns. But

I have elsewhere spoken of Cleonymus. And at Zarax there is nothing

remarkable but a temple of Apollo at the end of the harbour, and a

statue of the god with a lyre.

And as you go along the coast from Zarax about 6 stades, and then

turn and strike into the interior of the country for about 10 stades,

you come to the ruins of Cyphanta, where is a temple of Æsculapius

called Stethæum, and the statue of the god is of stone. And there is

a spring of cold water bubbling out from the rock. They say Atalanta

was parched with thirst hunting here, and struck the rock with her

lance and the water gushed forth. And Brasiæ near the sea is the last

place which belongs to the Eleutherolacones here, and it is about

200 stades’ sail from Cyphanta. And the natives here have traditions

different to all the other Greeks, for they say that Semele bare a son

to Zeus, and that she and her son Dionysus were spirited away by Cadmus

and put into a chest, and this chest was they say carried by the waves

to Brasiæ, and they say they buried magnificently Semele who was no

longer alive, and reared Dionysus. And in consequence of this the name

of their city, which had been hitherto called Oreatæ was changed to

_Brasiæ_, because of this landing from the chest. To this day in fact

most people speak of things cast ashore by the waves as _brashed_[44]

ashore. The people of Brasiæ say further that Ino came to their land

on her travels, and when she came there wished to be the nurse of

Dionysus. And they show the cave where she reared Dionysus, and they

call the plain Dionysus’ garden. And there are temples of Æsculapius

and Achilles there, and they have an annual feast to Achilles. And

there is a small promontory at Brasiæ, which slopes gently to the sea,

and there are some brazen statues on it not more than a foot high with

hats on their heads, I know not whether they are meant for Castor and

Pollux or the Corybantes, however there are three figures, and there

is also a statue of Athene. And on the right of Gythium is Las, ten

stades from the sea, and forty from Gythium. And the town is now built

on the ground between the three mountains called respectively Ilium and

Asia and Cnacadium, but it was originally on the crest of Asia: and

there are still ruins of the old town, and before the walls a statue

of Hercules, and a trophy over the Macedonians, who were a portion of

Philip’s army when he invaded Laconia, but wandered from the rest of

the army, and ravaged the maritime parts of the country. And there is

among the ruins a temple of Athene under the title of Asia, erected

they say by Castor and Pollux on their safe return from Colchi, where

they had seen a temple of Athene Asia. I know that they took part in

the expedition with Jason, and that the Colchians honour Athene Asia

I have heard from the people of Las. And there is a fountain near the

new town called from the colour of its water Galaco (_milky_), and

near the fountain is a gymnasium, and an ancient statue of Hermes. And

on Mount Ilium there is a temple of Dionysus, and on the top of the

hill one of Æsculapius, and on Cnacadium Carnean Apollo. And if you

go forward about 30 stades from Carnean Apollo there are at a place

called Hypsi, on the borders of Sparta, temples of Æsculapius and of

Daphnean Artemis. And on a promontory near the sea is the temple of

Artemis Dictynna, whose feast they keep annually. And on the left of

this promontory the river Smenus discharges itself into the sea. The

water is fresh to drink, and rises on Mount Taygetus, and is not more

than five stades distant from Hypsi. And in the place called Araïnum is

the tomb of Las, and over his tomb a statue. This Las they say was the

founder of the town, and was killed by Achilles, who they say came to

their town to ask Helen in marriage of Tyndareus. But to speak truth it

was Patroclus that killed Las: for it was he that wooed Helen. For that

Achilles is not represented as one of Helen’s suitors in the Catalogue

of Women, would indeed be no proof that he did not ask for Helen’s

hand: but Homer has stated very early in the Iliad[45] that Achilles

went to Troy to gratify the sons of Atreus, and not bound by any oath

to Tyndareus, and has represented Antilochus in the Games saying

that he was younger than Odysseus,[46] and has described Odysseus as

discoursing about what he had seen in Hades and other things, and

how he wished to see Theseus and Pirithous, who were older men than

himself, and we know that Theseus ran away with Helen. So it is hardly

permissible at all to think that Achilles could have been a suitor of

Helen.

CHAPTER XXV.

Not far from the tomb of Las the river called Scyras falls into the

sea; it had no name for a long time and was called Scyras because

Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, put in there with his fleet, when he

sailed from Scyrus to marry Hermione. And when you have crossed the

river there is an ancient temple at some distance from an altar of

Zeus. And at forty stades’ distance from the river is Pyrrhichus in

the heart of the country. Some say the town was so called from Pyrrhus

the son of Achilles, others say Pyrrhichus was the god of the Curetes.

There are some even that say Silenus came from Malea and dwelt here.

That Silenus was brought up at Malea is plain from these lines of

Pindar,[47]

‘The mighty, the dance-loving Silenus,

Reared by the Malea-born husband of Nais.’

That Pyrrhichus was his name has not been told us by Pindar,

but is a tradition of those that live at Malea. And there is at

Pyrrhichus a conduit in the market-place, which they think they owe

to Silenus: and if the conduit were to fail them they would be short

of water. And the temples at Pyrrhichus are two, one of Artemis the

Putter-of-an-end-to-War, because here the Amazons were stopped from any

further warfare, and one of Apollo Amazonius. Both have wooden statues,

and tradition says they were votive offerings of the women that came

from Thermodon.

As you go towards the sea from Pyrrhichus you come to Teuthrone,

which they say was built by Teuthras an Athenian. And of all the gods

they pay most honour to Issorian Artemis, and they have a fountain

called Naia. And a hundred and fifty stades from Teuthrone is the

promontory of Tænarum jutting out into the sea, and the harbours

Achilleus and Psamathus. And on the promontory there is a temple like a

cave, and before it a statue of Poseidon. And some of the Greeks have

represented that it was here that Hercules brought up Cerberus from

the lower world, though there is no underground road leading up to the

cave, nor could one easily believe that the gods have any underground

dwelling, where departed souls congregate. But Hecatæus the Milesian

has a probable legend, that a dreadful serpent called Cerberus was

reared at Tænarum, and that whoever was bitten by it was sure to die,

so venomous was its bite, and this serpent was dragged by Hercules to

Eurystheus. Homer, who first spoke of the dog being dragged from Hades

by Hercules, gave him no name, nor complete description as he did of

the Chimæra.[48] But others afterwards called the dog Cerberus, and

said he was like a dog in all respects except that he had 3 heads,

though Homer said no more that he was the domestic animal called the

dog than if he had called a real serpent the dog of Hades. There are

several works of art at Tænarum, and among others the harper Arion

in brass riding on the dolphin’s back. As to Arion and the dolphin

Herodotus[49] has given the tradition as he heard it in his history

about Lydia. I have myself seen at Poroselene a dolphin so full of

gratitude to a boy, by whom he had been healed of wounds received from

some fishermen, that he was obedient to his call, and carried him on

his back over the sea whenever he wished. There is also a fountain at

Tænarum, which now presents nothing marvellous, but in former times

they say gave to those who looked into it the sight of harbours and

ships. This peculiarity of the water was stopped for all time by a

woman’s washing her dirty linen in it.

About 40 stades’ sail from the promontory of Tænarum is a place

called Cænepolis, which was also formerly called Tænarum. And in it

is a chapel of Demeter, and a temple of Aphrodite near the sea, and a

stone statue of the goddess erect. And 30 stades thence is Thyrides

the topmost peak of Tænarum, and the ruins of the town of Hippola, and

among them the temple of Athene of Hippola, and at a little distance

the town and harbour of Messa. It is about 150 stades from this harbour

to Œtylus. And the hero from whom Œtylus got its name was originally

from Argos, being the son of Amphianax, the son of Antimachus. The most

notable things to see in Œtylus are the temple of Serapis, and a wooden

statue in the market-place of Carnean Apollo.

CHAPTER XXVI.

From Œtylus to Thalamæ the distance by road is about 80 stades, and by

the roadside is a temple and oracle of Ino. They get their oracular

responses asleep, for whatever they want to know the goddess shews them

in dreams. And there are two brazen statues in the open air part of the

temple, one of Pasiphae, and one of the Sun. What the statue in the

temple is made of is not easy to see from the quantity of the garlands,

but they say that it too is of brass. And fresh water flows from a

sacred fount, called the water of the Moon. Pasiphae indeed is not the

indigenous goddess of the people of Thalamæ.

And about twenty stades from Thalamæ is a place called Pephnos, by

the sea. There is a little island in front of it not greater than a big

rock, which is also called Pephnos, and the people of Thalamæ say that

it was the birthplace of Castor and Pollux. Alcman also gives us the

same account I know in one of his poems. But they do not say that they

were brought up at Pephnos, for Hermes took them to Pellana. And in

this island there are brazen statues of Castor and Pollux about a foot

high in the open air. These the sea cannot move from their position,

though in winter time it dashes violently over the rock. This is indeed

wonderful, and the ants there are whiter in colour than ants generally.

The Messenians say that the island originally belonged to them, so that

they claim Castor and Pollux as theirs rather than as deities of the

Lacedæmonians.

About twenty stades from Pephnos is Leuctra. Why it was so called I

do not know: but if it was from Leucippus the son of Perieres, as the

Messenians say, this will be why they honour Æsculapius here most of

all the gods, as the son of Arsinoe the daughter of Leucippus. And

there is a statue of Æsculapius in stone, and one of Ino in another

part of the town. There is also a temple and statue of Cassandra the

daughter of Priam, who is called Alexandra by the people of Leuctra:

and there are some wooden statues of Carnean Apollo, who is worshipped

in the same way as by the Lacedæmonians at Sparta. And in the citadel

there is a temple and statue of Athene. And there is a temple and grove

of Eros, and in winter-time water flows through the grove: but the

leaves that fall from the trees in autumn could never be carried away

by the water even if it were very plentiful. But what I know happened

in my time at a part of Leuctra near the sea, I will now relate. The

wind fanned a fire in the wood so that it burnt down most of the trees:

and when the spot became bare, there was a statue of Ithomatan Zeus

discovered which had been erected there. The Messenians say that this

is a proof that Leuctra was originally part of Messenia. But Ithomatan

Zeus might have received honours from the Lacedæmonians as well, if

they originally lived at Leuctra.

And Cardamyle, which Homer[50] has mentioned in the promises of

gifts made by Agamemnon, is subject to Sparta, as the Emperor Augustus

detached it from Messenia. It is eight stades from the sea, and sixty

from Leuctra. And not far from the seashore is a grove sacred to the

daughters of Nereus, for the story goes that they climbed up to this

place from the sea to see Pyrrhus the son of Achilles, when he went off

to Sparta to marry Hermione. In this small town there is a temple of

Athene and Carnean Apollo, whom they worship according to the Dorian

fashion.

And the city called, by Homer[51] Enope, the inhabitants of which

are Messenians though they join the Council of the Eleutherolacones,

is called in our time Gerenia. Some say Nestor was brought up in this

city, others that he fled here when Pylos was taken by Hercules.

Gerenia contains the tomb and temple of Machaon the son of Æsculapius:

from whom men may have possibly learnt the healing of diseases. The

sacred place they call Rhodon, and the statue of Machaon is erect

in brass. And on its head is a garland, which the Messenians call

_ciphos_[52] in their country’s tongue. The writer of the epic poem

called the Little Iliad says that Machaon was killed by Eurypylus

the son of Telephus. That is why (as I myself know) in the rites in

the temple of Æsculapius at Pergamum, they begin with the Hymns of

Telephus, but make no reference in their singing to Eurypylus, nor

will they name him at all in the temple, because they know he was the

murderer of Machaon. And the tradition is that Nestor recovered the

bones of Machaon. And Podalirius, when the Greeks were returning after

the sack of Ilium, was carried they say out of his way to Syrnum a

place in the Continent of Caria, and getting there safe built a town

there.

In the Gerenian district is the mountain Calathium, and on it is a

temple of Clæa and a grotto near the temple, with a narrow entrance:

within there are several objects worth seeing. And from Gerenia to

Alagonia in the interior is about 30 stades, but that town I have

already mentioned amongst the Eleutherolacones. And the sights best

worth seeing there are the temples of Dionysus and Artemis.

FOOTNOTES:

[30] _Odyssey_, xix. 178, 179.

[31] Iliad, xix. 117.

[32] Mentioned ii, 38; iii, i. Pausanias now returns to topography.

[33] _Gymnopædia_, as its name denotes, was a yearly festival at which

boys danced naked and went through gymnastic exercises.

[34] The cornel tree is in Greek κράνεια. Transposition of the ρ will

give κάρνειος as the title of the god. This will explain text.

[35] It means boxers, or football players.

[36] A name for Ares the god of war, the Latin Mars.

[37] So Bacon calls revenge ‘a kind of wild justice.’ _Essay_ iv.

[38] Reading the emendation of _Sylburgius_ κατὰ τὸ Σκύλλαιον τὴν ἄκραν.

[39] Iliad, xiv. 231.

[40] Reading τρεῖς with Facius.

[41] Iliad, xxiv. 41. Pausanias derives from Θήρ or Θηρίον.

[42] Iliad, ii. 584.

[43] Iliad, xviii. 140, 141.

[44] We coin a word to keep the Paronomasia.

[45] Iliad, i. 158-160.

[46] Is this a slip of Pausanias for _Menelaus_? See Iliad, xxiii. 587,

588.

[47] Only found as a fragment now.

[48] In Odyssey, xi. 623, he is simply called κύνα, in Iliad, viii.

368, κύνα στυγερoῦ Ἀΐδαο. And κύων has various senses.

[49] Herodotus, i. 23, 24.

[50] Iliad, ix. 292.

[51] Iliad, ix. 292.

[52] Our _coif_.

BOOK IV.--MESSENIA.

CHAPTER I.

The border of Messenia towards Laconia, as fixed by Augustus, is at

Gerenia, and in our time is called the Chœrian dell. This country,

originally without inhabitants, is described to have been inhabited

by the first colonists in the following manner. After the death of

Lelex, who reigned in what is now called Laconia, but was then called

Lelegia after him, Myles who was the elder of his sons succeeded him,

and Polycaon the younger was only a private person till he married

the Argive Messene, the daughter of Triopas, the son of Phorbas. But

Messene, being full of pride owing to her father, who was foremost of

all the Greeks in merit and power, did not think it tolerable that

her husband should be a private person. So they gathered together

an army from Argos and Lacedæmon and invaded this country, and the

whole district was called Messene from her. And several other cities

were built, as well as the place where the royal headquarters were

established, _viz._ Andania. Before the battle which the Thebans fought

with the Lacedæmonians at Leuctra, and the building of Messene in our

day close to Ithome, I know of no city that was previously called

Messene. My inference is very much confirmed by Homer. For in the

catalogue of those who went to Ilium, when enumerating Pylos and Arene

and other cities, he mentions no Messene. And in the Odyssey he shews

that by this time the Messenians were a race and not a city,

‘For the Messenians took cattle from Ithaca,’[53]

and clearer still in speaking of the bow of Iphitus,

‘They two in Messene met one another,

In the house of Ortilochus.’[54]

By the house of Ortilochus in Messene he meant the town of Pheræ, as he

has shewn in the visit of Pisistratus to Menelaus,

‘They went to Pheræ to the house of Diocles,

The son of Ortilochus.’[55]

However the first rulers of this country were Polycaon (the son

of Lelex) and his wife Messene. Caucon, the son of Celænus, the son

of Phlyus, introduced here from Eleusis the mysteries of the Great

Goddesses. Phlyus was according to the Athenian tradition the son of

Mother Earth. And this tradition of theirs is confirmed by the Hymn of

Musæus made for the Lycomidæ in honour of Demeter. And the rites of

the Great Goddesses were held in greater honour many years afterwards,

owing to Lycus the son of Pandion, than in Caucon’s days. And they

still call the place where he purged the initiated the oak coppice of

Lycus. That there is an oak-coppice in this land called Lycus’ is also

borne out by Rhianus the Cretan,

‘By rocky Elæum and beyond the oak-coppice of Lycus.’

And that this Lycus was the son of Pandion is plain by the inscription

on the statue of Methapus. This Methapus reformed some of the rites. He

was an Athenian by race, an organizer of all sorts of mystic rites. He

it was who established also among the Thebans the rites of the Cabiri.

And he erected near the enclosure of the Lycomidæ a statue with an

inscription which confirms my account. “I have purified the home and

paths of Hermes and the firstborn daughter of Demeter, where they say

Messene established games to the Great Goddesses, owing to the son

of Caucon, the illustrious descendant of Phlyus. But I wonder that

Lycus the son of Pandion should establish the sacred rites of Atthis

in venerable Andania.” This inscription shews that Caucon who came to

Messene was the descendant of Phlyus, and confirms all the other facts

about Lycus, and that the mysteries in ancient times were celebrated

at Andania. And it seems also common sense that Messene would not

establish the mysteries in any other place than where she and Polycaon

lived.

CHAPTER II.

And being very anxious to know accurately who the sons of Polycaon

were by Messene, I perused the poem called _the Great EϾ_ and the

Naupactian poems, and also all the genealogical information of Cinæthon

and Asius. And yet I did not discover anything in them except that

_the Great Eœæ_ say that Polycaon the son of Butes married Euæchme,

the daughter of Hyllus the son of Hercules, but they make no mention

of either Messene or her husband. But in after time, when none of the

descendants of Polycaon survived, they continued five generations and

no more, they introduced as King Perieres the son of Æolus. To his

court came as the Messenians say Melaneus, a skilful archer and for

that reason thought to be the son of Apollo, and Perieres assigned

to him Carnasium to dwell in, which was formerly called Œchalia from

the wife of Melaneus. But the Thessalians and Eubœans--for there are

almost always disputed accounts of most Grecian events--give different

accounts. The former say that Eurytium a place deserted in our days

was a city in old times and called Œchalia: but Creophylus in his

Heraclea has written what corresponds with the account of the Eubœans.

And Hecatæus the Milesian writes that Œchalia is in Scium a part of

Eretria. But the Messenians seem to me to give the most probable

account, especially about the bones of Eurytus, which I shall touch

upon later. And Perieres had by Gorgophone the daughter of Perseus

Aphareus and Leucippus who, on his death, succeeded their father as

kings of the Messenians, but Aphareus had most power. During his reign

he built the city Arene which got its name from the daughter of Œbalus,

his wife and uterine sister. For Gorgophone was married to Œbalus, as

I have already mentioned, in my account of Argolis, and also in my

account of Laconia. Aphareus then built the city Arene in Messenia, and

received into his house his cousin Neleus, the son of Cretheus, the

son of Æolus (who was surnamed Poseidon), when he fled from Pelias at

Iolcus, and gave him the maritime parts of the land, among which were

several other cities besides Pylos, where Neleus dwelt, and made it his

seat of government. And Lycus the son of Pandion came also to Arene,

when he also fled from Athens from his brother Ægeus. And he taught the

mysteries of the Great Goddesses to Aphareus and his sons and his wife

Arene. And he introduced them into Andania, for Caucon there initiated

Messene. And the elder and more manly of Aphareus’ children was Idas,

and the younger was Lynceus, of whom Pindar said, believe it who will,

that he had such keen eyesight that he could see through the trunk of

a tree. We do not know of Lynceus having had a son, but Ides had by

Marpessa a daughter Cleopatra, who married Meleager. And the writer

of the Cyprian Poems says that the wife of Protesilaus, (who when the

Greeks got to the Troad was the first who ventured to land), was by

name Polydora, and he also says that she was the daughter of Meleager

the son of Œneus. If this be correct then all these three women,

beginning with Marpessa, committed suicide after the death of their

husbands.

CHAPTER III.

But when between the sons of Aphareus and Castor and Pollux (their

uncles) a quarrel arose about cattle, and Lynceus was slain by Pollux,

while Idas died smitten with lightning, the house of Aphareus was

entirely deprived of male offspring, and upon Nestor the son of Neleus

devolved the kingdom of the Messenians, over all whom Idas reigned over

and others besides, except those who followed the sons of Æsculapius.

For they say that the sons of Æsculapius that went on the expedition

to Ilium were Messenians: for Æsculapius was the son of Arsinoe the

daughter of Leucippus, and not the son of Coronis. And they call a

deserted place in Messenia Tricca, it is mentioned by Homer in the

passage where Nestor is consoling Machaon, who was wounded with an

arrow. He would not have exhibited such kindness except to a neighbour

and king of the same tribe. They confirm also greatly this account

about the children of Æsculapius by showing at Gerenia the monument of

Machaon, and at Pharæ the temple of the sons of Machaon.

And after the end of the war against Ilium, and the death of Nestor

after his return home, the expedition of the Dorians and return of

the Heraclidæ two generations afterwards drove out the descendants of

Neleus from Messenia. And this was as it were the climax of the doings

of Temenus which I have already described. But I will narrate this much

more. When the Dorians assigned Argos to Temenus, Cresphontes asked

of them Messenia, on the ground that he was older than Aristodemus,

who had just died. But Theras the son of Autesion vehemently opposed

Cresphontes; he was of Theban ancestry and fifth descendant of

Polynices the son of Œdipus, and at this time Guardian of Aristodemus’

sons, as he was their uncle on the mother’s side, for Aristodemus

had married the daughter of Autesion, whose name was Argia. But

Cresphontes, for he was determined to have Messenia, begged of Temenus

to decide the question by lots. And Temenus put into a water-pot which

had water in it the lots of Cresphontes and the sons of Aristodemus

separately, so that he whose lot came up first should have Messenia.

Temenus prepared both the lots, the lot of the sons of Aristodemus

he made of clay dried in the sun, and Cresphontes’ lot of clay that

had been baked in the furnace: and the lot of the sons of Aristodemus

melted, and stuck to the bottom of the water-pot, so that Cresphontes

(for his lot came out) got possession in this way of Messenia. And

the old Messenians were not turned out by the Dorians, but agreed to

Cresphontes being their king, and to the partition of the land among

the Dorians. And they were brought over to this compliance by suspicion

of their former kings, because they were Minyæ who had originally

sprung from Iolcus. And the wife of Cresphontes was Merope the daughter

of Cypselus (who was at that time king of the Arcadians), by whom

he had several children and the name of the youngest was Æpytus. And

his palace, where he himself and his sons meant to live, he built at

Stenyclerus: for in ancient times Perieres and the other kings lived

at Andania, and after Aphareus had built Arene he and his sons lived

there, and in the reign of Nestor and his descendants the Court lived

at Pylos, but Cresphontes changed the royal residence to Stenyclerus.

And, as he chiefly ingratiated himself with the people, the wealthy

classes rose up in insurrection against him and killed him and all his

sons except Æpytus, who being quite a boy was brought up by Cypselus,

and alone survived of all the house, and when he grew to man’s estate

the Arcadians restored him to Messene. And the other kings of the

Dorians, the sons of Aristodemus, and Isthmius the son of Temenus,

joined in bringing him back. And when Æpytus became king he punished

his father’s murderers, and all those who had instigated the crime:

and bringing over to his side by his attentions those who were in high

position among the Messenians, and the populace by gifts, he arrived at

such a pitch of honour that his descendants were called Æpytidæ instead

of Heraclidæ.

And Glaucus the son of Æpytus, who succeeded his father, in all

other respects imitated his father both in public and private, but far

exceeded him in piety. For when the sacred enclosure of Zeus on the

summit of Ithome did not receive honours among the Dorians, through the

neglect of Polycaon and Messene, Glaucus restored his worship: and was

the first to sacrifice to Machaon the son of Æsculapius at Gerenia, and

awarded such gifts to Messene the daughter of Triopas as are usually

bestowed on heroes. And Isthmius Glaucus’ son also built a temple to

Gorgasus and Nicomachus at Pharæ. And the son of Isthmius was Dotadas,

who, though Messenia had several other havens, constructed one at

Mothone. And Sybotas the son of Dotadas decreed that annually the king

should sacrifice by the river Pamisus, and offer victims to Eurytus the

son of Melaneus in Œchalia, before the rites of the Great Goddesses

that are still celebrated in Andania.

CHAPTER IV.

And in the reign of Phintas, the son of Sybotas, the Messenians first

sent to Apollo at Delos sacrifices and a choir of men. And their

processional Hymn to the god was composed by Eumelus, and these are

considered the only genuine lines of Eumelus. It was during the reign

of this Phintas that a disagreement for the first time came about

between the Lacedæmonians and the Messenians. The cause is doubtful,

but is traditionally as follows. On the borders of Messenia is a

temple of Artemis Limnas, in which the Messenians and Lacedæmonians

were the only Dorians that had a share. The Lacedæmonians say that

some maidens of theirs who were present at the feast were violated by

some Messenians, and that their king Teleclus, (the son of Archelaus,

the son of Agesilaus, the son of Doryssus, the son of Labotas, the

son of Echestratus, the son of Agis,) was slain in endeavouring to

prevent this outrage. They also say that the maidens who were violated

put themselves to death from shame. But the Messenian account is that

Teleclus plotted against their persons of quality that came to the

temple, on account of the excellence of the Messenian soil, and picked

out some beardless Spartans, and, dressing them in female attire and

ornaments like maidens, introduced them armed with daggers among some

of the Messenians who were resting: but the other Messenians came

up to the rescue, and killed the beardless young men and Teleclus

himself. And the Lacedæmonians--for their king had not contrived all

this without the common consent--knowing that they had begun the wrong,

did not demand vengeance for the murder of Teleclus. These are the

different accounts the two nations give, let everyone accept the view

he prefers.

And a generation afterwards, when Alcamenes the son of Teleclus was

king at Lacedæmon, and the king of the other family was Theopompus, the

son of Nicander, the son of Charillus, the son of Polydectes, the son

of Eunomus, the son of Prytanis, the son of Eurypon, and Antiochus and

Androcles the sons of Phintas were kings of the Messenians, strife

arose between the Lacedæmonians and Messenians, and the Lacedæmonians

began hostilities, availing themselves, as they were full of animosity

and very warlike, of an adequate and even specious pretext. But had

their disposition been more peaceable it would have been settled by

arbitration. This is what happened. Polychares a Messenian in other

respects not obscure was a victor at Olympia in the games, when the

people of Elis were celebrating their 4th Olympiad and competed only

in the race in which Polychares was victor. This man had much cattle

and, because he had not sufficient land to pasture them upon, he handed

them over to Euæphnus a Spartan to feed on his land, on condition that

he should have a share in the produce of the cattle. Now Euæphnus was

a person who preferred unrighteous gains to acting with integrity,

and was generally speaking a wheedling fellow, so he sold the oxen

of Polychares to merchants who sailed to Laconia, and went himself

to Polychares and reported to him that some pirates had landed on

the spot, and violently robbed him both of cattle and herdsmen. And

while he was deceiving Polychares one of the herdsmen fled from the

merchants, and coming back to Polychares found Euæphnus with him, and

accused him to his master. And being detected and having no defence,

he earnestly begged for pardon from Polychares and his son: on the

score that, among the elements in human nature whereby we become

unjust almost by compulsion, the love of gain is the most powerful.

And he stated the sum which he had received for the cattle, and asked

Polychares’ son to go with him and carry it back to his father. And

when they went on their journey and got to Laconia, Euæphnus dared a

deed more unholy than the former, he slew the son of Polychares. And

when Polychares knew of this last misfortune, he went to Lacedæmon to

the kings and Ephors, and went wailing through the multitude, reckoning

up what he had suffered at the hands of Euæphnus, whom he had treated

as a friend, and trusted more than all the Lacedæmonians. And when he

got no redress, though he went continually to the authorities, then he

went off his head, and giving way to his anger, and being perfectly

reckless of the consequences, endeavoured to kill every Lacedæmonian he

met.

CHAPTER V.

The Lacedæmonian account is that they went to war because Polychares

was not given up to them, and because of the murder of Teleclus, and

because they were suspected earlier still of having had a hand in the

villany of Cresphontes about the lots. But the Messenians contradict

what I have already said about Teleclus, and point to the fact that

Æpytus the son of Cresphontes was restored by the sons of Aristodemus,

which they would never have done had they been at variance with

Cresphontes. And they say that they did not give up Polychares to

the Lacedæmonians for punishment, because neither would they give up

Euæphnus, but they were willing that sentence should be given by the

Argives (who were the kinsmen of both) at Amphictyonia, or that the

case should be submitted to the Court at Athens called the Areopagus,

because that court seemed from ancient times appointed for murder

cases. They also say that the Lacedæmonians did not go to war on this

account, but in consequence of their ambition plotted against their

land and did various things, alleging at one time the condition of

Arcadia, at another the state of Argos, for they were never satisfied

with slicing off from time to time the territory of both of those

people. And they were the first to become friends of the barbarian

Crœsus who sent them gifts, at the time when he reduced to slavery

all the Greeks in Asia Minor, and all the Dorians that dwelt in the

mainland of Caria. And they declare that, when the Phocian leaders

plundered the temple at Delphi, the kings at Sparta and other noblemen

privately, and the Ephors and senators publicly, had a hand in it.

And above all, to shew that the Lacedæmonians would stick at nothing

for lucre, they twitted them with their alliance with Apollodorus the

tyrant of Cassandrea. Why indeed the Messenians consider this such a

bitter taunt, I cannot now discuss: for except that the courage of

the Messenians and the length of time they fought differed from the

tyranny of Apollodorus, they suffered nearly as much as the people of

Cassandrea. These are the causes which each nation assign for the war.

And now an embassy of Lacedæmonians came to demand the extradition of

Polychares. The kings of the Messenians however answered the embassy

that after deliberation with the people they would send an answer

to Sparta, and accordingly after the departure of the embassy they

convened the citizens to a general assembly. And different opinions

were bandied about; Androcles thought they ought to give up Polychares

as having acted impiously and most savagely, Antiochus took the

opposite view, and maintained that it would be most distressing if

Polychares should suffer before the eyes of Euæphnus, and enumerated

the harrowing details of what his punishment would be. And eventually

the rival parties of Androcles and Antiochus proceeded to such lengths

that they took up arms. However their strife was not long continued,

for the party of Antiochus, being far superior in numbers, slew

Androcles and the most illustrious of his partizans. And Antiochus

being now the only king sent letters to Sparta, to say that he would

submit the matter to the arbitration of the courts I have mentioned.

But the Lacedæmonians are said to have given no answer to the bearers

of these letters. And not many months afterwards Antiochus died, and

Euphaes his son succeeded him. And the Lacedæmonians not only sent

no herald to proclaim war with the Messenians, nor openly renounced

friendship with them, but made their preparations as secretly as

possible, and previously bound themselves by oath that neither for

length of war (if it should not be decided speedily), nor for reverses

(if they should meet with even great ones), would they leave off till

they had won Messenia by the fortune of war. After taking this oath

they made a night-attack on Amphea, having appointed Alcamenes the son

of Teleclus as their General. Amphea is a small town in Messenia but

near Laconia, situated on a high hill, and well supplied with water.

And in other respects Amphea seemed a very convenient base for their

war. So they captured the town, the gates being open and no garrison

there, and killed all the Messenians that they took in the town, some

even in their beds, and others as they found them sitting as suppliants

at the temples and altars of the gods, and only a few escaped. This was

the first attack the Lacedæmonians made upon Messenia, in the second

year of the ninth Olympiad, in which Xenodocus the Messenian was victor

in the race. And at Athens there were not as yet yearly magistrates

appointed by lot: for the descendants of Melanthus, who were called

Medontidæ, had at first much of their power taken away by the people,

and instead of a kingdom their power became limited, and afterwards

their authority was definitely restricted to ten years. At the time of

the capture of Amphea Æsimides, the son of Æschylus, was in the fifth

year of his government over the Athenians.

CHAPTER VI.

But before I write the history of this war, and the actions and

sufferings entailed by it upon both parties by Providence, I wish

to relate in their order the exploits of Aristomenes the Messenian

hero. For this war between the Lacedæmonians and their allies and

the Messenians and their mercenaries did not get its name from the

attacking force, as the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, but was called

the Messenian war from the disasters which befell the Messenians, just

as the war at Ilium got called Trojan and not Grecian, so it was in

this war, which Rhianus of Bene and Myron of Priene have celebrated,

the former in poetry, the latter in prose. Neither of them however

have narrated fully the events of the war from beginning to end, but

Myron has described the capture of Amphea and its consequences up

to the death of Aristodemus, and Rhianus has not touched at all the

commencement of the war, but only what eventually happened to the

Messenians in consequence of their quarrel with the Lacedæmonians,

and he has not described even the whole of this, but only what took

place after the battle which they fought at what was called _the great

trench_; and the hero Aristomenes on whose account only I mentioned

Rhianus and Myron, and who was the first and foremost in bringing

the name of Messene to honour, this hero (I say) has been introduced

by Myron into his history, and by Rhianus into his poem, in which

Aristomenes is as much lauded as Achilles by Homer in the Iliad. As

these two have given such different accounts, I am obliged to accept

one of them and not both together. Rhianus appears to me to speak more

probably about the age of Aristomenes. But Myron, as one can learn

in other particulars and not least in the history of this Messenian

war, does not with sufficient accuracy test the truth or at least

probability of what he relates. For he states that Aristomenes slew

Theopompus, the king of the Lacedæmonians, a little before the death

of Aristodemus, whereas we know that Theopompus did not die in battle

or in any other way before the end of the war. And in fact Theopompus

concluded the war, as the elegiac lines of Tyrtæus bear me out,

‘To our king Theopompus god-beloved,

Through whom we took Messene spacious town.’

Aristomenes therefore in my opinion was in the second Messenian war,

and I shall relate in detail all about him when I come to that part of

my subject.

Now the Messenians, when they heard all that had happened at Amphea

from those who escaped from its capture, convened delegates from all

their towns at Stenyclerus. And when the people were gathered together

in the assembly, several of those in authority, and last of all the

king, exhorted them not to be dejected at the fall of Amphea as if all

the war were decided thereby, and not to fear the preparations of the

Lacedæmonians as more formidable than their own, for although they had

had longer experience in war, yet the Messenians would find necessity

a great spur to brave men, and would meet with greater favour from the

gods as defending their country, and not commencing hostilities.

CHAPTER VII.

With these words Euphaes dismissed the assembly, and from that time

forward kept all the Messenians under arms, compelling those that did

not know to learn the art of war, and making those that did practise

more frequently than before. And the Lacedæmonians made incursions into

Messenia, but did not injure the country inasmuch as they considered

it their own, neither did they cut down trees nor pull down houses;

but they drove off whatever cattle they found, and carried off the

corn and all fruit. They likewise made attacks on some of the towns

but took none, inasmuch as they were strongly fortified and carefully

guarded, and after much loss they desisted from the attempt, and ceased

attacking them. And the Messenians plundered the maritime parts of

Laconia, and all the farms in the neighbourhood of Mount Taygetus. And

in the 4th year after the capture of Amphea Euphaes, full of zeal from

the ardour of the Messenians who were boiling over with rage at the

Lacedæmonians, and at the same time thinking their training complete,

ordered a march, and bade the slaves follow with wood and all other

things necessary for entrenching a camp. And the Lacedæmonians heard

from the garrison at Amphea that the Messenians were on the march,

and they too marched out to battle. And at a place in Messenia very

convenient for a battle, with a deep ravine in front of it, Euphaes

drew up the Messenians in battle array, having appointed Cleonnis to

the chief command: the cavalry and light-armed troops, which were

both less than 500, were under Pytharatus and Antander. And when the

two armies engaged the ravine prevented the heavy-armed troops from

encountering, though they advanced against one another eagerly and

impetuously in their mutual hatred, but the cavalry and the light-armed

troops engaged above the ravine, and they were equally matched in

numbers and skill, and consequently the battle was evenly poised. But

while these were engaged, Euphaes ordered the slaves first to fortify

the rear of the army and then the flanks with stockades. And when night

overtook them and the battle was stayed, then they fortified also the

front of the camp opposite the ravine, so that next day the tactical

skill and foresight of Euphaes dawned upon the Lacedæmonians, and they

found that they could not fight against the Messenians if they would

not come out of their entrenchments, and they despaired of besieging

them as they had no siege train.

And so they returned home: and a year afterwards, when the old man

reviled them and taunted them with cowardice and disregard of their

oath, they openly made preparations for a second campaign against

the Messenians. And they were led by both their kings, Theopompus the

son of Nicander, and Polydorus the son of Alcamenes, for Alcamenes

was now dead. And the Messenians made counter-preparations, and

when the Spartans marched to battle moved out to meet them. And the

Lacedæmonians were led by Polydorus on the left wing, and Theopompus on

the right, and in the centre by Euryleon, a Lacedæmonian for the nonce

but originally a Theban descended from Cadmus, the fifth descendant

from Ægeus, the son of Œolycus, the son of Theras, the son of Autesion.

And opposite the right wing of the Lacedæmonians were the Messenians

under Antander and Euphaes, and on the wing opposite Polydorus under

Pytharatus, and in the centre under Cleonnis. And as they were just

going to engage, the kings came up and exhorted their men. To the

Lacedæmonians Theopompus made a short harangue according to the custom

of his country, reminding them of their oath against the Messenians,

and how noble an ambition it was to shew themselves more capable of

brilliant exploits than their fathers who subjugated their neighbours,

and to acquire a richer territory. Euphaes spoke at greater length than

the Lacedæmonian king, but not more so than the occasion warranted.

For he shewed that the contest was not only for land or possessions,

but they knew clearly he said what misery would come upon them if

they were conquered: their wives and children would be led off into

captivity, the lightest punishment for their young men would be death,

perhaps not unaccompanied by outrage, their temples would be plundered,

their country destroyed by fire. He was not he said merely making

suppositions, what those who were taken at Amphea had suffered was

proof positive of all that he said. Rather than bear such ills it would

be preferable to die nobly, and it would be much easier (when they were

yet unconquered and as bold as the enemy) to vanquish their adversaries

by their courage, than to retrieve their ruined fortunes if they were

faint-hearted now. Such was the speech of Euphaes.

CHAPTER VIII.

And directly the leaders on either side gave the signal for battle,

the Messenians came on at the double, and exposed themselves freely

as men dealing death in their rage at every blow, and everyone was

anxious to begin the fight. And the Lacedæmonians rushed out to meet

them with equal ardour, but took care not to break their line. And when

they got to close quarters, they threatened one another, rattling their

arms, and looking fiercely at one another, and proceeded to abuse, the

Lacedæmonians saying that the Messenians were already their slaves, and

that they were not a whit freer than the Helots, and the Messenians

replying that they were impious in what they were attempting, _viz._

in attacking kinsmen for the sake of gain, and were profane to the

national gods of the Dorians and especially to Hercules. And by this

time they followed up words with blows, and rushed on one another pell

mell (with greatest vigour the Lacedæmonians), man attacking man. From

their long experience and practice in war the Lacedæmonians had the

advantage, and also from their numbers, (for the neighbouring nations

who were subject to them they had with them in their army, and the

Asinæi and Dryopes, who a generation earlier had been driven by the

Argives from their own land and had come to Lacedæmon as suppliants,

were now compelled to swell their army), and against the light-armed

troops of the Messenians they had Cretan archers, mercenaries. And the

Messenians were animated equally by despair and contempt of death, and

all their sufferings they looked on as necessary rather than dreadful

to those who loved their country’s honour, and the more vigorously they

fought the harder they thought would things go for the Lacedæmonians.

And some of them advancing in front of their lines exhibited brilliant

bravery, and others badly wounded and scarce alive were animated by

desperation. And they cheered one another on, those who were alive

and yet unwounded encouraging the wounded to receive with joy their

fate, and sell their lives as dearly as possible: and the wounded,

(when they perceived their strength failing, and that they would

soon yield up their breath), urging on the unwounded to shew as much

courage as themselves had shewn, and not to let their death be useless

to their country. But the Lacedæmonians at first made no harangues to

their men, and were not as ready as the Messenians to display heroic

courage: but being accustomed to war from boys their formation in line

was deeper, and they expected that the Messenians could not hold out

as long as they could, nor stand the strain of their heavy armour,

nor their wounds. Such were the peculiar features of each army in

respect to both the behaviour and feelings of the combatants: what

was common to both was that no quarter was asked for, perhaps this

was despaired of from their fierce hatred, and they felt the greatest

self-indignation that they had not sold their lives dearer: and those

that killed their man abstained both from boasting and reproaches,

being uncertain which party would win. And most unexpectedly fell

those who were endeavouring to plunder some of the dead bodies, for

either by disclosing some naked part of their body they got pierced

with darts, not on their guard in their thirst for plunder, or they

were killed by some of those whom they were attempting to rob who were

still alive. The kings also fought right valiantly, and Theopompus

rushed with ungovernable rage against Euphaes, intending to kill him.

And Euphaes seeing him rushing on said to Antander that Theopompus was

displaying as much bravery as his ancestor Polynices: for Polynices

led an army from Argos against his own country, and he and his brother

mutually slew one another: and Theopompus (he added) wished to load

the family of the Heraclidæ with the same guilt as that of the family

of Laius and Œdipus: he would not however go with joy from the battle.

With these words he himself went forward to meet Theopompus. Hereupon

the battle, which had rather flagged, took up fresh vigour again, and

their bodies were renewed as it were, and the fearlessness of death on

both sides was increased, so that one might have thought the battle had

only just commenced. And eventually Euphaes’ division, nearly mad with

desperate valour and stoutheartedness, for the King’s bodyguard were

all picked men, broke the enemy’s line, routed Theopompus, and put the

Lacedæmonians in that part of the field to flight. But the other wing

of the Messenians was hard pressed, for Pytharatus their General was

dead, and without a leader they became disordered and dejected. But

neither did Polydorus pursue the fleeing Messenians, nor Euphaes the

fleeing Lacedæmonians. For Euphaes and his staff thought it better to

come to the aid of their vanquished friends: nor did they engage with

Polydorus and his troops: for by this time it was already dark, and the

Lacedæmonians were prevented from following the fugitives not least by

their ignorance of the country. It was also their country’s custom not

to pursue an enemy too hotly, being more anxious not to break their

line than to annihilate the enemy. And in the centre on both sides, the

Lacedæmonians under Euryleon, and the Messenians under Cleonnis, the

fight was pretty equal, till the approach of night put an end to the

contest.

This battle was fought on both sides mainly by the heavy armed

infantry. Some cavalry there was indeed, but they had no great

influence on the fortunes of the day, for the Peloponnesians of

that day were not good horsemen. And the light armed troops of the

Messenians and the Cretans on the Lacedæmonian side did not come to

the encounter at all: for they were posted in ancient fashion among

the infantry. And on the following day neither party were minded to

renew the battle nor to erect a trophy of victory, but as the day wore

on they sent out heralds to treat of the burying of their dead, and

as this was agreed to on both sides, they began to bury their dead

immediately.

CHAPTER IX.

But the Messenians after the battle began to find their affairs in a

deplorable condition: for they were nearly ruined by their outlay in

money expended in keeping garrisons in the towns, and their slaves

deserted to the Lacedæmonians. Also a pestilence fell upon them, which

troubled them greatly being like the plague, though it did not prevail

universally throughout their country. And after deliberation about

their present condition they determined to abandon their towns in the

interior of the country, and dwell in the mountain district of Ithome.

And there was a small town at Ithome which Homer has mentioned in his

catalogue,

‘And rocky Ithome.’[56]

To this town they repaired, extending its ancient limits so as to

make it a sufficient defence for all of them. And the place was in

other respects a strong position: for Ithome is as high as any of the

mountains within the Isthmus, and in this respect most difficult of

access. They thought they would also send an envoy to Delphi, and they

selected for this mission Tisis the son of Alcis, who in general merit

and in divination was considered inferior to nobody. This Tisis on his

return from Delphi was laid in wait for by the Lacedæmonians who were

in garrison at Amphea: but he would not be taken alive, so valiantly

did he defend himself against those that had lain in ambush, in spite

of the wounds he received from them, till a voice was heard without

any appearance of the speaker, “Let the bearer of the oracle go.” And

Tisis, directly he got safe to Ithome, and had delivered his oracle

to the king, fell down dead of his wounds. And Euphaes collected the

Messenians together and recited the oracle. “Sacrifice a pure virgin

(selected by lot out of the family of the Æpytidæ) by night to the gods

below. But if you cannot find one of the Æpytidæ, then sacrifice anyone

else who offers himself as a willing victim.” This being the utterance

of the god, forthwith all the maidens of the family of the Æpytidæ drew

lots. And when the lot fell upon the daughter of Lyciscus, Epebolus

the seer said it would not do to sacrifice her; for she was not really

the daughter of Lyciscus, but a girl that the wife of Lyciscus being

barren had palmed off as hers. While he was making this revelation,

Lyciscus took off the girl and fled to Sparta. And the Messenians being

very dejected at finding out the flight of Lyciscus, Aristodemus, a

man of the family of the Æpytidæ, and in other respects and in war

more illustrious than Lyciscus, offered to sacrifice his own daughter.

But the affairs of mankind, and not least their desires, are secretly

directed by Fate, just as the bottom of a river has pebbles, so that

Aristodemus on this occasion, endeavouring to save Messene, was

prevented by the following circumstance. A Messenian, whose name is not

known, happened to be deeply in love with the daughter of Aristodemus,

and was on the eve of marrying her. He at first disputed the right of

Aristodemus to the maiden as he had betrothed her to him, and argued

that he being her betrothed alone had right to her. And afterwards,

when he found this argument unavailing, he invented a shameful story,

that he had had an amour with her and that she was pregnant by him.

And at last he wrought up Aristodemus to such a pitch, that driven

to madness in his anger he killed his daughter, and afterwards cut

her up and found she was not pregnant. And Epebolus who was present

bade somebody else give his daughter as a victim, for the daughter of

Aristodemus (he said) could be no more use to them now she was dead:

for her father had indeed killed her, but not sacrificed her to the

gods as the Pythian oracle ordered. When the seer had said this the

mass of the Messenians rushed forward to kill the girl’s lover, as he

had caused Aristodemus to commit a useless crime, and had rendered

doubtful the safety of the community. But this man was a very great

friend of Euphaes. Euphaes accordingly persuaded the Messenians that

the oracle was fulfilled by the death of the girl, and that what

Aristodemus had done was sufficient. And when he had said this all the

Æpytidæ agreed with him: for each was anxious to have his fears removed

about having to sacrifice his own daughter. So they hearkened to the

advice of the king and broke up the assembly, and afterwards turned

their attention to the sacrifices and festival of the gods.

CHAPTER X.

But the Lacedæmonians on hearing the oracle of the Messenians were

very dejected, both they and their kings, and henceforth shrank from

resuming the war. But in the sixth year after the flight of Lyciscus

from Ithome the Lacedæmonians (as their sacrifices were auspicious)

led an army to Ithome. But the Cretans chanced to be absent, and the

allies of the Messenians were also behindhand. For the Spartans were

an object of suspicion to other Peloponnesians and especially to the

Arcadians and Argives. The Argives indeed were going to come to help

the Messenians secretly without the knowledge of the Lacedæmonians,

privately rather than from public decree. But the Arcadian expedition

was publicly announced, though they were behindhand too. But the

Messenians were induced by confidence in the oracle to hazard war even

without allies. In most respects the battle was no different from the

former one, for daylight on this occasion too failed the combatants:

it is not however mentioned that either wing or division were broken,

for they say the troops did not remain in the order in which they were

placed at first, but the bravest men came from the wings in both armies

into the centre, and there was the strain of battle. For Euphaes was

more ardent in fight than one would have expected from a king, and

recklessly rushing upon Theopompus and his staff, received many mortal

wounds. As he fainted away and fell to the ground, and could scarce

breathe, the Lacedæmonians strove with might and main to drag him to

their army. But their previous goodwill to Euphaes, and their future

disgrace if they abandoned him, roused the Messenians, and it appeared

better to them to give up their lives for their king rather than

purchase safety by abandoning him. Accordingly the peril of Euphaes

prolonged the battle, and added to the bravery exhibited on both

sides, and afterwards he revived, and saw that his men were fighting

as valiantly as the foe, and not many days afterwards he died, having

been king of the Messenians for 13 years, and having been at war with

the Lacedæmonians during all his reign. And as he had no children he

left the choice of his successor to the people, and Cleonnis and Damis

were rival competitors with Aristodemus, being considered superior to

him both in other respects and in war. And Antander had been killed in

the battle jeoparding his life for Euphaes. And the opinions of the

seers, Epebolus and Ophioneus, were both similar, that the kingdom of

Æpytus and his descendants should not be conferred upon a man polluted

with the murder of a daughter. Nevertheless Aristodemus was elected

and became king. And Ophioneus the Messenian seer was blind from his

birth, and had the following mode of divination. By enquiring into a

person’s private and public fortune in the past he informed them what

it would be in the future. This was his divination, and Aristodemus

having become king through the people was desirous to gratify them in

all that was reasonable, and of those in authority he held Cleonnis and

Damis in special honour. He also paid great attention to the allies,

and sent gifts to the most influential Arcadians both at Argos and

Sicyon. And in the war which was carried on in the reign of Aristodemus

they pillaged from time to time, and in the summertime made incursions

into one another’s country. There were counter-incursions into Laconia

on the part of the Arcadians with the Messenians. But the Argives

did not think it well openly to proclaim their hostility against the

Lacedæmonians, but made their preparations so as to strike in when the

fray begun.

CHAPTER XI.

In the fifth year of the reign of Aristodemus, when both nations

were about to take the field again after open proclamation of war,

both very much weakened by the length and expenses of the war, then

allies came to both, to the Lacedæmonians the Corinthians alone of

all the Peloponnesians, and to the Messenians the Arcadians in full

force, and picked men from Argos and Sicyon. The Lacedæmonians placed

the Corinthians and Helots and the provincials in the centre, and

themselves with their kings took up their position on the wings, in

deeper and fuller formation than was ever before adopted. And the

dispositions of Aristodemus and his staff for the battle were as

follows. For all the Arcadians or Messenians that were strong in body

and stout of heart, but had not good weapons, he picked out the best

arms, and when the action became hot, posted them among the Argives

and Sicyonians: and extended his line so as not to be taken in flank

by the enemy. And he took care that his men were so placed that they

had the mountain Ithome in their rear. And he appointed Cleonnis to

the command here, and himself and Damis stayed with the light-armed

troops, and a few slingers and archers: most in this part of the army

were well adapted physically for attack and retreat, and lightly armed.

Each had a breastplate or shield, but such as were deficient in this

respect had goatskins and sheepskins, or the skins of wild beasts, the

Arcadian mountaineers in particular had the skins of wolves and bears.

And each had several javelins, and some had lances. And these lay in

ambush in Ithome where they could be best concealed from sight. And the

heavy armed troops of the Messenians and the allies stood the first

onset of the Lacedæmonians, and afterwards were in all respects full of

bravery. They were outnumbered by the enemy, but being picked men they

fought against an armed mob and not against men of equal discipline

to themselves, consequently they held out much longer through their

bravery and skill. Moreover the light-armed troops of the Messenians,

when the signal was given, rushed against the Lacedæmonians and hemmed

them in, and hurled their javelins at their flanks, and the bolder of

them rushed in and fought hand to hand. And the Lacedæmonians, though

they saw before them a second danger and so hopeless a one in the same

place, yet were not in despair, but turned upon the light-armed troops

and tried to repel them, but as because of the lightness of their

armour they easily ran away, the Lacedæmonians were both perplexed

and irritated. Somehow or other men are apt to be especially vexed

at what happens contrary to their expectation. And so here those of

the Spartans who were already wounded, and those who were nearest to

the light-armed troops, as their comrades lay dead, rushed out of

their ranks wherever they saw the light-armed troops pressing on,

and in their heat pursued rather too far as the enemy retired. Then

the light-armed troops of the Messenians, as they had done at first,

struck them, and hurled their javelins at them as they stood their

ground, and when they pursued made a feint to flee, and attacked them

as they tried to rejoin their men. And this they did in various parts

of the field, and at different points in the enemy’s lines. And the

heavy-armed of the Messenians and the allies at this juncture pressed

more boldly right at the foe. And eventually the Lacedæmonians, spent

with the length of the battle and their wounds, and at the same time

harassed beyond measure by the light-armed troops, broke their ranks.

And in the rout the light-armed troops harassed them all the more.

Of the Lacedæmonians who were cut to pieces in the battle, I could

not ascertain the number, but I believe it was very large. And the

return home to some was easy, but to the Corinthians it was sure to be

dangerous, for, whether they returned through Argolis or by Sicyon,

they had equally to pass through hostile country.

CHAPTER XII.

The Lacedæmonians were troubled at this reverse that had befallen them,

and at the many excellent warriors they had lost in the battle. And

they despaired of success in the war, so they sent envoys to Delphi.

And this was the oracle the Pythian Priestess gave. ‘Phœbus bids you

not only apply yourselves to warlike deeds, but as it was by cunning

that the people got the Messenian land, by the selfsame cunning as it

was got shall it be taken.’ The kings and Ephors, though they were very

anxious to do so, could not find out a good plan till they imitated

the wiliness of Odysseus at Ilium. They sent 100 men to Ithome to

spy out the enemies’ designs, who were to pretend to be deserters.

And to keep up the cheat these men were publicly condemned at Sparta

as deserters. But on their arrival Aristodemus sent them home again

at once, saying, “The injuries done to the Lacedæmonians are recent,

their craft ancient.” The Lacedæmonians having failed in this manœuvre

next attempted to tamper with the allies of the Messenians. But as the

Arcadians rejected their overtures, for to them the envoys went first,

they did not proceed to Argos. And Aristodemus hearing of all these

intrigues on the part of the Lacedæmonians sent himself messengers to

consult the oracle at Delphi. And this was the answer of the Pythian

priestess. “The glory in the war the god gives you, but take care that

the treacherous hostile ambush be not too much for you through Spartan

wiles; for if Ares is to have their well-wrought armour, and the

garlands of their dances are to belong to sorrowing owners, then must

they avoid the appearance of two hidden things. Nor shall the sacred

light of day behold the end of all this till fate shall come to the

things that change their nature.” Aristodemus however and the seers

could not understand what was meant: but a few years afterwards the

god threw light on it and fulfilled it. Remarkable things too happened

at this time to the Messenians. As Lyciscus lived as a resident alien

at Sparta his daughter, whom he had taken with him in his flight from

Messene, chanced to die. And as he often went to visit his daughter’s

grave, some Arcadian cavalry lay in wait for him and carried him off.

And he was taken to Ithome, and being brought before the assembly

he made his defence; he had not left his country he said intending

treason, but in consequence of believing the assertion of the seer that

she was not his genuine daughter. In this line of defence he was not

believed to be speaking the truth till a woman, who was at that time

the priestess of Hera, came into the theatre. And she confessed that

the child was hers, and that she had given it to the wife of Lyciscus

to palm off as her own. And now (she continued) by revealing my secret

I shall depose myself from my priesthood. This she said because it

was a custom in Messene that, if any of the children of a priest or

priestess died, the priesthood should pass to somebody else. Thinking

therefore that the woman was speaking the truth, they chose for the

goddess a priestess in her place, and said that Lyciscus had acted in a

pardonable way.

And after that they resolved, for it was the 20th year of the war,

to send again to Delphi to enquire about their chance of victory.

And to their enquiry the Pythian Priestess returned this answer. “To

those who shall first set up 100 tripods at the altar of Zeus of Ithome

the god will give the Messenian land with fame in war. This is the

will of Zeus. But guile moves you on, and behind is vengeance, and

you cannot deceive the god. Act as fate shall determine. Ruin takes

people by turns.” When they heard this they thought the oracle was

in their favour, and promised them victory in the war; for as they

were in possession of the temple of Zeus within the walls of Ithome,

they thought the Lacedæmonians could not be beforehand with them in

erecting tripods. And so they intended making wooden tripods, for

they had not means enough to make tripods of brass. But somebody from

Delphi reported the oracle at Sparta. And the Spartans had a public

consultation about it, but could hit upon no plan, but Œbalus, a man

of no great repute but evidently possessed of good judgment, made 100

tripods of clay roughly, and took them with him and nets as if he were

a hunter. And being unknown even to most of the Lacedæmonians he easily

escaped the detection of the Messenians. For joining himself with some

countrymen he went with them into Ithome, and directly night came on

he offered these clay tripods to the god, and returned to Sparta and

told the Lacedæmonians what he had done. And the Messenians when they

saw what had happened were terribly upset, and guessed (as indeed was

the case) that it was a trick of the Lacedæmonians: however Aristodemus

consoled them with arguments suited to the present conjuncture, and

placed their wooden tripods which were already made at the altar at

Ithome. It happened also that Ophioneus, the seer who was blind from

birth, greatly to the surprise of all men recovered his sight: for he

had a sharp headache and recovered his sight after it.

CHAPTER XIII.

And thenceforward--for fate already turned the scales towards the

capture of Ithome--the god gave them various predictions of their

coming destiny. For the statue of Artemis, which was of brass as well

as the armour, dropped its shield; and as Aristodemus was about to

sacrifice the victims to Zeus at Ithome, the rams of their own accord

violently dashed their heads against the altar, and were killed by

the blow. And a third phenomenon happened. Some dogs assembled in the

same place and howled all night, and eventually went off in a body to

the camp of the Lacedæmonians. This troubled Aristodemus, as also the

following vision of the night. He dreamed that he was going out to

battle fully armed, and saw lying on a table the victims’ entrails,

and his daughter appeared to him in a black dress with her breast and

belly ripped up, and he thought she threw away what was on the table,

and took away his armour, and instead of it put upon him a golden crown

and white robe. And as Aristodemus was dispirited, for he thought

the dream announced to him the end of his life, (for the Messenians

buried their notable men in white raiment with crowns on their heads),

somebody brought him word that Ophioneus had suddenly become blind

again as before. Then he understood the hidden sense of the oracle,

that by the pair who appeared after being hidden, and returned again as

fate necessitated, the Pythian Priestess meant the eyes of Ophioneus.

Thereupon Aristodemus laying to heart his domestic misfortunes, that

he had been the murderer of his daughter to no purpose, and seeing

no future hope of safety for his country, cut his throat at his

daughter’s grave, being such an one as would in all human calculation

have saved his country had not fortune brought to nothing his plans

and actions. And he died after a reign of six years and a few months.

And to the Messenians their affairs now seemed desperate, so that they

were very near sending a supplicatory embassy to the Lacedæmonians,

though pride restrained them from actually doing so, so much did they

feel the blow of Aristodemus’ death. And when they gathered together

in their assembly they did not choose another king, but appointed

Damis dictator. And he, having selected Cleonnis and Phyleus as his

coadjutors, made preparations for the campaign according to his best

ability under the circumstances: for he was pressed hard by the siege,

and not least by famine and the fear that famine inspired that they

could not hold out from want of supplies. There was no deficiency of

bravery or venturesomeness on the part of the Messenians: all their

generals and notables were killed. For about five months they held out,

and towards the close of the year evacuated Ithome, having been at war

for full twenty years, as the lines of Tyrtæus testify: “They in the

twentieth year left the rich pastures, and fled from the high hills of

Ithome.” This war came to an end in the first year of the fourteenth

Olympiad, in which Dasmon the Corinthian was victor in the stadium, the

Medontidæ at Athens being still in possession of their ten year office,

and at the completion of the fourth year of office of Hippomenes.

CHAPTER XIV.

And the Messenians who had friends at Sicyon and at Argos and amongst

the Arcadians retired to those places, and those of the family of the

priests who performed the mysteries to the Great Goddesses went to

Eleusis. And the multitude dispersed to their several nationalities.

And the Lacedæmonians first razed Ithome to the ground, and afterwards

attacked and captured the other cities. And out of the spoils they set

up to Apollo of Amyclæ some brazen tripods: under the first tripod is

a statue of Aphrodite, and under the second one of Artemis, and under

the third one of Proserpine the daughter of Demeter. These they erected

there. And of the Messenian land they gave to the Asinæi, who had been

ejected by the Argives, the territory by the sea that they still have:

and to the descendants of Androcles, (for Androcles had a daughter and

she had sons, and after the death of Androcles they fled to Sparta),

they gave what is called Hyamea. And the following conditions were

imposed on the Messenians by the Lacedæmonians. First of all they bound

them by oath not to revolt or to attempt any revolutionary movement.

And next they appointed no stated tribute, but they were to bring to

Sparta from the land half its produce. With respect too to the burials

of kings and other people in authority, provision was made that the men

and women in Messenia should wear black raiment, and a punishment was

ordained for those who violated this rule. And as to their exactions

from the Messenians they have been described by Tyrtæus: “As asses

worn out by long continued toil, carrying to their masters from

bitter necessity half of all the fruit the country yields.” And that

necessity was laid on them of mourning for their masters’ deaths he

has manifested in the following lines, “They and their wives together

wailing for their masters, when baneful death seized on any one.”

The Messenians in these circumstances, and with no hope of any kinder

treatment from the Lacedæmonians, and thinking death in battle or a

wholesale migration from the Peloponnese preferable to their present

condition, resolved upon a general rising. And they were mainly

induced to this by the young men, who had had no experience of war,

and were ambitious, and preferred death in a free country to happiness

in all other conditions with slavery. These youths were reared in

various parts of Messenia, but the bravest and most numerous were

in the neighbourhood of Andania, and among them Aristomenes, who is

still honoured among the Messenians as a hero: and the circumstances

attending his birth they think rather remarkable. For they say that a

demon or god in the form of a dragon had an intrigue with Nicotelea his

mother. I have heard the Macedonians say similar things about Olympias,

and the Sicyonians about Aristodama. But the difference is that the

Messenians do not claim that Aristomenes was the son of Hercules or

Zeus, as the Macedonians say that Alexander was the son of Ammon, and

as the people of Sicyon say that Aratus was the son of Æsculapius, but

most of the Greeks say that Pyrrhus was the father of Aristomenes,

though I know that the Messenians call Aristomenes the son of Nicomedes

at the libations. He then, being in fall vigour of age and boldness,

and other influential persons tried to bring about a general rising.

And this was not at first done openly, but they sent secretly to Argos

and the Arcadians, to see if they would assist them as energetically as

they had done in the former war, _bonâ fide_ and not half-heartedly.

CHAPTER XV.

And when they had made all their preparations for war, and their allies

were even more zealous than they had expected, for the hostility

between the Arcadians and Argives and the Lacedæmonians had blazed out

fiercely, then in the thirty-ninth year after the capture of Ithome

they rose in insurrection, in the fourth year of the 23rd Olympiad, in

which the Hyperesian Icarus was victor in the stadium. And at Athens

there were now annual archons, and the archon this year was Tlesias.

Who were kings at Lacedæmon at this time has not been recorded by

Tyrtæus, but Rhianus in his poem has said that Leotychides was king

during this war. I cannot agree with him in this: as to Tyrtæus, though

he has not mentioned expressly the time, yet one may suppose he has

hinted it in the following passage,--in the elegiac lines he wrote

about the former war. “Nineteen years unceasingly they fought for

their country, ever with stout heart, those warriors the fathers of

our fathers.” Manifestly then it was in the third generation after the

former war that the Messenians commenced this war, and the period is

marked by the fact that the kings then at Sparta were Anaxander the son

of Eurycrates the son of Polydorus, and of the other family Anaxidamus

the son of Zeuxidamus, the son of Archidamus, the son of Theopompus. I

go as far as the fourth descendant of Theopompus, because Archidamus

the son of Theopompus died in his father’s lifetime, and the kingdom

devolved upon Zeuxidamus his grandson. And Leotychides clearly was king

after Demaratus the son of Aristo, and Aristo was seventh descendant

from Theopompus.

And now in the first year after their insurrection the Messenians

engaged with the Lacedæmonians at a place in their country called

Deræ, and neither side had allies. And the battle was an undecided

one, but they say Aristomenes exhibited in it preterhuman bravery, so

that they elected him king after the battle, for he was of the family

of the Æpytidæ, and though he was for refusing they also appointed

him commander in chief. He was inclined to let them disown no one who

had done valiantly in war: and for himself thought it right first

and foremost (as the war with the Lacedæmonians was only just begun)

to thoroughly frighten them by some bold stroke, and so to awe them

more for the future. Accordingly he went by night to Lacedæmon and

hung up a shield at the temple of Athene Chalciœcus, and on it was

the inscription, “Aristomenes offers this to the goddess from Spartan

spoils.”

The Lacedæmonians also had an oracular answer from Delphi, that an

Athenian would give them good advice. They sent therefore envoys to

the Athenians to report the oracle, and to ask for the man who was to

give them this good advice. And the Athenians neither wishing that

the Lacedæmonians should get the best part of the Peloponnese without

great danger, nor to disobey the god, took counsel accordingly, and

sent to Sparta one Tyrtæus a schoolmaster, who was thought to have very

little intelligence and was lame in one foot. And he on his arrival

there recited his elegiac verses and his anapæsts privately to the

authorities, and publicly to all whom he could collect together. And

a year after the battle of Deræ, when both nations had now allies,

they prepared for battle in a village called _Boar’s Memorial_. The

Messenians had the men of Elis and Arcadia as their allies in the

action, and had moreover help from Argos and Sicyon. There were also

present all the Messenians that had fled voluntarily, both those from

Eleusis who were the hereditary priests of the mysteries of the Great

Goddesses, and the descendants of Androcles: for these too hastened

to their assistance. And to the help of the Lacedæmonians came the

Corinthians, and some of the people of Lepreum from hatred to the men

of Elis. The Asinæi were neutral. _Boar’s Memorial_ is near Stenyclerus

in Messenia, and was so called because they say Hercules had a mutual

covenant there with the sons of Neleus over a boar’s entrails.

CHAPTER XVI.

And when the seers in both armies had commenced by sacrifice, the

Lacedæmonian seer being Hecas, the descendant and namesake of that

Hecas who had come to Sparta with the sons of Aristodemus, and the

Messenian seer being Theoclus, a descendant of Eumantis (a native

of Elis and one of the Iamidæ whom Cresphontes had introduced into

Messene), both armies were with more confidence stirred up to battle.

And there was ardour exhibited by several according to their age and

prowess, but notably by Anaxander, the king of the Lacedæmonians, and

the Spartans in his division: and in the Messenian army Phintas and

Androcles, the descendants of Androcles, and the men who were posted

with them, strove to show their valour. And Tyrtæus and the priests of

the Great Goddesses took no part in the action but that of cheering

on the rears of their respective armies. And this was the disposition

of Aristomenes. Eighty picked men of the Messenians about the same

age as himself were in close attendance upon him, and each of them

thought himself highly flattered to be posted near Aristomenes: and

they were very keen at detecting in a glance one another’s ideas and

especially their leader’s plans in the very germ. They and Aristomenes

had the brunt of the battle, being posted opposite to Anaxander and

the bravest of the Lacedæmonians. And receiving wounds fearlessly, and

rushing on with the greatest recklessness, in time they routed by their

boldness Anaxander’s division. As these fled Aristomenes commanded

another Messenian regiment to pursue them: and himself rushed into the

thick of the fight, and routed the men there, and then again turned to

some other part of the field. And having driven these also from their

positions he hurried on, charging those that were left, until he had

thoroughly beaten all the Lacedæmonian force, allies and all. And as

they felt some shame in fleeing, and yet could not stand these frequent

charges, he dashed in amongst them with more formidable fury than one

could have expected from one man. But near a wild pear tree that grew

in the plain Theoclus tried to prevent his passing: for he said Castor

and Pollux were seated on the pear tree. And Aristomenes giving way to

passion, and not hearing all the words of the seer, when he got to the

pear tree dropped his shield, and this loss of Aristomenes gave the

Lacedæmonians breathing time to stop from their flight: for he lost

some time trying to find his shield.