Pausanias' description of Greece, Volume I.

by active approximately 150-175 Pausanias

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.

And when the Lacedæmonians were dispirited at this blow, and were minded to finish the war, Tyrtæus put heart into them by reciting his verses, and got some Helots enrolled into the regiments in place of the dead men. And when Aristomenes returned to Andania, the women welcomed him with ribands and pelted him with flowers, and sang for him a song not forgotten even in our days, “To the mid plain and high mountain at Stenyclerus did Aristomenes pursue the Lacedæmonians.” And he afterwards recovered his shield by going to Delphi, and, as the Pythian Priestess ordered him, by descending to the sacred shrine of Trophonius at Lebadea. And afterwards he took the shield, and hung it up as a votive offering at Lebadea, and I have myself seen it hanging up there. Its design is an eagle with its wings extended at the upper part of the shield. And now Aristomenes on his return from Bœotia, having recovered his shield at the shrine of Trophonius, immediately went in for further action. And, having gathered together a levy of Messenians besides his own bodyguard of picked men, he marched at nightfall to a city of Laconia, whose old name was Pharis as in Homer’s catalogue, but it was called Pharæ by the Spartans and other neighbouring people. Marching there he cut to pieces those who attempted to defend themselves, and after carrying off much booty returned to Messene. And the Lacedæmonian hoplites under Anaxander their king attacking him on the road, he routed them also, and was fain to pursue Anaxander. But being wounded in his hinder quarters with a javelin he stayed the pursuit, without losing the plunder he had got. And after waiting sufficient time for his wound to be healed, he intended to enter Sparta by night, when he was prevented by the apparition of Helen and Castor and Pollux, and lay in ambush at nightfall for some maidens who were dancing to Artemis at Caryæ, and arrested all who were remarkable for the wealth and position of their fathers, and brought them by night to a village in Messenia and went to rest, having committed the custody of them to some men of his regiment. Thereupon the young men in drink I suppose, and otherwise unable to control their passions by reason, endeavoured to violate the maidens, and when Aristomenes forbade them to act in a manner not customary for Greeks, they took no notice of him, so that he was obliged to kill the most unruly of them. And the maidens he had taken captive he let go for a good ransom with their honour safe.

CHAPTER XVII.

And there is a place in Laconia called Ægila, where is a temple of Demeter. There Aristomenes and his soldiers, knowing that the women were keeping festival to Demeter, wished to seize them: but as these women inspired by the goddess made a bold defence, most of the Messenians received wounds with the swords which they used to sacrifice the victims with, and the sharp pointed spits on which they stuck their meat to roast it. And Aristomenes they struck with their torches and took him alive. However he escaped the same night to Messenia. They say that Archidamea the priestess of Demeter had the guilt of letting him escape. But she did not let him go for money, but was an old sweetheart of his, and made out that Aristomenes had escaped by burning[57] his bonds.

And in the third year of the war, when an engagement was about to take place at what was called The Great Trench, and when the Arcadians had come from all their cities to help the Messenians, the Lacedæmonians bribed Aristocrates, the son of Icetas, a native of Trapezus, king and general of the Arcadians at this period. The Lacedæmonians are the first we know of that bribed an enemy, and the first that made renown in arms a thing to be purchased by money. For before the Lacedæmonians violated honour in their war with the Messenians, in regard to this treason of Aristocrates the Arcadian, their fighting men were distinguished for bravery, and good fortune from the deity. Afterwards too at Ægos-potamoi, when they opposed the fleet of the Athenians, they certainly bribed Adimantus and other Athenian Admirals. But in process of time upon the Lacedæmonians came what is called the Retribution of Neoptolemus. For Neoptolemus the son of Achilles, having slain Priam at the altar of Household Zeus, was himself also slain at Delphi at the temple of Apollo, and—in consequence of that—suffering what one had inflicted on another got called the Retribution of Neoptolemus. For when the Lacedæmonians were at the zenith of their power, and had destroyed the fleet of the Athenians, and Agesilaus had reduced most of Asia Minor, then it was not possible to strip the Mede of all his power, because the barbarian circumvented them by sending money to Corinth and Argos and Athens and Thebes, and what was called the Corinthian war was brought about by this money, so that Agesilaus was compelled to leave Asia Minor. And so the deity made to recoil upon themselves the wiliness that the Lacedæmonians had displayed to the Messenians. And Aristocrates when he had received money from Lacedæmon, at first hid his plans from the Arcadians, but when they were on the eve of an engagement, then he threw them into consternation, by telling them they were in difficulty and straits and had no means of retreat if they should be beaten. He also said the sacrifices were not auspicious. He ordered everyone therefore to run away when he gave the signal. And when the Lacedæmonians began the engagement and the Messenians were opposite to them, thereupon at the commencement of the battle Aristocrates led off the Arcadians, and thus the Messenian centre and left wing was left exposed. For the Arcadians had occupied both these parts of the field, as the people of Elis were not present at the battle, nor the people of Argos and Sicyon. And Aristocrates put the finishing touch to his treason by fleeing through the Messenian lines. And they were quite bewildered at the unexpected state of affairs, and were disturbed by the passage of the Arcadians through their lines, so that most of them nearly forgot what they were about: for instead of the Lacedæmonians pressing on against the Arcadians they saw them fleeing, and some begged them to stand their ground, others reviled them as traitors and covenant-breakers. And for the Lacedæmonians to surround the Messenians who were now left alone was easy enough, and with the greatest ease they won a victory that was a foregone conclusion. And though Aristomenes and his division bravely stood their ground against the multitude of the Lacedæmonians that pressed against them, and endeavoured to keep them in check, yet they were too few to avail much. And such a quantity of Messenians were cut to pieces, that they, who had expected to be masters of the Lacedæmonians, now instead of having slaves had hardly any hope of safety. And of their leaders fell Androcles and Phintas and others, and Phanas, (who fought especially bravely, and had been victor at Olympia in the double course). And Aristomenes after the battle collected the Messenian fugitives, and persuaded them to leave Andania and any other towns in the heart of the country, and to take up their residence on the mountain Eira. And when they assembled there they were besieged by the Lacedæmonians who wished to take them. However they resisted and held out for eleven years after the disaster at The Great Trench. That that was the time the blockade lasted is plain from the verses of Rhianus about the Lacedæmonians.