BOHN’S CLASSICAL LIBRARY.
PAUSANIAS’ DESCRIPTION OF
GREECE.
PAUSANIAS’
DESCRIPTION OF GREECE,
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH
WITH NOTES AND INDEX
BY ARTHUR RICHARD SHILLETO, M.A.,
Sometime Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge.
VOLUME I.
“Pausanias est un homme qui ne manque ni de bon sens ni de bonne foi, mais qui croit ou au moins voudrait croire à ses dieux.” --CHAMPAGNY.
LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS,
YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
1886.
CHISWICK PRESS:--C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.
PREFACE.
Of Pausanias personally we know very little, but that he lived during the Reign of the Antonines, and travelled all round Greece, and wrote his famous Tour round Greece, or Description of Greece, in 10 Books, describing what he had seen and heard. His chief merit is his showing to us the state of the works of art still remaining in his day in the Greek cities, which have since been swept away by the various invasions that have devastated that once happy land. “When Pausanias travelled through Greece, during the age of the Antonines, about 1690 years ago, he found every city teeming with life and refinement; every Temple a Museum of Art; and every spot hallowed by some tradition which contributed to its preservation. The ruthless destruction of these works of art, in subsequent ages, has reduced them to a small number; and the Traveller now pauses, with a melancholy interest, to reflect upon the objects described by Pausanias, but which no longer exist.”[1]
Pausanias’ Description of Greece is also full of various information on many topics. It is for example a mine of Mythology. For its various matter it has been happily compared to a “County History.” There is often a quiet vein of humour in Pausanias, who seems to have been almost equally a believer in Providence and in Homer.
I have translated from Schubart’s Text in the Teubner Series, (1875), but have taken the liberty always, where the text seemed hopeless, to adopt a reading that seemed preferable from any other source. I have constantly had before me the valuable edition of Siebelis, (Lipsiæ, 1827), to whom I am much indebted, especially for his Illustrations, still veracity obliges me to state that occasionally he too gives one reason to remember the famous lines of a well-known Rector of Welwyn in the Eighteenth Century.
“The commentators each dark passage shun,
And hold their farthing candle to the Sun.”
In the Index it is hardly necessary to state that I owe much to Schubart.
CAMBRIDGE,
May, 1886.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] George Scharf, Esq., F.S.A. 1859. Wordsworth’s Greece, p. 1.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
BOOK I. ATTICA 1
II. CORINTH 90
III. LACONIA 168
IV. MESSENIA 228
V. ELIS 302
VI. ELIS. Part ii. 360
INDEX 414
PAUSANIAS.
BOOK I.--ATTICA.
CHAPTER I.
On the mainland of Greece, facing the islands called the Cyclades and the Ægean sea, the promontory of Sunium stands out on Attic soil: and there is a harbour for any one coasting along the headland, and a temple of Athene of Sunium on the summit of the height. And as one sails on is Laurium, where the Athenians formerly had silver mines, and a desert island of no great size called after Patroclus; for he had built a wall in it and laid a palisade, when he sailed as admiral in the Egyptian triremes, which Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, sent to punish the Athenians, Antigonus, the son of Demetrius, in person making a raid into their territory with a land force and ravaging it, and the fleet simultaneously hemming them in by sea. Now the Piræus was a township in ancient times, but was not a port until Themistocles ruled the Athenians; but their port was Phalerum, (for here the sea is nearest to Athens), and they say that it was from thence that Menestheus sailed with the ships to Troy, and before him Theseus to exact vengeance from Minos for the death of Androgeos. But when Themistocles was in power, because the Piræus appeared to him to be more convenient as a harbour, and it was certainly better to have three harbours than one as at Phalerum, he made this the port. And even up to my time there were stations for ships, and at the largest of the three harbours the tomb of Themistocles; for they say that the Athenians repented of their conduct to him, and that his relatives exhumed his remains and brought them home from Magnesia. Certain it is that the sons of Themistocles returned from exile, and hung up a painting of Themistocles in the Parthenon. Now of all the things in the Piræus best worth seeing is the temple of Athene and Zeus; both their statues are of gold, and Zeus has a sceptre and Victory, while Athene is armed with a spear. Here, too, is a painting by Arcesilaus of Leosthenes and his sons, that famous hero who at the head of the Athenians and all the Greeks defeated the Macedonians in battle in Bœotia, and again beyond Thermopylæ, and drove them into Lamia over against Mount Œta and shut them up there. And it is in the long portico, where those near the sea have their market, (for there is another market for those more inland), and in the back of the portico near the sea are statues of Zeus and Demos, the design of Leochares. And near the sea is a temple erected to Aphrodite by Conon, after his victory over the Lacedæmonian fleet off Cnidus in the peninsula of Caria. For Aphrodite is the tutelary saint of the men of Cnidus, and they have several temples of the goddess; the most ancient celebrates her as Doritis, the next in date as Acræa, and latest of all that which everybody else calls Athene of Cnidus, but the Cnidians themselves call it Athene of the Fair Voyage.
The Athenians have also another harbour at Munychia, and a temple of Artemis of Munychia, and another at Phalerum, as has been stated by me before, and near it a temple of Demeter. Here too is a temple of Sciradian Athene, and of Zeus at a little distance, and altars of gods called unknown, and of heroes, and of the children of Theseus and Phalerus; for this Phalerus, the Athenians say, sailed with Jason to Colchis. There is also an altar of Androgeos the son of Minos, though it is only called altar of a hero, but those who take pains to know more accurately than others their country’s antiquities are well aware that it is the altar of Androgeos. And twenty stades[2] further is the promontory Colias; when the fleet of the Persians was destroyed the tide dashed the wrecks against it. There is here also a statue of Aphrodite of Colias and the goddesses who are called Genetyllides. I am of opinion that the Phocian goddesses in Ionia, that they call by the name of Gennaides, are the same as these at Colias called Genetyllides. And there is on the road to Athens from Phalerum a temple of Hera without doors or roof; they say that Mardonius, the son of Gobryas, burnt it. But the statue there now is (as they say) the work of Alcamenes; this, indeed, the Persian cannot have touched.
CHAPTER II.
As one enters into the city there is a monument of Antiope the Amazon. Pindar says that this Antiope was carried off by Pirithous and Theseus, but the account by Hegias of Trœzen is as follows: that Hercules besieging Themiscyra near the river Thermodon could not take it; but that Antiope being enamoured of Theseus, (who was besieging the place with Hercules), handed the place over to him. This is the account Hegias has given. But the Athenians say that, when the Amazons came, Antiope was shot by Molpadia with an arrow, and that Molpadia was slain by Theseus. There is a monument also to Molpadia among the Athenians. And as one ascends from the Piræus there are remains of the walls which Conon re-erected after the sea-fight off Cnidus; for those which Themistocles had built after the defeat of the Persians had been pulled down during the rule of The Thirty Tyrants, as they were called. And along the way the most notable tombs are those of Menander the son of Diopeithes, and a cenotaph of Euripides without the body. For Euripides was buried in Macedonia, having gone to the court of King Archelaus; and the manner of his death, for it has been told by many, let it be as they say. Poets even in those days lived with kings and earlier still, for when Polycrates was tyrant at Samos Anacreon lived at his court, and Æschylus and Simonides journeyed to Syracuse to the court of Hiero; and to Dionysius, who was afterwards tyrant in Sicily, went Philoxenus; and to Antigonus, king of the Macedonians, went Antagoras of Rhodes and Aratus of Soli. On the other hand Hesiod and Homer either did not get the chance of living at kings’ courts, or of their own accord didn’t value it, the former because he lived in the country and shrank from travelling, and the latter, having gone on his travels to very distant parts, depreciated pecuniary assistance from the powerful in comparison with the glory he had amongst most men, for from him too we have the description of Demodocus’ being at the court of Alcinous, and that Agamemnon left a poet with his wife. There is also a tomb not far from the gates, with the statue of a soldier standing near a horse; who the soldier is I don’t know, but Praxiteles modelled both the horse and the soldier.
As one enters into the city there is a building for the getting ready of processions, which they conduct some annually, some at various intervals. And near is the temple of Demeter, and the statues in it are her and her daughter and Iacchus with a torch; and it is written on the wall in Attic letters that they are the production of Praxiteles. And not far from this temple is Poseidon on horseback, in the act of hurling his spear at the giant Polybotes, in respect to whom there is a story among the Coans as to the promontory of Chelone; but the inscription of our days assigns the statue to another and not to Poseidon. And there are porticoes from the gates to the Ceramicus, and in front of them brazen statues of women and men who have obtained some celebrity. And one of the porticoes has not only shrines of the gods, but also what is called the gymnasium of Hermes; and there is in it the house of Polytion, in which they say the most notable of the Athenians imitated the Eleusinian mysteries. But in my time it was consecrated to Dionysus. And this Dionysus they call Melpomenos for the same reason that they call Apollo Musagetes. Here are statues of Pæonian Athene and Zeus and Mnemosyne and the Muses, and Apollo (the votive offering and work of Eubulides), and Acratus a satellite of Dionysus: his face alone is worked in the wall. And next to the shrine of Dionysus is a room with statues of earthenware, Amphictyon the king of the Athenians feasting Dionysus and all the other gods. Here too is Pegasus Eleutherensis, who introduced Dionysus to the Athenians; and he was assisted by the oracle at Delphi, which foretold that the god would come and settle there in the days of Icarius. And this is the way Amphictyon got the kingdom. They say that Actæus was first king of what is now Attica; and on his death Cecrops succeeded to the kingdom having married Actæus’ daughter, and he had three daughters, Erse, and Aglaurus, and Pandrosus, and one son, Erysichthon. He never reigned over the Athenians, for he chanced to die in his father’s lifetime, and the kingdom of Cecrops fell to Cranaus, the foremost of the Athenians in power and influence. And they say that Cranaus had among other daughters Atthis; from her they named the country Attica, which was before called Actæa. And Amphictyon rose up in insurrection against Cranaus, although he was married to his daughter, and deposed him from the kingdom; but was himself afterwards ejected by Erichthonius and his fellow conspirators. And they say that Erichthonius had no mortal father, but that his parents were Hephæstus and Mother Earth.
CHAPTER III.
Now the place Ceramicus gets its name from the hero Ceramus, he too reputed to be the son of Dionysus and Ariadne; and the first portico on the right is called the royal portico, for there the king sits during his yearly office which is called kingdom. On the roof of this portico are statues of earthenware, Theseus hurling Sciron into the sea, and Aurora carrying off Cephalus, who, being most handsome, was, they say, carried off by enamoured Aurora, and his son was Phaethon. And he made him sacristan of the temple. All this has been told by others, and by Hesiod in his poem about women. And near the portico are statues of Conon and his son Timotheus, and Evagoras, the king of the Cyprians, who got the Phœnician triremes given to Conon by King Artaxerxes; and he acted as an Athenian and one who had ancestral connection with Salamis, for his pedigree went up to Teucer and the daughter of Cinyras. Here too are statues of Zeus, surnamed Eleutherius, and the Emperor Adrian, a benefactor to all the people he ruled over, and especially to the city of the Athenians. And the portico built behind has paintings of the so-called twelve gods. And Democracy and Demos and Theseus are painted on the wall beyond. The painting represents Theseus restoring to the Athenians political equality. The popular belief has prevailed almost universally that Theseus played into the hands of the people, and that from his time they remained under a democratical government, till Pisistratus rose up and became tyrant. There are other untrue traditions current among the mass of mankind, who have no research and take for gospel all they heard as children in the choruses and tragedies. One such tradition is that Theseus himself was king, and that after the death of Menestheus his descendants continued kings even to the fourth generation. But if I had a fancy for genealogies, I should certainly have enumerated all the kings from Melanthus to Cleidicus the son of Æsimidas as well as these.
Here too is painted the action of the Athenians at Mantinea, who were sent to aid the Lacedæmonians. Xenophon and others have written the history of the entire war, the occupation of Cadmeia, and the slaughter of the Lacedæmonians at Leuctra, and how the Bœotians made a raid into the Peloponnese, and of the help that came to the Lacedæmonians from the Athenians. And in the picture is the cavalry charge, the most noted officers in which were on the Athenian side Gryllus, the son of Xenophon, and in the Bœotian cavalry Epaminondas the Theban. These paintings were painted for the Athenians by Euphranor, and in the temple hard by he represented Apollo under the name Patrous. And in front of the temple Leochares represented another Apollo, and Calamis the Apollo who is called Averter of Evil. And they say the god got this name by stopping from his oracle at Delphi the noisome pestilence, that smote them at the same time as the Peloponnesian war. There is also a temple to the Mother of the Gods wrought by Phidias, and next to it a council chamber for those who are called The Five Hundred, who are appointed annually. And in the council chamber are erected statues to Zeus the Counsellor, and to Apollo (the artistic design of Pisias), and to Demos (the work of Lyson). And the legislators were painted by the Caunian Protogenes, but Olbiades painted Callippus, who led the Athenians to Thermopylæ to prevent the invasion of the Galati into Greece.
CHAPTER IV.
Now these Galati inhabit the remotest parts of Europe, near a mighty sea, not navigable where they live: it has tides and breakers and sea monsters quite unlike those in any other sea: and through their territory flows the river Eridanus, by whose banks people think the daughters of the sun lament the fate of their brother Phaethon. And it is only of late that the name Galati has prevailed among them: for originally they were called Celts both by themselves and by all other nations. And an army gathered together by them marched towards the Ionian Sea, and dispossessed all the nations of Illyria and all that dwelt between them and the Macedonians, and even the Macedonians themselves, and overran Thessaly. And when they got near to Thermopylæ, most of the Greeks did not interfere with their onward march, remembering how badly handled they had formerly been by Alexander and Philip, and how subsequently Antipater and Cassander had nearly ruined Greece; so that, on account of their weakness, they did not consider it disgraceful individually that a general defence should be abandoned. But the Athenians, although they had suffered more than any other of the Greeks during the long Macedonian war, and had had great losses in battles, yet resolved to go forth to Thermopylæ with those of the Greeks who volunteered, having chosen this Callippus as their General. And having occupied the narrowest pass they endeavoured to bar the passage of the barbarians into Greece. But the Celts having discovered the same defile by which Ephialtes the Trachinian had formerly conducted the Persians, and having routed those of the Phocians who were posted there in battle array, crossed Mount Œta unbeknown to the Greeks. Then it was that the Athenians displayed themselves to the Greeks as most worthy, by their brave defence against the barbarians, being taken both in front and flank. But those suffered most that were in their ships, inasmuch as the Lamiac Gulf was full of mud near Thermopylæ; the explanation is, as it seems to me, that here warm springs have their outlet into the sea. Here therefore they suffered much. For, having taken on board their comrades, they were obliged to sail over mud in vessels heavy with men and armour. Thus did the Athenians endeavour to save the Greeks in the manner I have described. But the Galati having got inside Pylæ, and not caring to take the other fortified towns, were most anxious to plunder the treasures of the god at Delphi. And the people of Delphi, and those of the Phocians who dwelt in the cities round Parnassus, drew up in battle array against them. A contingency of the Ætolians also arrived: and you must know that at that era the Ætolians were eminent for manly vigour. And when the armies engaged not only did lightnings dismay the Galati, and fragments of rock coming down on them from Parnassus, but three mighty warriors pressed them hard, two, they say, came from the Hyperboreans, Hyperochus and Amadocus, and the third was Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles. And in consequence of this aid the Delphians offer sacrifice to Pyrrhus, though before they held his tomb in dishonour as that of an enemy. But the greater part of the Galati having crossed into Asia Minor in their ships, ravaged its maritime parts. And some time afterwards the inhabitants of Pergamum, which in old times was called Teuthrania, drove the Galati from the sea into the region now called Galatia. They lived in the region east of the river Sangarius, having captured Ancyra, a city of the Phrygians which Midas the son of Gordias had formerly built. And the anchor which Midas found was still, even in my time, in the temple of Zeus, and the well shown which was called Midas’ well: which Midas, they say, poured wine into that he might capture Silenus. As well as Ancyra they captured Pessinus near the mountain Agdistis, where they say Atte was buried. And the people of Pergamum have spoils of the Galati, and there is a painting of their action with the Galati. And the region which the people of Pergamum inhabit was in old times, they say, sacred to the Cabiri. And they claim to be Arcadians who crossed over with Telephus into Asia Minor. Of their other wars, if they fought any, the fame has not universally spread: but three most notable exploits have been performed by them, their gaining dominion over the southern part of Asia Minor, and their expulsion of the Galati from thence, and their venture under Telephus against the forces of Agamemnon, when the Greeks, unable to find Ilium, ravaged the Mysian plain, thinking it was Trojan territory. But I return to where I made my digression from.
CHAPTER V.
Near the council chamber of The Five Hundred is the room called the Rotunda, and here the Prytanes sacrifice, and there are some silver statues not very large. And higher up are some statues of the heroes, from whom the tribes of the Athenians in later times got their names. And who made the tribes ten instead of four, and changed their names from the old ones, has been told by Herodotus. And of the heroes who gave their names to the tribes, (Eponymus is the name they give them), are Hippothoon, the son of Poseidon by Alope the daughter of Cercyon, and Antiochus, one of the sons of Hercules by Meda the daughter of Phylas, and the third Ajax, the son of Telamon; and of the Athenians Leo, who is said to have devoted all his daughters for the public weal at the bidding of the oracle. Erechtheus also is among the Eponymi, who conquered the Eleusinians in battle, and slew their commander Immaradus, the son of Eumolpus; also Ægius, and Œneus the illegitimate son of Pandion, and of the sons of Theseus Acamas. And what Cecrops and Pandion they hold in honour, (for I saw their statues too among the Eponymi), I do not know, for there were two of each; the first Cecrops, that was king, married the daughter of Actæus, and the other, who settled at Eubœa, was the son of Erechtheus, the grandson of Pandion and the great grandson of Erichthonius, and the two Pandion kings were the son of Erichthonius and the son of Cecrops the younger. The latter was deposed from his kingdom by the Metionidæ, and when he fled to Megara, the daughter of whose king he had married, his sons were banished with him. And it is said that Pandion died there of illness, and his tomb is near the sea in Megara, on the rock that is called the rock of Athene the Diver. But his sons returned from exile at Megara, and expelled the Metionidæ, and Ægeus, being the eldest, had the sovereignty over the Athenians. Pandion also reared daughters, but not with good fortune, nor had they any sons to avenge him. And yet for the love of power he had made affinity with the king of Thrace. But man has no power to escape what is willed by the Deity. They say that Tereus (though married to Procne) dishonoured Philomela, not acting according to the law of the Greeks: and, having still further murdered the damsel, he compelled the women to punish him. There is also another statue erected to Pandion in the Acropolis, well worth seeing. These are the ancient Eponymi of the Athenians. And after these they have as Eponymi Attalus the Mysian, and Ptolemy the Egyptian, and, in my time, the Emperor Adrian, who worshipped the gods more religiously than anyone, and who contributed most to the individual happiness of his subjects. And he never willingly undertook any war, only he punished the revolt of the Hebrews who live beyond the Syrians. And as to the temples of the gods, part of which he originally built, and part of which he adorned with votive offerings and decorations, or of the gifts which he gave to the Greek cities and to those of the barbarians who asked for them, all these good deeds of his are written up at Athens, in the temple common to all the gods.
CHAPTER VI.
As to the actions of Attalus and Ptolemy, not only are they become more ancient from the progress of time, so that the fame of them no longer remains, but also those who lived with those kings in former days neglected to register their exploits. I thought it well therefore to record whatever works they did, and how it was that the government of Egypt and of the Mysi, and of the neighbouring nations, fell to their fathers. Ptolemy, the Macedonians think, was really the son of Philip the son of Amyntas, (but putatively the son of Lagus), for his mother, they say, was pregnant when she was given to Lagus to wife by Philip. And they say that Ptolemy not only distinguished himself brilliantly in Asia Minor, but, when danger befel Alexander at Oxydracæ, he of all his companions was foremost to bring him aid. And upon the death of Alexander, he it was who mainly resisted those who wished to give all the dominions of Alexander to Aridæus the son of Philip, and he again was responsible for the different nationalities being divided into kingdoms. And he himself crossed into Egypt and slew Cleomenes, whom Alexander had made satrap of Egypt, thinking him friendly to Perdiccas and therefore not loyal to himself, and persuaded those of the Macedonians who were appointed to carry the dead body of Alexander to Ægæ to hand it over to him, and buried him at Memphis with the customary Macedonian rites; but, feeling sure that Perdiccas would go to war with him, he filled Egypt with garrisons. And Perdiccas, to give a specious colour to his expedition, led about with him Aridæus the son of Philip, and the lad Alexander, the son of Alexander by Roxana the daughter of Oxyartes, but really was plotting to take away the kingdom of Egypt from Ptolemy. But having been thrust out of Egypt, and consequently losing his former prestige as a general, and having incurred odium among the Macedonians on other grounds, he was assassinated by his bodyguard. The death of Perdiccas roused Ptolemy to immediate action: simultaneously he seized Syria and Phœnicia, welcomed Seleucus the son of Antiochus, a fugitive who had been driven into exile by Antigonus, and made preparations to take the field in person against Antigonus. And Cassander the son of Antipater, and Lysimachus king of Thrace, he persuaded to join him in the war, saying that the exile of Seleucus and the aggrandisement of Antigonus was a common danger to all of them. Now Antigonus for a time went on with his preparations, but by no means courted war. But when he heard that Ptolemy had gone to Libya to put down a revolt of the people of Cyrene, forthwith he took Syria and Phœnicia by a coup-de-main, and, handing them over to his son Demetrius, a boy in years a man in intellect, returned to the Hellespont. But before getting there, on hearing that Demetrius had been beaten in battle by Ptolemy, he led his army back again. But Demetrius, so far from yielding ground altogether to Ptolemy, planned an ambush and cut to pieces a few of the Egyptians. And now, upon Antigonus’ coming up, Ptolemy did not wait for him, but retired into Egypt. And when the winter was over Demetrius sailed to Cyprus and beat Menelaus, Ptolemy’s satrap, in a naval engagement, and then Ptolemy himself, as he tried to force his way through. And he fled into Egypt and was blockaded both by land and sea by Antigonus and Demetrius. But Ptolemy, although in great straits, yet preserved his kingdom by stationing himself with his army at Pelusium on the qui vive, and by keeping the enemy from the river with his fleet. And Antigonus had no further hope that he could take Egypt in the present state of affairs, so he despatched Demetrius to the Rhodians with a large army and ships, hoping that, if he could get possession of Rhodes, he could use it as his base against the Egyptians. But not only did the Rhodians exhibit great daring and ingenuity against their besiegers, but also Ptolemy himself to the utmost of his power assisted them in the war. And Antigonus, though unsuccessful with Rhodes and Egypt, ventured not long afterwards to fight against Lysimachus and Cassander and the army of Seleucus, and lost the greater part of his forces, and himself died mainly from being worn out by the length of the war against Eumenes. And of the kings that put down the power of Antigonus I think the most unscrupulous was Cassander, who, having preserved his rule over the Macedonians only owing to Antigonus, went and fought against a man that had been his benefactor. And after the death of Antigonus, Ptolemy again took Syria and Cyprus, and restored Pyrrhus to Thesprotian Epirus. And when Cyrene revolted, Magas the son of Berenice, who was at this time the wife of Ptolemy, took it in the fifth year after the revolt. Now if this Ptolemy was really the son of Philip the son of Amyntas, it will be clear that he inherited this madness for women from his father, who, though married to Eurydice, the daughter of Antipater, and having children by her, yet fell in love with Berenice, (whom Antipater had sent into Egypt as a companion to Eurydice), and so enamoured was he of her that he had children by her, and when his end was near willed to reign over Egypt Ptolemy, (from whom the Athenians name one tribe), his son by Berenice and not by Eurydice.
CHAPTER VII.
This Ptolemy being enamoured of Arsinoe, his sister on both sides, married her, doing what was by no means usual among the Macedonians, but not uncommon among his Egyptian subjects. And next he slew his brother Argæus plotting against him, as was said. And he brought the corpse of Alexander from Memphis. And he slew also another brother, the son of Eurydice, observing that he was trying to make the Cyprians revolt. And Magas the uterine brother of Ptolemy, (being the son of Berenice and one Philip, a Macedonian but one of the common people and otherwise unknown), who had been chosen by his mother to be governor of Cyrene, at this time persuaded the people of Cyrene to revolt from Ptolemy and marched with an army for Egypt. And Ptolemy, having guarded the approaches, awaited the arrival of the men of Cyrene; but Magas having had news brought him on the road that the Marmaridæ had revolted from him, (now the Marmaridæ are a tribe of Libyan Nomads), endeavoured to get back to Cyrene at once. And Ptolemy, intending to follow him, was prevented by the following reason. Among some of his defensive operations against Magas, he had invited in some foreign mercenaries, and among others some 4,000 Galati; but finding that they were plotting to make themselves masters of Egypt, he sent them down to the Nile to a desert island. And here they perished, partly by one another’s sword, partly by famine. And Magas being the husband of Apame, the daughter of Antiochus the son of Seleucus, persuaded Antiochus to violate the conditions which his father Seleucus had made with Ptolemy, and to lead an army into Egypt. But as he was preparing to do so, Ptolemy sent into all parts of Antichus’ dominions guerilla troops to ravage the country where the defenders were weak, and more formidable bodies he checked with his army, so that Antiochus had no longer the chance to invade Egypt. I have previously described how this Ptolemy sent a fleet to aid the Athenians against Antigonus and the Macedonians; but, indeed, the Athenians derived no great benefit from it. Now his sons were not by Arsinoe his sister, but by the daughter of Lysimachus, for although he was married to his sister and lived with her, she pre-deceased him and was childless, and the district Arsinoites is named after her.
CHAPTER VIII.
Our subject now demands that we should relate the doings of Attalus, for he is also one of the Athenian Eponymi. A Macedonian by name Docimus, one of Antigonus’ generals, who afterwards gave himself and his fortune into the hands of Lysimachus, had a Paphlagonian eunuch called Philetærus. Now all the circumstances of Philetærus’ revolt from Lysimachus, and how he invited in Seleucus, shall be narrated by me in my account of Lysimachus. But this Attalus was the son of Attalus, and nephew of Philetærus, and got the kingdom from Eumenes his cousin handing it over to him. And this is the greatest of his exploits, that he compelled the Galati to leave the coast and go inland to Galatia, the country which they now inhabit.
And next to the statues of the Eponymi are images of the gods, Amphiaraus and Peace with Wealth as a boy in her arms. Here, too, are statues in bronze of Lycurgus the son of Lycophron, and of Callias who negotiated peace, as most of the Athenians say, between the Greeks and Artaxerxes the son of Xerxes. Here, too, is Demosthenes, whom the Athenians drove into exile to Calauria, the island near Trœzen, and after having recalled him drove him into exile a second time after the defeat at Lamia. And when Demosthenes went into exile the second time, he crossed over again to Calauria, where he died by taking poison. And he was the only exile who was not handed over to Antipater and the Macedonians by Archias. Now this Archias, who was a native of Thurii, acted very inhumanly. All who had opposed the Macedonians before the disaster which befel the Greeks in Thessaly, Archias handed over to Antipater for punishment. Now this was the end of Demosthenes’ excessive affection for the Athenians. And it seems to me deserving of record, that a man who had been cruelly exiled for his policy, and had yet believed in the democracy, came to a bad end.
And near the statue of Demosthenes is the temple of Ares, where are two images of Aphrodite, and one of Ares designed by Alcamenes, and one of Athene designed by a Parian by name Locrus. Here too is an image of Enyo by the sons of Praxiteles. And round the temple are statues of Hercules, and Theseus, and Apollo with his long hair in a fillet: and statues of Calades, who was a legislator of the Athenians according to tradition, and of Pindar, who amongst other honour obtained this statue from the Athenians because he praised them in an Ode. And at no great distance are statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton, the murderers of Hipparchus: the motive and manner of this murder has been told by others. And of these statues some are by Critias, but the oldest ones by Antenor. And although Xerxes when he captured Athens, (the Athenians having left the city), took them off as booty, Antiochus sent them back afterwards to the Athenians.
And in the theatre, which they call Odeum, there are statues, in the entrance, of the Egyptian kings. Their names are all Ptolemy alike, but each has another distinguishing name also. Thus they call one Philometor, and another Philadelphus, and the son of Lagus Soter, a name the Rhodians gave him. Philadelphus is the one whom I have before made mention of as one of the Eponymi. And near him is also a statue of his sister Arsinoe.
CHAPTER IX.
Now the Ptolemy called Philometor is the eighth in descent from Ptolemy the son of Lagus, and he got his name in irony; for none of these kings that we know of was so hated by their mother as he was; for though he was the eldest of her sons she would not allow them to call him to the kingdom, but got him banished to Cyprus by his father previously. Now of this dislike of Cleopatra to her son they allege other motives, but especially this one, that she thought Alexander, the younger of her sons, would be more obsequious to her. And therefore she urged the Egyptians to choose Alexander for their king. And when the people opposed her in this, she sent Alexander to Cyprus, nominally as general, but really because she wished through him to make herself more formidable to Philometor. And at last having mutilated those of the eunuchs whom she thought most friendly, she brought them before the populace, and pretended that she was plotted against by Philometor, and that the eunuchs had been treated in that shameful manner by him. And the Alexandrians were eager to kill Philometor, but, as he got on shipboard and escaped them, they made Alexander king on his return from Cyprus. But Cleopatra was punished eventually for her getting Philometor banished by being slain by Alexander, whom she had got appointed king over the Egyptians. And the crime being detected, and Alexander fleeing from fear of the citizens, Philometor quietly returned from exile and a second time held Egypt, and warred against the Thebans who had revolted. And having reduced them in the third year after the revolt, he punished them so severely that there was no vestige left them of their ancient prosperity, which had reached such a pitch that they excelled in wealth the wealthiest of the Greeks, even the treasures of the temple at Delphi and the Orchomenians. And Philometor not long after meeting the common fate, the Athenians who had been well treated by him in many respects that I need not enumerate, erected a brazen statue both of him and Berenice, his only legitimate child. And next to the Egyptian kings are statues of Philip and his son Alexander. They performed greater exploits than to be mere appendages to an account of something else. To the other Egyptian kings gifts were given as being of real merit and benefactors, but to Philip and Alexander more, from the flattery of the community towards them, for they also honoured Lysimachus by a statue, not so much out of good will as thinking him useful under existing circumstances.
Now this Lysimachus was by birth a Macedonian and the armour-bearer of Alexander, whom Alexander once in anger shut up in a building with a lion and found him victorious over the beast. In all other respects he continued to admire him, and held him in honour as among the foremost of the Macedonians. And after Alexander’s death Lysimachus ruled over those Thracians who were contiguous to the Macedonians, over whom Alexander had ruled, and still earlier Philip. And these would be no very great portion of Thrace. Now no nations are more populous than all the Thracians, except the Celts, if one compares one race with another; and that is why none of the Romans ever subdued all Thrace at an earlier period. But all Thrace is now subject to the Romans, and as much of the Celtic land as they think useless from the excessive cold and inferiority of the soil has been purposely overlooked by them, but the valuable parts they stick to. Now Lysimachus at this period fought with the Odrysæ first of all his neighbours, and next went on an expedition against Dromichetes and the Getæ. And fighting with men not inexperienced in war, and in number far superior, he himself getting into the greatest danger, fled for his life; and his son Agathocles, now first accompanying his father on campaign, was captured by the Getæ. And Lysimachus after this, being unfortunate in battles and being greatly concerned at the capture of his son, made a peace with Dromichetes, abandoning to Getes his possessions across the Ister, and giving him his daughter in marriage, more of necessity than choice. But some say that it was not Agathocles who was captured, but Lysimachus himself, and that he was ransomed by Agathocles negotiating with Getes on his account. And when he returned he brought with him for Agathocles a wife in Lysandra, the daughter of Ptolemy Lagus and Eurydice. And he crossed over into Asia Minor in his fleet, and destroyed the rule of Antigonus. And he built the present city of the Ephesians near the sea, bringing into it as settlers Lebedians and Colophonians, after destroying their cities, so that Phœnix, the Iambic writer, laments the capture of Colophon. Hermesianax, the Elegiac writer, could not have lived, it seems to me, up to this date; for else he would surely have written an elegy over the capture of Colophon. Lysimachus also waged war against Pyrrhus the son of Æacides. And watching for his departure from Epirus, as indeed he was wandering most of his time, he ravaged all the rest of Epirus, and even meddled with the tombs of the kings. I can scarce believe it, but Hieronymus of Cardia has recorded that Lysimachus took up the tombs of the dead and strewed the bones about. But this Hieronymus has the reputation even on other grounds of having written with hostility against all the kings except Antigonus, and of not having been altogether just even to him. And in this account of the tombs in Epirus he clearly must have invented the calumny, that a Macedonian would interfere with the tombs of the dead. And besides it appears that Lysimachus did not know that the people of Epirus were not only the ancestors of Pyrrhus but also of Alexander; for Alexander was not only a native of Epirus, but on his mother’s side one of the Æacidæ. And the subsequent alliance between Pyrrhus and Lysimachus proves that if they did fight together there was no irreconcilable animosity between them. But perhaps Hieronymus had other causes of complaint against Lysimachus besides the chief one that he destroyed the city of Cardia, and built instead of it Lysimachia on the Isthmus of the Thracian Chersonese.
CHAPTER X.
Now as long as Aridæus, and after him Cassander and his sons, ruled, there was friendship between Lysimachus and the Macedonians; but when the kingdom came to Demetrius the son of Antigonus, then at once Lysimachus thought war would be waged against him by Demetrius, and preferred to take the initiative himself, knowing that it was a family tradition with Demetrius to wish to be grasping something, and at the same time observing that he had come to Macedonia on being sent for by Alexander the son of Cassander, and on his arrival had killed Alexander and taken in his stead the kingdom of the Macedonians. For these reasons he fought with Demetrius at Amphipolis and was within an ace of being ejected from Thrace, but through the help of Pyrrhus he retained Thrace and afterwards ruled the Nestians and Macedonians also. But the greater part of Macedonia Pyrrhus kept for himself, coming with a force from Epirus and being useful to Lysimachus at that time. But when Demetrius crossed over into Asia Minor and fought with Seleucus, as long as the fortunes of Demetrius lasted the alliance between Pyrrhus and Lysimachus remained unbroken; but when Demetrius got into the power of Seleucus the friendship was dissolved, and Lysimachus fought with Antigonus, the son of Demetrius, and with Pyrrhus himself, and was easily victorious and got Macedonia and compelled Pyrrhus to return to Epirus. Now many misfortunes are wont to come on men through love. For Lysimachus being already advanced in age, and being reputed fortunate in respect to his offspring, and although his son Agathocles had children by Lysandra, yet married Arsinoe Lysandra’s sister. And it is said that this Arsinoe, fearing for her children that after the death of Lysimachus they would be in the hands of Agathocles, for these reasons conspired against Agathocles. And some writers have alleged that Arsinoe was violently in love with Agathocles, but being disappointed in this plotted his death. And they say that afterwards Lysimachus came to know of the awful doings of his wife, when it was too late to be of any service to him, being entirely deprived of his friends. For when Lysimachus permitted Arsinoe to put Agathocles to death, Lysandra fled to Seleucus, taking with her her sons and brothers, and in consequence of what had happened they fled for refuge to Ptolemy. And these fugitives to the court of Seleucus were accompanied by Alexander also, the son of Lysimachus by his wife Odrysiades. And they, having got to Babylon, besought Seleucus to go to war with Lysimachus; and Philetærus at the same time, who had had all the money of Lysimachus entrusted to him, indignant at the death of Agathocles and thinking the conduct of Arsinoe suspicious, occupied Pergamum beyond the river Caicus, and sent an envoy and offered himself and his money to Seleucus. And Lysimachus, learning all this, crossed into Asia Minor forthwith, and himself began the war, and encountering Seleucus was badly beaten and himself killed. And Alexander, who was his son by his wife Odrysiades, after much entreaty to Lysandra recovered his corpse, and subsequently conveyed it to the Chersonese and buried it there, where even now his tomb is to be seen, between the village Cardia and Pactye. Such was the fate of Lysimachus.
CHAPTER XI.
The Athenians also have a statue of Pyrrhus. This Pyrrhus was only related to Alexander by ancestry. For Pyrrhus was the son of Æacides the son of Arybbas, whereas Alexander was the son of Olympias the daughter of Neoptolemus. Now, Neoptolemus and Arybbas had the same father, Alcetas the son of Tharypus. And from Tharypus to Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, are fifteen generations. For he first, after the capture of Ilium, neglected, returning home to Thessaly, and removed to Epirus and dwelt there in accordance with the oracles of Helenus. And he had no son by Hermione, but by Andromache he had Molossus and Pielus and the youngest Pergamus. And Helenus also had a son Cestrinus by Andromache, whom he married after the death of Pyrrhus at Delphi. And when Helenus died having handed over the kingdom to Molossus the son of Pyrrhus, Cestrinus with the Epirotes who volunteered to go with him occupied the region across the river Thyamis, and Pergamus, crossing into Asia Minor, killed Arius the king of Teuthrania in single combat for the sovereignty of the country, and gave the city his own name, which it now has. There is also to this day a temple of Andromache, who accompanied him, in the city. But Pielus remained at home in Epirus, and it was to him and not to Molossus that Pyrrhus the son of Æacides and his fathers traced up their ancestry. Now up to the days of Alcetas the son of Tharypus Epirus was under one king; but the sons of Alcetas after some quarrelling changed the government to an equal share for each, and remained loyal to that agreement; and afterwards Alexander the son of Neoptolemus died in Lucania, and Olympias returned to Epirus from fear of Antipater, and Æacides, the son of Arybbas, in all respects remained loyal to Olympias, and even joined her in fighting against Aridæus and the Macedonians, though the people of Epirus were unwilling to enter into it. But as Olympias, when she conquered, had acted infamously in connection with the death of Aridæus, and far more so to the Macedonians, and consequently was thought afterwards to have only met with her deserts from Cassander, the Epirotes would not receive Æacides for a time owing to their hostility against Olympias; and when he obtained pardon from them some time after Cassander again prevented his return to Epirus. And a battle being fought between Philip (the brother of Cassander) and Æacides at Œnidæ, Æacides was wounded and died no long time after. And the people of Epirus made Alcetas king, the son of Arybbas and elder brother of Æacides, a man on previous occasions of ungovernable temper, and for that very reason banished by his father. And now on his arrival he immediately so madly raged against the people of Epirus, that they rose up against him by night and killed him and his sons. And when they had killed him they brought back from exile Pyrrhus the son of Æacides. And immediately on his arrival Cassander marched against him, as being young and not firmly established in the sovereignty. But Pyrrhus, on the invasion of the Macedonians, went to Egypt to Ptolemy the son of Lagus; and Ptolemy gave him as wife the uterine sister of his own children, and restored him with a force of Egyptians. And Pyrrhus, on becoming king, attacked the Corcyræans first of the Greeks, seeing that the island of Corcyra lay opposite to his own territory, and not wishing it to be a base for operations against him. And after the capture of Corcyra all the defeats he met with fighting against Lysimachus, and how after he had driven Demetrius out of Macedonia he ruled there until he in turn was ejected by Lysimachus,--all these, the most important events at that time in Pyrrhus’ life, have been already narrated by me in connection with Lysimachus. And we know of no Greek before Pyrrhus that warred with the Romans. For there is no record of any engagement between Æneas and Diomede and the Argives with him; and the Athenians, who were very ambitious and desired to reduce all Italy, were prevented by the disaster at Syracuse from attacking the Romans; and Alexander the son of Neoptolemus, of the same race as Pyrrhus but older in age, was prevented by his death in Lucania from coming to blows with the Romans.
CHAPTER XII.
So Pyrrhus is the first that crossed the Ionian Sea from Greece to fight against the Romans. And he crossed at the invitation of the people of Tarentum, who had had earlier than this a war of long standing with the Romans: and being unable to resist them by themselves, (and they had already done services to Pyrrhus, for they had aided him with their fleet when he was warring against Corcyra), their envoys won Pyrrhus over, giving him to understand that it would be for the happiness of all Greece, and that it would not be honourable for him to leave them in the lurch, inasmuch as they were friends and on the present occasion suppliants. And as the envoys urged these things, the remembrance of the capture of Ilium came to Pyrrhus, and he hoped the same would happen to him: for he, a descendant of Achilles, would be warring against colonies of Trojans. And as the idea pleased him, (and he was not the man to loiter at anything he had a mind for), he forthwith equipped men-of-war and transports and got ready cavalry and infantry to take with him. Now, there are some books written by men not remarkable for historical power still extant, called COMMENTARIES OF EVENTS. As often as I read them I am inclined to marvel, not only at the daring of Pyrrhus which he displayed in action, but also at the forethought which he always exhibited. On this occasion he crossed over into Italy in his ships unbeknown to the Romans, and his arrival was unknown to them until, (an attack being made by them upon the people of Tarentum), he first showed himself at the head of his army, and, attacking them contrary to their expectation, threw them into confusion as was only likely. And, knowing full well that he was not a match for the Romans in fighting, he contrived to let loose elephants upon them. Now Alexander was the first European who had elephants, after the conquest of Porus and India: and on his death other European kings had them, and Antigonus a very large quantity of them: and the elephants of Pyrrhus were captured by him in the battle with Demetrius. And now on their appearance a panic seized the Romans, who thought they were something superhuman. For the use of ivory indeed all nations have clearly known from the earliest times; but the animals themselves, until the Macedonians crossed into Asia, no nations had seen at all except the Indians and Libyans and the adjacent nations. And Homer proves this, who has represented the beds and houses of the wealthier of the kings as decked with ivory, but has made no mention whatever of the elephant. And if he had seen or heard of them he would, I think, have recorded them rather than the battle of the Pygmies and cranes. Pyrrhus was also invited into Sicily by an embassy of Syracusans. For the Carthaginians used to cross over and take the Greek cities in Sicily, and Syracuse the only one left they were blockading and besieging. And Pyrrhus, hearing this from the envoys, left Tarentum and the Italians that dwelt on the headland, and crossed over into Sicily and compelled the Carthaginians to raise the siege. And, having overweening self-confidence, he was elated to fight on sea against the Carthaginians, (who were the greatest maritime nation of all the barbarians of that day, having been originally Tyrians and Phœnicians), with the natives of Epirus only, who even after the capture of Ilium were most of them unacquainted with the sea, and knew not the use of salt. As that line of Homer, in the “Odyssey,” bears me out:
“Men who know not the sea, nor eat food seasoned with salt.”[3]
CHAPTER XIII.
Then Pyrrhus, after his defeat, sailed for Tarentum with the remnant of his fleet. There his fortunes suffered great reverses, and he contrived his flight in the following manner, (for he knew that the Romans would not let him go scot-free). On his return from Sicily he first sent letters everywhere to Asia Minor and Antigonus, asking for soldiers from some of the kings and for money from others, and for both from Antigonus. And when the messengers returned and their letters were given to him, he called together a council of the chief men of Epirus and Tarentum, and read none of the letters which he had with him but merely said that aid would come. And quickly a report spread among the Romans, that the Macedonians and other tribes of Asia Minor were going to come over to the help of Pyrrhus. So the Romans when they heard this remained quiet, and Pyrrhus under the shelter of the next night crossed over to the mountains which they call Ceraunia. And after this reverse in Italy he remained quiet with his forces for some time, and then proclaimed war against Antigonus, bringing other charges against him but mainly because he had failed to bring reinforcements to Italy. And having beaten Antigonus’ own troops, and the foreign contingent with him of the Galati, he pursued them to the maritime cities, and became master of Upper Macedonia and Thessaly. And the greatness of the battle and the magnitude of Pyrrhus’ victory are shown by the arms of the Galati hung up in the temple of Athene Itonia between Pheræ and Larissa, and the inscription on them is as follows:
“Molossian Pyrrhus hung up these shields of the brave Galati to Itonian Athene, when he had destroyed all the host of Antigonus. No great wonder. The Æacidæ are warriors now as formerly.”
The shields of the Galati he put here, but those of the Macedonians he hung up to Zeus of the Macedonians at Dodona. And the following is the inscription on them:
“These formerly ravaged the wealthy Asian territory, These also brought slavery to the Greeks; But now hang up on the pillars in the house of Zeus The spoils snatched from boasting Macedonia.”
But Pyrrhus was prevented from overthrowing the Macedonians entirely, though he came within an ace of it, and was only too ready always to seize whatever was at his feet, by Cleonymus. Now this Cleonymus, who had persuaded Pyrrhus to leave Macedonia and come to the Peloponnese, although a Lacedæmonian led a hostile force into the territory of the Lacedæmonians, for the reason which I shall give after his pedigree. Pausanias that led the Greeks at Platæa had a son Pleistoanax, and he a son Pausanias, and he a son Cleombrotus, who fought against Epaminondas and the Thebans, and was killed at Leuctra. And Cleombrotus had two sons Agesipolis and Cleomenes, and the former dying childless Cleomenes had the kingdom. And he had two sons, the elder Acrotatus and the younger Cleonymus. And Acrotatus dying first and after him Cleomenes, there was a dispute who should be king between Acrotatus’ son, Areus, and Cleonymus. And Cleonymus, determined to get the kingdom whether or no, called in Pyrrhus into the country. And the Lacedæmonians before Leuctra had met with no reverse, so that they would not admit they could be conquered by a land army: for in the case of Leonidas they said his followers were not sufficient to completely destroy the Persians, and as for the exploit of Demosthenes and the Athenians at the island of Sphacteria, they said that was a fluke of war and not a genuine victory. But after their first reverse in Bœotia, they had a second severe one with Antipater and the Macedonians: and thirdly the war with Demetrius came on the land as an unexpected evil. And when fourthly Pyrrhus invaded them, when they saw the enemy’s army, they drew up in battle array together with their allies from Argos and Messene. And Pyrrhus conquered and was within an ace of taking Sparta at the first assault; but after having ravaged their territory and got much booty he rested for awhile. And the Spartans prepared for a siege, Sparta even before in the war with Demetrius having been fortified by deep trenches and strong palisades, and in the weakest parts by special works. And during this time and the long Laconian war Antigonus having fortified the towns of the Macedonians pressed into the Peloponnese, perceiving that Pyrrhus, if he should subdue Sparta and most of the Peloponnese, would not go into Epirus, but into Macedonia again and to the war sure to come there. And when Antigonus was intending to move his army from Argos into Spartan territory, Pyrrhus himself had arrived at Argos. And, being victorious, he followed the fugitives and entered the city with them, and, as was likely, his army dispersed into all quarters of the city. And as they were fighting in the temples and houses and alleys and in all parts of the city promiscuously, Pyrrhus was left all alone and got wounded in the head. They say Pyrrhus was killed by a tile thrown by a woman: but the Argives say it was not a woman that slew him, but Demeter in the form of a woman. This is the account which the Argives themselves give of the death of Pyrrhus; this is also what Lyceas, the expounder of his country’s usages, has written in his verses. And on the spot where Pyrrhus died was erected a temple to Demeter in accordance with the oracle of the god: and in it was Pyrrhus buried. I am astonished that of all those who were called Æacidæ their end happened in the same supernatural manner, since Homer says Achilles was slain by Alexander the son of Priam and by Apollo; and Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, was ordered to be slain by the Pythian oracle at Delphi; and this son of Æacides met his fate as has been recorded by the Argives and sung by Lyceas. And yet this is different to the account given by Hieronymus of Cardia: for one that lives with a king must needs write history like a courtier. And if Philistus, hoping for a return to Syracuse, was justified in concealing the most flagitious acts of Dionysius, then Hieronymus, I ween, had good excuse for writing to please Antigonus. Such was the end of the glory of Epirus.