by Pausanias
[15.1] XV. When all their preparations were made for the war, the readiness of their allies exceeding expectation (for now the hatred which the Argives and Arcadians felt for the Lacedaemonians had blazed up openly), they revolted in the thirty-ninth year after the capture of Ithome, and in the fourth year of the twenty-third Olympiad, when Icarus of Hyreresia won the short footrace. At Athens the archonship was now of annual tenure, and Tlesias held office.
[2] ἐν δὲ Λακεδαίμονι οἵ τινες τηνικαῦτα ἔτυχον βασιλεύοντες, Τυρταῖος μὲν τὰ ὀνόματα οὐκ ἔγραψε, Ῥιανὸς δ᾽ ἐποίησεν ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσι Λεωτυχίδην βασιλέα ἐπὶ τοῦδε εἶναι τοῦ πολέμου. Ῥιανῷ μὲν οὖν ἔγωγε οὐδαμῶς κατά γε τοῦτο συνθήσομαι: Τυρταῖον δὲ καὶ οὐ λέγοντα ὅμως εἰρηκέναι τις ἂν ἐν τῷδε ἡγοῖτο. ἐλεγεῖα γὰρ ἐς τὸν πρότερόν ἐστιν αὐτῷ πόλεμον:”ἀμφ᾽ αὐτῇ δ᾽ ἐμάχοντ᾽ ἐννέα καὶ δέκ᾽ ἔτη
νωλεμέως, αἰεὶ ταλασίφρονα θυμὸν ἔχοντες,
αἰχμηταὶ πατέρων ἡμετέρων πατέρες.
“Tyrtaeus, unknown location.
[15.2] Tyrtaeus has not recorded the names of the kings then reigning in Lacedaemon, but Rhianos stated in his epic that Leotychides was king at the time of this war. I cannot agree with him at all on this point. Though Tyrtaeus makes no statement, he may be regarded as having done so by the following; there are lines of his which refer to the first war:–
Around it they fought unceasingly for nineteen years, ever maintaining a stout heart, the warrior fathers of our fathers. Tyrtaeus, unknown location.
[3] δῆλα οὖν ἐστιν ὡς ὕστερον τρίτῃ γενεᾷ τὸν πόλεμον οἱ Μεσσήνιοι τόνδε ἐπολέμησαν, ἀποδείκνυσί τε τοῦ χρόνου τὸ συνεχὲς βασιλεύοντας τηνικαῦτα ἐν Σπάρτῃ Ἀνάξανδρον Εὐρυκράτους τοῦ Πολυδώρου, τῆς δὲ οἰκίας τῆς ἑτέρας Ἀναξίδαμον Ζευξιδάμου τοῦ Ἀρχιδάμου τοῦ Θεοπόμπου. κατέβην δὲ ἐς ἀπόγονον Θεοπόμπου τέταρτον, ὅτι Ἀρχίδαμος ὁ Θεοπόμπου προαπέθανε τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἐς Ζευξίδαμον υἱιδοῦν ὄντα ἡ Θεοπόμπου περιῆλθεν ἀρχή. Λεωτυχίδης δὲ μετὰ Δημάρατον βασιλεύσας φαίνεται τὸν Ἀρίστωνος: Θεοπόμπου δὲ Ἀρίστων ἀπόγονος ἕβδομος.
[15.3] It is obvious then that the Messenians went to war now in the second generation after the first war, and the sequence of time shows that the kings of Sparta at that time were Anaxander the son of Eurycrates, son of Polydorus, and of the other house Anaxidamus the son of Zeuxidamus, son of Archidamus, son of Theopompus. I go as far as the third in descent from Theopompus, because Archidamus the son of Theopompus died before his father, and the kingdom of Theopompus passed to his grandson, Zeuxidamus. But Leotychides clearly succeeded Demaratus the son of Ariston, Ariston being sixth in descent from Theopompus.
[4] τότε δὲ οἱ Μεσσήνιοι Λακεδαιμονίοις συμβάλλουσιν ἐν Δέραις καλουμέναις τῆς σφετέρας, ἔτει πρώτῳ μετὰ τὴν ἀπόστασιν: ἀπῆσαν δὲ ἀμφοτέροις οἱ σύμμαχοι. καὶ νίκη μὲν ἐγένετο οὐδετέρων σαφής, Ἀριστομένην δὲ ἔργα φασὶν ἀποδείξασθαι πλέον τι ἢ ἄνδρα ἕνα εἰκὸς ἦν, ὥστε καὶ βασιλέα μετὰ τὴν μάχην ᾑροῦντο αὐτόν, ἦν γὰρ καὶ γένους τῶν Αἰπυτιδῶν:
[15.4] In the first year after the revolt the Messenians engaged the Lacedaemonians at a place called Derae in Messenia, both sides being without their allies. Neither side won a clear victory, but Aristomenes is said to have achieved more than it seemed that one man could, so that, as he was of the race of the Aepytidae, they were for making him king after the battle. As he declined, they appointed him general with absolute power.
[5] παραιτουμένου τε, οὕτω στρατηγὸν αὐτοκράτορα εἵλοντο. Ἀριστομένει δὲ παρίστατο μηδ᾽ ἂν ἄλλον ἀπαξιῶσαι παθεῖν τι ἐν πολέμῳ δράσαντα ἄξια μνήμης: αὑτῷ μέντοι καὶ πρὸ παντὸς ἐνόμιζεν εἶναι, ἔτι ἀρχομένου τοῦ πολέμου Λακεδαιμονίους καταπλήξαντα φαίνεσθαι καὶ ἐς τὰ μέλλοντά σφισι φοβερώτερον. ἅτε δὲ οὕτως ἔχων, ἀφικόμενος νύκτωρ ἐς τὴν Λακεδαίμονα ἀνατίθησιν ἀσπίδα πρὸς τὸν τῆς Χαλκιοίκου ναόν: ἐπεγέγραπτο δὲ Ἀριστομένην ἀπὸ Σπαρτιατῶν διδόναι τῇ θεῷ.
[15.5] It was the view of Aristomenes that any man would be ready to die in battle if he had first done deeds worthy of record, but that it was his own especial task at the very beginning of the war to prove that he had struck terror into the Lacedaemonians and that he would be more terrible to them for the future. With this purpose he came by night to Lacedaemon and fixed on the temple of Athena of the Brazen House a shield inscribed “The Gift of Aristomenes to the Goddess, taken from Spartans.”
[6] ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις μάντευμα ἐκ Δελφῶν τὸν Ἀθηναῖον ἐπάγεσθαι σύμβουλον. ἀποστέλλουσιν οὖν παρὰ τοὺς Ἀθηναίους τόν τε χρησμὸν ἀπαγγελοῦντας καὶ ἄνδρα αἰτοῦντας παραινέσοντα ἃ χρή σφισιν. Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ οὐδέτερα θέλοντες, οὔτε Λακεδαιμονίους ἄνευ μεγάλων κινδύνων προσλαβεῖν μοῖραν τῶν ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ τὴν ἀρίστην οὔτε αὐτοὶ παρακοῦσαι τοῦ θεοῦ, πρὸς ταῦτα ἐξευρίσκουσι: καὶ ἦν γὰρ Τυρταῖος διδάσκαλος γραμμάτων νοῦν τε ἥκιστα ἔχειν δοκῶν καὶ τὸν ἕτερον τῶν ποδῶν χωλός, τοῦτον ἀποστέλλουσιν ἐς Σπάρτην. ὁ δὲ ἀφικόμενος ἰδίᾳ τε τοῖς ἐν τέλει καὶ συνάγων ὁπόσους τύχοι καὶ τὰ
ἐλεγεῖα καὶ τὰ ἔπη σφίσι τὰ ἀνάπαιστα ᾖδεν.
[15.6] The Spartans received an oracle from Delphi that they should procure the Athenian as counsellor. So they sent messengers to Athens to announce the oracle, asking for a man to advise what they must do. The Athenians, who were not anxious either that the Lacedaemonians should add to their possessions the best part of Peloponnese without great dangers, or that they themselves should disobey the god, made their plans accordingly. There was a man Tyrtaeus, a teacher of letters, who was considered of poor intellect and was lame in one foot. Him they sent to Sparta. On his arrival he recited his poems in elegiacs and anapaests to the nobles in private and to all whom he could collect.
[7] ἐνιαυτῷ δὲ ὕστερον τοῦ περὶ τὰς Δέρας ἀγῶνος, ἡκόντων ἀμφοτέροις καὶ τῶν συμμάχων, παρεσκευάζοντο ὡς μάχην συνάψοντες ἐπὶ τῷ καλουμένῳ Κάπρου σήματι. Μεσσηνίοις μὲν οὖν Ἠλεῖοι καὶ Ἀρκάδες, ἔτι δὲ ἐξ Ἄργους ἀφίκετο καὶ Σικυῶνος βοήθεια. παρῆσαν δὲ καὶ ὅσοι πρότερον τῶν Μεσσηνίων ἔφευγον ἑκουσίως, ἐξ Ἐλευσῖνός τε, οἷς πάτριον δρᾶν τὰ ὄργια τῶν Μεγάλων θεῶν, καὶ �
�ἱ Ἀνδροκλέους ἀπόγονοι: καὶ γὰρ οἱ συσπεύσαντες μάλιστά σφισιν ἦσαν οὗτοι.
[15.7] A year after the fight at Derae, both sides being joined by their allies, they prepared to join battle at the Boar’s Tomb, as it is called. The Messenians had the Eleians and Arcadians and also succors from Argos and from Sicyon. They were joined by all the Messenians who had previously been in voluntary exile, together with those from Eleusis, whose hereditary task it was to perform the rites of the Great Goddesses, and the descendants of Androcles. These indeed were their most zealous supporters.
[8] Λακεδαιμονίοις δὲ ἦλθον Κορίνθιοι συμμαχήσοντες καὶ Λεπρεατῶν τινες κατὰ ἔχθος τὸ Ἠλείων: Ἀσιναίοις δὲ ὅρκοι πρὸς ἀμφοτέρους ἦσαν. τὸ δὲ χωρίον τοῦτο, Κάπρου σῆμα, ἔστι μὲν ἐν Στενυκλήρῳ τῆς Μεσσηνίας, Ἡρακλέα δὲ αὐτόθι ὅρκον ἐπὶ τομίων κάπρου τοῖς Νηλέως παισὶ δοῦναι καὶ λαβεῖν παρὰ ἐκείνων λέγουσιν.
[15.8] The Corinthians came to fight on the side of the Lacedaemonians, and some of the Lepreans owing to their hatred of the Eleians. But the people of Asine were bound by oaths to both sides. This spot, the Boar’s Tomb, lies in Stenyclerus of Messenia, and there, as is said, Heracles exchanged oaths with the sons of Neleus over the pieces of a boar.
16. ὡς δὲ ἀμφοτέροις προεθύσαντο οἱ μάντεις, Λακεδαιμονίοις μὲν Ἕκας ἀπόγονός τε καὶ ὁμώνυμος Ἕκα τοῦ σὺν τοῖς Ἀριστοδήμου παισὶν ἐλθόντος ἐς Σπάρτην, τοῖς δὲ Μεσσηνίοις Θέοκλος — ἐγεγόνει δὲ ὁ Θέοκλος οὗτος ἀπὸ Εὐμάντιδος, Εὔμαντιν δὲ ὄντα Ἠλεῖον τῶν Ἰαμιδῶν Κρεσφόντης ἐπηγάγετο ἐς Μεσσήνην — τότε δὲ παρόντων καὶ τῶν μάντεων σὺν φρονήματι ἀμφότεροι μᾶλλον ἠπείγοντο ἐς τὴν μάχην.
[16.1] XVI. Sacrifice was offered by the seers on both sides before the battle; on the Lacedaemonian side by Hecas, descendant and namesake of the Hecas who had come with the sons of Aristodemus to Sparta, on the Messenian side by Theoclus, who was descended from Eumantis, an Eleian of the house of the Iamidae, whom Cresphontes had brought to Messene. Then in the presence of the seers both sides were spurred by greater ardor for the fight.
[2] καὶ ἦν μὲν καὶ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων πρόθυμα, ὡς ἡλικίας ἕκαστος εἶχεν ἢ ῥώμης, μάλιστα δὲ Ἀνάξανδρός τε ὁ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων βασιλεὺς καὶ οἱ περὶ αὐτὸν τῶν Σπαρτιατῶν: παρὰ Μεσσηνίων δὲ οἱ Ἀνδροκλέους ἀπόγονοι Φίντας καὶ Ἀνδροκλῆς καὶ οἱ συντεταγμένοι σφίσιν ἐπειρῶντο ἄνδρες ἀγαθοὶ γίνεσθαι. Τυρταῖος δὲ καὶ οἱ τῶν θεῶν ἱεροφάνται τῶν Μεγάλων ἔργου μὲν ἥπτοντο οὐδενός, τοὺς τελευταίους δὲ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἑκάτεροι στρατιᾶς ἐπήγειρον.
[16.2] All showed the zeal that befitted their age and strength, but Anaxander, the Lacedaemonian king, and his Spartan guard above all. On the Messenian side the descendants of Androcles, Phintas and Androcles, and their company tried to acquit themselves like brave men. Tyrtaeus and the chief priests of the Great Goddesses took no part in the action, but urged on the hindmost on their own sides.
[3] κατὰ δὲ αὐτὸν Ἀριστομένην εἶχεν οὕτω. λογάδες περὶ αὐτὸν ὀγδοήκοντα ἦσαν Μεσσηνίων, ἡλικίαν τε γεγονότες ἐκείνῳ τὴν αὐτὴν καὶ ἕκαστος προτετιμῆσθαι μεγάλως νομίζων ὅτι ἠξίωτο Ἀριστομένει συντετάχθαι: ἦσαν δὲ καὶ αἰσθέσθαι δι᾽ ὀλίγου δεινοὶ τά τε παρ᾽ ἀλλήλων καὶ μάλιστα ἐκείνου καὶ ἀρχομένου τι δρᾶν καὶ ἔτι μέλλοντος. οὗτοι μὲν πρῶτον καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ Ἀριστομένης πόνον εἶχον πολὺν κατ᾽ Ἀνάξανδρον καὶ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τεταγμένοι τοὺς ἀρίστους: λαμβάνοντες δὲ τραύματα ἀφειδῶς καὶ ἐς πᾶν προϊόντες ἀπονοίας τῷ τε χρόνῳ καὶ τοῖς τολμήμασιν ἐτρέψαντο τοὺς περὶ Ἀνάξανδρον.
[16.3] As to Aristomenes himself he had with him eighty picked men of the Messenians of the same age as himself, each one of them thinking it the highest honor that he had been thought worthy of a place in the troop with Aristomenes. They were quick to understand each other’s movements, especially those of their leader, when he began or contemplated any manoeuvre. They themselves with Aristomenes were at first hard pressed in face of Anaxander and the Lacedaemonian champions, but receiving wounds unflinchingly and slowing every form of desperate courage they repulsed Anaxander and his men by their long endurance and valor.
[4] τούτοις μὲν δὴ φεύγουσι διώκειν ἐπέταξεν ὁ Ἀριστομένης ἕτερον τῶν Μεσσηνίων λόχον: αὐτὸς δὲ ὁρμήσας πρὸς τὸ μάλιστα ἀνθεστηκός, ὡς ἐβιάσατο καὶ τούτους, ἐπ᾽ ἄλλους ἐτράπετο αὖθις. ταχὺ δὲ καὶ τούτους ὠσάμενος ἑτοιμότερον ἤδη πρὸς τοὺς ὑπομένοντας ἐπεφέρετο, ἐς ὃ πᾶσαν τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τὴν τάξιν καὶ αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν συμμάχων συνέχεε: καὶ οὐχὶ σὺν αἰδοῖ φευγόντων οὐδὲ ἀναμένειν θελόντων ἔτι ἀλλήλους, ἐπέκειτό σφισι φοβερώτερος ἢ κατὰ ἀνδρὸς ἑνὸς εἶναι μανίαν.
[16.4] As they fled, Aristomenes ordered another Messenian troop to undertake the pursuit. He himself attacked the enemies’ line where it was firmest, and after breaking it at this point sought a new point of assault. Soon successful here, he was the more ready to assail those who stood their ground, until he threw into confusion the whole line of the Lacedaemonians themselves and of their allies. They were now running without shame and without waiting for one another, while he assailed them with a terror that seemed more than one man’s fury could inspire.
[5] ἔνθα δὴ καὶ παρ᾽ ἀχράδα πεφυκυῖάν που τοῦ πεδίου, παρὰ ταύτην Ἀριστομένην οὐκ εἴα παραθεῖν ὁ μάντις Θέοκλος: καθέζεσθαι γὰρ τοὺς Διοσκούρους ἔφασκεν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀχράδι. Ἀριστομένης δὲ εἴκων τῷ θυμῷ καὶ οὐκ ἀκροώμενος τὰ πάντα τοῦ μάντεως ὡς κατὰ τὴν ἀχράδα ἐγίνετο, ἀπόλλυσι τὴν ἀσπίδα, Λακεδαιμονίοις τε τὸ ἁμάρτημα τοῦ Ἀριστομένους παρέσχεν αὐτῶν ἀποσωθῆναί τινας ἐκ τῆς φυγῆς: διέτριψε γὰρ τὴν ἀσπίδα ἀνευρεῖν πειρώμενος.
[16.5] There was a wild pear-tree growing in the plain, beyond which Theoclus the seer forbade him to pass, for he said that the Dioscuri were seated on the tree. Aristomenes, in the heat of passion, did not hear all that the seer said, and when he reached the tree, lost his shield, and his disobedience gave to the Lacedaemonians an opportunity for some to escape from the rout. For he lost time trying to recover his shield.
[6] Λακεδαιμονίων δὲ ἐχόντων ἀθύμως μετὰ τὴν πληγὴν καὶ ὡρμημένων καταθέσθαι τὸν πόλεμον, Τυρταῖός τε ἐλεγεῖα
ᾁδων μετέπειθεν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐς τοὺς λόχους ἀντὶ τῶν τεθνεώτων κατέλεγεν ἄνδρας ἐκ τῶν εἱλώτων. Ἀριστομένει δέ, ὡς ἀνέστρεψεν ἐς τὴν Ἀνδανίαν, ταινίας αἱ γυναῖκες καὶ τὰ ὡραῖα ἐπιβάλλουσαι τῶν ἀνθῶν ἐπέλεγον ᾆσμα τὸ καὶ ἐς ἡμᾶς ἔτι ᾀδόμενον”ἔς τε μέσον πεδίον Στενυκλήριον ἔς τ᾽ ὄρος ἄκρον
εἵπετ᾽ Ἀριστομένης τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις.
“Unknown.ἀνεσώσατο δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀσπίδα ἐκείνην, ἔς τε Δελφοὺς
[16.6] The Lacedaemonians were thrown into despair after this blow and purposed to put an end to the war. But Tyrtaeus by reciting his poems contrived to dissuade them, and filled their ranks from the Helots to replace the slain. When Aristomenes returned to Andania, the women threw ribbons and flower blossoms over him, singing also a song which is sung to this day:–
To the middle of Stenyclerus’ plain and to the hilltop Aristomenes followed after the Lacedaemonians. Unknown.
[7] ἀφικόμενος καὶ ὥς οἱ προσέταξεν ἡ Πυθία καταβὰς ἐς τὸ ἄδυτον ἱερὸν τοῦ Τροφωνίου τὸ ἐν Λεβαδείᾳ. ὕστερον δὲ τὴν ἀσπίδα ἀνέθηκεν ἐς Λεβάδειαν φέρων, ᾗ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς εἶδον ἀνακειμένην: ἐπίθημα δέ ἐστιν αὐτῆς ἀετὸς τὰ πτερὰ ἑκατέρωθεν ἐκτετακὼς ἐς ἄκραν τὴν ἴτυν. τότε δὲ Ἀριστομένης ὡς ἐπανῆκεν ἐκ Βοιωτίας εὑρών τε παρὰ τῷ Τροφωνίῳ καὶ κομισάμενος τὴν ἀσπίδα, αὐτίκα ἔργων μειζόνων ἥπτετο.
