---
title: "Description of Greece · Ἑλλάδος περιήγησις"
author: "Pausanias"
translator: "W. H. S. Jones"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 19 of 60
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pausanias-description-of-greece/19/
cite: "Pausanias, tr. W. H. S. Jones, Description of Greece · Ἑλλάδος περιήγησις, section 19. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pausanias-description-of-greece/19/"
---

# Description of Greece · Ἑλλάδος περιήγησις

*Pausanias, tr. W. H. S. Jones*

A second-century traveller’s guide to the cities, temples, statues and legends of Greece, from Athens and Corinth to Olympia and Delphi, still used by archaeologists.

> Greek: ed. Friedrich Spiro, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0525.tlg001, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: W. H. S. Jones, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 19. Book IV · chapters 1–7

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/pausanias-description-of-greece/19/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/pausanias-description-of-greece/19/#p-N

[¶0] 1.1. The frontier between Messenia and that part of it which was incorporated by the emperor in Laconia towards Gerenia is formed in our time by the valley called Choerius. They say that this country, being unoccupied, received its first inhabitants in the following manner: On the death of Lelex, who ruled in the present Laconia, then called after him Lelegia, Myles, the elder of his sons, received the kingdom. Polycaon was the younger and for this reason a private person, until he took to wife Messene, the daughter of Triopas, son of Phorbas, from Argos.

> Greek: 1.1. Μεσσηνίοις δὲ πρὸς τὴν σφετέραν τὴν ἀπονεμηθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐς τὸ Λακωνικὸν ὅροι κατὰ τὴν Γερηνίαν εἰσὶν ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ⟨ἡ⟩ ὀνομαζομένη Χοίριος νάπη. ταύτην τὴν χώραν ἔρημον οὖσαν οὕτω σχεῖν τοὺς πρώτους λέγουσιν οἰκήτορας· ἀποθανόντος Λέλεγος, ὃς ἐβασίλευεν ἐν τῇ νῦν Λακωνικῇ, τότε δὲ ἀπʼ ἐκείνου Λελεγίᾳ καλουμένῃ, Μύλης μὲν πρεσβύτερος ὢν τῶν παίδων ἔσχε τὴν ἀρχήν, Πολυκάων δὲ νεώτερός τε ἦν ἡλικίᾳ καὶ διʼ αὐτὸ ἰδιώτης, ἐς ὃ Μεσσήνην τὴν Τριόπα τοῦ Φόρβαντος ἔλαβε γυναῖκα ἐξ Ἄργους.

[¶1] 1.2. Messene, being proud of her origin, for her father was the chief of the Greeks of his day in reputation and power, was not content that her husband should be a private person. They collected a force from Argos and from Lacedaemon and came to this country, the whole land receiving the name Messene from the wife of Polycaon. Together with other cities, they founded Andania, where their palace was built.

> Greek: 1.2. φρονοῦσα δὲ ἡ Μεσσήνη διὰ τὸν πατέρα, ἀξιώματι καὶ δυνάμει τῶν τότε προέχοντα Ἑλλήνων, οὐκ ἠξίου τὸν ἄνδρα ἰδιωτεύειν. ἀθροίσαντες δὲ ἔκ τε Ἄργους δύναμιν καὶ ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος ἀφίκοντο ἐς ταύτην τὴν χώραν, καὶ συμπάσῃ μὲν ἐτέθη τῇ γῇ Μεσσήνη τὸ ὄνομα ἀπὸ τῆς Πολυκάονος γυναικός, πόλεις δὲ ἄλλαι τε ἐκτίσθησαν καὶ—ἔνθα τὰ βασίλεια κατεσκευάσθη σφίσιν—Ἀνδανία.

[¶2] 1.3. Before the battle which the Thebans fought with the Lacedaemonians at Leuctra, and the foundation of the present city of Messene under Ithome, I think that no city had the name Messene. I base this conclusion principally on Homer's lines. In the catalogue of those who came to Troy he enumerated Pylos, Arene and other towns, but called no town Messene. In the Odyssey he shows that the Messenians were a tribe and not a city by the following:—
For Messenian men carried away sheep from Ithaca.

> Greek: 1.3. πρὸ δὲ τῆς μάχης, ἣν Θηβαῖοι πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους ἐμαχέσαντο ἐν Λεύκτροις, καὶ τοῦ οἰκισμοῦ Μεσσήνης τῆς ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ὑπὸ τῇ Ἰθώμῃ, πόλιν οὐδεμίαν πω κληθῆναι πρότερον δοκῶ Μεσσήνην· εἰκάζω δὲ οὐχ ἥκιστα Ὁμήρου τοῖς ἔπεσιν. ἐν μὲν γὰρ καταλόγῳ τῶν ἐς Ἴλιον ἀφικομένων Πύλον καὶ Ἀρήνην καὶ ἄλλας καταλέγων οὐδεμίαν πόλιν Μεσσήνην ἐκάλεσεν· ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ δὲ δηλοῖ μὲν καὶ ἐν τῷδε ἔθνος καὶ οὐ πόλιν τοὺς Μεσσηνίους ὄντας,
μῆλα γὰρ ἐξ Ἰθάκης Μεσσήνιοι ἄνδρες ἄειραν, σαφέστερον δὲ ἔτι περὶ τοῦ τόξου λέγων τοῦ Ἰφίτου
τὼ δʼ ἐν Μεσσήνῃ ξυμβλήτην ἀλλήλοιιν
οἴκῳ ἐν Ὀρτιλόχοιο.

[¶3] 1.4. He is still more clear when speaking about the bow of Iphitus:—
They met one another in Messene
in the dwelling of Ortilochus.
By the dwelling of Ortilochus he meant the city of Pherae in Messene, and explained this himself in the visit of Peisistratus to Menelaus:—
They came to Pherae to the house of Diocleus,
son of Ortilochus.

> Greek: 1.4. τοῦ γὰρ Ὀρτιλόχου τὸν οἶκον ἐν τῇ Μεσσήνῃ πόλισμα εἴρηκε τὰς Φηράς, καὶ τόδε ἐξηγήσατο αὐτὸς ἐν Πεισιστράτου παρὰ Μενέλαον ἀποδημίᾳ·
ἐς Φηρὰς δʼ ἵκοντο Διοκλῆος ποτὶ δῶμα,
υἱέος Ὀρτιλόχοιο.

[¶4] 1.5. The first rulers then in this country were Polycaon, the son of Lelex, and Messene his wife. It was to her that Caucon, the son of Celaenus, son of Phlyus, brought the rites of the Great Goddesses from Eleusis. Phlyus himself is said by the Athenians to have been the son of Earth, and the hymn of Musaeus to Demeter made for the Lycomidae agrees.

> Greek: 1.5. πρῶτοι δʼ οὖν βασιλεύουσιν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ ταύτῃ Πολυκάων τε ὁ Λέλεγος καὶ Μεσσήνη γυνὴ τοῦ Πολυκάονος. παρὰ ταύτην τὴν Μεσσήνην τὰ ὄργια κομίζων τῶν Μεγάλων θεῶν Καύκων ἦλθεν ἐξ Ἐλευσῖνος ὁ Κελαινοῦ τοῦ Φλύου. Φλῦον δὲ αὐτὸν Ἀθηναῖοι λέγουσι παῖδα εἶναι Γῆς· ὁμολογεῖ δέ σφισι καὶ ὕμνος Μουσαίου Λυκομίδαις ποιηθεὶς ἐς Δήμητρα.

[¶5] 1.6. But the mysteries of the Great Goddesses were raised to greater honor many years later than Caucon by Lycus, the son of Pandion, an oak-wood, where he purified the celebrants, being still called Lycus' wood. That there is a wood in this land so called is stated by Rhianus the Cretan:—
By rugged Elaeum above Lycus' wood.

> Greek: 1.6. τὴν δὲ τελετὴν τῶν Μεγάλων θεῶν Λύκος ὁ Πανδίονος πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν ὕστερον Καύκωνος προήγαγεν ἐς πλέον τιμῆς· καὶ Λύκου δρυμὸν ἔτι ὀνομάζουσιν ἔνθα ἐκάθηρε τοὺς μύστας. καὶ ὅτι μὲν δρυμός ἐστιν ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ Λύκου καλούμενος, Ῥιανῷ τῷ Κρητί ἐστι πεποιημένον
πάρ τε τρηχὺν Ἐλαιὸν ὑπὲρ δρυμόν τε Λύκοιο·

[¶6] 1.7. That this Lycus was the son of Pandion is made clear by the lines on the statue of Methapus, who made certain improvements in the mysteries. Methapus was an Athenian by birth, an expert in the mysteries and founder of all kinds of rites. It was he who established the mysteries of the Cabiri at Thebes, and dedicated in the hut of the Lycomidae a statue with an inscription that amongst other things helps to confirm my account:— I sanctified houses of Hermes and paths of holy Demeter and Kore her firstborn, where they say that Messene established the feast of the Great Goddesses, taught by Caucon, sprung from Phlyus' noble son.

> Greek: 1.7. ὡς δὲ ὁ Πανδίονος οὗτος ἦν Λύκος, δηλοῖ τὰ ἐπὶ τῇ εἰκόνι ἔπη τῇ Μεθάπου. μετεκόσμησε γὰρ καὶ Μέθαπος τῆς τελετῆς ἔστιν ἅ· ὁ δὲ Μέθαπος γένος μὲν ἦν Ἀθηναῖος, τελεστὴς δὲ καὶ ὀργίων [καὶ] παντοίων συνθέτης. οὗτος καὶ Θηβαίοις τῶν Καβείρων τὴν τελετὴν κατεστήσατο, ἀνέθηκε δὲ καὶ ἐς τὸ κλίσιον τὸ Λυκομιδῶν εἰκόνα ἔχουσαν ἐπίγραμμα ἄλλα τε λέγον καὶ ὅσα ἡμῖν ἐς πίστιν συντελεῖ τοῦ λόγου·

[¶7] 1.8. And I wondered that Lycus, son of Pandion, brought all the Attic rite to wise Andania. This inscription shows that Caucon who came to Messene was a descendant of Phlyus, and proves my other statements with regard to Lycus, and that the mysteries were originally at Andania. And it seems natural to me that Messene should have established the mysteries where she and Polycaon lived, not anywhere else.

> Greek: 1.8. ἥγνισα δʼ Ἑρμείαο δόμους ⟨σεμνῆς⟩ τε κέλευθα
Δάματρος καὶ πρωτογόνου Κούρας, ὅθι φασὶ
Μεσσήνην θεῖναι Μεγάλαισι θεαῖσιν ἀγῶνα
Φλυάδεω κλεινοῖο γόνου Καυκωνιάδαο.
θαύμασα δʼ ὡς σύμπαντα Λύκος Πανδιόνιος φὼς
Ἀτθίδος ἱερὰ ἔργα παρʼ Ἀνδανίῃ θέτο κεδνῇ. τοῦτο τὸ ἐπίγραμμα δηλοῖ μὲν ὡς παρὰ τὴν Μεσσήνην ἀφίκοιτο ὁ Καύκων ἀπόγονος ὢν Φλύου, δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐς τὸν Λύκον ⟨τά⟩ τε ἄλλα καὶ ὡς ἡ τελετὴ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἦν ἐν Ἀνδανίᾳ. καί μοι καὶ τοῦτο εἰκὸς ἐφαίνετο, τὴν Μεσσήνην μὴ ἑτέρωθι, ἀλλὰ ἔνθα αὐτή τε καὶ Πολυκάων ᾤκουν, καταστήσασθαι τὴν τελετήν.

[¶8] 2.1. As I was extremely anxious to learn what children were born to Polycaon by Messene, I read the poem called Eoeae and the epic Naupactia, and in addition to these all the genealogies of Cinaethon and Asius. However, they made no reference to this matter, although I know that the Great Eoeae says that Polycaon, the son of Butes, married Euaichme, the daughter of Hyllus, son of Heracles, but it omits all reference to the husband of Messene and to Messene herself.

> Greek: 2.1. πυθέσθαι δὲ σπουδῇ πάνυ ἐθελήσας, οἵ τινες παῖδες Πολυκάονι ἐγένοντο ἐκ Μεσσήνης, ἐπελεξάμην τάς τε Ἠοίας καλουμένας καὶ τὰ ἔπη τὰ Ναυπάκτια, πρὸς δὲ αὐτοῖς ὁπόσα Κιναίθων καὶ Ἄσιος ἐγενεαλόγησαν. οὐ μὴν ἔς γε ταῦτα ἦν σφισιν οὐδὲν πεποιημένον, ἀλλὰ Ὕλλου μὲν τοῦ Ἡρακλέους θυγατρὶ Εὐαίχμῃ συνοικῆσαι Πολυκάονα υἱὸν Βούτου λεγούσας τὰς μεγάλας οἶδα Ἠοίας, τὰ δὲ ἐς τὸν Μεσσήνης ἄνδρα καὶ τὰ ἐς αὐτὴν Μεσσήνην παρεῖταί σφισι.

[¶9] 2.2. Some time later, as no descendant of Polycaon survived (in my opinion his house lasted for five generations, but no more), they summoned Perieres, the son of Aeolus, as king. To him, the Messenians say, came Melaneus, a good archer and considered for this reason to be a son of Apollo; Perieres assigned to him as a dwelling a part of the country now called the Carnasium, but which then received the name Oechalia, derived, as they say, from the wife of Melaneus.

> Greek: 2.2. χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον, ὡς ἦν τῶν Πολυκάονος οὐδεὶς ἔτι ἀπογόνων, ἐς γενεὰς πέντε ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν προελθόντων καὶ οὐ πλέονας, Περιήρην τὸν Αἰόλου βασιλέα ἐπάγονται. παρὰ τοῦτον ἀφίκετο, ὡς οἱ Μεσσήνιοί φασι, Μελανεύς, τοξεύειν ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο Ἀπόλλωνος εἶναι νομιζόμενος· καί οἱ τῆς χώρας τὸ Καρνάσιον, τότε δὲ Οἰχαλίαν κληθεῖσαν, ἀπένειμεν ὁ Περιήρης ἐνοικῆσαι· γενέσθαι δὲ ὄνομα Οἰχαλίαν τῇ πόλει φασὶν ἀπὸ τοῦ Μελανέως τῆς γυναικός.

[¶10] 2.3. Most matters of Greek history have come to be disputed. The Thessalians say that Eurytium, which to-day is not inhabited, was formerly a city and was called Oechalia. The account given by the Euboeans agrees with the statements of Creophylus in his Heraeleia; and Hecataeus of Miletus stated that Oechalia is in Scius, a part of the territory of Eretria. Nevertheless, I think that the whole version of the Messenians is more probable than these, particularly on account of the bones of Eurytus, which my story will deal with later.

> Greek: 2.3. Θεσσαλοὶ δὲ καὶ Εὐβοεῖς, ἥκει γὰρ δὴ ἐς ἀμφισβήτησιν τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι ⟨τὰ⟩ πλείω, λέγουσιν οἱ μὲν ὡς τὸ Εὐρύτιον—χωρίον δὲ ἔρημον ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἐστι τὸ Εὐρύτιον—πόλις τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἦν καὶ ἐκαλεῖτο Οἰχαλία, τῷ δὲ Εὐβοέων λόγῳ Κρεώφυλος ἐν Ἡρακλείᾳ πεποίηκεν ὁμολογοῦντα· Ἑκαταῖος δὲ ὁ Μιλήσιος ἐν Σκίῳ μοίρᾳ τῆς Ἐρετρικῆς ἔγραψεν εἶναι Οἰχαλίαν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ οἱ Μεσσήνιοι τά τε ἄλλα δοκοῦσί μοι μᾶλλον εἰκότα ἐκείνων λέγειν καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα τῶν ὀστῶν ἕνεκα τῶν Εὐρύτου, ἃ δὴ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔπειτά που ⟨ὁ⟩ λόγος ἐπέξεισί μοι.

[¶11] 2.4. Perieres had issue by Gorgophone the daughter of Perseus, Aphareus and Leucippus, and after his death they inherited the Messenian kingdom. But Aphareus had the greater authority. On his accession he founded a city Arene, named after the daughter of Oebalus, who was both his wife and sister by the same mother. For Gorgophone was married to Oebalus. The facts regarding her have already been given twice, in my account of the Argolid and of Laconia.

> Greek: 2.4. Περιήρει δὲ ἐγεγόνεσαν ἐκ Γοργοφόνης τῆς Περσέως Ἀφαρεὺς καὶ Λεύκιππος, καὶ ὡς ἀπέθανε Περιήρης, ἔσχον οὗτοι τὴν Μεσσηνίων ἀρχήν· κυριώτερος δὲ ἔτι Ἀφαρεὺς ἦν. οὗτος βασιλεύσας πόλιν ᾤκισεν Ἀρήνην ἀπὸ τῆς Οἰβάλου θυγατρός, αὑτοῦ δὲ γυναικὸς τῆς αὐτῆς καὶ ἀδελφῆς ὁμομητρίας· καὶ γὰρ Οἰβάλῳ συνῴκησε Γοργοφόνη, καί μοι δὶς ἤδη τὰ ἐς αὐτὴν ὁ λόγος ἔν τε τῇ Ἀργολίδι ἐδήλωσε καὶ ἐν τῇ Λακωνικῇ συγγραφῇ.

[¶12] 2.5. Aphareus then founded the city of Arena in Messenia, and received into his house his cousin Neleus the son of Cretheus, son of Aeolus (he was also called a son of Poseidon), when he was driven from Iolcos by Pelias. He gave him the maritime part of the land, where with other towns was Pylos, in which Neleus settled and established his palace.

> Greek: 2.5. ὁ δʼ οὖν Ἀφαρεὺς πόλιν τε ἔκτισεν ἐν τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ τὴν Ἀρήνην καὶ Νηλέα τὸν Κρηθέως τοῦ Αἰόλου, Ποσειδῶνος δὲ ἐπίκλησιν, ἀνεψιὸν ὄντα αὐτῷ, φεύγοντα ἐξ Ἰωλκοῦ Πελίαν ἐδέξατο οἴκῳ καὶ τῆς γῆς οἱ ἔδωκε τὰ ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ, ἐν οἷς ἄλλαι τε ἦσαν πόλεις καὶ ἡ Πύλος, ἔνθα καὶ ᾤκησε καὶ τὸ βασίλειον κατεστήσατο ὁ Νηλεύς.

[¶13] 2.6. Lycus the son of Pandion also came to Arene, when he too was driven from Athens by his brother Aegeus, and revealed the rites of the Great Goddesses to Aphareus and his children and to his wife Arene; but it was to Andania that he brought the rites and revealed them there, as it was there that Caucon initiated Messene.

> Greek: 2.6. ἀφίκετο δὲ ἐς τὴν Ἀρήνην καὶ Λύκος ὁ Πανδίονος, ὅτε καὶ αὐτὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν Αἰγέα ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν ἔφευγε· καὶ τὰ ὄργια ἐπέδειξε τῶν Μεγάλων θεῶν Ἀφαρεῖ καὶ τοῖς παισὶ καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ Ἀρήνῃ· ταῦτα δέ σφισιν ἐπεδείκνυτο ἀγαγὼν ἐς τὴν Ἀνδανίαν, ὅτι καὶ τὴν Μεσσήνην ὁ Καύκων ἐμύησεν ἐνταῦθα.

[¶14] 2.7. Of the children born to Aphareus Idas was the elder and more brave, Lynceus the younger; he, if Pindar's words are credible, possessed eyesight so keen that he saw through the trunk of an oak. We know of no child of Lynceus, but Idas had by Marpessa a daughter Cleopatra, who married Meleager. The writer of the epic Cypria says that the wife of Protesilaus, the first who dared to land when the Greeks reached Troy, was named Polydora, whom he calls a daughter of Meleager the son of Oeneus. If this is correct, these three women, the first of whom was Marpessa, all slew themselves on the death of their husbands.

> Greek: 2.7. Ἀφαρεῖ δὲ τῶν παίδων πρεσβύτερος μὲν καὶ ἀνδρειότερος Ἴδας, νεώτερος δὲ ἦν Λυγκεύς, ὃν ἔφη Πίνδαρος—ὅτῳ πιστὰ—οὕτως ὀξὺ ὁρᾶν ὡς καὶ διὰ στελέχους θεᾶσθαι δρυός. Λυγκέως μὲν δὴ παῖδα οὐκ ἴσμεν γενόμενον, Ἴδα δὲ Κλεοπάτραν θυγατέρα ἐκ Μαρπήσσης, ἣ Μελεάγρῳ συνῴκησεν. ὁ δὲ τὰ ἔπη ποιήσας τὰ Κύπρια Πρωτεσιλάου φησίν, ὃς ὅτε κατὰ τὴν Τρῳάδα ἔσχον Ἕλληνες ἀποβῆναι πρῶτος ἐτόλμησε, Πρωτεσιλάου τούτου τὴν γυναῖκα Πολυδώραν μὲν τὸ ὄνομα, θυγατέρα δὲ Μελεάγρου φησὶν εἶναι τοῦ Οἰνέως. εἰ τοίνυν ἐστὶν ἀληθές, αἱ γυναῖκες αὗται τρεῖς οὖσαι τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἀπὸ Μαρπήσσης ἀρξάμεναι προαποθανοῦσι πᾶσαι τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἑαυτὰς ἐπικατέσφαξαν.

[¶15] 3.1. After the fight about the cattle between the sons of Aphareus and their cousins the Dioscuri, when Lynceus was killed by Polydeuces and Idas met his doom from the lightning, the house of Aphareus was bereft of all male descendants, and the kingdom of Messenia passed to Nestor the son of Neleus, including all the part ruled formerly by Idas, but not that subject to the sons of Asclepius.

> Greek: 3.1. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῖς Ἀφαρέως παισὶ πρὸς τοὺς Διοσκούρους ἐγένετο ἀνεψιοὺς ὄντας μάχη περὶ τῶν βοῶν καὶ τὸν μὲν Πολυδεύκης ἀπέκτεινεν, Ἴδαν δὲ ἐπέλαβε τὸ χρεὼν κεραυνωθέντα, ὁ μὲν Ἀφαρέως οἶκος γένους παντὸς ἠρήμωτο τοῦ ἄρρενος, ἐς δὲ Νέστορα τὸν [τοῦ] Νηλέως περιῆλθε Μεσσηνίων ἡ ἀρχὴ τῶν τε ἄλλων καὶ ὅσων πρότερον ἐβασίλευεν Ἴδας, πλὴν ὅσοι τοῖς Ἀσκληπιοῦ παισὶν αὐτῶν ὑπήκουον.

[¶16] 3.2. For they say that the sons of Asclepius who went to Troy were Messenians, Asclepius being the son of Arsinoe, daughter of Leucippus, not the son of Coronis, and they call a desolate spot in Messenia by the name Tricca and quote the lines of Homer, in which Nestor tends Machaon kindly, when he has been wounded by the arrow. He would not have shown such readiness except to a neighbor and king of a kindred people. But the surest warrant for their account of the Asclepiadae is that they point to a tomb of Machaon in Gerenia and to the sanctuary of his sons at Pharae.

> Greek: 3.2. καὶ γὰρ τοὺς Ἀσκληπιοῦ παῖδας στρατεῦσαί φασιν ἐπʼ Ἴλιον Μεσσηνίους ὄντας, Ἀρσινόης γὰρ Ἀσκληπιὸν τῆς Λευκίππου καὶ οὐ Κορωνίδος παῖδα εἶναι· καὶ Τρίκκαν τε καλοῦσιν ἔρημον ἐν τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ χωρίον καὶ ἔπη τῶν Ὁμήρου καταλέγουσιν, ἐν οἷς τὸν Μαχάονα ὁ Νέστωρ τῷ ὀιστῷ βεβλημένον περιέπων ἐστὶν εὐνοϊκῶς· οὐκ ἂν οὖν αὐτὸν ⟨εἰ⟩ μὴ ἐς γείτονα καὶ ἀνθρώπων βασιλέα ὁμοφύλων προθυμίαν τοσήνδε γε ἐπιδείξασθαι. οἳ δὲ καὶ μάλιστα ἤδη βεβαιοῦνται τὸν ἐς τοὺς Ἀσκληπιάδας λόγον, ἀποφαίνοντες ἐν Γερηνίᾳ Μαχάονος μνῆμα καὶ τὸ ἐν Φαραῖς τῶν Μαχάονος παίδων ἱερόν.

[¶17] 3.3. After the conclusion of the Trojan war and the death of Nestor after his return home, the Dorian expedition and return of the Heracleidae, which took place two generations later, drove the descendants of Nestor from Messenia. This has already formed a part of my account of Tisamenus. I will only add the following: When the Dorians assigned Argos to Temenus, Cresphontes asked them for the land of Messenia, in that he was older than Aristodemus.

> Greek: 3.3. διαπολεμηθέντος δὲ τοῦ πρὸς Ἴλιον πολέμου καὶ Νέστορος ὡς ἐπανῆλθεν οἴκαδε τελευτήσαντος, Δωριέων στόλος καὶ ἡ κάθοδος Ἡρακλειδῶν γενομένη δύο γενεαῖς ὕστερον ἐξέβαλε τοὺς Νηλέως ἀπογόνους ἐκ τῆς Μεσσηνίας. καί μοι ταῦτα ἐγένετο ἤδη τῷ λόγῳ προσθήκη τῷ ἐς Τισαμενόν· πλὴν τοσόνδε ἔτι δηλώσω. Τημένῳ τῶν Δωριέων Ἄργος ἐφέντων ἔχειν, Κρεσφόντης γῆν σφᾶς ᾔτει τὴν Μεσσηνίαν ἅτε καὶ αὐτὸς Ἀριστοδήμου πρεσβύτερος.

[¶18] 3.4. Aristodemus was now dead, but Cresphontes was vigorously opposed by Theras the son of Autesion, who was of Theban origin and fourth in descent from Polyneices the son of Oedipus. He was at that time guardian of the sons of Aristodemus, being their uncle on the mother's side, Aristodemus having married a daughter of Autesion, called Argeia. Cresphontes, wishing to obtain Messenia as his portion at all costs, approached Temenus, and having suborned him pretended to leave the decision to the lot.

> Greek: 3.4. Ἀριστόδημος μὲν οὖν ἐτύγχανεν ἤδη τεθνεώς, Θήρας δὲ ὁ Αὐτεσίωνος τῷ Κρεσφόντῃ μάλιστα ἠναντιοῦτο, τὸ μὲν ἀνέκαθεν Θηβαῖός τε καὶ ἀπόγονος πέμπτος Πολυνείκους τοῦ Οἰδίποδος, τότε δὲ ἐπετρόπευεν Ἀριστοδήμου τοὺς παῖδας θεῖος ὢν πρὸς μητρός· Αὐτεσίωνος γὰρ θυγατέρα Ἀριστόδημος ἔγημεν ὄνομα Ἀργείαν. Κρεσφόντης δὲ— γενέσθαι γάρ οἱ ἤθελε τὴν Μεσσηνίαν πάντως μοῖραν— Τημένου δεῖται, παρεσκευασμένος ⟨δὲ⟩ τοῦτον τῷ κλήρῳ δῆθεν ἐφίησι.

[¶19] 3.5. Temenus put the lots of the children of Aristodemus and of Cresphontes into a jar containing water, the terms being that the party whose lot came up first should be the first to choose a portion of the country. Temenus had caused both lots to be made of clay, but for the sons of Aristodemus sun-dried, for Cresphontes baked with fire. So the lot of the sons of Aristodemus was dissolved, and Cresphontes, winning in this way, chose Messenia.

> Greek: 3.5. Τήμενος δὲ ἐς ὑδρίαν, ἐνόντος ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ ὕδατος, καθίησι τῶν Ἀριστοδήμου παίδων καὶ Κρεσφόντου τοὺς πάλους ἐπὶ διῃρημένοις, μοῖραν ἀναιρεῖσθαι τῆς χώρας προτέρους ὁποτέρων ἂν πάλος ἀνέλθῃ πρότερον. τοὺς μὲν δὴ πάλους ⟨γῆς⟩ ὁ Τήμενος ἐπεποίητο ἀμφοτέρους, ἀλλὰ τοῖς μὲν Ἀριστοδήμου παισὶ ξηρᾶς ὑπὸ ἡλίου, Κρεσφόντῃ δὲ ὀπτῆς πυρί· ὅ τε δὴ τῶν Ἀριστοδήμου παίδων πάλος κατετέτηκτο καὶ ὁ Κρεσφόντης οὕτω λαχὼν γῆν αἱρεῖται τὴν Μεσσηνίαν.

[¶20] 3.6. The common people of the old Messenians were not dispossessed by the Dorians, but agreed to be ruled by Cresphontes and to divide the land with the Dorians. They were induced to give way to them in this by the suspicion which they felt for their rulers, as the Neleidae were originally of Iolcos. Cresphontes took to wife Merope the daughter of Cypselus, then king of the Arcadians, by whom with other children was born to him Aepytus his youngest.

> Greek: 3.6. Μεσσηνίων δὲ τῶν ἀρχαίων οὐκ ἐγένετο ὑπὸ τῶν Δωριέων ὁ δῆμος ἀνάστατος, ἀλλὰ βασιλεύεσθαί τε συγχωροῦσιν ὑπὸ Κρεσφόντου καὶ ἀναδάσασθαι πρὸς τοὺς Δωριέας τὴν γῆν· ταῦτα δέ σφισιν εἴκειν παρίστατο ὑποψίᾳ πρὸς τοὺς βασιλεύοντας, ὅτι ἦσαν ἐξ Ἰωλκοῦ τὸ ἀνέκαθεν οἱ Νηλεῖδαι. γυναῖκα δὲ ἔσχε Κρεσφόντης Μερόπην τὴν Κυψέλου, βασιλεύοντος τότε Ἀρκάδων, ἀφʼ ἧς ἄλλοι τε δὴ παῖδες ἐγένοντο αὐτῷ καὶ νεώτατος Αἴπυτος·

[¶21] 3.7. He had the palace, which he and his children were to occupy, built in Stenyclerus. Originally Perieres and the other kings dwelt at Andania, but when Aphareus founded Arene, he and his sons settled there. In the time of Nestor and his descendants the palace was at Pylos, but Cresphontes ordained that the king should live in Stenyclerus. As his government for the most part was directed in favour of the people, the rich rebelled and killed Cresphontes and all his sons except Aepytus.

> Greek: 3.7. τὰ δὲ βασίλεια, ἔνθα αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ παῖδες ἔμελλον οἰκήσειν, ᾠκοδομήσατο ἐν Στενυκλήρῳ. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀρχαῖον οἱ βασιλεῖς οἵ τε ἄλλοι καὶ ὁ Περιήρης ᾤκουν ἐν Ἀνδανίᾳ, κτίσαντος δὲ Ἀφαρέως Ἀρήνην αὖθις Ἀφαρεὺς καὶ οἱ παῖδες ἐνταῦθα ᾤκησαν· ἐπὶ δὲ Νέστορος καὶ τῶν ἀπογόνων ἐν Πύλῳ τὰ βασίλεια ἦν· Κρεσφόντης δὲ ἐν Στενυκλήρῳ τὸν βασιλέα οἰκεῖν κατεστήσατο. διοικούμενον δὲ αὐτὸν τὰ πολλὰ ἐς χάριν τοῦ δήμου μᾶλλον οἱ τὰ χρήματα ἔχοντες αὐτόν τε Κρεσφόντην ἐπαναστάντες καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς ἀποκτείνουσι τοὺς λοιπούς, ὁ δὲ Αἴπυτος—παῖδα γὰρ ἔτι ὄντα ἔτρεφεν αὐτὸν ὁ Κύψελος— περιγίνεται μόνος τοῦ οἴκου, καὶ ὡς ἀνὴρ ἐγένετο, οἱ Ἀρκάδες κατάγουσιν αὐτὸν ἐς Μεσσήνην·

[¶22] 3.8. He was still a boy and being brought up by Cypselus, and was the sole survivor of his house. When he reached manhood, he was brought back by the Arcadians to Messene, the other Dorian kings, the sons of Aristodemus and Isthmius, the son of Temenus, helping to restore him. On becoming king, Aepytus punished his father's murderers and all who had been accessories to the crime. By winning the Messenian nobles to his side by deference, and all who were of the people by gifts, he attained to such honor that his descendants were given the name of Aepytidae instead of Heracleidae.

> Greek: 3.8. συγκατήγαγον δὲ καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ βασιλεῖς τῶν Δωριέων, οἵ τε Ἀριστοδήμου παῖδες καὶ Ἴσθμιος ὁ Τημένου. Αἴπυτος δὲ ὡς ἐβασίλευσεν, ἐτιμωρήσατο μὲν τοῦ πατρὸς τοὺς φονέας, ἐτιμωρήσατο δὲ καὶ ὅσοι τοῦ φόνου παραίτιοι καθεστήκεσαν· προσαγόμενος δὲ τοὺς μὲν ἐν τέλει τῶν Μεσσηνίων θεραπείαις, ὅσοι δὲ ἦσαν τοῦ δήμου, δωρεαῖς, ἐς τοσοῦτο προέβη τιμῆς ὡς καὶ τοὺς ἀπογόνους Αἰπυτίδας ἀντὶ Ἡρακλειδῶν κληθῆναι.

[¶23] 3.9. Glaucus, his son and successor, was content to imitate his father in all other matters, both publicly and in his treatment of individuals, but attained to greater piety. For the precinct of Zeus on the summit of Ithome, having been consecrated by Polycaon and Messene, had hitherto received no honor among the Dorians, and it was Glaucus who established this worship among them and he was the first to sacrifice to Machaon the son of Asclepius in Gerenia, and to assign to Messene, the daughter of Triopas, the honors customarily paid to heroes.

> Greek: 3.9. Γλαύκῳ δὲ τῷ Αἰπύτου βασιλεύσαντι μετὰ Αἴπυτον τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἐξήρκεσε μιμήσασθαι τὸν πατέρα ἔν τε τοῖς κοινοῖς καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἰδιώτας, εὐσεβείας δὲ ἐς πλέον προέβη. καὶ γὰρ τοῦ Διὸς τὸ ἐπὶ τῇ κορυφῇ τῆς Ἰθώμης τέμενος, ἀνέντων Πολυκάονος καὶ Μεσσήνης, οὐκ ἔχον παρὰ τοῖς Δωριεῦσι πω τιμάς, Γλαῦκος ἦν ὁ καὶ τούτοις σέβειν καταστησάμενος· καὶ Μαχάονι τῷ Ἀσκληπιοῦ πρῶτος ἔθυσεν ἐν Γερηνίᾳ, γέρα δὲ ἀπένειμε Μεσσήνῃ τῇ Τριόπα τὰ νομιζόμενα ἥρωσιν.

[¶24] 3.10. Isthmius the son of Glaucus built a shrine also to Gorgasus and Nicomachus which is in Pharae. Isthmius had a son Dotadas, who constructed the harbor at Mothone, though Messenia contained others. Sybotas the son of Dotadas established the annual sacrifice by the king to the river Pamisus and also the offering to the hero Eurytus the son of Melaneus at Oechalia before the mysteries of the great Goddesses, which were still held at Andania.

> Greek: 3.10. Ἴσθμιος δὲ ὁ Γλαύκου καὶ ἱερὸν τῷ Γοργάσῳ καὶ Νικομάχῳ τὸ ἐν Φαραῖς ἐποίησεν· Ἰσθμίου δὲ γίνεται Δωτάδας, ὃς ἐπίνεια καὶ ἄλλα τῆς Μεσσηνίας παρεχομένης τὸ ἐν Μοθώνῃ κατεσκευάσατο. Συβότας δὲ ὁ Δωτάδα τῷ τε ποταμῷ κατεστήσατο τῷ Παμίσῳ κατὰ ἔτος ἕκαστον θύειν τὸν βασιλεύοντα καὶ Εὐρύτῳ τῷ Μελανέως ἐναγίζειν ἐν Οἰχαλίᾳ πρὸ τῆς τελετῆς τῶν Μεγάλων θεῶν ἀγομένης ἔτι ἐν Ἀνδανίᾳ.

[¶25] 4.1. In the reign of Phintas the son of Sybotas the Messenians for the first time sent an offering and chorus of men to Apollo at Delos. Their processional hymn to the god was composed by Eumelus, this poem being the only one of his that is considered genuine. It was in the reign of Phintas that a quarrel first took place with the Lacedaemonians. The very cause is disputed, but is said to have been as follows:

> Greek: 4.1. ἐπὶ δὲ Φίντα τοῦ Συβότα πρῶτον Μεσσήνιοι τότε τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι ἐς Δῆλον θυσίαν καὶ ἀνδρῶν χορὸν ἀποστέλλουσι· τὸ δέ σφισιν ᾆσμα προσόδιον ἐς τὸν θεὸν ἐδίδαξεν Εὔμηλος, εἶναί τε ὡς ἀληθῶς Εὐμήλου νομίζεται μόνα τὰ ἔπη ταῦτα. ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους ἐπὶ τῆς Φίντα βασιλείας διαφορὰ πρῶτον, ἀπὸ αἰτίας ἀμφισβητουμένης μὲν καὶ ταύτης, γενέσθαι δὲ οὕτω λεγομένης.

[¶26] 4.2. There is a sanctuary of Artemis called Limnatis (of the Lake) on the frontier of Messenian, in which the Messenians and the Lacedaemonians alone of the Dorians shared. According to the Lacedaemonians their maidens coming to the festival were violated by Messenian men and their king was killed in trying to prevent it. He was Teleclus the son of Archelaus, son of Agesilaus, son of Doryssus, son of Labotas, son of Echestratus, son of Agis. In addition to this they say that the maidens who were violated killed themselves for shame.

> Greek: 4.2. ἔστιν ἐπὶ τοῖς ὅροις τῆς Μεσσηνίας ἱερὸν Ἀρτέμιδος καλουμένης Λιμνάτιδος, μετεῖχον δὲ αὐτοῦ μόνοι Δωριέων οἵ τε Μεσσήνιοι καὶ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι. Λακεδαιμόνιοι μὲν δή φασιν ὡς παρθένους αὑτῶν παραγενομένας ἐς τὴν ἑορτὴν αὐτάς τε βιάσαιντο ἄνδρες τῶν Μεσσηνίων καὶ τὸν βασιλέα σφῶν ἀποκτείναιεν πειρώμενον κωλύειν, Τήλεκλον Ἀρχελάου τοῦ Ἀγησιλάου τοῦ Δορύσσου τοῦ Λαβώτα τοῦ Ἐχεστράτου τοῦ Ἄγιδος, πρός τε δὴ τούτοις τὰς βιασθείσας τῶν παρθένων διεργάσασθαι λέγουσιν αὑτὰς ὑπὸ αἰσχύνης·

[¶27] 4.3. The Messenians say that a plot was formed by Teleclus against persons of the highest rank in Messene who had come to the sanctuary, his incentive being the excellence of the Messenian land; in furtherance of his design he selected some Spartan youths, all without beards, dressed them in girls' clothes and ornaments, and providing them with daggers introduced them among the Messenians when they were resting; the Messenians, in defending themselves, killed the beardless youths and Teleclus himself; but the Lacedaemonians, they say, whose king did not plan this without the general consent, being conscious that they had begun the wrong, did not demand justice for the murder of Teleclus. These are the accounts given by the two sides; one may believe them according to one's feelings towards either side.

> Greek: 4.3. Μεσσήνιοι δὲ τοῖς ἐλθοῦσι σφῶν ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν πρωτεύουσιν ἐν Μεσσήνῃ κατὰ ἀξίωμα, τούτοις φασὶν ἐπιβουλεῦσαι Τήλεκλον, αἴτιον δὲ εἶναι τῆς χώρας τῆς Μεσσηνίας τὴν ἀρετήν, ἐπιβουλεύοντα δὲ ἐπιλέξαι Σπαρτιατῶν ὁπόσοι πω γένεια οὐκ εἶχον, τούτους δὲ ἐσθῆτι καὶ κόσμῳ τῷ λοιπῷ σκευάσαντα ὡς παρθένους ἀναπαυομένοις τοῖς Μεσσηνίοις ἐπεισαγαγεῖν, δόντα ἐγχειρίδια· καὶ τοὺς Μεσσηνίους ἀμυνομένους τούς τε ἀγενείους νεανίσκους καὶ αὐτὸν ἀποκτεῖναι Τήλεκλον, Λακεδαιμονίους δὲ—οὐ γὰρ ἄνευ τοῦ κοινοῦ ταῦτα βουλεῦσαι σφῶν τὸν βασιλέα—συνειδότας ὡς ἄρξαιεν ἀδικίας, τοῦ φόνου σφᾶς τοῦ Τηλέκλου δίκας οὐκ ἀπαιτῆσαι. ταῦτα μὲν ἑκάτεροι λέγουσι, πειθέσθω δὲ ὡς ἔχει τις ἐς τοὺς ἑτέρους σπουδῆς.

[¶28] 4.4. A generation later in the reign of Alcamenes the son of Teleclus in Lacedaemon—the king of the other house was Theopompus the son of Nicander, son of Charillus, son of Polydectes, son of Eunomus, son of Prytanis, son of Eurypon in Messenia Antiochus and Androcles, the sons of Phintas were reigning—the mutual hatred of the Lacedaemonians and Messenians was aroused, and the Lacedaemonians began war, obtaining a pretext which was not only sufficient for them, eager for a quarrel as they were and resolved on war at all costs, but also plausible in the highest degree, although with a more peaceful disposition it could have been settled by the decision of a court. What happened was as follows.

> Greek: 4.4. γενεᾷ δὲ ὕστερον βασιλεύοντος ἐν Λακεδαίμονι Ἀλκαμένους τοῦ Τηλέκλου, τῆς δὲ οἰκίας τῆς ἑτέρας Θεοπόμπου τοῦ Νικάνδρου τοῦ Χαρίλλου τοῦ Πολυδέκτου τοῦ Εὐνόμου τοῦ Πρυτάνιδος τοῦ Εὐρυπῶντος, Μεσσηνίων δὲ Ἀντιόχου καὶ Ἀνδροκλέους τῶν Φίντα, Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ Μεσσηνίων ἐξήρθη τὸ ἐς ἀλλήλους μῖσος· καὶ ἦρξαν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι πολέμου, ἐπιγενομένης ἀφορμῆς σφισιν ἐθελέχθρως μὲν ἔχουσι καὶ πολεμῆσαι πάντως ἐγνωκόσιν οὐ μόνον ἀποχρώσης ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα εὐπροσώπου, μετὰ δὲ εἰρηνικωτέρας γνώμης κἂν διελύθη δικαστηρίου γνώσει. τὰ δὲ συμβάντα ἔσχεν οὕτω.

[¶29] 4.5. There was a Messenian Polychares, a man of no small distinction in all respects and an Olympic victor. (The Eleians were holding the fourth Olympiad, the only event being the short foot-race, when Polychares won his victory.) This man, possessing cattle without land of his own to provide them with sufficient grazing, gave them to a Spartan Euaephnus to feed on his own land, Euaephnus to have a share of the produce.

> Greek: 4.5. Πολυχάρης Μεσσήνιος τά τε ἄλλα οὐκ ἀφανὴς καὶ νίκην Ὀλυμπίασιν ἀνῃρημένος —τετάρτην Ὀλυμπιάδα ἦγον Ἠλεῖοι καὶ ἀγώνισμα ἦν σταδίου μόνον, ὅτε ὁ Πολυχάρης ἐνίκησεν—, τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδρὶ ἐγένοντο βοῦς· καὶ—οὐ γὰρ ἐκέκτητο ἰδίαν γῆν ὡς νομὰς ταῖς βουσὶν ἱκανὰς εἶναι—Σπαρτιάτῃ σφᾶς δίδωσιν Εὐαίφνῳ βόσκεσθαί τε ἐν ἐκείνου καὶ μοῖραν εἶναι καὶ Εὐαίφνῳ τοῦ καρποῦ τῶν βοῶν.

[¶30] 4.6. Now Euaephnus was a man who set unjust gain above loyalty, and a trickster besides. He sold the cattle of Polychares to some merchants who put in to Laconia, and went himself to inform Polychares but he said that pirates had landed in the country, had overcome him and carried off the cattle and the herdsmen. While he was trying to deceive him by his lies, one of the herdsmen, escaping in the meantime from the merchants, returned and found Euaephnus there with his master, and convicted him before Polychares.

> Greek: 4.6. ἦν δὲ ἄρα τοιόσδε τις ὁ Εὔαιφνος, κέρδη τε ἄδικα ἐπίπροσθεν ἢ πιστὸς εἶναι ποιούμενος καὶ ἄλλως αἱμύλος· ὃς καὶ τότε καταπλεύσασιν ἐς τὴν Λακωνικὴν ἐμπόροις ἀποδόμενος βοῦς τὰς Πολυχάρους ἦλθεν αὐτὸς ὡς Πολυχάρην ἄγγελος, ἐλθὼν δὲ ἀποβάντας ἔλεγεν ἐς τὴν χώραν λῃστὰς καὶ βιασαμένους αὐτὸν λείαν βοῦς τε ἄγεσθαι καὶ βουκόλους. ἕως δὲ οὗτος παρέπειθεν, ἐν τούτῳ τῶν τις βουκόλων ἀποδιδράσκει τοὺς ἐμπόρους, ἐπανήκων δὲ καταλαμβάνει τε αὐτοῦ παρὰ τῷ δεσπότῃ τὸν Εὔαιφνον καὶ Πολυχάρους ἐναντίον ἤλεγχεν.

[¶31] 4.7. Thus caught and unable to deny it, he made many appeals to Polychares himself and to his son to grant him pardon; for among the many inducements to be found in human nature which drive us to wrongdoing the love of gain exercises the greatest power. He stated the price which he had received for the cattle and begged that the son of Polychares should come with him to receive it. When on their way they reached Laconia, Euaephnus dared a deed more impious than the first; he murdered Polychares' son.

> Greek: 4.7. ἁλισκόμενος δὲ καὶ οὐκ ἔχων ἀπαρνήσασθαι πολλὰ μὲν αὐτὸν Πολυχάρην, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ τοῦ Πολυχάρους τὸν παῖδα ἱκέτευε νεῖμαί οἱ συγγνώμην· ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει καὶ ἄλλων ἐνόντων, ἐφʼ οἷς βιαζόμεθα ἄδικοι γίνεσθαι, τὰ κέρδη μεγίστην ἀνάγκην ἔχειν· τιμὴν δὲ ἥντινα εἰλήφει τῶν βοῶν, λόγῳ τε ἀπέφαινε καὶ τὸν παῖδα ἠξίου τὸν Πολυχάρους ἕπεσθαί οἱ κομιούμενον. ὡς δὲ προϊόντες ἐγίνοντο ἐν τῇ Λακωνικῇ, ἔργον ἐτόλμησεν Εὔαιφνος ἀνοσιώτερον τοῦ προτέρου·

[¶32] 4.8. Polychares, when he heard of this new misfortune, went to Lacedaemon and plagued the kings and ephors, loudly lamenting his son and recounting the wrongs that he had suffered from Euaephnus, whom he had made his friend and trusted above all the Lacedaemonians. Obtaining no redress in spite of continual visits to the authorities, Polychares at last was driven out of his mind, gave way to his rage, and, regardless of himself, dared to murder every Lacedaemonian whom he could capture.

> Greek: 4.8. φονεύει τοῦ Πολυχάρους τὸν υἱόν. ὁ δὲ ὡς καὶ ταῦτα ἔγνω πεπονθώς, φοιτῶν ἐς τὴν Λακεδαίμονα τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν ἦν καὶ τοῖς ἐφόροις διʼ ὄχλου, πολλὰ μὲν τὸν παῖδα ἀνακλαίων, καταριθμούμενος δὲ οἷα ὑπὸ Εὐαίφνου πεπονθὼς ἦν, ὃν αὐτὸς ξένον ἐποιήσατο καὶ πρὸ πάντων Λακεδαιμονίων ἐπίστευσεν. ὡς δέ οἱ συνεχῶς ἰόντι ἐπὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς οὐδεμία ἐγίνετο τιμωρία, ἐνταῦθα παρετράπη τε ὁ Πολυχάρης ἐκ τοῦ νοῦ καὶ τῷ θυμῷ χρώμενος, ἅτε ἔχων ἀφειδῶς ἤδη καὶ αὑτοῦ, πάντα τινὰ ὃν λάβοι Λακεδαιμονίων ἐτόλμα φονεύειν.

[¶33] 5.1. The Lacedaemonians say that they went to war because Polychares was not surrendered to them, and on account of the murder of Teleclus; even before this they had been suspicious on account of the wrongdoing of Cresphontes in the matter of the lot. The Messenians make the reply that I have already given with regard to Teleclus, and point to the fact that the sons of Aristodemus helped to restore Aepytus the son of Cresphontes, which they would never have done if they had been at variance with Cresphontes.

> Greek: 5.1. Λακεδαιμόνιοι μὲν δὴ Πολυχάρους τε ἕνεκα οὐκ ἐκδοθέντος σφίσι καὶ διὰ τὸν Τηλέκλου φόνον, καὶ πρότερον ἔτι ὑπόπτως ἔχοντες διὰ τὸ Κρεσφόντου κακούργημα ἐς τὸν κλῆρον, πολεμῆσαι λέγουσι· Μεσσήνιοι δὲ περὶ Τηλέκλου ἀντιλέγουσι τὰ εἰρημένα ἤδη μοι καὶ Αἴπυτον τὸν Κρεσφόντου συγκαταχθέντα ἀποφαίνουσιν ὑπὸ Ἀριστοδήμου τῶν παίδων, ὃ μήποτʼ ἂν ποιῆσαι σφᾶς Κρεσφόντῃ γε ὄντας διαφόρους.

[¶34] 5.2. They say that they did not surrender Polychares to the Lacedaemonians for punishment because they also had not surrendered Euaephnus, but that they offered to stand trial at the meeting of the league before the Argives, kinsmen of both parties, and to submit the matter to the court at Athens called the Areopagus, as this court was held to exercise an ancient jurisdiction in cases pertaining to murder.

> Greek: 5.2. Πολυχάρην δὲ ἐκδοῦναι μὲν ἐπὶ τιμωρίᾳ Λακεδαιμονίοις οὔ φασιν, ὅτι μηδὲ ἐκεῖνοι σφίσιν Εὔαιφνον, ἐθέλειν μέντοι παρὰ Ἀργείοις συγγενέσιν οὖσιν ἀμφοτέρων ἐν Ἀμφικτυονίᾳ διδόναι δίκας, ἐπιτρέπειν δὲ καὶ τῷ Ἀθήνῃσι δικαστηρίῳ, καλουμένῳ δὲ Ἀρείῳ πάγῳ, ὅτι δίκας τὰς φονικὰς τὸ δικαστήριον τοῦτο ἐδόκει δικάζειν ἐκ παλαιοῦ.

[¶35] 5.3. They say that these were not the reasons of the Lacedaemonians in going to war, but that they had formed designs on their country through covetousness, as in others of their actions, bringing forward against them their treatment of the Arcadians and of the Argives; for in both cases they have never been satisfied with their continual encroachments. When Croesus sent them presents they were the first to become friends with the barbarian, after he had reduced the other Greeks of Asia Minor and all the Dorians who live on the Carian mainland.

> Greek: 5.3. Λακεδαιμονίους δὲ οὐ διὰ ταῦτα πολεμῆσαί φασιν, ὑπὸ πλεονεξίας δὲ τῇ σφετέρᾳ τε ἐπιβουλεῦσαι καὶ ἄλλα ἐργάσασθαι, προφέροντες μέν σφισι τὰ Ἀρκάδων, προφέροντες δὲ καὶ τὰ Ἀργείων, ὡς οὔποτε ἐσχήκασι κόρον ἀποτεμνόμενοι τῆς χώρας αἰεί τι ἑκατέρων· Κροίσῳ τε αὐτοῖς δῶρα ἀποστείλαντι γενέσθαι φίλους βαρβάρῳ πρώτους, ἀφʼ οὗ γε τούς τε ἄλλους τοὺς ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ κατεδουλώσατο Ἕλληνας καὶ ὅσοι Δωριεῖς ἐν τῇ Καρικῇ κατοικοῦσιν ἠπείρῳ.

[¶36] 5.4. They point out too that when the Phocian leaders had seized the temple at Delphi, the kings and every Spartan of repute privately, and the board of ephors and senate publicly, had a share of the god's property. As the most convincing proof that the Lacedaemonians would stick at nothing for the sake of gain, they reproach them with their alliance with Apollodorus, who became tyrant in Cassandreia.

> Greek: 5.4. ἀποφαίνουσι δὲ καὶ ἡνίκα οἱ Φωκέων δυνάσται τὸ ἱερὸν τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς κατειλήφασιν, ἰδίᾳ τε κατὰ ἄνδρα τοὺς βασιλεύοντας ἐν Σπάρτῃ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τοὺς ἐπʼ ἀξιώματος καὶ κοινῇ τῶν τε ἐφόρων τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν γερουσίαν μετασχόντας τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ. πρό τε δὴ πάντων, ὡς οὐδὲν ἂν τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους κέρδους ἕνεκα ὀκνήσαντας, τὴν συμμαχίαν ὀνειδίζουσί σφισι ⟨τὴν⟩ πρὸς Ἀπολλόδωρον τὸν ἐν Κασσανδρείᾳ τυραννήσαντα.

[¶37] 5.5. I could not introduce into the present account the reasons why the Messenians have come to regard this as so bitter a reproach. Although the courage of the Messenians and the length of time for which they fought differ from the facts of the tyranny of Apollodorus, in their disastrous character the sufferings of the people of Cassandreia would not fall far short of the Messenian.

> Greek: 5.5. ἀνθʼ ὅτου δὲ Μεσσήνιοι τὸ ὄνειδος ἥγηνται τοῦτο οὕτω πικρόν, οὔ μοι τῷ λόγῳ τῷ παρόντι ἦν ἐπεισάγεσθαι· ὅτι γὰρ μὴ τῶν Μεσσηνίων τὸ εὔψυχον καὶ χρόνου μῆκος ὃν ἐπολέμησαν διάφορα ἐγένετο τῆς Ἀπολλοδώρου τυραννίδος, ἔς γε τὰς συμφορὰς οὐ πολλῷ τινι ἀποδέοι ⟨ἂν⟩ ἃ οἱ Κασσανδρεῖς πεπόνθασι.

[¶38] 5.6. These then are the reasons for the war which the two sides allege. An embassy then came from the Lacedaemonians to demand the surrender of Polychares. The Messenian kings replied to the ambassadors that after deliberation with the people they would send the findings to Sparta and after their departure they themselves summoned the citizens to a meeting. The views put forward differed widely, Androcles urging the surrender of Polychares as guilty of an impious and abominable crime. Antiochus among other arguments urged against him that it would be the most piteous thing that Polychares should suffer before the eyes of Euaephnus, and enumerated in detail all that he would have to undergo.

> Greek: 5.6. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ αἴτια ἑκάτεροι τοῦ πολέμου γενέσθαι λέγουσι· τότε δὲ πρεσβεία Λακεδαιμονίων ἥκουσα ἐξῄτει Πολυχάρην. οἱ δὲ τῶν Μεσσηνίων βασιλεῖς τοῖς μὲν πρέσβεσιν ἀπεκρίναντο ὅτι βουλευσάμενοι μετὰ τοῦ δήμου τὰ δόξαντα ἐπιστελοῦσιν ἐς Σπάρτην, αὐτοὶ δὲ ἐκείνων ἀπελθόντων ἐς ἐκκλησίαν τοὺς πολίτας συνῆγον. αἱ δὲ γνῶμαι διάφοροι παρὰ πολὺ ἐγίνοντο, Ἀνδροκλέους μὲν ἐκδιδόναι Πολυχάρην ὡς ἀνόσιά τε καὶ πέρα δεινῶν εἰργασμένον· Ἀντίοχος δὲ ἄλλα τε ἀντέλεγε καὶ τὸ ἁπάντων οἴκτιστον, εἰ Πολυχάρης ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς πείσεται τοῖς Εὐαίφνου, καταριθμούμενος ὅσα καὶ οἷα ἦν ἀνάγκη παθεῖν.

[¶39] 5.7. Finally the supporters of Androcles and of Antiochus were so carried away that they took up arms. But the battle did not last long, for the party of Antiochus, far outnumbering the other, killed Androcles and his principal supporters, Antiochus, now sole king, sent to Sparta that he was ready to submit the matter to the courts which I have already mentioned. But the Lacedaemonians are said to have made no reply to the bearers of the letter.

> Greek: 5.7. τέλος δὲ ἐς τοσοῦτο προήχθησαν οἵ τε Ἀνδροκλεῖ καὶ οἱ τῷ Ἀντιόχῳ συσπεύδοντες ὥστε καὶ τὰ ὅπλα ἔλαβον. οὐ μὴν ἐς μακράν γε προῆλθέ σφισιν ἡ μάχη· περιόντες γὰρ ἀριθμῷ καὶ πολὺ οἱ σὺν Ἀντιόχῳ τόν τε Ἀνδροκλέα καὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν τοὺς λόγου μάλιστα ἀξίους ἀποκτείνουσιν. Ἀντίοχος δὲ βασιλεύων ἤδη μόνος ἔπεμπεν ἐς Σπάρτην ὡς ἐπιτρέπειν ἐθέλοι τοῖς δικαστηρίοις ἃ ἤδη λέλεκταί μοι· Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ οὐ λέγονται τοῖς κομίσασι τὰ γράμματα ἀποκρίνασθαι.

[¶40] 5.8. Not many months later Antiochus died and his son Euphaes succeeded to the kingdom. The Lacedaemonians, without sending a herald to declare war on the Messenians or renouncing their friendship beforehand, had made their preparations secretly and with all the concealment possible; they first took an oath that neither the length of the war, should it not be decided soon, nor their disasters, however great they might be, would deter them until they won the land of Messenia by the sword.

> Greek: 5.8. μησὶ δὲ οὐ πολλοῖς ὕστερον Ἀντιόχου τελευτήσαντος Εὐφαὴς ὁ Ἀντιόχου παρέλαβε τὴν ἀρχήν. Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ οὔτε κήρυκα ἀποστέλλουσι προεροῦντα Μεσσηνίοις πόλεμον οὔτε προαπειπάμενοι τὴν φιλίαν, κρύφα δὲ καὶ μάλιστα ὡς ἐδύναντο ἐν ἀπορρήτῳ παρασκευασάμενοι, προομνύουσιν ὅρκον μήτε τοῦ πολέμου μῆκος, ἢν μὴ διʼ ὀλίγου κριθῇ, μήτε τὰς συμφοράς, εἰ μεγάλαι πολεμοῦσι γένοιντο, ἀποστρέψειν σφᾶς πρὶν ἢ κτήσαιντο χώραν τὴν Μεσσηνίαν δοριάλωτον.

[¶41] 5.9. After taking this oath, they attacked Ampheia by night, appointing Alcamenes the son of Teleclus leader of the force. Ampheia is a small town in Messenia near the Laconian border, of no great size, but situated on a high hill and possessing copious springs of water. It seemed generally a suitable base for the whole war. The gates being open and the town not garrisoned, they took it and killed the Messenians captured there, some still in their beds and others who had taken refuge at the sanctuaries and altars of the gods when they realized what had happened. Those who escaped were few.

> Greek: 5.9. ταῦτα προομόσαντες ἔξοδον νύκτωρ ἐποιοῦντο ἐπὶ Ἄμφειαν, Ἀλκαμένην τὸν Τηλέκλου τῆς στρατιᾶς ἡγεμόνα ἀποδείξαντες. ἡ δὲ Ἄμφεια πρὸς τῇ Λακωνικῇ πόλισμα ἦν ἐν τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ, μεγέθει μὲν οὐ μέγα, ἐπὶ λόφου δὲ ὑψηλοῦ κείμενον, καὶ ὑδάτων πηγὰς εἶχεν ἀφθόνους· ἐδόκει δὲ καὶ ἄλλως ἐς τὸν πάντα πόλεμον ὁρμητήριόν σφισιν ἐπιτήδειον ἡ Ἄμφεια εἶναι. καὶ τό τε πόλισμα αἱροῦσι πυλῶν ἀνεῳγμένων καὶ φυλακῆς οὐκ ἐνούσης καὶ τῶν Μεσσηνίων τοὺς ἐγκαταληφθέντας φονεύουσι, τοὺς μὲν ἔτι ἐν ταῖς εὐναῖς, τοὺς δὲ ὡς ᾔσθοντο πρός τε ἱερὰ θεῶν καὶ βωμοὺς καθημένους ἱκέτας· ὀλίγοι δὲ καὶ οἱ διαφυγόντες ἐγένοντο.

[¶42] 5.10. This was the first attack which the Lacedaemonians made on the Messenians, in the second year of the ninth Olympiad, when Xenodocus of Messenia won the short foot-race. In Athens there were not as yet the archons appointed annually by lot for at first the people deprived the descendants of Melanthus, called Medontidae, of most of their power, transforming the kingship into a constitutional office; afterwards they limited their tenure of office to ten years. At the time of the seizure of Ampheia, Aesimides the son of Aeschylus was holding his fifth year office at Athens.

> Greek: 5.10. ταύτην Λακεδαιμόνιοι πρώτην ἐπὶ Μεσσηνίους ἔξοδον ἐποιήσαντο ἔτει δευτέρῳ τῆς ἐνάτης Ὀλυμπιάδος, ἣν Ξενοδόκος Μεσσήνιος ἐνίκα στάδιον· Ἀθήνῃσι δὲ οὐκ ἦσάν πω τότε οἱ τῷ κλήρῳ κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν ἄρχοντες· τοὺς γὰρ ἀπὸ Μελάνθου, καλουμένους δὲ Μεδοντίδας, κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν ἀφείλοντο ὁ δῆμος τῆς ἐξουσίας τὸ πολὺ καὶ ἀντὶ βασιλείας μετέστησαν ἐς ἀρχὴν ὑπεύθυνον, ὕστερον δὲ καὶ προθεσμίαν ἐτῶν δέκα ἐποίησαν αὐτοῖς τῆς ἀρχῆς. τότε δὲ ὑπὸ τὴν κατάληψιν τῆς Ἀμφείας Αἰσιμίδης Ἀθηναίοις ἦρχεν ὁ Αἰσχύλου πέμπτον ἔτος.

[¶43] 6.1. Before I wrote the history of the war and all the sufferings and actions that heaven prepared in it for both sides, I wished to reach a decision regarding the age of a certain Messenian. This war was fought between the Lacedaemonians with their allies and the Messenians with their supporters, but received its name not from the invaders like the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, but was called Messenian from their disasters, just as the name Trojan war, rather than Greek, came to be universally applied to the war at Troy. An account of this war of the Messenians has been given by Rhianus of Bene in his epic, and by Myron of Priene. Myron's history is in prose.

> Greek: 6.1. πρὶν δὲ ἢ συγγράφειν με τὸν πόλεμον καὶ ὁπόσα πολεμοῦσιν ἑκατέροις ὁ δαίμων παθεῖν ἢ δρᾶσαι παρεσκεύασε, διακρῖναί τι καὶ ἡλικίας [ἔργα] πέρι ἠθέλησα ἀνδρὸς Μεσσηνίου. τὸν γὰρ πόλεμον τοῦτον γενόμενον μὲν Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ τῶν συμμάχων πρὸς Μεσσηνίους καὶ τοὺς ἐπικούρους, ὀνομασθέντα δὲ οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπιστρατευσάντων ὥσπερ γε ὁ Μηδικὸς καὶ ὁ Πελοποννήσιος, Μεσσήνιον δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν συμφορῶν, καθὰ δὴ καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ Ἰλίῳ κληθῆναι Τρωικὸν καὶ οὐχ Ἑλληνικὸν ἐξενίκησεν, τοῦτον [γὰρ] τῶν Μεσσηνίων τὸν πόλεμον Ῥιανός τε ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν ἐποίησεν ὁ Βηναῖος καὶ ὁ Πριηνεὺς Μύρων· λόγοι δὲ πεζοὶ Μύρωνός ἐστιν ἡ συγγραφή.

[¶44] 6.2. Neither writer achieved a complete and continuous account of the whole war from its beginning to the end, but only of the part which each selected: Myron narrated the capture of Ampheia and subsequent events down to the death of Aristodemus; Rhianus did not touch this first war at all. He described the events that in time befell the Messenians after their revolt from the Lacedaemonians, not indeed the whole of them, but those subsequent to the battle which they fought at the Great Trench, as it is called.

> Greek: 6.2. συνεχῶς μὲν δὴ τὰ πάντα ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐς τοῦ πολέμου τὴν τελευτὴν οὐδετέρῳ διήνυσται· μέρος δὲ ᾧ ἑκάτερος ἠρέσκετο, ὁ μὲν τῆς τε Ἀμφείας τὴν ἅλωσιν καὶ τὰ ἐφεξῆς συνέθηκεν οὐ πρόσω τῆς Ἀριστοδήμου τελευτῆς, Ῥιανὸς δὲ τοῦδε μὲν τοῦ πρώτου τῶν πολέμων οὐδὲ ἥψατο ἀρχήν· ὁπόσα δὲ χρόνῳ συνέβη τοῖς Μεσσηνίοις ἀποστᾶσιν ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων, ὁ δὲ καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὐ τὰ πάντα ἔγραψε, τῆς μάχης δὲ τὰ ὕστερα ἣν ἐμαχέσαντο ἐπὶ τῇ τάφρῳ τῇ καλουμένῃ Μεγάλῃ.

[¶45] 6.3. The Messenian, Aristomenes, on whose account I have made my whole mention of Rhianus and Myron, was the man who first and foremost raised the name of Messene to renown. He was introduced by Myron into his history, while to Rhianus in his epic Aristomenes is as great a man as is the Achilles of the Iliad to Homer. As their statements differ so widely, it remained for me to adopt one or other of the accounts, but not both together, and Rhianus appeared to me to have given the more probable account as to the age of Aristomenes.

> Greek: 6.3. ἄνδρα οὖν Μεσσήνιον—τούτου γὰρ δὴ ἕνεκα τὸν πάντα ἐποιησάμην Ῥιανοῦ καὶ Μύρωνος λόγον—Ἀριστομένην, ὃς καὶ πρῶτος καὶ μάλιστα τὸ Μεσσήνης ὄνομα ἐς ἀξίωμα προήγαγε, τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα ἐπεισήγαγε μὲν ὁ Πριηνεὺς ἐς τὴν συγγραφήν, Ῥιανῷ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν οὐδὲν Ἀριστομένης ἐστὶν ἀφανέστερος ἢ Ἀχιλλεὺς ἐν Ἰλιάδι Ὁμήρῳ. διάφορα οὖν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον εἰρηκότων, προσέσθαι μὲν τὸν ἕτερόν μοι τῶν λόγων καὶ οὐχ ἅμα ἀμφοτέρους ὑπελείπετο, Ῥιανὸς δέ μοι ποιῆσαι μᾶλλον ἐφαίνετο εἰκότα ἐς τὴν Ἀριστομένους ἡλικίαν·

[¶46] 6.4. One may realize in others of his works that Myron gives no heed to the question of his statements seeming to lack truth and credibility, and particularly in this Messenian history. For he has made Aristomenes kill Theopompus, the king of the Lacedaemonians, shortly before the death of Aristodemus but we know that Theopompus was not killed either in battle or in any other way before the war was concluded.

> Greek: 6.4. Μύρωνα δὲ ἐπί τε ἄλλοις καταμαθεῖν ἔστιν οὐ προορώμενον εἰ ψευδῆ τε καὶ οὐ πιθανὰ δόξει λέγειν καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐν τῇδε τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ συγγραφῇ. πεποίηκε γὰρ ὡς ἀποκτείνειε Θεόπομπον τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τὸν βασιλέα Ἀριστομένης ὀλίγον πρὸ τῆς Ἀριστοδήμου τελευτῆς· Θεόπομπον δὲ οὔτε μάχης γινομένης οὔτε ἄλλως προαποθανόντα ἴσμεν πρὶν ἢ διαπολεμηθῆναι τὸν πόλεμον.

[¶47] 6.5. It was this Theopompus who put an end to the war, and my evidence is the lines of Tyrtaeus, which say:—
To our king beloved of the gods, Theopompus, through whom we took Messene with wide dancing-grounds.
Aristomenes then in my view belongs to the time of the second war, and I will relate his history when I come to this.

> Greek: 6.5. οὗτος δὲ ὁ Θεόπομπος· ἦν καὶ ὁ πέρας ἐπιθεὶς τῷ πολέμῳ· μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι καὶ τὰ ἐλεγεῖα τῶν Τυρταίου λέγοντα
ἡμετέρῳ βασιλῆι θεοῖσι φίλῳ Θεοπόμπῳ,
ὃν διὰ Μεσσήνην εἵλομεν εὐρύχορον.
ὁ τοίνυν Ἀριστομένης δόξῃ γε ἐμῇ γέγονεν ἐπὶ τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ ὑστέρου· καὶ τὰ ἐς αὐτόν, ἐπειδὰν ἐς τοῦτο ὁ λόγος ἀφίκηται, τηνικαῦτα ἐπέξειμι.

[¶48] 6.6. The Messenians, when they heard of the events at Ampheia from the actual survivors from the captured town, mustered in Stenyclerus from their cities. When the people had gathered in the assembly, first the leading men and finally the king exhorted them not to be panic-stricken at the sack of Ampheia, or to suppose that the issue of the whole war had already been decided thereby, or to be afraid of the power of the Lacedaemonians as superior to their own. For the Lacedaemonians had longer practice in warfare, but they themselves had a stronger necessity to show themselves brave men, and greater goodwill would be shown by the gods to men defending their country, who were not the authors of injustice.

> Greek: 6.6. οἱ δὲ Μεσσήνιοι τότε, ὡς τὰ περὶ τὴν Ἄμφειαν ἤκουον παρʼ αὐτῶν τῶν ἀποσωθέντων ἐκ τῆς ἁλώσεως, συνελέγοντο ἐς Στενύκληρον ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων. ἀθροισθέντος δὲ ἐς ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ δήμου καὶ ἄλλοι τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ τελευταῖος ὁ βασιλεὺς παρεκελεύετο μήτε τῆς Ἀμφείας καταπεπλῆχθαι τὴν πόρθησιν, ὡς τὸν πάντα ἤδη κεκριμένον διʼ αὐτῆς πόλεμον, μήτε ὡς τῆς σφετέρας κρείσσονα τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων δεδοικέναι τὴν παρασκευήν· μελέτην μὲν γὰρ ἐκείνοις τῶν πολεμικῶν ἐκ χρόνου πλείονος, σφίσι δὲ εἶναι τήν τε ἀνάγκην ἰσχυροτέραν ἀνδράσιν ἀγαθοῖς γίνεσθαι καὶ τὸ εὐμενέστερον ἔσεσθαι παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ἀμύνουσι τῇ οἰκείᾳ καὶ οὐκ ἀδικίας ἄρχουσιν.

[¶49] 7.1. With these words Euphaes dismissed the gathering, and henceforward kept all the Messenians under arms, compelling the untrained to learn the art of war and the trained men to undergo a more rigorous discipline than before. The Lacedaemonians carried out raids into Messenia, but did no harm to the country, regarding it as their own, nor did they cut down trees or demolish buildings, but they drove off any cattle that they met with, and carried off the corn and other produce.

> Greek: 7.1. τοιαῦτα ὁ Εὐφαὴς εἰπὼν διέλυσε τὸν σύλλογον, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου πάντας ἔσχεν ἤδη τοὺς Μεσσηνίους ἐν ὅπλοις, τούς τε οὐκ εἰδότας ἐπαναγκάζων διδάσκεσθαι τὰ πολεμικὰ καὶ τοῖς ἐπισταμένοις ἐπιμελεστέραν ἢ πρότερον τὴν ἄσκησιν εἶναι. Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ καταδρομὰς ἐποιοῦντο ἐς τὴν Μεσσηνίαν, καὶ τὴν μὲν χώραν οὐκ ἐλυμαίνοντο ἅτε δὴ νομίζοντες οἰκείαν οὐδὲ δένδρα ἔκοπτον οὐδὲ οἰκήματα κατέβαλλον· οἱ δὲ λείαν εἰ περιτύχοιεν ἤλαυνον καὶ σῖτον καὶ τὸν ἄλλον καρπὸν ἀφῃροῦντο.

[¶50] 7.2. They made assaults on the towns but captured none, as they were fortified with walls and carefully garrisoned. They withdrew with loss and without effecting anything, and finally gave up attempting the towns. The Messenians also ravaged the Laconian coast and all the cultivated land round Taygetos.

> Greek: 7.2. πρὸς δὲ τὰς πόλεις ποιούμενοι προσβολὰς εἷλον μὲν οὐδεμίαν ἅτε καὶ τείχεσιν ὠχυρωμένας καὶ διʼ ἀκριβείας φρουρουμένας, λαμβάνοντες δὲ τραύματα ἀπεχώρουν ἄπρακτοι καὶ τελευτῶντες οὐκέτι ἀπεπειρῶντο τῶν πόλεων. ἐλῄστευον δὲ καὶ οἱ Μεσσήνιοι τά τε ἐπιθαλάσσια τῆς Λακωνικῆς καὶ ὅσαι γεωργίαι περὶ τὸ Ταΰγετον ἦσαν.

[¶51] 7.3. Three years after the capture of Ampheia, being eager to put to use the spirit of the Messenians, now at the height of their passion against the Lacedaemonians, and considering too that they had undergone sufficient training, Euphaes ordered an advance. He bade the slaves also accompany him, bringing wood and all else that was required for the making of an entrenched camp. The Lacedaemonians heard from their garrison at Ampheia that the Messenians were marching out, so they also came out to battle.

> Greek: 7.3. τετάρτῳ δὲ ἔτει μετὰ τῆς Ἀμφείας τὴν ἅλωσιν Εὐφαὴς τῷ θυμῷ χρήσασθαι τῷ Μεσσηνίων προθυμούμενος ἀκμαζόντων ἐς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ταῖς ὀργαῖς καὶ ἅμα τὴν ἄσκησιν ἤδη σφίσιν αὐτάρκη νομίζων εἶναι, προεῖπεν ἔξοδον· συνακολουθεῖν δὲ καὶ τοὺς οἰκέτας προσέτασσε φέροντας ξύλα καὶ ἄλλα ὅσα πρόσφορα ἐς ποίησιν χαρακώματος. ἐπυνθάνοντο δὲ καὶ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι παρὰ τῶν ἐν Ἀμφείᾳ φρουρῶν τοὺς Μεσσηνίους ἐξιόντας· ἐξεστρατεύοντο οὖν καὶ οὗτοι.

[¶52] 7.4. There was a place in Messenia which was in other ways suitable for an engagement, but had a deep ravine in front of it. Here Euphaes drew up the Messenians and appointed Cleonnis general; the cavalry and light-armed, together amounting to less than 500, were commanded by Pytharatus and Antander.

> Greek: 7.4. καὶ ἦν γὰρ ἐν τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ χωρίον ἄλλως μὲν ἐς ἀγῶνα ἐπιτήδειον, χαράδρα δὲ προεβέβλητο αὐτοῦ βαθεῖα· ἐνταῦθα τοὺς Μεσσηνίους παρέτασσεν ὁ Εὐφαής, ἀποδείξας στρατηγὸν Κλέοννιν· τῆς δὲ ἵππου καὶ τῶν ψιλῶν, οἳ συναμφότεροι ἐλάσσους πεντακοσίων ἦσαν, τούτων Πυθάρατος καὶ Ἄντανδρος ἡγοῦντο.