Pausanias Analysis

At that time the Thebans, having been expelled from their city by Alexander and having fled to Athens, were later restored by Cassander, the son of Antipater. The Athenians showed the greatest eagerness for the rebuilding of Thebes, and the Messenians also contributed assistance, along with the Arcadians who inhabited Megalopolis.

It seems to me that Cassander founded Thebes chiefly because of his hatred toward Alexander. He also carried out the destruction of Alexander's entire family, inciting the Macedonians against Olympias so that they stoned her to death, and murdering Alexander's sons, both Heracles, born from Barsine, and Alexander, the son of Roxane, by poison. Yet Cassander himself did not end his life happily; for he became full of dropsy, and worms arose from his flesh while he was still alive.

Of his sons, Philip, the eldest, having shortly after succeeded to power, was carried off by a consuming disease. Antipater, who followed him, murdered his mother, Thessalonice—who was daughter of Philip son of Amyntas and Nicasipolis—accusing her of showing greater favor toward Alexander. Alexander was the youngest of Cassander's sons; after inviting Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, through his assistance he both overthrew and avenged himself upon his brother Antipater, but in doing so, he discovered that he had gained for himself a murderer rather than an ally.

Whichever of the gods it was who was to exact punishment on Cassander, he indeed paid the penalty. As for the Thebans, under Cassander's rule the entire ancient circuit-wall was rebuilt; yet even afterwards they were evidently destined to experience great misfortunes. For when Mithridates had entered upon war against the Romans, the Thebans joined him—not, as I suppose, from any other motive than friendship for the Athenian people. But when Sulla invaded Boeotia, fear overtook the Thebans, and they swiftly reconsidered their decision, returning once again to friendship with the Romans.

Nevertheless, Sulla continued to bear a grudge against them, devising numerous other schemes to harm the Thebans; and under the following pretext he stripped them of half their territory. When he was setting out for the war against Mithridates, he was short of funds. He therefore gathered offerings from Olympia, and those from Epidaurus, as well as from Delphi, insofar as they had been spared by the Phocians.

These, then, he distributed among the army, but as for the money due to the gods, in exchange he gave them half of the Theban territory. Afterwards the Thebans recovered this sacred land, which could not be taken away, due to the favor of the Romans; but in all other respects they declined from that time onward to the weakest condition. In my own day, indeed, the lower city was entirely deserted, except for its sanctuaries; but the acropolis was inhabited, and is called Thebes rather than Cadmeia.