Pausanias Analysis

Such were the words spoken by Euphaes. And when the commanders gave the signal to each side, the Messenians charged running against the Lacedaemonians, fighting recklessly and sparing themselves not at all; for being men driven to death by rage, each man individually strove eagerly to be the first to start the battle. The Lacedaemonians also advanced swiftly against them, yet mindful nevertheless to maintain their formation intact.

As soon as they drew close, they began to threaten each other, brandishing their weapons and looking fiercely into each other's eyes. Then they fell to mutual vilification: the Spartans calling the Messenians their slaves already, claiming they had no more freedom than helots, while the Messenians in turn accused their opponents of impiety in their undertaking, because motivated by greed they attacked men of their own kin, and of disrespect toward those gods who were ancestral to all Dorians, especially toward Heracles. After these mutual taunts, they came at last to blows, the Spartans especially fighting in dense formations and engaging each man face-to-face against his enemy.

Now the Lacedaemonians surpassed their opponents considerably through their skill and experience in warfare, and also through sheer numbers. For they already possessed Perioikoi as subjects and followers; besides, the Asinaeans and the Dryopes, who a generation earlier had been driven from their homeland by the Argives and had come as suppliants to Lacedaemon, had no choice but to join them in their military expeditions. In addition to these, they hired Cretan archers as mercenaries against the light-armed troops of the Messenians.

But among the Messenians, a reckless courage and a cheerful resolve facing death attended them universally in equal measure. Whatever hardships they suffered, they regarded rather as obligations befitting those who honored their homeland, not as grievous calamities; and as for the deeds they performed, they themselves considered these achievements even greater while being yet more distressing to the Lacedaemonians. Some among them, rushing forward ahead of their ranks, displayed brilliant acts of bravery, and even among those critically wounded at the decisive moment, who scarcely still drew breath, their resolute defiance continued to flourish.

Encouragements were given; those still alive and as yet unwounded urged the wounded, before a final fate overtook them, to endure bravely and to confront their destiny with pleasure, resisting as far as their strength might allow. On their side, the wounded, whenever they perceived their strength failing and their breath slipping away, commanded the unwounded not to show themselves inferior, nor to render their deaths useless to their country.

The Lacedaemonians did not require urgent exhortations among themselves, nor did they equal the Messenians in readiness for undertaking extraordinary deeds. Yet, being trained in warfare from childhood, they employed a deeper phalanx formation, and expected that the Messenians would neither endure long holding their ground against them nor withstand the fatigue or wounds sustained in combat.

Such were the peculiar circumstances in each army regarding both the deeds accomplished and the attitudes of those fighting, and there were also factors common to both sides. On the one hand, those being slain neither resorted to supplications nor offered promises of money, either despairing perhaps of convincing their opponents due to mutual hatred, or for the most part thinking it unworthy, believing they had not behaved worse than their adversaries in earlier situations. On the other hand, those doing the killing refrained equally from boasting and insults, since neither side yet possessed secure hope of victory. Most remarkable was the manner in which those who attempted to strip the bodies of the fallen met their deaths: either they exposed some unprotected part of their bodies and were struck by spears or projectiles, as they did not foresee danger due to immediate preoccupation, or they were even killed by those whom they were stripping, who were still breathing.

The kings fought also with a valor worthy of mention, and Theopompus, engaging with excessive fury, aimed directly at killing Euphaes. Euphaes, seeing him advancing, remarked then to Antander that the conduct of Theopompus differed in nothing from all that his ancestor Polynices had braved; for Polynices had led an army from Argos against his fatherland, had slain his brother by his own hand and himself had perished at his brother’s hand. In the same way, said Euphaes, Theopompus wished to involve in equal pollution with the descendants of Laius and Oedipus the race of the Heracleidae. Nevertheless, Euphaes declared, Theopompus would not return rejoicing from this battle. Thus speaking, he himself went forward to meet him.

At this point, although exhausted, the whole battle once again rose to its highest intensity; their strength returned to their bodies, and their mutual disregard of death grew ever greater, so that one might suppose they were just beginning the conflict. Finally, Euphaes and his men, driven closest to madness by their extraordinary desperation and courage—for all those around the king were the elite of the Messenians—overpowered the opposing ranks. They repulsed Theopompus himself and routed the Lacedaemonians facing them.

But the other wing of the Messenians was suffering severe hardship. For their general, Pytharatos, had fallen, and they themselves fought with greater disorder and confusion owing to their lack of leadership. Nevertheless, even these did not lose heart. Neither did Polydoros pursue the fleeing Messenians, nor did Euphaes and his men follow up against the Spartans. For Euphaes and his followers judged it preferable to aid those of their comrades who had been worsted—yet they did not manage to join Polydoros and his men, since by this time the events were taking place in darkness.

And what prevented the Lacedaemonians particularly from pursuing further those who retreated was their unfamiliarity with the region. Moreover, it was their ancestral custom in any case to carry out pursuits rather slowly, believing it more important to preserve their formation than to kill a fleeing enemy. As for the central divisions on both sides, where Euryleon commanded the Lacedaemonians and Cleonnis the Messenians, they fought on equal terms, until night came upon them and separated these forces as well.

In this battle chiefly, or rather entirely, the heavy infantry fought for both sides. The horsemen were few and accomplished nothing worthy even of mention; indeed, the Peloponnesians were at that time not particularly skilled at horsemanship. The Messenian light-armed troops and the Cretans in the Lacedaemonian service did not even engage at all; each group was appointed in the traditional manner to support the regular infantry formation on their respective sides.

On the following day, neither side had intended to begin fighting or to be the first to erect a trophy. As the day went on, envoys were sent to arrange the recovery of the dead, and when both parties agreed to this, they were now ready to proceed with burial thereafter.