Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.8.1 Class: Non-skeptical

τόδε μὲν ἡμῖν ἐγένετο ἐπεισόδιον τῷ λόγῳ· μετὰ δὲ τὰ ἐρείπια τῆς Νεστάνης ἱερὸν Δήμητρός ἐστιν ἅγιον, καὶ αὐτῇ καὶ ἑορτὴν ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος ἄγουσιν οἱ Μαντινεῖς. καὶ κατὰ τὴν Νεστάνην ὑπόκειται μάλιστα , μοῖρα μὲν καὶ αὐτὴ τοῦ πεδίου τοῦ Ἀργοῦ, χορὸς δὲ ὀνομάζεται Μαιρᾶς. τοῦ πεδίου δέ ἐστιν ἡ διέξοδος τοῦ Ἀργοῦ σταδίων δέκα. ὑπερβὰς δὲ οὐ πολὺ ἐς ἕτερον καταβήσῃ πεδίον· ἐν τούτῳ δὲ παρὰ τὴν λεωφόρον ἐστὶν Ἄρνη καλουμένη κρήνη.

Proper Nouns:

Δήμητρα Μαιρά Μαντίνεια Νεστάνη Νεστάνη Ἄργος Ἄρνη

This much has been an episode in my narrative. Beyond the ruins of Nestane is a sanctuary sacred to Demeter; the Mantineans hold a festival there in her honor every year. Near Nestane, at the foot of the mountain above it, there is a place that forms part of the plain of Argos, called the Dancing-ground of Maira. The outlet from the plain of Argos is about ten stades in length. Passing beyond it for not much distance, you descend into another plain; here, beside the highway, is a spring called Arne.

Passage 8.8.2 Class: Non-skeptical

λέγεται δὲ καὶ τοιάδε ὑπὸ Ἀρκάδων, Ῥέα ἡνίκα Ποσειδῶνα ἔτεκε, τὸν μὲν ἐς ποίμνην καταθέσθαι δίαιταν ἐνταῦθα ἕξοντα μετὰ τῶν ἀρνῶν, ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὲ ὀνομασθῆναι καὶ τὴν πηγήν, ὅτι περὶ αὐτὴν ἐποιμαίνοντο οἱ ἄρνες· φάναι δὲ αὐτὴν πρὸς τὸν Κρόνον τεκεῖν ἵππον καί οἱ πῶλον ἵππου καταπιεῖν ἀντὶ τοῦ παιδὸς δοῦναι, καθὰ καὶ ὕστερον ἀντὶ τοῦ Διὸς λίθον ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ κατειλημένον σπαργάνοις.

Proper Nouns:

Ζεύς Κρόνος Ποσειδῶν Ἀρκάδες Ῥέα

The Arcadians also relate the following: when Rhea gave birth to Poseidon, she placed him among a flock to be raised there with the sheep, and therefore the spring received its name because the sheep grazed around it. They further say that she declared to Cronus that she had given birth to a horse, and she offered him a foal to devour instead of the child, just as later she gave him a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead of Zeus.

Passage 8.8.3 Class: Skeptical

τούτοις Ἑλλήνων ἐγὼ τοῖς λόγοις ἀρχόμενος μὲν τῆς συγγραφῆς εὐηθίας ἔνεμον πλέον, ἐς δὲ τὰ Ἀρκάδων προεληλυθὼς πρόνοιαν περὶ αὐτῶν τοιάνδε ἐλάμβανον· Ἑλλήνων τοὺς νομιζομένους σοφοὺς διʼ αἰνιγμάτων πάλαι καὶ οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ εὐθέος λέγειν τοὺς λόγους, καὶ τὰ εἰρημένα οὖν ἐς τὸν Κρόνον σοφίαν εἶναί τινα εἴκαζον Ἑλλήνων. τῶν μὲν δὴ ἐς τὸ θεῖον ἡκόντων τοῖς εἰρημένοις χρησόμεθα·

Proper Nouns:

Κρόνος Ἀρκάδες Ἕλληνες

When I began this work, I inclined more toward naïvely accepting these Greek traditions. However, once I had proceeded to the Arcadian accounts, I developed the following conviction about them: that the Greeks considered wise from ancient times spoke in riddles, rather than plainly and directly, and thus I concluded that the stories told about Cronus contain some kind of concealed Greek wisdom. As for those subjects that pertain to the divine realm, I shall adhere to what has been stated.

Passage 8.8.4 Class: Skeptical

Μαντινέων δὲ ἡ πόλις σταδίους μάλιστά που δώδεκά ἐστιν ἀπωτέρω τῆς πηγῆς ταύτης. Μαντινεὺς μὲν οὖν ὁ Λυκάονος ἑτέρωθι φαίνεται οἰκίσας τὴν πόλιν, ἣν ὀνομάζουσι καὶ ἐς ἡμᾶς ἔτι Πτόλιν οἱ Ἀρκάδες· ἐκεῖθεν δὲ Ἀντινόη Κηφέως τοῦ Ἀλέου θυγάτηρ κατὰ μάντευμα ἀναστήσασα τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἤγαγεν ἐς τοῦτο τὸ χωρίον, ὄφιν---ὁποῖον, οὐ μνημονεύουσιν--- ἡγεμόνα ποιησαμένη τῆς ὁδοῦ· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὁ παρὰ τὴν πόλιν ῥέων τὴν νῦν ποταμὸς Ὄφις ὄνομα ἔσχηκεν.

Proper Nouns:

Κηφεύς Λυκάων Μαντινέα Μαντινεύς Πτόλις Ἀλεύς Ἀντινόη Ἀρκάδες Ὄφις

The city of the Mantineans lies about twelve stades beyond this spring. Mantineus, son of Lycaon, seems to have founded a city elsewhere, which to this day the Arcadians still call "Ptolis." Later, Antinoë, the daughter of Cepheus, son of Aleus, removed the inhabitants from there—guided by an oracle—and led them to this place. She made a serpent—of what kind they do not record—her guide for the journey. For this reason, the river flowing near the city received the name Ophis ("Serpent").

Passage 8.8.5 Class: Skeptical

εἰ δὲ Ὁμήρου χρὴ τεκμαιρόμενον τοῖς ἔπεσι συμβαλέσθαι γνώμην, τὸν ὄφιν τοῦτον δράκοντα εἶναι πείθομαι. περὶ Φιλοκτήτου μὲν ἐν νεῶν καταλόγῳ ποιήσας ὡς ἀπολίποιεν αὐτὸν οἱ Ἕλληνες ἐν Λήμνῳ ταλαιπωροῦντα ὑπὸ τοῦ ἕλκους, ἐπίκλησιν δὲ οὐκ ἔθετο ὄφιν τῷ ὕδρῳ· τὸν δράκοντα δέ, ὃν ἐς τοὺς Τρῶας ἀφῆκεν ὁ ἀετός, ἐκάλεσεν ὄφιν. οὕτω τὸ εἰκὸς ἔχει καὶ τῇ Ἀντινόῃ τὸν ἡγεμόνα γενέσθαι δράκοντα.

Proper Nouns:

Λῆμνος Τρῶες Φιλοκτήτης Ἀντινόη Ἕλληνες Ὅμηρος

If one must judge by the verses of Homer and use them as evidence, I am convinced that this "serpent" was a dragon. For concerning Philoctetes, when Homer describes in the Catalogue of Ships how the Greeks abandoned him in his suffering on Lemnos due to his wound, he does not designate the water-serpent as an "ophis"; yet the dragon sent by the eagle against the Trojans he calls precisely an ophis. Thus it is reasonable to suppose also that the guardian spirit at Antinoe was a dragon.

Passage 8.8.6 Class: Non-skeptical

Μαντινεῖς δὲ μάχην μὲν τὴν ἐν Διπαιεῦσιν οὐκ ἐμαχέσαντο πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους μετὰ Ἀρκάδων τῶν ἄλλων, ἐν δὲ τῷ Πελοποννησίων καὶ Ἀθηναίων πολέμῳ συνέστησαν ἐπὶ Λακεδαιμονίους μετὰ Ἠλείων, καὶ παραγενομένου συμμαχικοῦ σφισιν ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἐναντία ἐμαχέσαντο· μετέσχον δὲ καὶ τοῦ ἐς Σικελίαν στόλου κατὰ Ἀθηναίων φιλίαν.

Proper Nouns:

Διπαῖον Λακεδαιμόνιοι Μαντινεῖς Πελοπόννησος Σικελία Ἀθηναῖοι Ἀθῆναι Ἀρκάδες Ἠλεῖοι

The Mantineans did not fight in the battle at Dipaea together with the other Arcadians against the Lacedaemonians; however, during the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians, they allied themselves with the Eleans against the Lacedaemonians. When reinforcements arrived from Athens to support them, they fought directly against the Lacedaemonians. They also participated in the expedition to Sicily out of friendship toward the Athenians.

Passage 8.8.7 Class: Non-skeptical

χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον Λακεδαιμονίων στρατιὰ καὶ Ἀγησίπολις ὁ Παυσανίου βασιλεὺς ἐσέβαλον ἐς τὴν Μαντινικήν. ὡς δὲ ἐκράτησεν ὁ Ἀγησίπολις τῇ μάχῃ καὶ ἐς τὸ τεῖχος κατέκλεισε τοὺς Μαντινέας, εἷλεν οὐ μετὰ πολὺ τὴν πόλιν, οὐ πολιορκίᾳ κατὰ τὸ ἰσχυρόν, τὸν δὲ Ὄφιν ποταμὸν ἀποστρέψας σφίσιν ἐς τὸ τεῖχος ὠμῆς ᾠκοδομημένον τῆς πλίνθου.

Proper Nouns:

Λακεδαιμόνιοι Μαντινέες Μαντινική Παυσανίας Ἀγησίπολις Ὄφις

Sometime later, an army of the Lacedaemonians, along with Agesipolis, the son of Pausanias their king, invaded Mantinean territory. When Agesipolis prevailed in battle and drove the Mantineans back within their walls, he shortly thereafter took the city, not through a siege against strong fortifications, but by diverting the course of the river Ophis toward their wall, which had been built out of unbaked bricks.

Passage 8.8.8 Class: Non-skeptical

ἐς μὲν δὴ μηχανημάτων ἐμβολὴν ἀσφάλειαν ἡ πλίνθος παρέχεται μᾶλλον ἢ ὁπόσα λίθου πεποιημένα ἐστίν· οἱ μὲν γὰρ κατάγνυνταί τε καὶ ἐκπηδῶσιν ἐκ τῶν ἁρμονιῶν, ἡ δὲ πλίνθος ἐκ μηχανημάτων μὲν οὐχ ὁμοίως πονεῖ, διαλύεται δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος οὐχ ἧσσον ἢ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου κηρός.

Brickwork offers more security against siege-engines than structures made from stone; for stone blocks break apart and leap from their joints, while bricks do not suffer similarly from siege-engines. Yet brick dissolves in water no less easily than wax does in the sun.

Passage 8.8.9 Class: Skeptical

τοῦτο οὐκ Ἀγησίπολις τὸ στρατήγημα ἐς τὸ τεῖχος τῶν Μαντινέων ἐστὶν ὁ συνείς, ἀλλὰ πρότερον ἔτι Κίμωνι ἐξευρέθη τῷ Μιλτιάδου Βόγην πολιορκοῦντι ἄνδρα Μῆδον καὶ ὅσοι Περσῶν Ἠιόνα τὴν ἐπὶ Στρυμόνι εἶχον· Ἀγησίπολις δὲ καθεστηκὸς καὶ ᾀδόμενον ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων ἐμιμήσατο. ὡς δὲ εἷλε τὴν Μαντίνειαν, ὀλίγον μέν τι κατέλιπεν οἰκεῖσθαι, τὸ πλεῖστον δὲ ἐς ἔδαφος καταβαλὼν αὐτῆς κατὰ κώμας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους διῴκισε.

Proper Nouns:

Βόγης Κίμων Μαντίνεια Μαντίνεια Μιλτιάδης Μῆδος Πέρσαι Στρυμών Ἀγησίπολις Ἕλληνες Ἠϊών

This stratagem for capturing the wall of Mantineia was not devised by Agesipolis; rather, it had earlier been discovered by Cimon, son of Miltiades, when he besieged Boges, a Mede, and the Persian forces occupying Eion on the Strymon. Agesipolis merely imitated a tactic already established and celebrated among the Greeks. After he had taken Mantineia, he allowed only a small portion of the city to remain inhabited; the greater part he razed entirely to the ground and dispersed the inhabitants, settling them in separate villages.

Passage 8.8.10 Class: Non-skeptical

Μαντινέας δὲ ἐκ τῶν κωμῶν κατάξειν ἐς τὴν πατρίδα ἔμελλον Θηβαῖοι μετὰ τὸ ἔργον τὸ ἐν Λεύκτροις. κατελθόντες δὲ οὐ τὰ πάντα ἐγένοντο δίκαιοι· περιληφθέντες δὲ ἐπικηρυκευόμενοι Λακεδαιμονίοις καὶ εἰρήνην ἰδίᾳ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἄνευ τοῦ Ἀρκάδων κοινοῦ πράσσοντες, οὕτω διὰ τὸ δέος τῶν Θηβαίων ἐς τὴν Λακεδαιμονίων συμμαχίαν μετεβάλοντο ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ, καὶ τῆς Μαντινικῆς πρὸς Ἐπαμινώνδαν καὶ Θηβαίους μάχης Λακεδαιμονίων γινομένης ὁμοῦ τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις ἐτάξαντο οἱ Μαντινεῖς.

Proper Nouns:

Θηβαῖοι Θηβαῖοι Θηβαῖοι Λακεδαιμόνιοι Λακεδαιμόνιοι Λεῦκτρα Μαντινέα Μαντινεῖς Μαντινική Ἀρκάδες Ἐπαμινώνδας

After their victory at Leuctra, the Thebans intended to bring back the Mantineans from the villages into their city. But once the Mantineans had returned, they did not behave altogether justly; instead, caught negotiating secretly with the Lacedaemonians and privately arranging a peace with them independently of the Arcadian League, out of fear of the Thebans, they openly transferred their alliance to the Spartans. Thus, during the confrontation at Mantineia between Epaminondas and the Thebans against the Spartans, the Mantineans formed ranks together with the Spartans.

Passage 8.8.11 Class: Non-skeptical

τούτων δὲ ὕστερον διαφορὰ ἐγένετο Μαντινεῦσιν ἐς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους, καὶ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν μετέστησαν ἐς τὸ Ἀχαϊκόν· καὶ Ἆγιν τὸν Εὐδαμίδου βασιλεύοντα ἐν Σπάρτῃ νικῶσιν ἀμύνοντες τῇ σφετέρᾳ, νικῶσι δὲ προσλαβόντες Ἀχαιῶν στρατιὰν καὶ Ἄρατον ἡγεμόνα ἐπʼ αὐτῇ. μετέσχον δὲ καὶ πρὸς Κλεομένην τοῦ ἔργου τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς καὶ συγκαθεῖλον Λακεδαιμονίων τὴν ἰσχύν. Ἀντιγόνου δὲ ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ Φίλιππον τὸν Περσέως πατέρα ἔτι παῖδα ἐπιτροπεύοντος καὶ Ἀχαιοῖς ἐς τὰ μάλιστα ὄντος ἐπιτηδείου, ἄλλα τε ἐς τιμὴν αὐτοῦ Μαντινεῦσιν ἐποιήθη καὶ ὄνομα τῇ πόλει μετέθεντο Ἀντιγόνειαν.

Proper Nouns:

Κλεομένης Λακεδαιμόνιοι Λακεδαιμόνιοι Μακεδονία Μαντίνεια Περσεύς Σπάρτη Φίλιππος Ἀντίγονος Ἀντιγόνεια Ἀχαιοὶ Ἀχαιοὶ Ἀχαϊκόν Ἄρατος Ἆγις

Afterward, the Mantineans came into dispute with the Lacedaemonians and deserted them, joining the Achaean League. While defending their territory, they defeated Agis, son of Eudamidas, then king at Sparta, prevailing with the aid of an Achaean army under the leadership of Aratus. They also took part with the Achaeans in the struggle against Cleomenes, and together they broke the power of the Lacedaemonians. At the time when Antigonus was guardian of Philip, the son of Perseus' father, in Macedonia, and particularly friendly toward the Achaeans, among other honors shown to Antigonus, the Mantineans renamed their city Antigoneia.

Passage 8.8.12 Class: Skeptical

χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον Αὐγούστου πρὸς τῇ ἄκρᾳ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τοῦ Ἀκτίου ναυμαχήσειν μέλλοντος Μαντινεῖς ἐμαχέσαντο ὁμοῦ Ῥωμαίοις, τὸ δὲ ἄλλο Ἀρκαδικὸν συνετάχθησαν Ἀντωνίῳ, κατʼ ἄλλο μὲν ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν οὐδέν, ὅτι δὲ ἐφρόνουν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τὰ Αὐγούστου. δέκα δὲ ὕστερον γενεαῖς ἐβασίλευσέ τε Ἀδριανὸς καὶ ἀφελὼν Μαντινεῦσι τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἐκ Μακεδονίας ἐπακτὸν ἀπέδωκεν αὖθις Μαντίνειαν καλεῖσθαί σφισι τὴν πόλιν.

Proper Nouns:

Αὔγουστος Λακεδαιμόνιοι Μακεδονία Μαντίνεια Μαντινεύς Μαντινεύς Ἀντώνιος Ἀπόλλων Ἀρκάδες Ἁδριανός Ἄκτιον Ῥωμαῖοι

Some time later, when Augustus was about to engage in naval battle at Actium near the promontory of Apollo Actius, the Mantineans fought alongside the Romans, whereas the rest of Arcadia supported Antony—not, as it seems to me, for any other reason than that the Lacedaemonians favored Augustus. Ten generations afterward, Hadrian became emperor; he removed from the Mantineans the name brought from Macedonia and restored to them once again their city’s original name, Mantineia.

Legend:

Chapter 8.8