Pausanias Analysis

Passage 1.11.7

← 1.11.6 1.12.1 →

Passage 1.11.7: Pyrrhus, the first Greek to wage war against Rome.

Historical Skeptical

Greek Text

Ῥωμαίοις δὲ οὐδένα Πύρρου πρότερον πολεμήσαντα ἴσμεν Ἕλληνα. Διομήδει μὲν γὰρ καὶ Ἀργείων τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ οὐδεμίαν ἔτι γενέσθαι πρὸς Αἰνείαν λέγεται μάχην· Ἀθηναίοις δὲ ἄλλα τε πολλὰ ἐλπίσασι καὶ Ἰταλίαν πᾶσαν καταστρέψασθαι τὸ ἐν Συρακούσαις πταῖσμα ἐμποδὼν ἐγένετο μὴ καὶ Ῥωμαίων λαβεῖν πεῖραν· Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ ὁ Νεοπτολέμου, γένους τε ὢν Πύρρῳ τοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡλικίᾳ πρεσβύτερος, ἀποθανὼν ἐν Λευκανοῖς ἔφθη πρὶν ἐς χεῖρας ἐλθεῖν Ῥωμαίοις.

English Translation

As for the Romans, we know of no Greek who waged war against them before Pyrrhus. Indeed, it is said that no battle ever took place between Diomedes and his Argives and Aeneas thereafter, and although the Athenians, among their other great ambitions, hoped even to subdue all of Italy, the disaster at Syracuse prevented them from making trial of the Romans. Alexander, son of Neoptolemus—who belonged to the same family as Pyrrhus but was older in age—died in the land of the Lucanians before he could encounter the Romans in battle.

Proper Nouns

Aeneas (Αἰνείας) person
Diomedes (Διομήδης) person
Neoptolemus (Νεοπτόλεμος) person
Pyrrhus (Πύρρος) person
Athenians (Ἀθηναῖοι) person
Alexander (Ἀλέξανδρος) person
Argives (Ἀργεῖοι) person
Greeks (Ἕλλην) person
Leucanians (Λευκανοί) place Q1264391
Also in: 1.11.3
Syracuse (Συρακοῦσαι) place Q4420718
Italy (Ἰταλία) place Q913582
Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι) place Q1651392
← 1.11.6 1.12.1 →