Pausanias Analysis

Passage 1.9.8

← 1.9.7 1.10.1 →

Passage 1.9.8: Lysimachus destroys Cardia and founds Lysimacheia

Historical Skeptical

Greek Text

τὰ δὲ ἐντεῦθεν ἐμοί ἐστιν οὐ πιστά, Ἱερώνυμος δὲ ἔγραψε Καρδιανὸς Λυσίμαχον τὰς θήκας τῶν νεκρῶν ἀνελόντα τὰ ὀστᾶ ἐκρῖψαι. ὁ δὲ Ἱερώνυμος οὗτος ἔχει μὲν καὶ ἄλλως δόξαν πρὸς ἀπέχθειαν γράψαι τῶν βασιλέων πλὴν Ἀντιγόνου, τούτῳ δὲ οὐ δικαίως χαρίζεσθαι· τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς τάφοις τῶν Ἠπειρωτῶν παντάπασίν ἐστι φανερὸς ἐπηρείᾳ συνθείς, ἄνδρα Μακεδόνα θήκας νεκρῶν ἀνελεῖν. χωρὶς δὲ ἠπίστατο δή που καὶ Λυσίμαχος οὐ Πύρρου σφᾶς προγόνους μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοὺς αὐτοὺς τούτους ὄντας· καὶ γὰρ Ἀλέξανδρος Ἠπειρώτης τε ἦν καὶ τῶν Αἰακιδῶν τὰ πρὸς μητρός, ἥ τε ὕστερον Πύρρου πρὸς Λυσίμαχον συμμαχία δηλοῖ καὶ πολεμήσασιν ἀδιάλλακτόν γε οὐδὲν πρὸς ἀλλήλους γενέσθαι σφίσι. τῷ δὲ Ἱερωνύμῳ τάχα μέν που καὶ ἄλλα ἦν ἐς Λυσίμαχον ἐγκλήματα, μέγιστον δὲ ὅτι τὴν Καρδιανῶν πόλιν ἀνελὼν Λυσιμάχειαν ἀντʼ αὐτῆς ᾤκισεν ἐπὶ τῷ ἰσθμῷ τῆς Θρᾳκίας χερρονήσου.

English Translation

From this point onward I myself find the account untrustworthy. However, Hieronymus of Cardia wrote that Lysimachus destroyed the tombs of the dead and cast their bones away. Now this Hieronymus generally has the reputation of writing hostile accounts against kings except Antigonus, whom he favors undeservedly. Concerning his statements about the tombs of the Epirotes, he is obviously inventing a slander, claiming that a Macedonian would defile the tombs of the dead. Surely even Lysimachus himself well knew that these men were ancestors not only of Pyrrhus but also of Alexander, for Alexander too was an Epirote through his mother and from the Aeacid family. Furthermore, the later alliance between Pyrrhus and Lysimachus itself demonstrates clearly that, despite their warfare, no irreconcilable enmity ever arose between them. Hieronymus presumably had other complaints against Lysimachus as well, but primarily he held it against him that he destroyed the Cardian city and founded Lysimacheia on the isthmus of the Thracian Chersonese in its place.

Proper Nouns

Aiakidai (Αἰακίδαι) person
Also in: 1.13.3
Lysimachus (Λυσίμαχος) person
Macedonian (Μακεδών) person
Pyrrhus (Πύρρος) person
Alexander (Ἀλέξανδρος) person
Epirote (Ἠπειρώτης) person
Also in: 2.21.4
Epirotes (Ἠπειρῶται) person
Hieronymos (Ἱερώνυμος) person
Thrace (Θρᾴκη) place Q41741
Cardian (Καρδιανός) place
Lysimachia (Λυσιμάχεια) place Q11931997
Also in: 1.16.2
← 1.9.7 1.10.1 →