Pausanias Analysis

Passage 3.5.5

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Passage 3.5.5: Truce with Thebans to recover the fallen at Haliartus.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἔδεισεν οὖν ὁ Παυσανίας διπλοῦ στρατιωτικοῦ πολεμίων ἀνδρῶν μεταξὺ ἀποληφθῆναι, καὶ οὕτω σπονδάς τε πρὸς τοὺς Θηβαίους ἐποιήσατο καὶ τοὺς ὑπὸ τῷ Ἁλιαρτίων τείχει πεσόντας ἀνείλετο. τοῦτο Λακεδαιμονίοις μὲν ἐγένετο οὐ κατὰ γνώμην, ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπαινῶ τῶνδε ἕνεκα τὸ βούλευμα· ἅτε γὰρ εὖ εἰδὼς ὁ Παυσανίας ὡς τὰ σφάλματα ἀεὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις γίνονται ἐν μέσῳ πολεμίων ἀποληφθεῖσι, τό τε ἐν Θερμοπύλαις καὶ ἐν τῇ Σφακτηρίᾳ νήσῳ δεῖμα ἐποιήσατο μή σφισι καὶ αὐτὸς τρίτου γένηται κακοῦ πρόφασις.

English Translation

Therefore Pausanias feared being caught between two separate enemy forces, so he agreed upon a truce with the Thebans and recovered those who had fallen beneath the walls of Haliartus. This did not please the Lacedaemonians, but I praise this decision for the following reason: since Pausanias knew well that defeats for the Lacedaemonians always occurred when they became trapped among the enemy, he feared that, just as had happened at Thermopylae and on the island of Sphacteria, he himself might become the cause of a third disaster for them.

Proper Nouns

Thebans (Θηβαῖοι) people
Also in: 3.5.4 7.2.3
Lacedaemonians (Λακεδαιμόνιοι) people
Pausanias (Παυσανίας) person
Thermopylae (Θερμοπύλαι) place Q194450 Pleiades
Sphacteria (Σφακτηρία) place Q1303524
Haliartos (Ἁλίαρτος) place Q359627
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