Pausanias Analysis

Passage 4.14.4

← 4.14.3 4.14.5 →

Passage 4.14.4: Spartan-imposed terms on Messenia

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

τὰ δὲ ἐς αὐτοὺς Μεσσηνίους παρὰ Λακεδαιμονίων ἔσχεν οὕτως. πρῶτον μὲν αὐτοῖς ἐπάγουσιν ὅρκον μήτε ἀποστῆναί ποτε ἀπʼ αὐτῶν μήτε ἄλλο ἐργάσασθαι νεώτερον μηδέν· δεύτερα δὲ φόρον μὲν οὐδένα ἐπέταξαν εἰρημένον, οἳ δὲ τῶν γεωργουμένων τροφῶν σφισιν ἀπέφερον ἐς Σπάρτην πάντων τὰ ἡμίσεα. προείρητο δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς ἐκφορὰς τῶν βασιλέων καὶ ἄλλων τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ ἄνδρας ἐκ τῆς Μεσσηνίας καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας ἐν ἐσθῆτι ἥκειν μελαίνῃ· καὶ τοῖς παραβᾶσιν ἐπέκειτο ποινή.

English Translation

The conditions imposed upon the Messenians by the Lacedaemonians were as follows. First, they compelled them under oath never to revolt against them nor undertake any revolutionary action whatsoever. Second, although they prescribed no fixed tribute, the Messenians were to deliver half of all the produce yielded by their cultivated lands into Sparta. Furthermore, it was also decreed that, at the funerals of kings and other officials, men and women from Messenia must attend dressed in black clothing; and those who violated these conditions were subject to punishment.

Proper Nouns

Lacedaemonian (Λακεδαιμόνιος) person
Messenians (Μεσσήνιος) person
Messenia (Μεσσηνία) place Q1247159
Sparta (Σπάρτη) place Q5690 Pleiades
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