Passage 4.14.5
ἐς τιμωρίας δὲ ἃς ὕβριζον ἐς τοὺς Μεσσηνίους, Τυρταίῳ πεποιημένα ἐστὶν ὥσπερ ὄνοι μεγάλοις ἄχθεσι τειρόμενοι, δεσποσύνοισι φέροντες ἀναγκαίης ὑπὸ λυγρῆς ἥμισυ πᾶν ὅσσων καρπὸν ἄρουρα φέρει. Tyrtaeus, unknown location. ὅτι δὲ καὶ συμπενθεῖν ἔκειτο αὐτοῖς ἀνάγκη, δεδήλωκεν ἐν τῷδε· δεσπότας οἰμώζοντες, ὁμῶς ἄλοχοί τε καὶ αὐτοί, εὖτέ τινʼ οὐλομένη μοῖρα κίχοι θανάτου. Tyrtaeus, unknown location.
Regarding the punishments and outrages they inflicted upon the Messenians, the following verses composed by Tyrtaeus exist: "Like asses oppressed by great burdens, under harsh necessity, they bore to their masters half of all that the land yields as fruit." And that they were compelled even to join in mourning with their masters, he makes clear in these lines also: "Lamenting their lords, along with their own wives, whenever destructive fate brought death upon any."