Pausanias Analysis

Passage 4.16.3

← 4.16.2 4.16.4 →

Passage 4.16.3: Aristomenes and his eighty Messenians defeat Anaxander's Spartan force.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

κατὰ δὲ αὐτὸν Ἀριστομένην εἶχεν οὕτω. λογάδες περὶ αὐτὸν ὀγδοήκοντα ἦσαν Μεσσηνίων, ἡλικίαν τε γεγονότες ἐκείνῳ τὴν αὐτὴν καὶ ἕκαστος προτετιμῆσθαι μεγάλως νομίζων ὅτι ἠξίωτο Ἀριστομένει συντετάχθαι· ἦσαν δὲ καὶ αἰσθέσθαι διʼ ὀλίγου δεινοὶ τά τε παρʼ ἀλλήλων καὶ μάλιστα ἐκείνου καὶ ἀρχομένου τι δρᾶν καὶ ἔτι μέλλοντος. οὗτοι μὲν πρῶτον καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ Ἀριστομένης πόνον εἶχον πολὺν κατʼ Ἀνάξανδρον καὶ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τεταγμένοι τοὺς ἀρίστους· λαμβάνοντες δὲ τραύματα ἀφειδῶς καὶ ἐς πᾶν προϊόντες ἀπονοίας τῷ τε χρόνῳ καὶ τοῖς τολμήμασιν ἐτρέψαντο τοὺς περὶ Ἀνάξανδρον.

English Translation

This was the situation around Aristomenes himself. He had chosen about eighty select Messenians around him, men who were of the same age as he, each of whom regarded it as a great honor to have been deemed worthy of serving alongside Aristomenes; and they were men notably quick to perceive one another's purposes and especially swift to grasp Aristomenes' intentions, whether he had just begun or was yet intending to act. At first these men, along with Aristomenes himself, had great difficulty, being matched against Anaxander and the elite of the Lacedaemonians; but disregarding wounds and carrying their reckless daring to every extreme, they finally overcame Anaxander's forces through persistence and bravery.

Proper Nouns

Anaxandros (Ἀνάξανδρος) person
Aristomenes (Ἀριστομένης) person
Lacedaemonians (Λακεδαιμόνιοι) place Q16157161
Messenians (Μεσσήνιοι) place
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