Pausanias Analysis

Passage 5.23.3

← 5.23.2 5.23.4 →

Passage 5.23.3: Deserted Greek cities: Mycenae, Tiryns, Ambracia, Anactorium, Potidaea/Cassandreia

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

τούτων τῶν πόλεων τοσαίδε ἦσαν ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἔρημοι· Μυκηναῖοι μὲν καὶ Τιρύνθιοι ὑπὸ τῶν Μηδικῶν ὕστερον ἐγένοντο ὑπὸ Ἀργείων ἀνάστατοι· Ἀμβρακιώτας δὲ καὶ Ἀνακτορίους ἀποίκους Κορινθίων ὄντας ἐπηγάγετο ὁ Ῥωμαίων βασιλεὺς ἐς Νικοπόλεως συνοικισμὸν πρὸς τῷ Ἀκτίῳ· Ποτιδαιάτας δὲ δὶς μὲν ἐπέλαβεν ἀναστάτους ἐκ τῆς σφετέρας ὑπὸ Φιλίππου τε γενέσθαι τοῦ Ἀμύντου καὶ πρότερον ἔτι ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων, χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον Κάσσανδρος κατήγαγε μὲν Ποτιδαιάτας ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα, ὄνομα δὲ οὐ τὸ ἀρχαῖον τῇ πόλει, Κασσάνδρεια δὲ ἐγένετο ἀπὸ τοῦ οἰκιστοῦ. τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ τὸ ἀνατεθὲν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐποίησεν Ἀναξαγόρας Αἰγινήτης· τοῦτον οἱ συγγράψαντες τὰ ἐς Πλαταιὰς παριᾶσιν ἐν τοῖς λόγοις.

English Translation

Of these cities, the following were deserted in my own time: Mycenae and Tiryns were first reduced in strength by the Persian wars and later utterly destroyed by the Argives; the people of Ambracia and Anactorium, colonies originally founded by the Corinthians, were removed by the emperor of the Romans and gathered together in the settlement of Nicopolis near Actium. As for Potidaea, it twice suffered depopulation: once when captured by Philip the son of Amyntas, after having previously been taken by the Athenians. Later Cassander restored the inhabitants to their homes, though no longer under the city's original name; instead, it was called Cassandreia after its founder. The statue at Olympia, dedicated by the Greeks, was made by Anaxagoras of Aegina; yet the historians who have written accounts of Plataea omit him from their narratives.

Proper Nouns

Aeginetan (Αἰγινήτης) person
Cassander (Κάσσανδρος) person
Corinthians (Κορίνθιοι) person
Mycenaeans (Μυκηναῖοι) person
Medes (Μῆδοι) person
Potidaeans (Ποτιδαιᾶται) person
Also in: 10.11.5
Tirynthians (Τιρύνθιοι) person
Philip (Φίλιππος) person
Athenians (Ἀθηναῖοι) person
Ambraciotes (Ἀμβρακιῶται) person
Amyntas (Ἀμύντας) person
Anactorians (Ἀνακτόριοι) person
Anaxagoras (Ἀναξαγόρας) person
Also in: 2.18.4 2.18.5
Argives (Ἀργεῖοι) person
Hellenes (Ἕλληνες) person
Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι) person
Cassandreia (Κασσάνδρεια) place Q81248
Also in: 4.5.4
Nicopolis (Νικόπολις) place Q943637
Plataea (Πλαταιαί) place Q742538
Actium (Ἄκτιον) place Q21570423 Pleiades
Olympia (Ὀλυμπία) place Q38888 Pleiades
← 5.23.2 5.23.4 →