Pausanias Analysis

Passage 6.18.4

← 6.18.3 6.18.5 →

Passage 6.18.4: Anaximenes urges the destruction of the Lampsacenes; Alexander reluctantly pardons them.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

ἔνθα δὴ εἶπεν Ἀναξιμένης· "χαρίσασθαι μοι τήνδε ὦ βασιλεῦ τὴν χάριν, ἐξανδραποδίσασθαι μὲν γυναῖκας καὶ τέκνα Λαμψακηνῶν, καταβαλεῖν δὲ καὶ ἐς ἔδαφος τὴν πόλιν πᾶσαν, τὰ δὲ ἱερὰ τῶν θεῶν σφισιν ἐμπρῆσαι" . ὁ μὲν ταῦτα ἔλεγεν, Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ οὔτε πρὸς τὸ σόφισμα ἀντιμηχανήσασθαί τι εὑρίσκων καὶ ἐνεχόμενος τῇ ἀνάγκῃ τοῦ ὅρκου συγγνώμην ἔνεμεν οὐκ ἐθέλων Λαμψακηνοῖς.

English Translation

Then indeed Anaximenes spoke thus: "Grant me, O king, this favor—to enslave the women and children of the Lampsacenes, to raze their entire city to the ground, and even to burn their sanctuaries of the gods." Thus was he speaking; and Alexander, unable to contrive anything against his stratagem, and bound by the necessity of his oath, unwillingly granted pardon to the Lampsacenes.

Proper Nouns

Alexander (Ἀλέξανδρος) person
Anaximenes (Ἀναξιμένης) person
Lampsacus (Λάμψακος) place Q1229422
Also in: 6.18.2 6.18.3
← 6.18.3 6.18.5 →