Pausanias Analysis

Passage 7.8.5

← 7.8.4 7.8.6 →

Passage 7.8.5: Achaean League removes Sparta's walls and reforms Spartan youth customs.

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

καὶ σφᾶς ὑπὸ τὸν χρόνον οἱ Ἀχαιοὶ τοῦτον ἐς σύλλογον ὑπάγονται τὸν Ἀχαϊκὸν καὶ δίκας τε ἐδίκαζόν σφισιν ἐς τὸ ἀκριβέστατον καὶ τὰ τείχη τῆς Σπάρτης καταβάλλουσιν ἐς ἔδαφος, οἰκοδομηθέντα μὲν καὶ πρότερον ἔτι αὐτοσχεδίως καὶ ἐπί τε τῆς Δημητρίου καὶ ὕστερον τῆς Πύρρου καὶ Ἠπειρωτῶν στρατείας, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς τυραννίδος τῆς Νάβιδος καὶ ἐς τὸ ἀσφαλέστατον ὀχυρωθέντα. τά τε οὖν τείχη τῆς Σπάρτης οἱ Ἀχαιοὶ καθεῖλον καὶ τὰ ἐς μελέτην τοῖς ἐφήβοις ἐκ τῶν Λυκούργου νόμων καταλύσαντες ἐπέταξαν τοῖς Ἀχαιῶν ἐφήβοις τὰ αὐτὰ ἐπιτηδεύειν.

English Translation

Around this time the Achaeans brought them into the Achaean League assembly, judged their legal cases with the utmost strictness, and demolished completely the walls of Sparta—walls that had previously been hastily built during the campaigns of Demetrios and later again during those of Pyrrhus and the Epeirotes, and had been especially strengthened and fortified securely under the tyranny of Nabis. Thus the Achaeans tore down the city walls, abolished the athletic practices for youth established by the laws of Lycurgus, and compelled the Spartan youths to adopt instead the same customs used by the youths of Achaea.

Proper Nouns

Achaean League (Ἀχαϊκός σύλλογος) other
Demetrius (Δημήτριος) person
Lycurgus (Λυκοῦργος) person
Nabis (Νάβις) person
Pyrrhus (Πύρρος) person
Achaeans (Ἀχαιοί) person
Epirotes (Ἠπειρῶται) person
Sparta (Σπάρτη) place Q5690 Pleiades
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