Description of Greece

To complete my account of Arcadia I have only to describe the road from Megalopolis to Pallantium and Tegea, which also takes us as far as what is called the Dyke. On this road is a suburb named Ladoceia after Ladocus, the son of Echemus, and after it is the site of what was in old times the city of Haemoniae. Its founder was Haemon the son of Lycaon, and the name of the place has remained Haemoniae to this day.

After Haemoniae on the right of the road are some noteworthy remains of the city of Oresthasium, especially the pillars of a sanctuary of Artemis, which still are there. The surname of Artemis is Priestess. On the straight road from Haemoniae is a place called Aphrodisium, and after it another, called Athenaeum. On the left of it is a temple of Athena with a stone image in it.

About twenty stades away from Athenaeum are ruins of Asea, and the hill that once was the citadel has traces of fortifications to this day. Some five stades from Asea are the sources of the Alpheius and of the Eurotas, the former a little distance from the road, the latter just by the road itself. Near the source of the Alpheius is a temple of the Mother of the Gods without a roof, and two lions made of stone.

The waters of the Eurotas mingle with the Alpheius, and the united streams flow on for some twenty stades. Then they fall into a chasm, and the Eurotas comes again to the surface in the Lacedaemonian territory, the Alpheius at Pegae (Sources) in the land of Megalopolis. From Asea is an ascent up Mount Boreius, and on the top of the mountain are traces of a sanctuary. It is said that the sanctuary was built in honor of Athena Saviour and Poseidon by Odysseus after his return from Troy.

What is called the Dyke is the boundary between Megalopolis on the one hand and Tegea and Pallantium on the other. The plain of Pallantium you reach by turning aside to the left from the Dyke. In Pallantium is a temple with two stone images, one of Pallas, the other of Evander. There is also a sanctuary of the Maid, the daughter of Demeter, and not far away is a statue of Polybius. The hill above the city was of old used as a citadel. On the crest of the hill there still remains a sanctuary of certain gods.

Their surname is the Pure, and here it is customary to take the most solemn oaths. The names of the gods either they do not know, or knowing will not divulge; but it might be inferred that they were called Pure because Pallas did not sacrifice to them after the same fashion as his father sacrificed to Lycaean Zeus.

On the right of the so-called Dyke lies the Manthuric plain. The plain is on the borders of Tegea, stretching just about fifty stades to that city. On the right of the road is a small mountain called Mount Cresius, on which stands the sanctuary of Aphneius. For Ares, the Tegeans say, mated with Aerope, daughter of Cepheus, the son of Aleus.

She died in giving birth to a child, who clung to his mother even when she was dead, and sucked great abundance of milk from her breasts. Now this took place by the will of Ares, and because of it they name the god Aphneius (Abundant); but the name given to the hill was, it is said, Aeropus. There is on the way to Tegea a fountain called Leuconian. They say that Apheidas was the father of Leucone, and not far from Tegea is her tomb.

The Tegeans say that in the time of Tegeates, son of Lycaon, only the district got its name from him, and that the inhabitants dwelt in parishes, Gareatae, Phylacenses, Caryatae, Corythenses, Potachidae, Oeatae, Manthyrenses, Echeuethenses. But in the reign of Apheidas a ninth parish was added to them, namely Apheidantes. Of the modern city Aleus was founder.

Besides the exploits shared by the Tegeans with the Arcadians, which include the Trojan war, the Persian wars and the battle at Dipaea with the Lacedaemonians, the Tegeans have, besides the deeds already mentioned, the following claims of their own to fame. Ancaeus, the son of Lycurgus, though wounded, stood up to the Calydonian boar, which Atalanta shot at, being the first to hit the beast. For this feat she received, as a prize for valor, the head and hide of the boar.

When the Heracleidae returned to the Peloponnesus, Echemus, son of Aeropus, a Tegean, fought a duel with Hyllus, and overcame him in the fight. The Tegeans again were the first Arcadians to overcome Lacedaemonians; when invaded they defeated their enemies and took most of them prisoners.

The ancient sanctuary of Athena Alea was made for the Tegeans by Aleus. Later on the Tegeans set up for the goddess a large temple, worth seeing. The sanctuary was utterly destroyed by a fire which suddenly broke out when Diophantus was archon at Athens, in the second year of the ninety-sixth Olympiad, at which Eupolemus of Elis won the foot-race.

The modern temple is far superior to all other temples in the Peloponnesus on many grounds, especially for its size. Its first row of pillars is Doric, and the next to it Corinthian; also, outside the temple, stand pillars of the Ionic order. I discovered that its architect was Scopas the Parian, who made images in many places of ancient Greece, and some besides in Ionia and Caria.

On the front gable is the hunting of the Calydonian boar. The boar stands right in the center. On one side are Atalanta, Meleager, Theseus, Telamon, Peleus, Polydeuces, Iolaus, the partner in most of the labours of Heracles, and also the sons of Thestius, the brothers of Althaea, Prothous and Cometes.

On the other side of the boar is Epochus supporting Ancaeus who is now wounded and has dropped his axe; by his side is Castor, with Amphiaraus, the son of Oicles, next to whom is Hippothous, the son of Cercyon, son of Agamedes, son of Stymphalus. The last figure is Peirithous. On the gable at the back is a representation of Telephus fighting Achilles on the plain of the Caicus.

The ancient image of Athena Alea, and with it the tusks of the Calydonian boar, were carried away by the Roman emperor Augustus after his defeat of Antonius and his allies, among whom were all the Arcadians except the Mantineans.

It is clear that Augustus was not the first to carry away from the vanquished votive offerings and images of gods, but was only following an old precedent. For when Troy was taken and the Greeks were dividing up the spoils, Sthenelus the son of Capaneus was given the wooden image of Zeus Herceius (Of the Courtyard); and many years later, when Dorians were migrating to Sicily, Antiphemus the founder of Gela, after the sack of Omphace, a town of the Sicanians, removed to Gela an image made by Daedalus.

Xerxes, too, the son of Dareius, the king of Persia, apart from the spoil he carried away from the city of Athens, took besides, as we know, from Brauron the image of Brauronian Artemis, and furthermore, accusing the Milesians of cowardice in a naval engagement against the Athenians in Greek waters, carried away from them the bronze Apollo at Branchidae. This it was to be the lot of Seleucus afterwards to restore to the Milesians, but the Argives down to the present still retain the images they took from Tiryns; one, a wooden image, is by the Hera, the other is kept in the sanctuary of Lycian Apollo.

Again, the people of Cyzicus, compelling the people of Proconnesus by war to live at Cyzicus, took away from Proconnesus an image of Mother Dindymene. The image is of gold, and its face is made of hippopotamus teeth instead of ivory. So the emperor Augustus only followed a custom in vogue among the Greeks and barbarians from of old. The image of Athena Alea at Rome is as you enter the Forum made by Augustus.

Here then it has been set up, made throughout of ivory, the work of Endoeus. Those in charge of the curiosities say that one of the boar's tusks has broken off; the remaining one is kept in the gardens of the emperor, in a sanctuary of Dionysus, and is about half a fathom long.

The present image at Tegea was brought from the parish of Manthurenses, and among them it had the surname of Hippia (Horse Goddess). According to their account, when the battle of the gods and giants took place the goddess drove the chariot and horses against Enceladus. Yet this goddess too has come to receive the name of Alea among the Greeks generally and the Peloponnesians themselves. On one side of the image of Athena stands Asclepius, on the other Health, works of Scopas of Paros in Pentelic marble.

Of the votive offerings in the temple these are the most notable. There is the hide of the Calydonian boar, rotted by age and by now altogether without bristles. Hanging up are the fetters, except such as have been destroyed by rust, worn by the Lacedaemonian prisoners when they dug the plain of Tegea. There have been dedicated a sacred couch of Athena, a portrait painting of Auge, and the shield of Marpessa, surnamed Choera, a woman of Tegea;

of Marpessa I shall make mention later. The priest of Athena is a boy; I do not know how long his priesthood lasts, but it must be before, and not after, puberty. The altar for the goddess was made, they say, by Melampus, the son of Amythaon. Represented on the altar are Rhea and the nymph Oenoe holding the baby Zeus. On either side are four figures: on one, Glauce, Neda, Theisoa and Anthracia; on the other Ide, Hagno, Alcinoe and Phrixa. There are also images of the Muses and of Memory.

Not far from the temple is a stadium formed by a mound of earth, where they celebrate games, one festival called Aleaea after Athena, the other Halotia (Capture Festival) because they captured the greater part of the Lacedaemonians alive in the battle. To the north of the temple is a fountain, and at this fountain they say that Auge was outraged by Heracles, therein differing from the account of Auge in Hecataeus. Some three stades away from the fountain is a temple of Hermes Aepytus.

There is at Tegea another sanctuary of Athena, namely of Athena Poliatis (Keeper of the City) into which a priest enters once in each year. This sanctuary they name Eryma (Defence) saying that Cepheus, the son of Aleus, received from Athena a boon, that Tegea should never be captured while time shall endure, adding that the goddess cut off some of the hair of Medusa and gave it to him as a guard to the city.

Their story about Artemis, the same as is called Leader, is as follows. Aristomelidas, despot of Orchomenus in Arcadia, fell in love with a Tegean maiden, and, getting her somehow or other into his power, entrusted her to the keeping of Chronius. The girl, before she was delivered up to the despot, killed herself for fear and shame, and Artemis in a vision stirred up Chronius against Aristomelidas. He slew the despot, fled to Tegea, and made a sanctuary for Artemis.

The market-place is in shape very like a brick, and in it is a temple of Aphrodite called “in brick,” with a stone image. There are two slabs; on one are represented in relief Antiphanes, Crisus, Tyronidas and Pyrrhias, who made laws for the Tegeans, and down to this day receive honors for it from them. On the other slab is represented Iasius, holding a horse, and carrying in his right hand a branch of palm. It is said that Iasius won a horse-race at Olympia, at the time when Heracles the Theban celebrated the Olympian festival.

The reason why at Olympia the victor receives a crown of wild-olive I have already explained in my account of Elis; why at Delphi the crown is of bay I shall make plain later. At the Isthmus the pine, and at Nemea celery became the prize to commemorate the sufferings of Palaemon and Archemorus. At most games, however, is given a crown of palm, and at all a palm is placed in the right hand of the victor.

The origin of the custom is said to be that Theseus, on his return from Crete, held games in Delos in honor of Apollo, and crowned the victors with palm. Such, it is said, was the origin of the custom. The palm in Delos is mentioned by Homer in the passage where Odysseus supplicates the daughter of Alcinous.

There is also an image of Ares in the marketplace of Tegea. Carved in relief on a slab it is called Gynaecothoenas (He who entertains women). At the time of the Laconian war, when Charillus king of Lacedaemon made the first invasion, the women armed themselves and lay in ambush under the hill they call today Phylactris (Sentry Hill). When the armies met and the men on either side were performing many remarkable exploits,

the women, they say, came on the scene and put the Lacedaemonians to flight. Marpessa, surnamed Choera, surpassed, they say, the other women in daring, while Charillus himself was one of the Spartan prisoners. The story goes on to say that he was set free without ransom, swore to the Tegeans that the Lacedaemonians would never again attack Tegea, and then broke his oath; that the women offered to Ares a sacrifice of victory on their own account without the men, and gave to the men no share in the meat of the victim. For this reason Ares got his surname.

There is also an altar of Zeus Teleius (Full-grown), with a square image, a shape of which the Arcadians seem to me to be exceedingly fond. There are also here tombs of Tegeates, the son of Lycaon, and of Maera, the wife of Tegeates. They say that Maera was a daughter of Atlas, and Homer makes mention of her in the passage where Odysseus tells to Alcinous his journey to Hades, and of those whose ghosts he beheld there.

The Tegeans surname Eileithyia, a temple of whom, with art image, they have in their market-place, Auge on her knees, saying that Aleus handed over his daughter to Nauplius with the order to take and drown her in the sea. As she was being carried along, they say, she fell on her knees and so gave birth to her son, at the place where is the sanctuary of Eileithyia. This story is different from another, that Auge was brought to bed without her father's knowing it, and that Telephus was exposed on Mount Parthenius, the abandoned child being suckled by a deer. This account is equally current among the people of Tegea.

Close to the sanctuary of Eileithyia is an altar of Earth, next to which is a slab of white marble. On this is carved Polybius, the son of Lycortas, while on another slab is Elatus, one of the sons of Arcas.

Not far from the market-place is a theater, and near it are pedestals of bronze statues, but the statues themselves no longer exist. On one pedestal is an elegiac inscription that the statue is that of Philopoemen. The memory of this Philopoemen is most carefully cherished by the Greeks, both for the wisdom he showed and for his many brave achievements.

His father Craugis was as nobly born as any Arcadian of Megalopolis, but he died while Philopoemen was still a baby, and Cleander of Mantineia became his guardian. This man was an exile from Mantineia, resident in Megalopolis because of his misfortunes at home, and his house and that of Craugis had ties of guest-friendship. Among the teachers of Philopoemen, they say, were Megalophanes and Ecdelus, pupils, it is said, of Arcesilaus of Pitane.

In size and strength of body no Peloponnesian was his superior, but he was ugly of countenance. He scorned training for the prizes of the games, but he worked the land he owned and did not neglect to clear it of wild beasts. They say that he read books of scholars of repute among the Greeks, stories of wars, and all that taught him anything of strategy. He wished to model his whole life on Epaminondas, his wisdom and his achievements, but could not rise to his height in every respect. For the temper of Epaminondas was calm and, in particular, free from anger, but the Arcadian was somewhat passionate.

When Megalopolis was captured by Cleomenes, Philopoemen was not dismayed by the unexpected disaster, but led safely to Messene about two-thirds of the men of military age, along with the women and children, the Messenians being at that time friendly allies. To some of those who made good their escape Cleomenes offered terms, saying that he was beginning to repent his crime, and would treat with the Megalopolitans if they returned home; but Philopoemen induced the citizens at a meeting to win a return home by force of arms, and to refuse to negotiate or make a truce.

When the battle had joined with the Lacedaemonians under Cleomenes at Sellasia, in which Achaeans and Arcadians from all the cities took part, along with Antigonus at the head of a Macedonian army, Philopoemen served with the cavalry. But when he saw that the infantry would be the decisive factor in the engagement, he voluntarily fought on foot, showed conspicuous daring, and was pierced through both thighs by one of the enemy.

Although so seriously impeded, he bent in his knees and forced himself forward, so that he actually broke the spear by the movement of his legs. After the defeat of the Lacedaemonians under Cleomenes, Philopoemen returned to the camp, where the surgeons pulled out from one thigh the spike, from the other the blade. When Antigonus learned of his valor and saw it, he was anxious to take Philepoemen to Macedonia.

But Philopoemen was not likely to care much about Antigonus. Sailing across to Crete, where a civil war was raging, he put himself at the head of a band of mercenaries. Going back to Megalopolis, he was at once chosen by the Achaeans to command the cavalry, and he turned them into the finest cavalry in Greece. In the battle at the river Larisus between the Achaeans with their allies and the Eleans with the Aetolians, who were helping the Eleans on grounds of kinship, Philopoemen first killed with his own hand Demophantus, the leader of the opposing cavalry, and then turned to flight all the mounted troops of Aetolia and Elis.

As the Achaeans now turned their gaze on Philopoemen and placed in him all their hopes, he succeeded in changing the equipment of those serving in their infantry. They had been carrying short javelins and oblong shields after the fashion of the Celtic “door” or the Persian “wicker” Philopoemen, however, persuaded them to put on breast-plates and greaves, and also to use Argolic shields and long spears.

When Machanidas the upstart became despot of Lacedaemon, and war began once again between that city under Machanidas and the Achaeans, Philopoemen commanded the Achaean forces. A battle took place at Mantineia. The light troops of the Lacedaemonians overcame the light-armed of the Achaeans, and Machanidas pressed hard on the fugitives. Philopoemen, however, with the phalanx of infantry put to flight the Lacedaemonian men-at-arms, met Machanidas returning from the pursuit and killed him. The Lacedaemonians were unfortunate in the battle, but their good fortune more than compensated for their defeat, for they were delivered from their despot.

Not long afterwards the Argives celebrated the Nemean games, and Philopoemen chanced to be present at the competition of the harpists. Pylades, a man of Megalopolis, the most famous harpist of his time, who had won a Pythian victory, was then singing the Persians, an ode of Timotheus the Milesian. When he had begun the song:Who to Greece gives the great and glorious jewel of freedom,the audience of Greeks looked at Philopoemen and by their clapping signified that the song applied to him. I am told that a similar thing happened to Themistocles at Olympia, for the audience there rose to do him honor.

But Philip, the son of Demetrius, king of Macedonia, who poisoned Aratus of Sicyon, sent men to Megalopolis with orders to murder Philopoemen. The attempt failed, and Philip incurred the hatred of all Greece. The Thebans had defeated the Megarians in battle, and were already climbing the wall of Megara, when the Megarians deceived them into thinking that Philopoemen had come to Megara. This made the Thebans so cautious that they went away home, and abandoned their military operation.

In Lacedaemon another despot arose, Nabis, and the first of the Peloponnesians to be attacked by him were the Messenians. Coming upon them by night, when they by no means were expecting an assault, he took the city except the citadel; but when on the morrow Philopoemen arrived with an army, he evacuated Messene under a truce.

When Philopoemen's term of office as general expired, and others were chosen to be generals of the Achaeans, he again crossed to Crete and sided with the Gortynians, who were hard pressed in war. The Arcadians were wroth with him for his absence; so he returned from Crete and found that the Romans had begun a war against Nabis.

The Romans had equipped a fleet against Nabis, and Philopoemen was too enthusiastic to keep out of the quarrel. But being entirely ignorant of nautical affairs he unwittingly embarked on a leaky trireme, so that the Romans and their allies were reminded of the verses of Homer, where in the Catalogue he remarks on the ignorance of the Arcadians of nautical matters.

A few days after the sea-fight, Philopoemen and his band, waiting for a moonless night, burnt down the camp of the Lacedaemonians at Gythium. Thereupon Nabis caught Philopoemen himself and the Arcadians with him in a disadvantageous position. The Arcadians, though few in number, were good soldiers,

and Philopoemen, by changing the order of his line of retreat, caused the strongest positions to be to his advantage and not to that of his enemy. He overcame Nabis in the battle and massacred during the night many of the Lacedaemonians, so raising yet higher his reputation among the Greeks.

After this Nabis secured from the Romans a truce for a fixed period, but died before this period came to an end, being assassinated by a man of Calydon, who pretended that he had come about an alliance, but was in reality an enemy who had been sent for this very purpose of assassination by the Aetolians.

At this time Philopoemen flung himself into Sparta and forced her to join the Achaean League. Shortly afterwards Titus, the Roman commander in Greece, and Diophanes, the son of Diaeus, a Megalopolitan who had been elected general of the Achaeans, attacked Lacedaemon, accusing the Lacedaemonians of rebellion against the Romans. But Philopoemen, though at the time holding no office, shut the gates against them.