Description of Greece

​Then Pyrrhus, when he was defeated, put to sea for Tarentum with his remaining ships; there he met with a great setback, and secured his retreat—for he knew that the Romans would not let them go without a fight—in the following manner. When he was defeated upon his return from Sicily, he first sent letters both to Asia and to Antigonus, asking some of the kings for an army, others for money, and Antigonus for both; and when the messengers arrived and the letters were delivered to him, having gathered the officials of the Epirotes and the Tarentines, he read none of the letters he had, but said that an alliance would arrive. And quickly a rumor reached the Romans that Macedonians and other Asian nations were crossing over to Pyrrhus’ aid; so the Romans, hearing this, remained quiet, but Pyrrhus crossed over during the coming night to the peaks of the mountains which they call Ceraunia.

​And after the defeat in Italy, having rested his army, he declared war on Antigonus, making other accusations against him and especially the failure of aid to Italy. And having defeated the personal preparation of Antigonus and the mercenary force of Galatians with him, he drove him into the cities on the sea, while he himself gained control of upper Macedonia and the Thessalians. What shows most of all the size of the battle and Pyrrhus’ victory, that it was by far, are the arms of the Celts dedicated in the sanctuary of Itonian Athena between Pherae and Larisa, and the inscription upon them:

”These shields the Molossian Pyrrhus hung as a gift for Itonian Athena, from the bold Galatians, having destroyed all the army of Antigonus. No great marvel: the descendants of Aeacus are warriors both now and of old.” These indeed he dedicated there, but to Zeus in Dodona he dedicated the shields of the Macedonians themselves. And upon these also it is inscribed: “These once laid waste the golden land of Asia, these also brought slavery to the Greeks. But now by the pillars of Zeus’ temple they lie as abandoned spoils of proud Macedonia.” But that Pyrrhus did not entirely subdue the Macedonians, though he had come within a little of doing so, was due to Cleonymus, ​who was even otherwise readier to choose what was at hand. This Cleonymus, who persuaded Pyrrhus to abandon the affairs of the Macedonians and come to the Peloponnese, was a Lacedaemonian, but brought a hostile army into Lacedaemonian territory against them for a reason which I will make clear later when explaining the family of Cleonymus. To Pausanias, who led the Greeks at Plataea, Pleistoanax was born as a son, and to him Pausanias, and to him Cleombrotus, who died at Leuctra fighting against Epaminondas and the Thebans; and the sons of Cleombrotus were Agesipolis and Cleomenes, and when Agesipolis died childless, Cleomenes held the kingdom.