- Source
- Pausanias. Pausaniae Graeciae descriptio, Volumes 1-3. Spiro, Friedrich, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.9.1-7.9.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
A diplomatic conflict arises between the Roman embassies (led by Metellus and Appius) and the Achaean League over the restoration of Spartan exiles, ultimately forcing the Achaeans to yield under Roman pressure.
τότε δὲ τῷ Μετέλλῳ καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ πρεσβείᾳ μὴ ὑπεριδεῖν Λακεδαιμονίων ἤρεσε καὶ Ἀχαιῶν,1 τοὺς δὲ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἔχοντας ἐς τὸ συνέδριον ἠξίουν συγκαλέσαι τοὺς Ἀχαιούς, ἵνα ἐν κοινῷ διδάξωσιν αὐτοὺς ἠπιώτερον μεταχειρίζεσθαι τὰ ἐν Λακεδαίμονι. οἱ δέ σφισιν ἀπεκρίναντο μήτε ἐκείνοις Ἀχαιοὺς ἐς σύλλογον μήτε ἄλλῳ συνάξειν, ὅστις μὴ ἐπὶ τῷ πράγματι ἐφʼ ὅτῳ ποιεῖται τὴν πρόσοδον παρὰ τῆς Ῥωμαίων βουλῆς ἔχει δόγμα. Μέτελλος δὲ καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν περιυβρίσθαι νομίζοντες, ἐπειδὴ ἀφίκοντο ἐς Ῥώμην, πολλὰ ἐπὶ τῆς βουλῆς καὶ οὐ τὰ πάντα ἀληθῆ κατηγόρουν τῶν Ἀχαιῶν.
At that time, Metellus and the other embassy decided not to overlook the Lacedaemonians; and of the Achaeans, they requested those holding office to summon the Achaeans to the council, so that they might instruct them in public to handle the affairs in Lacedaemon more mildly. But they replied to them that the Achaeans would assemble a council neither for them nor for anyone else who did not possess a decree from the Roman Senate concerning the matter for which they made their approach. Metellus and his companions, thinking they had been deeply insulted by the Achaeans, when they arrived in Rome, made many accusations against the Achaeans before the Senate, not all of them true.
τούτων δὲ πλείονα ἐνεκάλουν Ἀχαιοῖς Ἀρεὺς καὶ Ἀλκιβιάδας, Λακεδαιμόνιοι μὲν καὶ δόκιμοι τὰ μάλιστα ἐν τῇ Σπάρτῃ, τὰ δὲ ἐς Ἀχαιοὺς οὐ δίκαιοι· γενομένους γὰρ ὑπὸ Νάβιδος φυγάδας ὑπεδέξαντο αὐτοὺς οἱ Ἀχαιοὶ καὶ ἀποθανόντος Νάβιδος παρὰ γνώμην Λακεδαιμονίων τοῦ δήμου κατάγουσιν ἐς Σπάρτην. τότε οὖν ἀναβεβηκότες καὶ οὗτοι παρὰ τὴν βουλὴν προθυμότατα ἐνέκειντο Ἀχαιοῖς· Ἀχαιοὶ δέ σφισιν ἀπελθοῦσιν ἐπιβάλλουσιν ἐν τῷ συνεδρίῳ θάνατον ζημίαν.
But Areus and Alcibiades brought even more charges than these against the Achaeans, men who were Lacedaemonians and highly esteemed in Sparta, but unjust in their conduct toward the Achaeans; for when they had been made exiles by Nabis, the Achaeans received them, and after Nabis died, they restored them to Sparta against the will of the Lacedaemonian populace. So at that time, these men also, having gone up to the Senate, attacked the Achaeans most eagerly; and the Achaeans, in their council, imposed the death penalty upon them for having departed.
Ῥωμαίων δὲ ἡ βουλὴ πέμπουσιν ἄλλους τε ἄνδρας καὶ Ἄππιον Λακεδαιμονίοις καὶ Ἀχαιοῖς τὰ δίκαια ὁρίσαι. Ἄππιος δὲ καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ ἔμελλον μὲν οὐδὲ ὀφθέντες Ἀχαιοῖς ἔσεσθαι καθʼ ἡδονήν, οἳ Ἀρέα καὶ Ἀλκιβιάδαν ἅμʼ αὐτοῖς ἐπήγοντο ἐν τῷ τότε Ἀχαιοῖς ἐχθίστους· ἐλύπησαν δὲ καὶ ἐς πλέον τοὺς Ἀχαιούς, ἐπειδὴ ἐς τὸν σύλλογον αὐτῶν ἐπελθόντες σὺν ὀργῇ μᾶλλον ἐποιοῦντο ἢ πειθοῖ τοὺς λόγους.
The Roman Senate sent other men, and especially Appius, to arbitrate the rights between the Lacedaemonians and the Achaeans. Appius and his companions were not likely to be pleasing to the Achaeans even at first sight, since they brought along with them Areus and Alcibiades, who were at that time most hateful to the Achaeans; and they vexed the Achaeans even further, when, coming before their assembly, they made their speeches with anger rather than persuasion.
Λυκόρτας δὲ ὁ Μεγαλοπολίτης, οὔτε ἀξιώματι οὐδενὸς Ἀρκάδων ὕστερος καί τι καὶ φρόνημα κατὰ φιλίαν προσειληφὼς τὴν Φιλοποίμενος, λόγῳ τε ἀπέφαινε τὰ ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν δίκαια καὶ ὁμοῦ τοῖς λόγοις καὶ μέμψιν τινὰ ὑπέτεινεν ἐς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους. Ἄππιος δὲ καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ Λυκόρταν λέγοντα ἐποιοῦντο ἐν χλευασμῷ καὶ Ἀρέως ἀποψηφίζονται καὶ Ἀλκιβιάδα μηδὲν ἀδίκημα ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐς Ἀχαιοὺς εἶναι, Λακεδαιμονίοις τε ἀποστεῖλαι πρέσβεις ἐφιᾶσιν ἐς Ῥώμην, ἐναντία ἐφιέντες ἢ Ῥωμαίοις συγκείμενα ἦν καὶ Ἀχαιοῖς· Ἀχαιῶν μὲν γὰρ εἴρητο ἀπὸ τοῦ κοινοῦ παρὰ τὴν Ῥωμαίων βουλὴν ἀπιέναι πρέσβεις, ἰδίᾳ δὲ ἀπείρητο μὴ πρεσβεύεσθαι2 τὰς πόλεις ὅσαι συνεδρίου τοῦ Ἀχαιῶν μετεῖχον.
But Lycortas of Megalopolis, who was second to none of the Arcadians in dignity and had also acquired a certain pride through his friendship with Philopoemen, set forth in speech the justice on behalf of the Achaeans, and together with his words, he also insinuated a certain censure against the Romans. But Appius and those with him held Lycortas’ speech in derision, and they acquitted Areus and Alcibiades, deciding that no wrong had been committed by them against the Achaeans, and they permitted the Lacedaemonians to send ambassadors to Rome, permitting things contrary to what had been agreed between the Romans and the Achaeans; for it had been agreed that ambassadors from the Achaeans should go to the Roman Senate from the league as a whole, but it was individually forbidden for any of the cities that shared in the Achaean council to send embassies on their own.
ἀντιπρεσβευσαμένων δὲ καὶ Ἀχαιῶν Λακεδαιμονίοις καὶ λόγων ῥηθέντων ὑπὸ ἀμφοτέρων ἐπὶ τῆς βουλῆς, τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀποστέλλουσιν αὖθις οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι Λακεδαιμονίοις γενέσθαι καὶ Ἀχαιοῖς δικαστάς, Ἄππιον καὶ ὅσοι σὺν ἐκείνῳ πρότερον ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἀφίκοντο. οἱ δὲ τούς τε ἐκβληθέντας ὑπὸ Ἀχαιῶν κατάγουσιν ἐς Σπάρτην καὶ ὅσων πρὸ κρίσεως ἀπελθόντων κατέγνωστο ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἀδικεῖν, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις τιμήματα ἔλυσαν· καὶ συντελείας μὲν Λακεδαιμονίους τῆς ἐς τὸ Ἀχαϊκὸν οὐκ ἀφιᾶσι, περὶ δὲ τῇ ἑκάστου ψυχῇ ξενικά σφισι διδόασιν εἶναι δικαστήρια, ὅσα δὲ ἄλλα ἐγκλήματα, λαμβάνειν τε αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἀχαϊκῷ ὑπέχειν τὰς κρίσεις. ἐτειχίσθη δὲ καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὖθις Σπαρτιάταις ὁ κύκλος τοῦ ἄστεως.
When the Achaeans also sent a counter-embassy against the Lacedaemonians, and speeches had been made by both sides before the Senate, the Romans sent back the same men to be judges for the Lacedaemonians and the Achaeans, namely Appius and those who had previously arrived in Greece with him. And they restored to Sparta both those who had been expelled by the Achaeans and those who, having departed before trial, had been condemned by the Achaeans for wrongdoing, and they remitted the penalties imposed on them; and although they did not release the Lacedaemonians from their contribution to the Achaean League, they granted them that for cases concerning the life of each individual, there should be foreign courts, but as for all other charges, they themselves should receive and submit to judgments within the Achaean League. And the circuit wall of the city was also built again from the foundation for the Spartans.
Λακεδαιμονίων δὲ οἱ κατελθόντες, βουλεύοντες παντοῖα ἐπὶ Ἀχαιοῖς, λυπήσειν σφᾶς ἐπὶ τοιῷδε μάλιστα ἤλπιζον. Μεσσηνίους τοὺς Φιλοποίμενι θανάτου συναιτίους γενέσθαι νομισθέντας καὶ κατὰ τὴν αἰτίαν ταύτην ὑπὸ Ἀχαιῶν ἐκπεπτωκότας, τούτους τε καὶ Ἀχαιῶν αὐτῶν τοὺς φεύγοντας ἀναβῆναι πείθουσιν ἐς Ῥώμην· σὺν δέ σφισιν ἀνεληλυθότες καὶ αὐτοὶ γενέσθαι τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἔπρασσον κάθοδον. ἅτε δὲ τοῦ Ἀππίου Λακεδαιμονίοις συμπροθυμουμένου μεγάλως, Ἀχαιοῖς δὲ ἐπὶ παντὶ ἀντιβαίνοντος, ἔμελλεν οὐ χαλεπῶς Μεσσηνίων καὶ Ἀχαιῶν τοῖς φεύγουσι τὰ βουλεύματα ἐς δέον χωρήσειν· γράμματά τε αὐτίκα ὑπὸ τῆς βουλῆς ἔς τε Ἀθήνας κατεπέμπετο καὶ ἐς Αἰτωλίαν κατάγειν σφᾶς Μεσσηνίους καὶ Ἀχαιοὺς ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα.
But the restored Lacedaemonians, plotting all kinds of things against the Achaeans, hoped to vex them most of all by the following scheme. They persuaded the Messenians who were deemed to have been accomplices in the death of Philopoemen and had been expelled by the Achaeans on this charge, and also the exiles of the Achaeans themselves, to go up to Rome; and having gone up along with them, they themselves also worked to bring about a return for these men. Since Appius was showing great eagerness on behalf of the Lacedaemonians and opposing the Achaeans in everything, the plans of the exiled Messenians and Achaeans were likely to succeed without difficulty; and letters were immediately sent down by the Senate both to Athens and to Aetolia to restore the Messenians and Achaeans to their homes.
τοῦτο Ἀχαιοὺς ἐς τὰ μάλιστα ἠνίασεν, ὡς οὔτε ἄλλως πάσχοντας δίκαια ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων καὶ ἐς τὸ ἀνωφελὲς προϋπηργμένων3 σφίσιν ἐς αὐτούς, οἳ ἐπὶ τὰ Φιλίππου καὶ Αἰτωλῶν ἐναντία καὶ αὖθις Ἀντιόχου στρατεύσαντες χάριτι τῇ ἐς Ῥωμαίους ἐγίνοντο ὕστεροι φυγάδων ἀνθρώπων καὶ οὐ καθαρῶν χεῖρας· ὅμως δὲ εἴκειν σφίσιν ἐδόκει.
This vexed the Achaeans to the utmost, as they felt they were receiving no justice from the Romans in general, and that their past services to them had been rendered in vain—they who, having campaigned against Philip and the Aetolians, and again against Antiochus, out of goodwill toward the Romans, were now placed behind exiled men whose hands were not clean; nevertheless, they decided to yield.
- 7.9.1καὶ Ἀχαιῶν
A partitive genitive modifying the following phrase τοὺς δὲ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἔχοντας ('those holding office'). While it could syntactically be taken as parallel to Λακεδαιμονίων as the object of ὑπεριδεῖν ('to overlook'), this would create an unnatural connection with the subsequent clause; thus, it is best understood as defining the Achaeans whose leaders were requested to summon the assembly.
- 7.9.4μὴ πρεσβεύεσθαι
A redundant negative particle (redundant μή) added after the verb of forbidding, ἀπείρητο ('it was forbidden'), to reinforce the negative sense. The overall meaning is 'it was forbidden to send embassies on their own'.
- 7.9.7προϋπηργμένων
A perfect participle neuter plural of the verb προϋπάρχω ('to do beforehand, confer a favor'). It is used here in an absolute construction (either as an accusative absolute or a neuter plural variant of the genitive absolute), meaning 'since favors previously conferred (by them to the Romans) had turned out to be in vain'.