- 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-grc2:9.1.1-9.1.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-01
Pausanias introduces the history of Boeotia and Plataea, discussing the mythical origins of their names, the Plataeans' heroic deeds during the Persian Wars, the second destruction of their city by the Thebans through a ruse, and its eventual restoration under Philip II of Macedon.
Ἀθηναίοις δὲ ἡ Βοιωτία καὶ κατὰ ἄλλα τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐστιν ὅμορος, πρὸς δὲ Ἐλευθερῶν οἱ Πλαταιεῖς. Βοιωτοὶ δὲ τὸ μὲν πᾶν ἔθνος ἀπὸ Βοιωτοῦ τὸ ὄνομα ἔσχηκεν, ὃν Ἰτώνου παῖδα καὶ νύμφης δὴ Μελανίππης, Ἴτωνον δὲ Ἀμφικτύονος εἶναι λέγουσι· καλοῦνται δὲ κατὰ πόλεις ἀπό τε ἀνδρῶν καὶ τὰ πλείω γυναικῶν. οἱ δὲ Πλαταιεῖς τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν1 εἰσιν αὐτόχθονες· ὄνομα δέ σφισιν ἀπὸ Πλαταίας, ἣν θυγατέρα εἶναι Ἀσωποῦ τοῦ ποταμοῦ νομίζουσιν.
For the Athenians, Boeotia is adjacent along other parts of Attica, and on the side of Eleutherae, the Plataeans are adjacent. The Boeotians, as a whole nation, have received their name from Boeotus, whom they say was the son of Itonus and the nymph Melanippe, and they say Itonus was the son of Amphictyon; and they are named by cities after men, and for the most part, after women. The Plataeans, on the other hand, in my opinion, are from the beginning indigenous; and they have their name from Plataea, whom they consider to be a daughter of the river-god Asopus.
ὅτι μὲν δὴ καὶ οὗτοι τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἐβασιλεύοντο, δῆλά ἐστι· βασιλεῖαι γὰρ πανταχοῦ τῆς Ἑλλάδος καὶ οὐ δημοκρατίαι πάλαι καθεστήκεσαν. τῶν δὲ βασιλέων ἄλλον μὲν οὐδένα οἱ Πλαταιεῖς ἴσασι, μόνον δὲ Ἀσωπὸν καὶ ἔτι πρότερον Κιθαιρῶνα· καὶ τὸν μὲν ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ θέσθαι τῷ ὄρει τὸ ὄνομα, τὸν δὲ τῷ ποταμῷ λέγουσι. δοκῶ δὲ καὶ τὴν Πλάταιαν, ἀφʼ ἧς κέκληται ἡ πόλις, βασιλέως Ἀσωποῦ καὶ οὐ τοῦ ποταμοῦ παῖδα εἶναι.
Indeed, that these people also were ruled by kings in ancient times is clear; for kingdoms were established everywhere in Greece of old, and not democracies. Of the kings, the Plataeans know of no other except Asopus and, even before him, Cithaeron; and they say that the one gave his name to the mountain after himself, and the other to the river. And I think that Plataea too, after whom the city is called, was the child of King Asopus and not of the river.
Πλαταιεῦσι δὲ πρὸ μὲν τῆς μάχης, ἣν Ἀθηναῖοι Μαραθῶνι ἐμαχέσαντο, οὐδὲν ὑπῆρχεν ἐς δόξαν· μετασχόντες δὲ τοῦ Μαραθῶνι ἀγῶνος ὕστερον καταβεβηκότος ἤδη Ξέρξου καὶ ἐς τὰς ναῦς ἐτόλμησαν μετʼ Ἀθηναίων ἐσβῆναι, Μαρδόνιον δὲ τὸν Γωβρύου Ξέρξῃ στρατηγοῦντα ἠμύναντο ἐν τῇ σφετέρᾳ. δὶς δὲ σφᾶς κατέλαβε γενέσθαι τε ἀναστάτους καὶ αὖθις ἐς Βοιωτίαν καταχθῆναι.
Before the battle which the Athenians fought at Marathon, the Plataeans had nothing that contributed to fame; but having shared in the struggle at Marathon, and later when Xerxes had already come down, they dared to embark on the ships with the Athenians, and they repulsed Mardonius, the son of Gobryas, who was generaling for Xerxes, in their own land. And twice it befell them to be driven out of their homes and to be brought back again to Boeotia.
ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ Πελοποννησίοις πρὸς Ἀθηναίους γενομένου Λακεδαιμόνιοι πολιορκίᾳ Πλάταιαν ἐξεῖλον· ἀνοικισθείσης δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς εἰρήνης, ἣν πρὸς βασιλέα τῶν Περσῶν γενέσθαι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἔπραξεν Ἀνταλκίδας ἀνὴρ Σπαρτιάτης, καὶ τῶν Πλαταιέων κατελθόντων ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν, τοὺς δὲ αὖθις ἔμελλεν ἐπιλήψεσθαι κακὸν δεύτερον.2 ἐκ μέν γε τοῦ ἐμφανοῦς πόλεμος πρὸς τοὺς Θηβαίους οὐκ ἦν συνεστηκώς, ἀλλὰ οἱ Πλαταιεῖς μένειν τὴν εἰρήνην σφίσιν ἔφασαν, ὅτι τὴν Καδμείαν Λακεδαιμονίοις κατασχοῦσιν οὔτε βουλεύματος οὔτε ἔργου μετεσχήκεσαν·
For during the war which arose for the Peloponnesians against the Athenians, the Lacedaemonians took Plataea by siege; but when it was rebuilt during the peace which Antalcidas, a Spartan man, negotiated for the Greeks with the king of the Persians, and when the Plataeans had returned from Athens, a second misfortune was destined to overtake them again. To be sure, no war was openly on foot against the Thebans, but the Plataeans claimed that the peace remained for them, because they had shared in neither counsel nor deed with the Lacedaemonians when they seized the Cadmea;
Θηβαῖοι δὲ ἀπέφαινον τήν τε εἰρήνην Λακεδαιμονίους εἶναι τοὺς πράξαντας καὶ ὕστερον παραβάντων ἐκείνων λελύσθαι καὶ ἅπασιν ἠξίουν τὰς σπονδάς.3 οὐκ ἀνύποπτα οὖν ἡγούμενοι οἱ Πλαταιεῖς τὰ ἐκ τῶν Θηβαίων διὰ φυλακῆς εἶχον ἰσχυρᾶς τὴν πόλιν· καὶ ἐς τοὺς ἀγρούς, ὁπόσοι ἀπωτέρω τοῦ ἄστεως ἦσαν, οὐδὲ ἐς τούτους ἀνὰ πᾶσαν ἤρχοντο τὴν ἡμέραν, ἀλλὰ— ἠπίσταντο γὰρ τοὺς Θηβαίους ὡς πανδημεὶ καὶ ἅμα ἐπὶ πλεῖστον εἰώθεσαν βουλεύεσθαι—παρεφύλασσον τὰς ἐκκλησίας αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐν τῷ τοσούτῳ καθʼ ἡσυχίαν ἐφεώρων τὰ ἑαυτῶν καὶ οἱ ἔσχατοι γεωργοῦντες.
but the Thebans pointed out that the Lacedaemonians were the ones who had made the peace, and that it had been dissolved later when they transgressed it, and they claimed that the treaty was void for all. Therefore, the Plataeans, considering the actions from the Thebans not free from suspicion, kept their city under strong guard; and to the fields, as many as were further from the city, they did not even go to these every day, but—for they knew that the Thebans were accustomed to deliberate as a whole people and at the same time for a very long period—they kept watch on their assemblies, and during this interval even those farming the furthest lands looked after their own affairs in quiet.
Νεοκλῆς δὲ ὃς τότε βοιωταρχῶν ἔτυχεν ἐν Θήβαις—οὐ γὰρ αὐτὸν οἱ Πλαταιεῖς ἐλελήθεσαν ἐπὶ τῇ τέχνῃ— προεῖπε τῶν Θηβαίων ἕκαστόν τέ τινα ἰέναι πρὸς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ὁμοῦ τοῖς ὅπλοις καὶ σφᾶς αὐτίκα οὐ τὴν εὐθεῖαν ἀπὸ τῶν Θηβῶν τὴν πεδιάδα, τὴν δὲ ἐπὶ Ὑσιῶν ἦγε πρὸς Ἐλευθερῶν τε καὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς, ᾗ μηδὲ σκοπὸς ἐτέτακτο ὑπὸ τῶν Πλαταιέων· γενήσεσθαι δὲ περὶ τὰ τείχη περὶ μεσοῦσαν μάλιστα ἔμελλε τὴν ἡμέραν.
Neocles, who happened then to be Boeotarch in Thebes—for the Plataeans had not escaped him in their trick—forewarned each of the Thebans to go to the assembly together with their arms, and he led them immediately, not by the straight plain road from Thebes, but by the one towards Hysiae towards Eleutherae and Attica, where not even a lookout had been stationed by the Plataeans; and he was destined to arrive about the walls especially about mid-day.
Πλαταιεῖς δὲ ἄγειν Θηβαίους ἐκκλησίαν νομίζοντες ἐς τοὺς ἀγροὺς ἀποκεκλειμένοι τῶν πυλῶν ἦσαν· πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἐγκαταληφθέντας ἐποιήσαντο οἱ Θηβαῖοι σπονδάς, ἀπελθεῖν σφᾶς πρὸ ἡλίου δύντος ἄνδρας μὲν σὺν ἑνί, γυναῖκας δὲ δύο ἱμάτια ἑκάστην ἔχουσαν. συνέβη τε ἐναντία τοῖς Πλαταιεῦσιν ἐν τῷ τότε ἡ τύχη ἢ ὡς4 ὑπὸ Ἀρχιδάμου καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων τὸ πρότερον ἥλωσαν· Λακεδαιμόνιοι μέν γʼ αὐτοὺς ἐξεπολιόρκησαν ἀπείργοντες διπλῷ τείχει μὴ ἐξελθεῖν τοῦ ἄστεως, Θηβαῖοι δὲ ἐν τῷ τότε ἀφελόμενοι μὴ ἐσελθεῖν σφᾶς ἐς τὸ τεῖχος.
But the Plataeans, thinking that the Thebans were holding an assembly, had been shut out from the gates in the fields; and with those who were caught inside, the Thebans made a treaty, that they should depart before sunset, the men with one garment and the women each with two. And fortune befell the Plataeans at that time contrary to how they were captured previously by Archidamus and the Lacedaemonians; for the Lacedaemonians besieged them, shutting them off with a double wall from going out of the city, but the Thebans at that time deprived them from entering into the wall.
ἐγένετο δὲ ἡ ἅλωσις Πλαταίας ἡ δευτέρα μάχης μὲν τρίτῳ τῆς ἐν Λεύκτροις ἔτει πρότερον, Ἀστείου δὲ Ἀθήνῃσιν ἄρχοντος. καὶ ἡ μὲν πόλις ὑπὸ τῶν Θηβαίων καθῃρέθη πλὴν τὰ ἱερά, τοῖς δὲ Πλαταιεῦσιν ὁ τρόπος τῆς ἁλώσεως σωτηρίαν παρέσχεν ἐν ἴσῳ πᾶσιν· ἐκπεσόντας δὲ σφᾶς ἐδέξαντο αὖθις οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι. Φιλίππου δέ, ὡς ἐκράτησεν ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ, φρουράν τε ἐσαγαγόντος ἐς Θήβας καὶ ἄλλα ἐπὶ καταλύσει τῶν Θηβαίων πράσσοντος, οὕτω καὶ οἱ Πλαταιεῖς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ κατήχθησαν.
And this second capture of Plataea took place in the third year before the battle at Leuctra, when Asteius was archon at Athens. And the city was destroyed by the Thebans except for the sanctuaries, but for the Plataeans the manner of the capture provided safety equally to all; and when they were expelled, the Athenians received them again. But when Philip, having conquered at Chaeronea, both introduced a garrison into Thebes and did other things for the destruction of the Thebans, in this way the Plataeans too were brought back by him.
- 9.1.1ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν
An absolute use of the infinitive (ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, "in my opinion") serving as a parenthetical qualification for the statement.
- 9.1.4τοὺς δὲ αὖθις ἔμελλεν ἐπιλήψεσθαι κακὸν δεύτερον
The subject is the postposed neuter noun phrase κακὸν δεύτερον ("a second misfortune"), rather than an impersonal construction. The future middle infinitive ἐπιλήψεσθαι ("to seize, overtake") takes the accusative τοὺς δέ ("them") as its object.
- 9.1.5ἅπασιν ἠξίουν τὰς σπονδάς
The verb ἠξίουν here means "to claim, deem." The infinitive λελύσθαι ("to have been dissolved/invalidated") from the preceding clause is understood, yielding the sense "they claimed that the treaty was dissolved for everyone."
- 9.1.7συνέβη τε ἐναντία τοῖς Πλαταιεῦσιν ἐν τῷ τότε ἡ τύχη ἢ ὡς...
The comparative conjunction ἤ is followed by a ὡς clause ("as..."), contrasting the circumstances of the previous capture (under Archidamus) with the present one by the Thebans. It is translated as "a fortune opposite to how they were captured previously."