§3.3.1τελευτήσαντος δὲ Ἀλκαμένους Πολύδωρος τὴν βασιλείαν παρέλαβεν ὁ Ἀλκαμένους, καὶ ἀποικίαν τε ἐς Ἰταλίαν Λακεδαιμόνιοι τὴν ἐς Κρότωνα ἔστειλαν καὶ ἐς Λοκροὺς τοὺς πρὸς ἄκρᾳ Ζεφυρίῳ, καὶ ὁ πόλεμος ὁ καλούμενος Μεσσηνιακὸς Πολυδώρου βασιλεύοντος μάλιστα ἐς ἀκμὴν προῆλθε.
When Alcamenes died, Polydorus the son of Alcamenes succeeded to the kingdom, and the Lacedaemonians sent a colony to Italy, both to Croton and to the Locrians near the Zephyrian promontory, and the so-called Messenian war reached its height especially during the reign of Polydorus.
λέγουσι δὲ οὐ τὰς αὐτὰς Λακεδαιμόνιοί τε αἰτίας καὶ Μεσσήνιοι τοῦ πολέμου.
But the Lacedaemonians and the Messenians do not give the same causes for the war.
§3.3.2τὰ οὖν λεγόμενα ὑπʼ αὐτῶν, καὶ ὁποῖον ὁ πόλεμος ἔσχεν οὗτος πέρας, τοῦ λόγου μοι τὰ ἐφεξῆς δηλώσει· τοσοῦτον δὲ ἐν τῷ παρόντι μνησθησόμεθα αὐτῶν, τὰ πολλὰ ἡγήσασθαι Λακεδαιμονίοις ἐν τῷ προτέρῳ πρὸς Μεσσηνίους πολέμῳ Θεόπομπον τὸν Νικάνδρου, βασιλέα ὄντα τῆς ἑτέρας οἰκίας.
Therefore, the things said by them, and what kind of end this war had, the subsequent parts of my narrative will show; but in the present we will mention only this much of them, namely that in the former war against the Messenians, Theopompus the son of Nicander, being the king of the other house, led the Lacedaemonians for the most part.
διαπεπολεμημένου δὲ τοῦ πρὸς Μεσσήνην πολέμου καὶ ἤδη Λακεδαιμονίοις δορικτήτου τῆς Μεσσηνίας οὔσης, Πολύδωρον εὐδοκιμοῦντα ἐν Σπάρτῃ καὶ κατὰ γνώμην Λακεδαιμονίων μάλιστα ὄντα τῷ δήμῳ—οὔτε γὰρ ἔργον βίαιον οὔτε ὑβριστὴν λόγον παρείχετο ἐς οὐδένα, ἐν δὲ ταῖς κρίσεσι τὰ δίκαια ἐφύλασσεν οὐκ ἄνευ φιλανθρωπίας, ἔχοντος δὲ ἤδη Πολυδώρου λαμπρὸν §3.3.3ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν Ἑλλάδα ὄνομα, Πολέμαρχος οἰκίας ἐν Λακεδαίμονι ἀνὴρ οὐκ ἀδόξου, θρασύτερος δὲ ὡς ἐδήλωσε γνώμην, φονεύει τὸν Πολύδωρον·
And when the war against Messene had been fought to an end and Messenia was already won by the spear for the Lacedaemonians, Polydorus, who was in high repute in Sparta and was most of all in favor with the Lacedaemonian people—for he displayed no violent deed or insolent speech to anyone, and in his judgments he guarded justice not without humanity—and while Polydorus already had a glorious name throughout all Greece, Polemarchus, a man of a not undistinguished house in Lacedaemon, but of a rather rash disposition as he showed by his action, murdered Polydorus.
ἀποθανόντι δὲ αὐτῷ πολλά τε παρὰ Λακεδαιμονίων δέδοται καὶ ἀξιόλογα ἐς τιμήν.
And when he was dead, many and noteworthy honors were bestowed upon him by the Lacedaemonians.
ἔστι μέντοι καὶ Πολεμάρχου μνῆμα ἐν Σπάρτῃ, εἴτε ἀγαθοῦ τὰ πρότερα ἀνδρὸς εἶναι νομισθέντος εἴτε καὶ κρύφα οἱ προσήκοντες θάπτουσιν αὐτόν.
However, there is also a tomb of Polemarchus in Sparta, whether because he had previously been considered a good man, or because his relatives buried him secretly.
§3.3.4ἐπὶ μὲν δὴ Εὐρυκράτους τοῦ Πολυδώρου βασιλεύοντος Μεσσήνιοί τε ἠνείχοντο ὑπήκοοι Λακεδαιμονίων ὄντες καὶ παρὰ τοῦ δήμου τοῦ Ἀργείων οὐδέν σφισιν ἀπήντησε νεώτερον· ἐπὶ δὲ Ἀναξάνδρου τοῦ Εὐρυκράτους—τὸ γὰρ χρεὼν ἤδη Μεσσηνίους ἤλαυνεν ἐκτὸς Πελοποννήσου πάσης—ἀφίστανται Λακεδαιμονίων οἱ Μεσσήνιοι.
Under the reign of Eurycrates, the son of Polydorus, the Messenians indeed submitted to being subjects of the Lacedaemonians, and nothing of a revolutionary nature came to them from the Argive people; but under Anaxander, the son of Eurycrates—for fate was already driving the Messenians outside the whole of the Peloponnese—the Messenians revolted from the Lacedaemonians.
καὶ χρόνον μὲν ἀντέσχον πολεμοῦντες· ὑπόσπονδοι δὲ ὡς ἐκρατήθησαν ἀπῄεσαν ἐκ Πελοποννήσου, τὸ δὲ αὐτῶν ἐγκαταλειφθὲν τῇ γῇ Λακεδαιμονίων ἐγένοντο οἰκέται πλὴν οἱ τὰ ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ πολίσματα ἔχοντες.
And for a time they held out in war; but when they were conquered, they departed from the Peloponnese under a truce, while those of them who were left behind in the land became slaves of the Lacedaemonians, except for those who held the towns on the sea.
§3.3.5τὰ μὲν δὴ ἐπὶ τοῦ πολέμου συμβάντα, ὃν οἱ Μεσσήνιοι Λακεδαιμονίων ἀποστάντες ἐπολέμησαν, οὔ μοι κατὰ καιρὸν ἦν ἐν τῇ συγγραφῇ τῇ παρούσῃ δηλῶσαι· Ἀναξάνδρου δὲ υἱὸς Εὐρυκράτης γίνεται, Εὐρυκράτους δὲ τοῦ δευτέρου Λέων.
Now the things that happened during the war, which the Messenians waged after revolting from the Lacedaemonians, it was not opportune for me to set forth in the present treatise; but the son of Anaxander was Eurycrates, and the son of Eurycrates the second was Leon.
ἐπὶ τούτων βασιλευόντων Λακεδαιμόνιοι προσέπταιον ἐν τῷ πρὸς Τεγεάτας πολέμῳ τὰ πλείονα.
Under their reigns, the Lacedaemonians suffered defeats for the most part in the war against the Tegeans.
ἐπὶ δὲ Ἀναξανδρίδου τοῦ Λέοντος ἐπικρατέστεροι Τεγεατῶν γίνονται τῷ πολέμῳ· γίνονται δὲ οὕτως.
But under Anaxandridas, the son of Leon, they became superior to the Tegeans in the war; and they became so in this way.
ἀνὴρ Λακεδαιμόνιος Λίχας ὄνομα ἀφίκετο ἐς Τεγέαν· §3.3.6τηνικαῦτα δὲ αἱ πόλεις ἄγουσαι σπονδὰς ἔτυχον.
A Lacedaemonian man, Lichas by name, came to Tegea; and at that time the cities happened to be observing a truce.
ἀφικομένου δὲ τοῦ Λίχα Ὀρέστου τὰ ὀστᾶ ἀνεζήτουν· ἀνεζήτουν δὲ αὐτὰ ἐκ θεοπροπίου Σπαρτιᾶται.
When Lichas arrived, they were searching for the bones of Orestes; and the Spartans were searching for them in accordance with an oracle.
συνῆκεν οὖν ὁ Λίχας ὡς ἔστι κατακείμενα ἐν οἰκίᾳ χαλκέως, συνῆκε δὲ οὕτως· ὁπόσα ἐν τῇ τοῦ χαλκέως ἑώρα, παρέβαλεν αὐτὰ πρὸς τὸ ἐκ Δελφῶν μάντευμα, ἀνέμοις μὲν τοῦ χαλκέως εἰκάζων τὰς φύσας, ὅτι καὶ αὐταὶ βίαιον πνεῦμα ἠφίεσαν, τύπον δὲ τὴν σφῦραν καὶ τὸν ἄκμονα ἀντίτυπον ταύτῃ, πῆμα δὲ εἰκότως ἀνθρώπῳ τὸν σίδηρον, ὅτι ἐχρῶντο ἐς τὰς μάχας ἤδη τῷ σιδήρῳ· τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν ἡρώων καλουμένων ἂν εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς ἀνθρώπῳ πῆμα εἶναι τὸν χαλκόν.
So Lichas understood that they were lying in the house of a smith, and he understood it in this way: whatever he saw in the smith's shop, he compared it with the oracle from Delphi, likening the bellows of the smith to winds, because they too sent forth a violent blast, the hammer to "stroke", and the anvil as "counter-stroke" to it, and the iron naturally to "grief" for man, because they were already using iron for battles; whereas for the times of those called heroes, the god would have said that bronze was a grief to man.
§3.3.7τῷ χρησμῷ δὲ τῷ γενομένῳ Λακεδαιμονίοις ἐς τοῦ Ὀρέστου τὰ ὀστᾶ καὶ Ἀθηναίοις ὕστερον ἐοικότα ἐχρήσθη κατάγουσιν ἐς Ἀθήνας ἐκ Σκύρου Θησέα, ἄλλως δὲ οὐκ εἶναί σφισιν ἑλεῖν Σκῦρον· ἀνεῦρε δὲ τὰ ὀστᾶ τοῦ Θησέως Κίμων ὁ Μιλτιάδου, σοφίᾳ χρησάμενος καὶ οὗτος, καὶ μετʼ οὐ πολὺ εἷλε τὴν Σκῦρον.
And to the Athenians later an oracle similar to that given to the Lacedaemonians concerning the bones of Orestes was delivered, when they were bringing back Theseus from Scyros to Athens, stating that otherwise they could not capture Scyros; and Cimon, the son of Miltiades, found the bones of Theseus, he too having employed wisdom, and not long after he captured Scyros.
§3.3.8ὅτι δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν ἡρώων τὰ ὅπλα ὁμοίως χαλκᾶ ἦν πάντα, μαρτυρεῖ μοι καὶ Ὁμήρου τῶν ἐπῶν τὰ ἔς τε ἀξίνην ἔχοντα τὴν Πεισάνδρου καὶ ἐς τοῦ Μηριόνου τὸν ὀιστόν.
And that in the times of the heroes their weapons were likewise all of bronze, is witnessed for me both by the verses of Homer which refer to the battle-axe of Peisander and to the arrow of Meriones.
βεβαιοῖ δὲ καὶ ἄλλως μοι τὸν λόγον ἐν Φασήλιδι ἀνακείμενον ἐν Ἀθηνᾶς ἱερῷ τὸ δόρυ Ἀχιλλέως καὶ Νικομηδεῦσιν ἐν Ἀσκληπιοῦ ναῷ μάχαιρα ὁ Μέμνονος· καὶ τοῦ μὲν ἥ τε αἰχμὴ καὶ ὁ σαυρωτήρ, ἡ μάχαιρα δὲ καὶ διὰ πάσης χαλκοῦ πεποίηται.
And my argument is also confirmed by other evidence, namely the spear of Achilles dedicated in the sanctuary of Athena at Phaselis, and the sword of Memnon in the temple of Asclepius at Nicomedia; for the spearhead and the butt-spike of the former, and the sword through its entirety, are made of bronze.
§3.3.9ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ἴσμεν ἔχοντα οὕτως·
Now these things indeed we know to be so.
Ἀναξανδρίδης δὲ ὁ Λέοντος Λακεδαιμονίων μόνος γυναῖκάς τε δύο ἅμα ἔσχε καὶ οἰκίας δύο ἅμα ᾤκησε.
But Anaxandridas, the son of Leon, was the only Lacedaemonian who had two wives at the same time and maintained two households at the same time.
τὴν γάρ οἱ πρότερον συνοικοῦσαν ἀρίστην τὰ ἄλλα οὖσαν συνέβαινεν οὐ τίκτειν·
For it happened that the wife who previously lived with him, though excellent in other respects, did not bear children.
ἀποπέμψασθαι δὲ αὐτὴν κελευόντων τῶν ἐφόρων τοῦτο μὲν οὐδαμῶς ἐπαγγέλλεται, τοσοῦτον δέ σφισιν εἴκει γυναῖκα ἑτέραν λαβεῖν πρὸς ταύτῃ.
And when the ephors ordered him to send her away, he would by no means promise this, but he yielded to them so far as to take another wife in addition to her.
καὶ ἥ τε ἐπεισελθοῦσα Κλεομένην παῖδα ἔσχε καὶ ἡ προτέρα τέως οὐ σχοῦσα ἐν γαστρὶ ἐπὶ γεγονότι ἤδη Κλεομένει τίκτει Δωριέα καὶ αὖθις Λεωνίδαν, ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτοῖς Κλεόμβροτον.
And the one who came in afterwards bore a child Cleomenes, and the former wife, who had not conceived up to that time, after Cleomenes was already born, gave birth to Dorieus, and afterwards Leonidas, and after them Cleombrotus.
§3.3.10ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀπέθανεν Ἀναξανδρίδης, Λακεδαιμόνιοι Δωριέα καὶ γνώμην Κλεομένους καὶ τὰ ἐς πόλεμον ἀμείνονα εἶναι νομίζοντες τὸν μὲν ἀπώσαντο ἄκοντες, Κλεομένει δὲ διδόασιν ἐκ τῶν νόμων πρεσβεῖα τὴν ἀρχήν.
When Anaxandridas died, the Lacedaemonians, although they considered Dorieus to be superior both in intellect and in matters of war, rejected him unwillingly, and gave the rule to Cleomenes in accordance with the laws of seniority.