§4.29.7ὃ δὲ οὐ λέληθεν ἐμέ, οὐδὲ Μεσσηνίους ἐλελήθει δήπου, καὶ μὴ συντελοῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἐς τὸ συνέδριον ὡς ἐπὶ Λακεδαιμονίους τὰ Ἀχαιῶν ὑπάρχοι· ἐν γὰρ δὴ τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς καὶ Ἀργεῖοι καὶ τὸ Ἀρκαδικὸν οὐκ ἐλαχίστη μοῖρα ἦσαν.
But what has not escaped me, and indeed had not escaped the Messenians either, was that even though they did not contribute to the congress, the resources of the Achaeans were available to them against the Lacedaemonians; for indeed among the Achaeans, both the Argives and the Arcadians constituted no small part.
ἀνὰ χρόνον μέντοι προσεχώρησαν ἐς τὸ Ἀχαϊκόν.
In course of time, however, they joined the Achaean League.
οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον Κλεομένης ὁ Λεωνίδου τοῦ Κλεωνύμου Μεγάλην πόλιν εἷλεν Ἀρκάδων ἐν σπονδαῖς·
Not long afterwards, Cleomenes, the son of Leonidas who was the son of Cleonymus, captured Megalopolis, a city of the Arcadians, during a truce.
§4.29.8τῶν δὲ οἱ καταληφθέντες οἳ μὲν ἀπώλοντο ὑπὸ τὴν ἅλωσιν, Φιλοποίμενα δὲ τὸν Κραύγιδος καὶ ὅσοι μετὰ Φιλοποίμενος ἀπεχώρησαν—γενέσθαι δὲ τῶν Μεγαλοπολιτῶν τὸ διαφυγὸν καὶ ὑπὲρ τὰς δύο μοίρας λέγουσι—τούτους ὑπεδέξαντο οἱ Μεσσήνιοι τῶν τε ἀρχαίων ἔργων ἕνεκα ὁπόσα ἐπὶ Ἀριστομένους ὑπῆρκτο Ἀρκάσι καὶ ὕστερον ἐπὶ τοῦ οἰκισμοῦ τοῦ Μεσσήνης, ἀποδιδόντες σφίσι τὴν ὁμοίαν.
Of those captured, some perished at the taking of the city, but Philopoemen, the son of Craugis, and all who retreated with Philopoemen—and they say that the portion of the Megalopolitans who escaped was even more than two thirds—these the Messenians received, because of all the ancient services rendered to the Arcadians in the time of Aristomenes, and later at the founding of Messene, thus returning the like to them.
§4.29.9πέφυκε δὲ ἄρα ὡς ἐπίπαν μεταπίπτειν τὰ ἀνθρώπινα, εἰ δὴ Μεσσηνίοις Ἀρκάδας τε ἀντισῶσαι καὶ τὸ ἀδοκητότερον ἔτι ἑλεῖν Σπάρτην ὁ δαίμων ἔδωκεν· Κλεομένει γὰρ περὶ Σελλασίαν ἐμαχέσαντο ἐναντία καὶ τὴν Σπάρτην Ἀράτῳ καὶ Ἀχαιοῖς συγκαθεῖλον.
It is indeed the nature of human affairs to change completely on the whole, seeing that the deity granted to the Messenians both to save the Arcadians in turn and, what was still more unexpected, to capture Sparta; for they fought against Cleomenes near Sellasia and helped Aratus and the Achaeans to overthrow Sparta.
§4.29.10Λακεδαιμονίοις δὲ ἀπηλλαγμένοις Κλεομένους ἐπανίσταται τύραννος Μαχανίδας, ἐκείνου δὲ ἀποθανόντος Νάβις ἀνέφυ σφίσιν αὖθις τύραννος·
When the Lacedaemonians were rid of Cleomenes, the tyrant Machanidas rose against them, and after his death, Nabis arose as tyrant over them in turn.
ἅτε δὲ οὐ τὰ ἀνθρώπων ἀναρπάζοντι αὐτῷ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἱερὰ συλῶντι, ἐν οὐ πολλῷ χρόνῳ χρήματά τε ἄφθονα καὶ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν στρατιὰ συνείλεκτο.
Since he did not only plunder the possessions of men but also despoiled temples, in a short time abundant wealth and, by means of it, an army was collected.
τούτου τοῦ Νάβιδος Μεσσήνην καταλαβόντος Φιλοποίμην καὶ οἱ Μεγαλοπολῖται νυκτὸς ἀφίκοντο τῆς αὐτῆς·
When this Nabis seized Messene, Philopoemen and the Megalopolitans arrived on the same night.
§4.29.11καὶ ὁ μὲν Σπαρτιάτης τύραννος ἀπῆλθεν ὑπόσπονδος, Ἀχαιοὶ δὲ ὕστερον τούτων μεμφόμενοί τι Μεσσηνίοις στρατεύουσιν ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς παρασκευῇ τῇ πάσῃ καὶ τὰ πολλὰ ἔτεμον τῆς χώρας.
And the Spartan tyrant departed under a treaty, but the Achaeans, after these events, finding some fault with the Messenians, marched against them with all their forces and ravaged most of their territory.
καὶ οἳ μὲν αὖθις περὶ ἀκμὴν σίτου συνελέγοντο ὡς ἐς τὴν Μεσσηνίαν ἐσβαλοῦντες· Δεινοκράτης δὲ δήμου τε προεστηκὼς καὶ Μεσσηνίων ἄρχειν ἐν τῷ τότε ᾑρημένος Λυκόρταν μὲν καὶ τὴν σὺν αὐτῷ στρατιὰν ἀναχωρῆσαι παρεσκεύασεν ἄπρακτον, τὰς ἐς τὴν Μεσσηνίαν ἐκ τῆς Ἀρκαδίας παρόδους προλαβὼν τοῖς τε ἐκ τῆς πόλεως Μεσσηνίοις καὶ ὅσοι τῶν περιοίκων σφίσιν ἤμυναν·
And they again assembled about the time when the corn was ripe, intending to invade Messenia; but Deinocrates, who was at the head of the people and had been chosen to rule the Messenians at that time, caused Lycortas and the army with him to retreat without accomplishing anything, having preoccupied the passes from Arcadia into Messenia with the Messenians from the city and all of the periokoi who helped them.
§4.29.12Φιλοποίμενος δὲ σὺν ἱππεῦσιν ὀλίγοις ἀφικομένου πολὺ ὕστερον ἢ ὁ μετὰ Λυκόρτα στρατός, πυθέσθαι δὲ οὐδέν πω τῶν ἐς αὐτοὺς δεδυνημένου, νικῶσιν οἱ Μεσσήνιοι γινομένης σφίσιν ἐξ ὑπερδεξίων τῆς μάχης καὶ ζῶντα αἱροῦσι Φιλοποίμενα.
But when Philopoemen arrived with a few horsemen, much later than the army under Lycortas, and was not yet able to learn anything of their situation, the Messenians won the battle, which took place from higher ground in their favor, and captured Philopoemen alive.
τρόπον δὲ ὅντινα ὁ Φιλοποίμην ἑάλω καὶ ὡς ἐτελεύτησε, τάδε μὲν ἡμῖν καὶ ὕστερον ὁ Ἀρκαδικὸς λόγος ἐπέξεισι· Μεσσηνίων δὲ οἵ τε Φιλοποίμενι αἴτιοι τῆς τελευτῆς ἔδοσαν δίκας καὶ ἡ Μεσσήνη συνετέλεσεν αὖθις ἐς τὸ Ἀχαϊκόν.
In what manner Philopoemen was captured and how he died, my Arcadian history will relate in detail later; but those of the Messenians who were responsible for the death of Philopoemen paid the penalty, and Messene again contributed to the Achaean League.
§4.29.13ἄχρι μὲν δὴ τοῦδε ὁ λόγος ἐπῆλθέ μοι Μεσσηνίων τὰ πολλὰ παθήματα, καὶ ὡς ὁ δαίμων σφᾶς ἐπί τε γῆς τὰ ἔσχατα καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ πορρώτατα Πελοποννήσου σκεδάσας ὕστερον χρόνῳ καὶ ἐς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀνέσωσε· τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου τῆς χώρας καὶ πόλεων τραπώμεθα ἐς ἀφήγησιν.
Up to this point, then, my narrative has gone over the many sufferings of the Messenians, and how the deity, having scattered them to the furthest ends of the earth and to the most distant parts from the Peloponnese, later in time saved them and restored them to their own land; but after this, let us turn to the description of the country and its cities.