§16.16.1ἑξῆς δὲ τοῖς προειρημένοις γράφουσι περὶ τοῦ κατὰ Μεσσηνίους παρασπονδήματος.
Next to the aforementioned, they write about the treachery against the Messenians.
§16.16.2ἐν ᾧ φησιν ὁ Ζήνων ὁρμήσαντα τὸν Νάβιν ἐκ τῆς. Λακεδαίμονος καὶ διαβάντα τὸν Εὐρώταν ποταμὸν παρὰ τὸν Ὁπλίτην προσαγορευόμενον πορεύεσθαι διὰ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς στενῆς παρὰ τὸ Πολιάσιον, ἕως ἐπὶ τοὺς κατὰ Σελλασίαν ἀφίκετο τόπους· §16.16.3ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἐπὶ Θαλάμας ἐπιβαλόντα κατὰ Φαρὰς παραγενέσθαι πρὸς τὸν Πάμισον ποταμόν.
In this account, Zeno says that Nabis, having set out from Lacedaemon and crossed the river Eurotas, marched past the place called Hoplites through the narrow pass past Poliasium, until he arrived at the district of Sellasia; and from there, heading toward Thalamas, he arrived by way of Pharae at the river Pamisus.
§16.16.4ὑπὲρ ὧν οὐκ οἶδα πῶς χρὴ λέγειν· τοιαύτην γὰρ φύσιν ἔχει τὰ προειρημένα πάντα συλλήβδην ὥστε μηδὲν διαφέρειν τοῦ λέγειν ὅτι ποιησάμενός τις ἐκ Κορίνθου τὴν ὁρμὴν καὶ διαπορευθεὶς τὸν Ἰσθμὸν καὶ συνάψας ταῖς Σκειρωνίσιν εὐθέως ἐπὶ τὴν Κοντοπορίαν ἐπέβαλε καὶ παρὰ τὰς Μυκήνας ἐποιεῖτο τὴν πορείαν εἰς Ἄργος.
About this, I do not know how I ought to speak; for all the aforementioned statements taken together have such a character that they differ in no way from saying that someone, having set out from Corinth, traversed the Isthmus, and reached the Scironian rocks, immediately entered the Contoporia and made his journey past Mycenae to Argos.
ταῦτα γὰρ οὐχ οἷον παρὰ μικρόν ἐστιν, §16.16.5ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐναντίαν διάθεσιν ἔχει πρὸς ἄλληλα, καὶ τὰ μὲν κατὰ τὸν Ἰσθμόν ἐστι καὶ τὰς Σκιράδας πρὸς ἀνατολὰς τοῦ Κορίνθου, τὰ δὲ κατὰ τὴν Κοντοπορίαν καὶ Μυκήνας ἔγγιστα πρὸς δύσεις χειμερινάς,
For these places are not merely slightly out of the way, but they stand in opposite directions to one another; the places about the Isthmus and the Scirades lie to the east of Corinth, while those about the Contoporia and Mycenae are very close to the south-west.
§16.16.6ὥστʼ εἶναι τελέως ἀδύνατον ἀπὸ τῶν προηγουμένων ἐπιβαλεῖν τοῖς προειρημένοις τόποις.
So it is completely impossible to reach the aforementioned places from the former.
§16.16.7τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ καὶ περὶ τοὺς κατὰ τὴν Λακεδαίμονα συμβέβηκεν· §16.16.8ὁ μὲν γὰρ Εὐρώτας καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν Σελλασίαν κεῖται τῆς Σπάρτης ὡς πρὸς τὰς θερινὰς ἀνατολάς, τὰ δὲ κατὰ Θαλάμας καὶ Φαρὰς καὶ Πάμισον ὡς πρὸς τὰς χειμερινὰς δύσεις, §16.16.9ὅθεν οὐχ οἷον ἐπὶ τὴν Σελλασίαν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τὸν Εὐρώταν δέον ἐστὶ διαβαίνειν τὸν προτιθέμενον παρὰ Θαλάμας ποιεῖσθαι τὴν πορείαν εἰς τὴν Μεσσηνίαν.
The very same thing has happened with regard to the places around Lacedaemon; for the Eurotas and the district around Sellasia lie to the north-east (the summer sunrise) of Sparta, while the places around Thalamas, Pharae, and the Pamisus lie to the south-west (the winter sunset); wherefore, for one who intends to make his journey to Messenia by way of Thalamas, there is no need to go to Sellasia, nor even to cross the Eurotas.