Pausanias, the "wrong" hero of Hellas and Sparta
Bust of Pausanias. Capitoline Museum, Rome
Spartan Pausanias, the hero of our article today, stands out a little among other famous Greeks. He was a good commander, and to his credit is the victory in one of the largest and most significant battles of that era – the Battle of Plataea. However, he also has a “black” reputation as a traitor, who almost betrayed both his native Sparta and all of Greece to the Persians. The paradox is that he was condemned, in general, not for his actions, but for his intentions.
Meanwhile, the opinion has long been expressed that Pausanias (with the approval of certain circles in Sparta) wanted to use the Persians to achieve certain political goals, and he had influential like-minded people. Later, Lysander, who was declared great, also came to an agreement with the Persians, and with their help he managed to achieve the capitulation of Athens and the Maritime Union headed by them. In addition, many famous heroes of Hellas did not disdain friendly relations with the Persians. Among those who "emigrated" to Persia were, for example, the hero of Salamis Themistocles and Pericles' nephew, Socrates' student and protégé Alcibiades. Themistocles, by the way, established good relations with the young Artaxerxes I, told him a lot about Greece and even promised that he would see it (I wonder how - during a new campaign?).
Walter Crane. Themistocles before Artaxerxes
With the help of the Persians, the Spartans were able to equip a squadron of 170 warships, which in the autumn of 405 BC destroyed the Athenian fleet in the Battle of Aegospotami. fleet, after which Lysander captured Byzantium, Chalcedon, Aegina, Salamis, Milos and Thasos by the end of the year, and then blockaded Athens from the sea. And in early April 404 BC, the 27-year Peloponnesian War ended with the defeat of Athens and its allies. Lysander's protégé and student, the Spartan king Agesilaus II, together with the Athenian strategist Chabrias, played a decisive role in the victory of the Persian-backed pretender (Nectanebus) over Pharaoh Tachos. Agesilaus earned 230 talents in this war, which went to the treasury of Lacedaemon.
Agesilaus in Egypt (Chabrias stands on the steps a little lower to the left). Illustration from Hutchinson's book "History peoples", 1914.
Agesilaus, by the way, had previously fought very successfully against the Persians, but Artaxerxes IIdrove him out with the help of an army of 30 thousand archers" (coins with their image) - having bribed the leaders, formed an anti-Spartan coalition of Athens, Thebes, Corinth, Argos and some policies of the Aegean islands. No one accused Sparta's Greek opponents of betraying Hellas.
Persian Darik
As a result, in 395 BC, the great Spartan commander Lysander died in a battle with the Thebans near the city of Haliartus, and Agesilaus and his army were recalled to save his home city.
The Spartan king Demaratus of the Eurypontid family (ruled from 515 to 491 BC), who had lost his throne, received from Darius I the Asia Minor cities of Teuthrania and Halisarna to govern, and even 100 years later they were governed by his descendants. Moreover, during Xerxes' campaign against Hellas, Demaratus was with this king, giving him very valuable advice (which he, however, did not listen to). The detachment of the great-great-grandfather of Alexander the Great (also Alexander) fought in the aforementioned Battle of Plataea as part of the Persian army - nevertheless, this king, on the initiative of Themistocles, received the honorary titles of "gthe hospitable host of the Athenians" and "benefactor» of this city. The Athenian Apollodorus was in the service of the satrap of Phrygia, Arsites, by order of Artaxerxes III, he was sent at the head of a detachment of mercenaries to help the city of Perinthus on the coast of the Propontis, which was being besieged by the army of Philip II of Macedon - the father of Alexander the Great was forced to retreat. Apollodorus was later buried in Kerameikos - that is, he was not considered a traitor in his homeland.
Darius III had two Greek mercenary commanders in his service – Mentor and his brother Memnon, with the latter being described as the only worthy rival of Alexander the Great in the ranks of the Persian king's army.
But it was Pausanias who was declared the main traitor of Hellas. The reason was his intention to raise a helot rebellion, which would have been a real disaster for Sparta. As a result, Pausanias was cursed by his own mother and died of hunger, walled up alive in one of the temples of his hometown. It is the Spartan version of events that Thucydides presents, in whose "History" the main information about this man is contained. We will talk about Pausanias today.
The origin of the hero of the article
As is known, Sparta was nominally ruled by two kings whose families were never related. This tradition is associated with the cult of the Dioscuri twins - the sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen the Beautiful. However, in reality, the co-ruler kings were representatives of different peoples, between whom a compromise was once reached. The kings of the Eurypontid dynasty were Dorians and considered themselves descendants of Apollo. The Agiad dynasty was Achaean and descended from Hercules.
Pausanias' father was Agiad, King Cleombrotus, and his grandfather was Anaxandridas II, who was married to his niece. This marriage remained fruitless for a long time, but the king apparently loved his wife, because he entered into conflict with the ephors and gerontes, who demanded that he divorce her. In the end, Anaxandridas was allowed to take a second wife. She gave birth to a son, Cleomenes, after which his first wife suddenly began to give birth. Her children were Dorieus, Leonidas, and Cleombrotus.
After the death of Anaxandrides II, the question arose: which of his four sons should be considered the heir? The firstborn Cleomenes? Or Dorieus, the eldest son of the first (and therefore "more legitimate") wife? Cleomenes was chosen. Insulted by Dorieus, he left Sparta and eventually founded the colony of Heraclea in Sicily, which was destroyed by the Carthaginians.
Cleomenes bribed the Delphic Pythia to depose the king of the Eurypontid dynasty, the aforementioned Demaratus (who was accused of illegitimacy). But the fate of Cleomenes I himself was also terrible: he allegedly went mad and began poking a stick into the face of every Spartan citizen he met (I wonder if he would have been considered mad if he had done this exclusively to helots?). Herodotus gives as many as three versions of the reasons for the madness of this king. According to the first, it happened because Cleomenes drank wine "Scythian style" - that is, did not dilute it, and, probably, at some point drank himself into "delirium tremens". According to another, the king's madness was a punishment for bribing the Pythia. According to the third, he was also punished by the gods, but for ordering the sacred grove in Eleusis to be cut down. What follows is a completely incredible and implausible story about the suicide of Cleomenes, who was put in the stocks:
“Taking the sword in his hands, the king began to cut himself into strips, starting from the hips, namely: he cut his skin lengthwise from the hips to the stomach and waist, until he reached the stomach, which he also cut into narrow strips and thus died.”
Such a masochistic way of ending one's life is hard to expect even from a madman. Most likely, Cleomenes was killed by order of his half-brothers, Leonidas and Cleombrotus. It was Leonidas, married to the daughter of the murdered Cleomenes I Gorgo, who became king and soon died heroically in the Thermopylae Gorge.
This is how Leonidas is depicted on one of the modern monuments.
After this, Cleombrotus, the father of the hero of the article, became regent for his young nephew, Plistarchus, the son of Leonidas and Gorgo. Such were the harsh morals that reigned in the royal family of the Spartan Agiads - far from the fictional heroes of the notorious "Game of Thrones". And this despite the fact that the "position" of the king in Sparta was purely symbolic and did not give practically any advantages. The true rulers were five annually elected ephors, whose orders were carried out according to the principle "the commander's orders are not discussed, but carried out." They accompanied the kings on campaigns (Agiad controlled two ethers, Eurypontida - one), and they were constantly suspected of treason and taking bribes, trials of kings in Sparta were a common thing and did not surprise anyone.
The power of the ephors can also be judged by the circumstances of the death of the famous king Leonidas. The day before, a prophecy was received that in the upcoming war either the Spartan king from the line of Heracles (that is, the Agiads) would die, or the Persians would conquer Sparta. And so the ephors sent Leonidas to Thermopylae with insignificant forces, but with a clear order - not to return back. Having advised his wife to find a good husband and give birth to sons, Leonidas went to die - only with a detachment of bodyguards - the hippeis, who were supposed to be his. He had a chance to save his life. After the news was received that the Persians had bypassed the Greeks and were about to appear in their rear, there was no point in holding the position. Leonidas let his allies go (numbering from 7 to 10 thousand people), and he himself remained: it did not even occur to him to disobey the order of the ephors.
Meanwhile, the war with the Persians continued, and the regent Cleombrotus, who had taken charge of the Peloponnesian army, led the troops to the Isthmus, where it was decided to build a wall at the narrowest point of the isthmus. Attica and Athens were occupied by the Persians, but they were soon defeated in the naval battle at Salamis. After this, Cleombrotus returned to Sparta, where he died of some disease. The regent of the young Pleistarchus was now his cousin, Cleombrotus' son Pausanias, the hero of the article.
But how do we know what happened next? The most complete information is contained in Thucydides' History, which, as already indicated, presented the Spartan version of events, the accusatory version, in which Pausanias is clearly portrayed as a traitor and betrayer. We see a similar interpretation of the image in the works of the first-century BC Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (who apparently used the treatises of the historian Ephorus that have not reached us) and his contemporary, the Roman historian Cornelius Nepos. Nepos, for example, wrote about Pausanias:
"The Spartan Pausanias was a great man, but in different life circumstances he showed himself differently, for he possessed both brilliant virtues and grave vices."
However, information about Pausanias can also be found in the works of Herodotus, who notes Pausanias's nobility, wit, and generosity. All of these works are supplemented by information from the works of the 2nd-century Greek geographer Pausanias and Plutarch.
Pausanias' Finest Hour
After the victory at Salamis, Themistocles ordered Aristides to destroy the bridge over the Hellespont, but he, according to Plutarch, said:
"We have fought with a barbarian devoted to luxury; but if we lock him up in Hellas, and bring a man who has such forces under his control to the last extremity by fear, then he will no longer sit under a golden canopy and calmly watch the battle, but will go to all lengths, himself, in the face of danger, will take part in all actions, will correct omissions and take the best measures for the salvation of the whole. Therefore, Themistocles, we should not destroy the existing bridge, but if possible, build a second one."
Aristide statue, Vatican Museum
Themistocles acknowledged the rightness of his long-time and irreconcilable rival and opponent. Moreover, he sent one of the captured noble Persians named Arnakes to Xerxes with a letter in which he warned the king about the Greeks' plans to destroy the bridge, from which he had allegedly managed to dissuade them for now. The king returned to Persia with part of the army, and the continuation of the military campaign in Greece was entrusted to Xerxes' cousin on his mother's side, the commander Mardonius, who sent the following letter to the Greek commanders:
"On sea-going vessels you have overcome the inhabitants of the land. But now before us are the broad plains of Thessaly and Boeotia - a convenient place for cavalry and hoplites."
But at the same time he entered into negotiations with the Athenians, to whom he promised to restore their city and much gold to boot – on condition that they leave the anti-Persian coalition. The Spartans, having learned of this, in turn offered hospitality to all the women, children and old people of Athens – until the Persians were defeated and their city restored. On behalf of the Athenians, Aristides replied to Mardonius:
"As long as the sun moves along its path, the Athenians will fight the Persians, avenging the burned temples and shrines, fighting for the devastated lands."
He also proposed to put a curse on anyone who would help the Persians and even on those who would negotiate with them. The authorities of Athens and Sparta managed to agree on joint action. Since the Spartan king of the Eurypontid family, Leotychides II, was in command of the Greek fleet at that time, the Lacedaemonian army was led by Pausanias, the regent of the young king Agiad. He also became the commander-in-chief of the troops of all the Greek cities. However, according to Plutarch, there was no unity in the Greek camp. Disputes arose even about which flanks the troops of the various cities should stand on, but Aristides said:
"This is no time to argue about the bravery of our ancestors. Whatever place we are assigned in battle, we will try to build on the glory we have earned in previous battles. We are here to fight the enemies of Greece. It is not the place in the ranks that makes a man brave."
As a result, the Athenians fought on the left flank against the Thebans allied to the Persians.
J. Steeple Davis. Scene of the Battle of Plataea, 1900 illustration
In 479 BC, Mardonius, having learned of the movement of the allied army, burned Athens and, having devastated Megara along the way, led his army into Boeotia, the territory of which was convenient for the actions of the Persian cavalry. In addition, the Thebans were then allies of the Persians.
The armies of both sides faced each other at Plataea (on the northern slope of Mount Cithaeron), engaging in minor skirmishes. During one of them, the authoritative and respected Persian commander Masistius died.
View of the plain of Platea from Mount Cithaeron, engraving by W. Miller
However, no one was in a hurry to engage in a general battle, and Herodotus attributes this to the omens received during the sacrifices of each side: they allegedly promised defeat to the commander who would start the battle. However, there is a more rational explanation: Mardonius saw how advantageous the position of the Greeks was and hoped that they would leave it. And Pausanias did not want to leave this position on the mountain slopes, especially since his army was better supplied than the Persians. However, on the eighth day, a detachment of Persian cavalry managed to intercept the enemy convoy with food - 500 carts. In addition, they found and filled up the Gargaphia spring, from which the Greeks took water, and the bank of the Asopus River was constantly fired upon by their archers. Pausanias decided to begin a retreat, which was very disorganized, because of which the Greek army was divided into several isolated detachments.
"Mardonius, having learned of the retreat of the Greeks, began to pursue them. Unfortunately for him, the Persian warriors encountered a fighting detachment of Spartans, who were significantly superior to the enemy in the art of war."
Herodotus claims that the Persians literally threw themselves at the long spears of the Spartan hoplites and broke them with their bare hands, but bravery could not replace heavy weapons and combat training.
The Spartan detachment led by Amompharetus was the first to be attacked. The Athenians under the command of Aristides rushed to help, but were pinned down by the Theban attack. Two isolated battles ensued, in which the warriors of three cities – Sparta, Athens and Tegea – played the main role.
The well-organized Spartans withstood the blow, and a warrior named Arimnestus, throwing a stone, hit the head of the desperately fighting Mardonius and killed him, after which the Persians fled in panic to their camp. The elite units of the "immortals" remained on the battlefield, and were eventually completely destroyed. Herodotus wrote about this:
"At the place where Mardonius himself stood, fighting on a white horse at the head of a detachment of 1000 of the bravest warriors, the Persians pressed the Lacedaemonians hardest. As long as Mardonius remained alive, the Persians held firm and, defending themselves bravely, killed many Spartans. But when Mardonius fell and the select detachment of his bodyguard, the bravest warriors, was killed, then the rest of the Persians turned back and fled from the battlefield before the Lacedaemonians… Thus did Mardonius atone for the murder of Leonidas, according to the oracle's prediction to the Spartans."
At this time, the Athenians had routed the Thebans. Now only Artabazus's detachment, which had not entered the battle, remained combat-ready and, having learned of the defeat of the main forces, began to retreat to the Hellespont. The Greeks attacked and captured the Persian camp.
All authors agree that the Persian losses significantly exceeded the Greeks. However, the figures given are different. Herodotus claims that only 159 Hellenes died in the battle – 91 Spartans, 16 Tegeans and 52 Athenians. But Plutarch writes about 1360 killed, and Ephorus and Diodorus Siculus – about 10 thousand.
Incidentally, almost simultaneously with the Battle of Plataea, another major battle took place. The Greek fleet, commanded by the Spartan king Leotychides II, defeated the Persian fleet at Cape Mycale (near the Ionian city of Priene) – and this was the first victory of the Greeks over the Persians in Asia. This led to the independence of the Ionian cities. However, the battle at Mycale remained in the shadow of the Battle of Plataea, the date of which many call “the day of salvation of Hellas».
Let us return to Pausanias, who, according to Herodotus, ordered Mardonius's captive cooks to prepare the usual dinner of a Persian general and serve it in a luxurious tent on golden plates, and his servants to prepare a typical Spartan dinner. The result was demonstrated to the invited commanders, to whom Pausanias said:
"Hellenes! I have gathered you to show the folly of this leader of the Medes, who lives in such luxury and yet has come to us to take away our pitiful crumbs."
In the next article we will continue the story and talk about the second, much sadder and more controversial stage in the life of the Spartan commander Pausanias.
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