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The Spartan King Pausanias is perhaps the greatest historical anomaly when
looking at Ancient Greece and the Persian Wars. He can be attributed or
winning !the most splendid "ictory which history records! as Herodotus tells
us# yet he died a traitor# star"ing to death as his ellow Spartans barricaded
him into a temple. To truly understand this man and his contribution to the
Greek "ictories o"er Persia# we must irst consider his !splendid "ictories! at
the $attle o Plataea in %&'$(.
)uring this battle# Pausanias was the o"erall commander o the allied Greek
orces and he was acting as a regent King or his homeland o Sparta as he
was nephew to the late Kind *eonidas# whose son was not old enough to take
such a position yet. $ury tells us that Pausanias showed !remarkable military
ability in conducting the campaign o Plataea!# this is no understatement.
Pausanias aced a much larger Persian orce who were already dug in at the
position ha"ing built at '++ acre stockade and in addition to that he had to
control an army o ,- &++ mismatched Greeks rom ,, dierent states. .rom
the history o interstate Greek cooperation# keeping the army in check was no
simple task. /t was with this orce that Pausanias made his greatest
contribution in the war against Persia. The Persians again thought they could
win simply by o"erwhelming numbers but again Greek strategy pro"ed them
wrong. Pausanias and his generals# during a council o war# decided to mo"e
during the night# Spartans keeping to the high ground# Athenians to the low
ground# Pausanias declared to the Athenians# !0en o Athens1 2ow that the
great struggle has come# which is to decide the reedom or sla"ery o
Greece34tis your place to come to our aid# sore pressed as we are by the
enemy3! When the Persian leader 0ardonius saw the mo"ement# he led his
orces ater them thinking they were retreating. This was a tactic used at
Thermopylae by his 5ncle *eonidas to conuse the Persians# catching them
by surprise when they turned and ought# e6ploiting their ob"ious weakness o
o"erconidence. The Athenians slipped past the Persians unnoticed but the
Spartans and other Greeks already had to contend with Persian (a"alry. The
inal "ictory blow came by the hand o Pausanias as# in the midst o the
Persian arrows raining down on the Spartans who waited# disciplined# behind
their shields# he called or a charge. His men managed to take down the
Persian *eader 0ardonius during this charge which caused the leaderless
Persians to lee back to the stockade and the other Persian (ommander#
Artaba7us to lee with %+#+++ men back to Asia. .ollowing this# the Greeks
o"erran the Stockade and slaughtered the remaining Persians# claiming
ultimate "ictory at this battle# the inal oensi"e o Persia in these wars.
5nortunately or Pausanias# this is where his contributions to the Greek
8ictory in the Persian wars started to take a negati"e turn. He led his men to
the stockade and went into the tent o 0ardonius# as Herodotus tells us !it is
said that3.when Pausanias3saw the tent with its adornments o gold and
sil"er and its hanging o di"ers colours# he ga"e the commandment to the
Persian bakers and cooks to make him ready a ban9uet in such a ashion as
their wont or 0ardonius!. Herodotus goes on to tell us o Pausanias:
astonishment at the e6tra"agance o the meal beore him# and how he asked
his own men to prepare a Spartan ban9uet. !3it was apparent how "ast a
dierence lay between the two# Pausanias laughed!# he then in"ited the
Greek generals to the ban9uet and declared to them !/ sent or you# ;
<
Greeks# to show you the olly o this 0edian (aptain# who# when he en=oyed
such are as this# must needs come here to rob us o our po"erty!. /t was
apparent how o"erwhelmed this man# o a simple Spartan lie# was by the
Persian:s wealth. Herodotus tells us that when the spoils o the battle came to
be di"ide up# !3or Pausanias# the portion which was set apart or him
consisted o ten specimens o each kind o thing > women# horses# talents#
camels or whate"er else there was in the spoil.!
.ollowing this battle# the great monument# the 4Serpent (olumn4 was created
rom the tenth o the spoils designated to the God at )elphi. Thucydides tells
us that Pausanias 4on his own responsibility4 had 4*eader o Hellenes in war#
"ictorious o"er the Persians# Pausanias to the God Phoebus erected the
trophy?# inscribed on the column. This was subse9uently remo"ed by the
Spartans and they @3inscribed by name all the cities who had =oined in
deeating the Persians3?. As $ury tells us# !His talents as a politician were
not e9ual to his talents as a general!# the Spartans knew this and sent him out
on e6peditions to the Greek states still under Persian rule.
His contribution o the 4Serpent (olumn4 to the Greek "ictory o"er the Persians
became tainted by this and as Thucydides tells us @Pausanias had already
begun to re"eal the arrogance o his nature and was becoming unpopular with
the Hellenes ASpartansB!. /t is here ater that the contributions o Pausanias
begin to ollow a se9uence o negati"ity. Pausanias was replaced as the King
o Sparta# but still retained a position o note and began to li"e in such a
ashion that one could ob"iously notice the drastic eect his glimpse at
Persian lie in 0ardonius: tent had had on the man. Plutarch tells us he
@treated his own allies harshly and arrogantly and scattered insults ar and
wide with his oicious and absurd pretensions?. At this time# it is apparent that
he began to o"eruse his ame rom the "ictory at Plataea# becoming
bigheaded and placing himsel abo"e others. /t is most ob"iously this
e6tremely un>Spartan beha"ior that led to the man4s ultimate downall. He lost
many riends and supporters# yet his ambitions continued to rise. Pausanias
is attributed by some as the reason or loss o Spartan dominance o"er
Greece as $ury tells us !He beha"ed more like a tyrant# than a generalC and
he completely ruined all chances that his country had o remaining at the head
o the Hellenic (onederacy APeloponnesian *eagueB!. .ollowing this
Herodotus tells us !the Athenians made the insuerable beha"ior o
Pausanias their e6cuse or depri"ing the *akedaemonians ASpartansB o the
(ommand Ao GreeceB!. This led to the ormation o the )elian *eague which
rose to prominence ater e"ents in"ol"ing Pausanias4 contribution to the
"ictory o"er the Persians. Thucydides tells us that many Greek !states
approached the Athenians# asking them since they were their own kinsmen
AloniansB# to take them under their protection and i Pausanias acted in a
dicatorial manner# not to allow it!.
We see in all o this# Pausanias4 enormous contribution howe"er negati"e# to
the political state o Greece at the time o their "ictory against the Persians. /t
is unortunate to see that this man4s inal contribution to the Greek "ictory o"er
Persian was so inhibiting compared to his prior liberating military "ictory at
Plataea.
,
/t is important to consider the e"ents at the end o this man4s lie beore
relecting on his o"erall contribution. )ue to his rising ambition# he began
plans o con9uest to such a degree that Thucydides tells us !he appeared to
be setting himsel up as a dictator! and !he was recalled to Sparta to ace a
court o in9uiry!. ; these charges he was ac9uitted. Howe"er# this did not
stop the ambitions o this manC he subse9uently began plans to o"erthrow the
Spartan Go"ernment itsel. This time the Spartans did not ignore Pausanias
and he led# ironically# to the temple o Athena where the Spartans kept him
barricaded until he star"ed to death# a "ery unusual ending to a "ery unusual
Spartan.
Another interesting part o his lie to consider is his aair with the young
$y7antine woman# (leonice. He ordered her to share his bed but he ell
asleep beore she got there. She accidentally hit o"er a lamp# waking
Pausanias up and beore thought# he killed her. /t is said he had nightmares
about her and made constant sacriices to please her soul.
These e"ents were ma=or contributes to the mental state o this man at the
times during his lie that he made his contributions# both negati"e and
positi"e# pre"iously described to the Greek "ictory against the Persians.
/n addition to his contribution to the ormation o the )elian *eague#
Thucydides states that the Spartans !eared that when their oicers went
o"erseas they would become corrupt A=ust like PausaniasB3at the same time
they no longer wanted to be burdened with the war against Persia!. The
actions o Pausanias led to an increased isolationist policy in Sparta. So it
can be said he helped Athens rise to power o"er Greece in addition to his
deeds at Plataea.
Pausanias is a man who stands out in history as one o e6treme worth to the
cause o Greece "ersus Persia and yet as an e6tremely burden to his
homeland o Sparta in this "ictory. )espite his negati"e contributions to his
country in the time o the "ictory o"er Persia# his positi"e contributions can not
be orgotten and are hardly o"ershadowed. / one takes into account the
shock he must ha"e had seeing the riches o Persia when compared to his
own lie through something as simple as a comparison o meals and his
anguish o"er the murder o (leonice# his actions ollowing his great "ictory
can be o"erlooked and we can singularly remember him how Herodotus
reluctantly acknowledged him# the supreme commander that !won the most
splendid battle which history records!.
$ibliography
Herodotus > The Histories $ook '
Ancient Greece > 5sing D"idence by Pamela $radley 1'--
$oard o Studies > www.boredostudies.org
Pausanias# Greece# Ancient History >
httpEFFwww.in<greece.comFenglishFhistorymythFhistoryFancientFpausanias.htm