The double betrayal of Aristokrates, according to Pausanias (video)

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    The fourth book from Pausanias' work Description of Greece is devoted to the region of Messenia. A large part of the book narrates the Messenian Wars, and focuses on the constant Messenian effort for freedom against their neighbours, the Spartans. Pausanias gives the impression that the main reason which led the Messenians to their defeat, was the fact that the Spartans bribed Aristokrates, the king of the Arkadians at that time. Note that the Arkadians were the only allies left for the Messenians at the time of their revolution against Sparta. The betrayal of king Aristokrates is briefly mentioned in the eighth book of Pausanias' work, which is devoted to the neighbouring region, Arkadia. Central heroic figure of the revolution was the Messenian Aristomenes of Andania [Please avoid the confusion over the Arkadian king Aristokrates and the Messenian general Aristomenes]. This video is a visualised version of Pausanias' account for the legendary events.

    Please remember that Pausanias' version of the events is considered inconsistent. The ancient author and traveler is actually recording his hesitation regarding the reliability of his own sources. One of his main concerns is to give a correct and precise chronology for the Messenian hero Aristomenes. In the end, he decides that the sources which place Aristomenes at the time of the Second Messenian War seem more believable. Today, the accurate chronology of this very battle is additionally under investigation. The prevailing view is that it occurred at the end of the 7th century BC. However, Aristomenes has been connected with a later revolution of Messenia in the 5th century BC.

   The legend of Aristomenes has a nostalgic and a patriotic character in the years that followed the liberation of Messenia and the (re)construction of the city of Messene in 369BC (Cartledge 2015). The narrations regarding the Messenian hero are full of incoherence and repetition, because they are the result of a long, natural procedure of merging short independent legends from a wide range of areas throughout time (Odgen 2004). The problem of giving a precise chronology to the Wars between the Messenians and the Spartans is located centuries before Pausanias' time, undoubtedly in the Hellenistic sources and perhaps in the brief Classical references (Christesen 2015).

Bibliography

Pausanias 4.6.1-5, 4.15.4-4.17.9, 4.22.1-7, 8.5.13, 8.6.1

Cartledge, P. (2015). Aristomenes (1), traditional Messenian hero. Oxford Classical Dictionary.

Christesen, P. (2015). Essay in Brill’s New Jacoby on Myron of Priene. Brills New Jacoby.

Ogden, D. (2004) Aristomenes of Messene: Legends of Sparta's Nemesis, Swansea.