by Pausanias
[2] ταῦτα Ὀρέστου λέγοντος οἱ ἄρχοντες τῶν Ἀχαιῶν οὐδὲ τὸν πάντα ὑπομείναντες ἀκοῦσαι λόγον ἔθεον ἐς τὸ ἐκτὸς τῆς οἰκίας καὶ ἐκάλουν Ἀχαιοὺς ἐς ἐκκλησίαν: οἱ δὲ ὡς τὰ ἐγνωσμένα ἐπύθοντο ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων, αὐτίκα ἐτρέποντο ἐπὶ τοὺς Σπαρτιάτας οἳ Κορίνθῳ τότε ἔτυχον ἐπιδημοῦντες, συνήρπαζον δὲ πάντα τινὰ καὶ ὃν Λακεδαιμόνιον σαφῶς ὄντα ἠπίσταντο καὶ ὅτῳ κουρᾶς ἢ ὑποδημάτων ἕνεκα ἢ ἐπὶ τῇ ἐσθῆτι ἢ κατ᾽ ὄνομα προσγένοιτο ὑπόνοια: τοὺς δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ καταφυγεῖν ἔνθα Ὀρέστης ᾤκει φθάνοντας ὅμως καὶ ἐντεῦθεν ἐβιάζοντο ἕλκειν.
[14.2] The magistrates of the Achaeans did not wait for Orestes to conclude, but while he was yet speaking ran out of the house and summoned the Achaeans to an assembly. When the Achaeans heard the decision of the Romans, they at once turned against the Spartans who happened to be then residing in Corinth, and arrested every one, not only those whom they knew for certain to be Lacedaemonians, but also all those they suspected to be such from the cut of their hair, or because of their shoes, their clothes or even their names. Some of them, who succeeded in taking refuge in the lodging of Orestes, they actually attempted even from there to drag away by force.
[3] Ὀρέστης δὲ καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ τῆς τε τόλμης ἐπέχειν τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς ἐπειρῶντο καὶ ἐκέλευον μεμνῆσθαι σφᾶς ὡς ἀδικημάτων καὶ ὕβρεως ἄρχουσιν ἐς Ῥωμαίους. ἡμέραις δὲ ὕστερον οὐ πολλαῖς οἱ Ἀχαιοὶ Λακεδαιμονίων μὲν αὐτῶν ὅσους εἶχον συνειληφότες, κατατίθενται σφᾶς ἐς δεσμωτήριον, τοὺς ξένους δὲ ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν διακρίνοντες ἠφίεσαν. ἀποστέλλουσι δὲ καὶ ἐς Ῥώμην ἄλλους τε Ἀχαιῶν τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ Θεαρίδαν: ὡς δὲ ἀπῆλθον, ἐντυχόντες κατὰ τὴν ἄνοδον Ῥωμαίων πρέσβεσιν ἐπὶ τὰ Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ Ἀχαιῶν ὕστερον ἢ Ὀρέστης ἀπεσταλμένοις, ὀπίσω καὶ αὐτοὶ τρέπονται.
[14.3] Orestes and his colleagues tried to check their violence, reminding them that they were committing unprovoked acts of criminal insolence against the Romans. A few days afterwards the Achaeans shut up in prison the Lacedaemonians they held under arrest, but separated from them the foreigners and let them go. They also despatched to Rome Thearidas, with certain other members of the Achaean government. These set out, but meeting on the journey the Roman envoys who had been sent after Orestes to deal with the dispute between the Lacedaemonians and the Achaeans, they too turned back.
[4] Διαίῳ δὲ ἐξήκοντος τοῦ χρόνου τῆς ἀρχῆς στρατηγεῖν ὑπὸ Ἀχαιῶν ᾑρέθη Κριτόλαος. τοῦτον δριμὺς καὶ σὺν οὐδενὶ λογισμῷ τὸν Κριτόλαον πολεμεῖν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἔρως ἔσχε: καὶ — ἔτυχον γὰρ τότε ἤδη οἱ παρὰ Ῥωμαίων ἥκοντες τὰ Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ Ἀχαιῶν δικάσαι — ἀφίκετο μὲν ἐν Τεγέᾳ τῇ Ἀρκάδων τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἐς λόγους ὁ Κριτόλαος, ἀθροῖσαι δὲ Ἀχαιούς σφισιν ἐς κοινὸν σύλλογον οὐδαμῶς ἤθελεν, ἀλλὰ ἐς μὲν ἐπήκοον τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἔπεμπεν ἀγγέλους κελεύων τοὺς συνέδρους καλεῖν ἐς τὸ Ἀχαϊκόν, ἰδίᾳ δὲ τοῖς συνέδροις ἐπέστελλεν ἐς τὰς πόλεις ἀπολείπεσθαι σφᾶς τοῦ συλλόγου.
[14.4] When the time came for Diaeus to relinquish his office, Critolaus was elected general by the Achaeans. This Critolaus was seized with a keen but utterly unthinking passion to make war against the Romans. The envoys from the Romans had by this time already arrived to adjudicate on the dispute between the Lacedaemonians and the Achaeans, and Critolaus had a conference with them at Tegea in Arcadia, being most unwilling to summon the Achaeans to meet them in a general assembly. However, in the hearing of the Romans he sent messengers with instructions to summon the deputies to the assembly, but privately he sent orders to the deputies of the various cities to absent themselves from the meeting.
[5] ὡς δὲ οὐκ ἀφίκοντο οἱ συνεδρεύσοντες, ἐνταῦθα ὁ Κριτόλαος μάλιστα ἐπεδείκνυτο ἀπάτῃ πρὸς Ῥωμαίους χρώμενος, ὃς ἄλλην ἐκέλευεν ἀναμένειν αὐτοὺς Ἀχαιῶν σύνοδον, ἐς μῆνα ἐσομένην ἕκτον: αὐτὸς δὲ οὐδὲν ἰδίᾳ διαλέξεσθαί σφισιν ἄνευ τοῦ κοινοῦ τοῦ Ἀχαιῶν ἔφασκε. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐπεὶ ἀπατώμενοι συνῆκαν, ἀπηλλάσσοντο ἐς Ῥώμην: Κριτόλαος δὲ ἐς Κόρινθον Ἀχαιοὺς ἀθροίσας ἀνέπεισε μὲν ἐπιφέρειν ὅπλα ἐπὶ τὴν Σπάρτην, ἀνέπεισε δὲ καὶ Ῥωμαίοις ἐκ τοῦ εὐθέος πόλεμον ἄρασθαι.
[14.5] When the deputies did not attend, Critolaus showed very clearly how he was hoodwinking the Romans. He urged them to wait for another meeting of the Achaeans, to take place five months later, declaring that he would not confer with them without the general assembly of the Achaeans. When the envoys realized that they were being deceived, they departed for Rome but Critolaus summoned a meeting of the Achaeans at Corinth, and persuaded them both to take up arms against Sparta and also to declare war openly on Rome.
[6] τὸ μὲν δὴ ἄνδρα βασιλέα καὶ πόλιν ἀνελέσθαι πόλεμον καὶ μὴ εὐτυχῆσαι συνέβη φθόνῳ μᾶλλον ἔκ του δαιμόνων ἢ τοῖς πολεμήσασι ποιεῖ τὸ ἔγκλημα: θρασύτης δὲ ἡ μετὰ ἀσθενείας μανία ἂν μᾶλλον ἢ ἀτυχία καλοῖτο. ὃ δὴ καὶ Κριτόλαον καὶ Ἀχαιοὺς ἔβλαψε. παρώξυνε δὲ καὶ Ἀχαιοὺς Πυθέας βοιωταρχῶν τηνικαῦτα ἐν Θήβαις, καὶ οἱ Θηβαῖοι συνεπιλήψεσθαι προθύμως ἐπηγγέλλοντο τοῦ πολέμου:
[14.6] For a king or state to undertake a war and be unlucky is due to the jealousy of some divinity rather than to the fault of the combatants; but audacity combined with weakness should be called madness rather than ill-luck. But it was such a combination that overthrew Critolaus and the Achaeans. The Achaeans were also encouraged by Pytheas, who at that time was Boeotarch at Thebes, and the Thebans promised to give enthusiastic support in the war.
[7] ἑαλώκεσαν δὲ οἱ Θηβαῖοι πρώτην δίκην Μετέλλου δικάζοντος Φωκεῦσιν ἐκτῖσαι ζημίαν, ὅτι ἐσέβαλον σὺν ὅπλοις ἐς γῆν τὴν Φωκίδα, δευτέραν Εὐβοεῦσιν, ἐδῄωσαν γὰρ καὶ Εὐβοέων τὴν χώραν, τρίτην δὲ Ἀμφισσεῦσι, τεμόντες καὶ τὴν Ἀμφισσέων περὶ ἀκμὴν σίτου.
[14.7] The Thebans had been sentenced, at the first ruling given by Metellus, to pay a fine for invading the territory of Phocis with an armed force; at the second to compensate the Euboeans for laying waste Euboea; at the third to compensate the people of Amphissa for ravaging their territory when the corn was ripe for harvest.
15. Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ παρά τε τῶν ἀνδρῶν διδαχθέντες οὓς ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἀπέστ
ειλαν καὶ ἐκ τῶν γραμμάτων ἃ Μέτελλος ἐπέστελλεν, ἀδικεῖν Ἀχαιῶν κατέγνωσαν: καὶ ἦν γὰρ Μόμμιός σφισιν ὕπατος τότε ᾑρημένος, τοῦτον ναῦς τε καὶ στρατιὰν πεζὴν ἐκέλευον ἐπ᾽ Ἀχαιοὺς ἄγειν. Μέτελλος δὲ παραυτίκα ἐπέπυστο ὡς Μόμμιος καὶ ὁ σὺν αὐτῷ στρατὸς ἐπὶ Ἀχαιοὺς ἀφίκοιτο: καὶ ἐποιεῖτο σπουδήν, εἰ ἐπιθεὶς αὐτὸς πέρας τῷ πολέμῳ φανῇ πρὶν ἢ Μόμμιον ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἀφῖχθαι.
[15.1] XV. The Romans, learning the news from the envoys sent to Greece and from the despatches of Metellus, decided that the Achaeans were in the wrong, and they ordered Mummius, the consul elected for that year, to lead a fleet with a land force against them. As soon as Metellus learned that Mummius and his army were coming to fight the Achaeans, he was full of enthusiasm to bring the war to a conclusion without help before Mummius reached Greece.
[2] ἀγγέλους οὖν παρὰ τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς ἀπέστελλεν, ἀφιέναι κελεύων σφᾶς συντελείας Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ πόλεις ἄλλας ὁπόσας εἴρητο ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων, τῆς τε ἐκ τοῦ χρόνου τοῦ προτέρου σφίσιν ἀπειθείας οὐδεμίαν παρὰ Ῥωμαίων ὑπισχνεῖτο ὀργὴν γενήσεσθαι. ἅμα τε δὴ ταῦτα ἐπεκηρυκεύετο καὶ ἤλαυνεν ἐκ Μακεδονίας τὸν στρατόν, διὰ Θεσσαλίας τὴν πορείαν καὶ παρὰ τὸν Λαμιακὸν ποιούμενος κόλπον. Κριτόλαος δὲ καὶ Ἀχαιοὶ λόγον μὲν φέροντα ἐς σύμβασιν προσίεντο οὐδένα, Ἡράκλειαν δὲ προσεκάθηντο πολιορκοῦντες οὐ βουλομένους ἐς τὸ Ἀχαϊκὸν συντελεῖν.
[15.2] So he despatched envoys to the Achaeans, bidding them release from the League the Lacedaemonians and the other states mentioned in the order of the Romans, promising that the Romans would entirely forgive them for their disobedience on the previous occasion. While making these proposals for peace he marched from Macedonia through Thessaly and along the gulf of Lamia. But Critolaus and the Achaeans would listen to no suggestions for an agreement, and sat down to besiege Heracleia, which refused to join the Achaean League.
[3] τότε δὲ ὡς παρὰ τῶν κατασκόπων ἐπυνθάνετο ὁ Κριτόλαος Μέτελλον καὶ Ῥωμαίους διαβεβηκέναι τὸν Σπερχειόν, ἀπέφευγεν ἐς Σκάρφειαν τὴν Λοκρῶν, οὐδὲ κατὰ τὸ στενὸν τὸ Ἡρακλείας τε μεταξὺ καὶ Θερμοπυλῶν τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς τάξας ἐτόλμησεν ὑπομεῖναι Μέτελλον: ἀλλὰ ἐς τοσοῦτο ἀφίκετο δείματος ὡς μηδὲ αὐτὸ ποιήσασθαι τὸ χωρίον πρὸς ἀμείνονος ἐλπίδος, ἔνθα ἦν μὲν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων τὰ ἐς Μήδους, ἦν δὲ καὶ Ἀθηναίοις τὰ ἐς Γαλάτας οὐδὲν ἀφανέστερα ἐκείνων τολμήματα.
[15.3] Then, when Critolaus was informed by his scouts that the Romans under Metellus had crossed the Spercheius, he fled to Scarpheia in Locris, without daring even to draw up the Achaeans in the pass between Heracleia and Thermopylae, and to await Metellus there. To such a depth of terror did he sink that brighter hopes were not suggested even by the spot itself, the site of the Lacedaemonian effort to save Greece, and of the no less glorious exploit of the Athenians against the Gauls.
[4] ὑποφεύγοντας δὲ Κριτόλαον καὶ Ἀχαιοὺς αἱροῦσιν ὀλίγον πρὸ τῆς Σκαρφείας οἱ ὁμοῦ τῷ Μετέλλῳ, καὶ ἀπέκτεινάν τε πλήθει πολλοὺς καὶ ἔλαβον ζῶντας ὅσον χιλίους. Κριτόλαος δὲ οὔτε ὤφθη ζῶν μετὰ τὴν μάχην οὔτε ἐν τοῖς νεκροῖς εὑρέθη: εἰ δὲ ἐτόλμησε τῆς πρὸς τῇ Οἴτῃ θαλάσσης ἐς ταύτης καταδῦναι τὸ τέλμα, παντάπασιν ἔμελλεν ἄγνωστός τε καὶ ἄπυστος οἰχήσεσθαι κατὰ τοῦ βυθοῦ.
[15.4] Critolaus and the Achaeans took to flight, but at a short distance from Scarpheia they were overtaken by the men of Metellus, who killed many and took about a thousand prisoners. Critolaus was neither seen alive after the battle nor found among the dead. If he dared to plunge into the marsh of the sea at the foot of Mount Oeta he must inevitably have sunk into the depths without leaving a trace to tell the tale.
[5] ἐς μὲν οὖν τὴν Κριτολάου τελευτὴν καὶ ἄλλα πάρεστιν εἰκάζειν: Ἀρκάδων δὲ ἐξεστρατευμένοι λογάδες χίλιοι, οἳ Κριτολάῳ τοῦ ἔργου μετέσχον, προῆλθον μὲν ἄχρι Ἐλατείας τῆς Φωκέων καὶ ἐς τὴν πόλιν ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν κατὰ συγγένειαν δή τινα παλαιὰν ἐδέχθησαν: ὡς δὲ τοῖς Φωκεῦσιν ἡ Κριτολάου συμφορὰ καὶ Ἀχαιῶν ἀπηγγέλλετο, ἀπελθεῖν ἐκ τῆς Ἐλατείας κελεύουσι τοὺς Ἀρκάδας.
[15.5] So the end of Critolaus offers a wide field for conjecture. A thousand picked troops of Arcadia, who had joined Critolaus in his enterprise, took the field and advanced as far as Elateia in Phocis, into which city they were received by the inhabitants on the ground of some supposed ancient connection between them. But when the Phocians heard of the disaster to Critolaus and the Achaeans, they ordered the Arcadians to depart from Elateia.
[6] ἀπιοῦσι δὲ ὀπίσω σφίσιν ἐς τὴν Πελοπόννησον Μέτελλος καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι περὶ Χαιρώνειαν ἐπιφαίνονται: ἔνθα δὴ ἐπελάμβανε τοὺς Ἀρκάδας ἐκ θεῶν δίκη τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν, οἳ ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ Φιλίππου καὶ Μακεδόνων ἐναντία ἀγωνιζομένους ἐγκαταλιπόντες Ἕλληνας τότε ἐν χωρίῳ τῷ αὐτῷ ἐκτείνοντο ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων.
[15.6] As they were retreating to the Peloponnesus the Romans under Metellus fell upon them near Chaeroneia. It was then that the vengeance of the Greek gods overtook the Arcadians, who were slain by the Romans on the very spot on which they had deserted from the Greeks who were struggling at Chaeroneia against the Macedonians under Philip.
[7] Ἀχαιοῖς δὲ αὖθις ἐπὶ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τοῦ στρατεύματος παρῄει Δίαιος: καὶ δούλους τε ἐς ἐλευθερίαν ἠφίει, τὸ Μιλτιάδου καὶ Ἀθηναίων βούλευμα τὸ πρὸ τοῦ ἔργου τοῦ ἐν Μαραθῶνι μιμούμενος, καὶ Ἀχαιῶν συνέλεγε καὶ Ἀρκάδων ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων τοὺς ἐν ἡλικίᾳ: ἐγένετο δέ, ἀναμεμιγμένων ὁμοῦ καὶ οἰκετῶν, τὸ ἀθροισθὲν ἐς ἑξακοσίους μὲν μάλιστα ἀριθμὸν ἱππεῖς, τὸ δὲ ὁπλιτεῦον τετρακισχίλιοί τε καὶ μύριοι.
[15.7] Diaeus once more came forward to command the Achaean army. He proceeded to set free slaves, following the example of Miltiades and the Athenians before the battle of Marathon, and enlisted from the cities of the Achaeans and Arcadians those who were of military age. The muster, including the slaves, amounted roughly to six hundred cavalry and fourteen thousand foot.
[8] ἐνταῦθα ὁ Δίαιος ἐς ἅπαν ἀφίκετο ἀνοίας, ὃς Κριτόλαον καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν Ἀχαιῶν ἐπιστάμενος παρασκευὴν κα�
�ῶς οὕτως ἀγωνισαμένην πρὸς Μέτελλον ἀπέλεξεν αὐτὸς ὅσον τετρακισχιλίους: καὶ ἄρχοντα ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἔταξεν Ἀλκαμένην. ἀπεστέλλοντο δὲ ἐς Μέγαρα φρουρά τε εἶναι Μεγαρεῦσι τοῦ ἄστεως καί, ἢν Μέτελλος ἐπίῃ καὶ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι, τοῦ πρόσω σφᾶς κωλύειν.
[15.8] And here Diaeus sank into utter folly. Although he knew that Critolaus and the whole force of Achaia had put up such a poor fight against Metellus, he nevertheless detached about four thousand, put them under the command of Alcamenes, and despatched them to Megara to garrison the city, and to stay the advance of Metellus and the Romans, should they march that way.
[9] Μέτελλος δὲ ὡς οἱ περὶ Χαιρώνειαν λογάδες κατέστρωντο οἱ Ἀρκάδων, ἀναστήσας τὸ στράτευμα ἤλαυνεν ἐπὶ τὰς Θήβας: Ἡράκλειάν τε γὰρ ἐπολιόρκησαν οἱ Θηβαῖοι μετὰ Ἀχαιῶν καὶ ἀγῶνος τοῦ πρὸς Σκάρφειαν μετεσχήκεσαν. τότε δὲ αὐτοί τε καὶ γυναῖκες ἐκλελοιπότες πᾶσα ἡλικία τὴν πόλιν ἐπλανῶντο ἀνὰ τὴν Βοιωτίαν καὶ ἐς τῶν ὀρῶν τὰ ἄκρα ἀνέφευγον.
[15.9] When the picked Arcadian troops had been overthrown near Chaeroneia, Metellus moved his army and marched against Thebes, for the Thebans had joined the Achaeans in investing Heracleia, and had taken part in the engagement of Scarpheia. Then the inhabitants, of both sexes and of all ages, abandoned the city and wandered about Boeotia, or took refuge on the tops of the mountains.