τὰ μὲν δὴ ἐς τοὺς βασιλεῖς πολυπραγμονήσαντί μοι κατὰ ταῦτα ἐγενεαλόγησαν οἱ Ἀρκάδες· κοινῇ δὲ Ἀρκάσιν ὑπῆρχεν ἐς μνήμην τὰ μὲν ἀρχαιότατα ὁ πρὸς Ἰλίῳ πόλεμος, δεύτερα δὲ ὁπόσα ἀμύνοντες Μεσσηνίοις Λακεδαιμονίων ἐναντία ἐμαχέσαντο· μέτεστι δὲ καὶ πρὸς Μήδους σφίσιν ἔργου τοῦ ἐν Πλαταιαῖς.
Λακεδαιμονίοις δὲ ἀνάγκῃ πλέον καὶ οὐ μετʼ εὐνοίας ἐπί τε Ἀθηναίους συνεστρατεύσαντο καὶ ἐς τὴν Ἀσίαν μετὰ Ἀγησιλάου διέβησαν, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐς Λεῦκτρα αὐτοῖς τὰ Βοιωτικὰ ἠκολούθησαν. τὸ δὲ ὕποπτον τὸ ἐς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ἀλλαχοῦ τε ἐπεδείξαντο καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἀτύχημα Λακεδαιμονίων τὸ ἐν Λεύκτροις παρὰ Θηβαίους αὐτίκα ἀπʼ αὐτῶν μετέστησαν. Φιλίππῳ δὲ καὶ Μακεδόσιν ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ καὶ ὕστερον ἐν Θεσσαλίᾳ πρὸς Ἀντίπατρον οὐκ ἐμαχέσαντο μετὰ Ἑλλήνων, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐναντία ἐτάξαντο.
πρὸς Γαλάτας δὲ τοῦ ἐν Θερμοπύλαις κινδύνου φασὶ Λακεδαιμονίων ἕνεκα οὐ μετασχεῖν, ἵνα μή σφισιν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι κακουργοῖεν τὴν γῆν ἀπόντων τῶν ἐν ἡλικίᾳ· συνεδρίου δὲ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν μετέσχον οἱ Ἀρκάδες προθυμότατα Ἑλλήνων. ὁπόσα δὲ αὐτοῖς οὐχὶ ἐν κοινῷ, κατὰ πόλεις δὲ ἰδίᾳ συμβεβηκότα εὕρισκον, ἀποθησόμεθα αὐτῶν ἕκαστον ἐς τὸ οἰκεῖον τοῦ λόγου.
εἰσὶν οὖν ἐς Ἀρκαδίαν ἐσβολαὶ κατὰ τὴν Ἀργείαν πρὸς μὲν Ὑσιῶν καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸ ὄρος τὸ Παρθένιον ἐς τὴν Τεγεατικήν, δύο δὲ ἄλλαι κατὰ Μαντίνειαν διά τε Πρίνου καλουμένης καὶ διὰ Κλίμακος. αὕτη δὲ εὐρυτέρα τέ ἐστι καὶ ἡ κάθοδος εἶχεν αὕτη βασμίδας ποτὲ ἐμπεποιημένας· ὑπερβαλόντων δὲ τὴν Κλίμακα χωρίον ἐστὶν ὀνομαζόμενον Μελαγγεῖα, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ αὐτόθεν τὸ πότιμον Μαντινεῦσι κάτεισιν ἐς τὴν πόλιν.
προελθόντι δὲ ἐκ τῶν Μελαγγείων, ἀπέχοντι τῆς πόλεως στάδια ὡς ἑπτὰ ἔστι κρήνη καλουμένη Μελιαστῶν· οἱ Μελιασταὶ δὲ οὗτοι δρῶσι τὰ ὄργια τοῦ Διονύσου, καὶ Διονύσου τε μέγαρον πρὸς τῇ κρήνῃ καὶ Ἀφροδίτης ἐστὶν ἱερὸν Μελαινίδος. ἐπίκλησιν δὲ ἡ θεὸς ταύτην κατʼ ἄλλο μὲν ἔσχεν οὐδέν, ὅτι δὲ ἀνθρώπων μὴ τὰ πάντα αἱ μίξεις ὥσπερ τοῖς κτήνεσι μεθʼ ἡμέραν, τὰ πλείω δέ εἰσιν ἐν νυκτί.
ἡ δὲ ὑπολειπομένη τῶν ὁδῶν στενωτέρα ἐστὶ τῆς προτέρας καὶ ἄγει διὰ τοῦ Ἀρτεμισίου. τούτου δὲ ἐπεμνήσθην καὶ ἔτι πρότερον τοῦ ὄρους, ὡς ἔχοι μὲν ναὸν καὶ ἄγαλμα Ἀρτέμιδος, ἔχοι δὲ καὶ τοῦ Ἰνάχου τὰς πηγάς. ὁ δὲ Ἴναχος ἐφʼ ὅσον μὲν πρόεισι κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν διὰ τοῦ ὄρους, τοῦτό ἐστιν Ἀργείοις καὶ Μαντινεῦσιν ὅρος τῆς χώρας· ἀποστρέψας δὲ ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ τὸ ὕδωρ διὰ τῆς Ἀργείας ἤδη τὸ ἀπὸ τούτου κάτεισι, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τὸν Ἴναχον ἄλλοι τε καὶ Αἰσχύλος ποταμὸν καλοῦσιν Ἀργεῖον.
Such is the genealogy of the kings of Arcadia as I ascertained it by careful inquiry from the Arcadians. Of the memorable events which concerned the Arcadians as a nation the most ancient was the Trojan war, and the next was the help they gave to the Messenians in fighting the Lacedaemonians. They also shared in the battle of Plataea against the Medes. On compulsion rather than from choice they marched with the Lacedaemonians against Athens, and crossed the sea to Asia with Agesilaus; they also followed the Lacedaemonians to Leuctra, in Boeotia. But on more than one occasion they evinced their distrust of the Lacedaemonians ; in particular, after the defeat of the Lacedaemonians at Leuctra they immediately passed over to the Theban side. If they did not fight on the Greek side against Philip and his Macedonians at Chaeronea, nor afterwards against Antipater in Thessaly, at least they did not take the field against their countrymen. They say that they were hindered by the Lacedaemonians from hazarding themselves against the Gauls at Thermopylae; for they feared that in the absence of their fighting men the Lacedaemonians might ravage their land. They were the warmest of all the adherents of the Achaean League. The histories of each separate city, as distinguished from the history of the nation, must be reserved for their appropriate places. 2. There is a pass into Arcadia from Argolis by Hysiae and over Mount Parthenius, debouching in the territory of Tegea; and there are two other passes debouching in the territory of Mantinea, one through Prinus, as it is called, the other through the Ladder. The latter is the wider pass, and steps were formerly made in it to facilitate the descent. Having crossed over the Ladder we reach a place named Melangea, from which the drinking-water comes down to Mantinea. Farther on, about seven furlongs from Mantinea, you come to a fountain called the fountain of the Meliasts: these Meliasts here celebrate the orgies of Dionysus. Beside the fountain is a hall of Dionysus, and a sanctuary of Black Aphrodite. The goddess is so surnamed simply because men mostly indulge in sexual intercourse by night, instead of, like the beasts, by day. The other road is narrower than the one I have described, and leads over Artemisius. I mentioned before that on this mountain there is a temple of Artemis with an image of her, and that on the mountain are the springs of the Inachus. So far as the Inachus flows beside the road over the mountain it forms the boundary between Argolis and the territory of Mantinea ; but from the point where it leaves the road it flows through Argolis ; hence Aeschylus and others call the Inachus an Argive river.
Cite This Text