Ἔφορος δὲ τὸν Κρεσφόντην, ἐπειδὴ εἷλε Μεσσήνην, διελεῖν φησιν εἰς πέντε πόλεις αὐτήν, ὥστε Στενύκλαρον μὲν ἐν τῷ μέσῳ τῆς χ κειμένην ἀποδεῖξαι βασίλειον αὑτῷ, βασιλέας πέμψαι, Πύλον καὶ Ῥίον κ Ὑαμεῖτιν, ποιήσαντα ἰσονόμους πάντας τοῖς Δωριεῦσι τοὺς Μεσσηνίους· ἀγανακτούντων δὲ τῶν Δωριέων μεταγνόντα μόνον τὸν Στενύκλαρον νομίσαι πόλιν, εἰς τοῦτον δὲ καὶ τοὺς Δωριέας συναγαγεῖν πάντας.
Ephorus relates that Cresphontes, after he had taken Messene, divided it into five cities, and chose Stenyclarus, situated in the middle of this district, to be the royal seat of his kingdom. To the other cities, Pylus, Rhium, (Mesola,) and Hyameitis, he appointed kings, and put all the Messenians on an equal footing with the Dorians as to rights and privileges. The Dorians, however, taking offence, he changed his intention, and determined that Stenyclarus alone should have the rank of a city, and here he assembled all the Dorians.
ἡ δὲ Μεσσηνίων πόλις ἔοικε Κορίνθῳ· ὑπέρκειται γὰρ τῆς πόλεως ἑκατέρας ὄρος ὑψηλὸν καὶ ἀπότομον τείχει κοινῷ περιειλημμένον ὥστʼ ἀκροπόλει χρῆσθαι, τὸ μὲν καλούμενον Ἰθώμη τὸ δὲ Ἀκροκόρινθος· ὥστʼ οἰκείως δοκεῖ Δημήτριος ὁ Φάριος πρὸς Φίλιππον εἰπεῖν τὸν Δημητρίου, παρακελευόμενος τούτων ἔχεσθαι τῶν πόλεων ἀμφοῖν ἐπιθυμοῦντα τῆς Πελοποννήσου· τῶν κεράτων γὰρ ἀμφοῖν ἔφη καθέξεις τὴν βοῦν. κέρατα μὲν λέγων τὴν Ἰθώμην καὶ τὸν Ἀκροκόρινθον, βοῦν δὲ τὴν Πελοπόννησον. καὶ δὴ διὰ τὴν εὐκαιρίαν ταύτην ἀμφήριστοι γεγόνασιν αἱ πόλεις αὗται. Κόρινθον μὲν οὖν κατέσκαψαν καὶ ἀνέστησαν πάλιν· Μεσσήνην δὲ ἀνεῖλον μὲν Λακεδαιμόνιοι, πάλιν δʼ ἀνέλαβον Θηβαῖοι καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Φίλιππος Ἀμύντου· αἱ δʼ ἀκροπόλεις ἀοίκητοι διέμειναν.
The city of the Messenians resembles Corinth, for above each city is a lofty and precipitous mountain, enclosed by a common wall in such a manner as to be used as an acropolis; the Messenian mountain is Ithome, that near Corinth is Acrocorinthus. Demetrius of Pharos seemed to have counselled Philip the son of Demetrius well, when he advised him to make himself master of both cities, if he desired to get possession of Peloponnesus; for, said he, when you have seized both horns, the cow will be your own; meaning, by the horns, Ithome and Acrocorinthus, and, by the cow, Peloponnesus. It was no doubt their convenient situation which made these cities subjects of contention. The Romans therefore razed Corinth, and again rebuilt it. The Lacedaemonians destroyed Messene, and the Thebans, and subsequently Philip, the son of Amyntas, restored it. The citadels however continued unoccupied.
τὸ δʼ ἐν Λίμναις τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερόν, ἐφʼ ᾧ Μεσσήνιοι περὶ τὰς παρθένους ὑβρίσαι δοκοῦσι τὰς ἀφιγμένας ἐπὶ τὴν θυσίαν, ἐν μεθορίοις ἐστὶ τῆς τε Λακωνικῆς καὶ τῆς Μεσσηνίας, ὅπου κοινὴν συνετέλουν πανήγυριν καὶ θυσίαν ἀμφότεροι· μετὰ δὲ τὴν ὕβριν οὐ διδόντων δίκας τῶν Μεσσηνίων συστῆναί φασι τὸν πόλεμον. ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν Λιμνῶν τούτων καὶ τὸ ἐν τῇ Σπάρτῃ Λιμναῖον εἴρηται τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερόν.
The temple of Diana in Limnae (in the Marshes), where the Messenians are supposed to have violated the virgins who came there to offer sacrifice, is on the confines of Laconia and Messenia, where the inhabitants of both countries usually celebrated a common festival, and performed sacrifices; but after the violation of the virgins, the Messenians did not make any reparation, and war, it is said, ensued. The Limnaean temple of Diana at Sparta is said to have its name from the Limnae here.
πλεονάκις δʼ ἐπολέμησαν διὰ τὰς ἀποστάσεις τῶν Μεσσηνίων. τὴν μὲν οὖν πρώτην κατάκτησιν αὐτῶν φησι Τυρταῖος ἐν τοῖς ποιήμασι κατὰ τοὺς τῶν πατέρων πατέρας γενέσθαι· τὴν δὲ δευτέραν, καθʼ ἣν ἑλόμενοι συμμάχους Ἀργείους τε καὶ Ἀρκάδας καὶ Πισάτας ἀπέστησαν, Ἀρκάδων μὲν Ἀριστοκράτην τὸν Ὀρχομενοῦ βασιλέα παρεχομένων στρατηγόν, Πισατῶν δὲ Πανταλέοντα τὸν Ὀμφαλίωνος· ἡνίκα φησὶν αὐτὸς στρατηγῆσαι τὸν πόλεμον τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις · καὶ γὰρ εἶναί φησιν ἐκεῖθεν ἐν τῇ ἐλεγείᾳ ἣν ἐπιγράφουσιν εὐνομίαν αὐτὸς γὰρ Κρονίων, καλλιστεφάνου πόσις Ἥρης, / Ζεὺς Ἡρακλείδαις τήνδε δέδωκε πόλιν· / οἷσιν ἅμα προλιπόντες Ἐρινεὸν ἠνεμόεντα, / εὐρεῖαν Πέλοπος νῆσον ἀφικόμεθα. / ὥστʼ ἢ ταῦτα ἠκύρωται τὰ ἐλεγεῖα, ἢ Φιλοχόρῳ ἀπιστητέον τῷ φήσαντι Ἀθηναῖόν τε καὶ Ἀφιδναῖον, καὶ Καλλισθένει καὶ ἄλλοις πλείοσι τοῖς εἰποῦσιν ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν ἀφικέσθαι δεηθέντων Λακεδαιμονίων κατὰ χρησμόν, ὃς ἐπέταττε παρʼ Ἀθηναίων λαβεῖν ἡγεμόνα. ἐπὶ μὲν οὖν τοῦ Τυρταίου ὁ δεύτερος ὑπῆρξε πόλεμος· τρίτον δὲ καὶ τέταρτον συστῆναί φασιν, ἐν ᾧ κατελύθησαν οἱ Μεσσήνιοι. ὁ δὲ πᾶς παράπλους ὁ Μεσσηνιακὸς στάδιοι ὀκτακόσιοί που κατακολπίζοντι.
There were frequent wars (between the Lacedaemonians and Messenians) on account of the revolts of the Messenians. Tyrtaeus mentions, in his poems, that their first subjugation was in the time of their grandfathers; the second, when in conjunction with their allies the Eleians [Arcadians], Argives, and Pisatae, they revolted; the leader of the Arcadians was Aristocrates, king of Orchomenus, and of the Pisatae, Pantaleon, son of Omphalion. In this war, Tyrtaeus says, he himself commanded the Lacedaemonian army, for in his elegiac poem, entitled Eunomia, he says he came from Erineum; for Jupiter himself, the son of Saturn, and husband of Juno with the beautiful crown, gave this city to the Heracleidae, with whom we left the windy Erineum, and arrived at the spacious island of Pelops. Wherefore we must either invalidate the authority of the elegiac verses, or we must disbelieve Philochorus, and Callisthenes, and many other writers, who say that he came from Athens, or Aphidnae, at the request of the Lacedaemonians, whom an oracle had enjoined to receive a commander from the Athenians.
The second war then occurred in the time of Tyrtaeus. But they mention a third, and even a fourth war, in which the Messenians were destroyed. The whole voyage along the Messenian coast comprises about 800 stadia, including the measurement of the bays.
ἀλλὰ γὰρ εἰς πλείω λόγον τοῦ μετρίου πρόιμεν ἀκολουθοῦντες τῷ πλήθει τῶν ἱστορουμένων περὶ χώρας ἐκλελειμμένης τῆς πλείστης· ὅπου γε καὶ ἡ Λακωνικὴ λιπανδρεῖ κρινομένη πρὸς τὴν παλαιὰν εὐανδρίαν. ἔξω γὰρ τῆς Σπάρτης αἱ λοιπαὶ πολίχναι τινές εἰσι περὶ τριάκοντα τὸν ἀριθμόν· τὸ δὲ παλαιὸν ἑκατόμπολίν φασιν αὐτὴν καλεῖσθαι, καὶ τὰ ἑκατόμβαια διὰ τοῦτο θύεσθαι παρʼ αὐτοῖς κατʼ ἔτος.
I have exceeded the limits of moderation in this description, by attending to the multitude of facts which are related of a country, the greatest part of which is deserted. Even Laconia itself is deficient in population, if we compare its present state with its ancient populousness. For, with the exception of Sparta, the remaining small cities are about thirty; but, anciently, Laconia had the name of Hecatompolis, and that for this reason hecatombs were annually sacrificed.
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