Pausanias of Sparta

Biography

Pausanias was regent of Sparta during the minority of Leonidas's son Pleistarchus, and commanded the combined Greek army at Plataea in 479 BC — the battle that ended the Persian invasion of Europe. His performance at Plataea showed both brilliance and patience: he endured eleven days of Persian cavalry harassment, maintained coalition discipline against enormous pressure to retreat, and when battle was forced, held his Spartans in disciplined formation against repeated Persian assaults until Mardonius fell and the enemy army disintegrated. After Plataea, Pausanias led a Greek fleet to Cyprus and Byzantium, where his behaviour began to alarm his allies. He was accused of negotiating with Xerxes, adopting Persian dress and manners, and writing to Xerxes offering to betray Greece in exchange for power and a Persian bride. The Spartans recalled him twice; both times he was acquitted for lack of evidence. On the third accusation, the ephors moved to arrest him. Pausanias took sanctuary in a temple of Athena at Sparta. The Spartans, unwilling to violate sacred ground but determined to prevent his escape, walled up the entrance and removed the roof. He starved to death inside. The victor of Plataea — the man who had perhaps done more than any other to save Greece in 479 BC — was literally entombed alive by the city he had served.

Key Battles