L 188 Description of Greece, Vol II, Books 3-5

Description of Greece, Volume II

Books 3-5 (Laconia, Messenia, Elis 1)

Pausanias, born probably in Lydia in Asia Minor, was a Greek of the second century CE, about 120–180, who traveled widely not only in Asia Minor, Palestine, Egypt, and North Africa, but also in Greece and in Italy, including Rome. He left a description of Greece in ten books, which is like a topographical guidebook or tour of Attica, the Peloponnese, and central Greece, filled out with historical accounts and events and digressions on facts and wonders of nature. His chief interest was the monuments of art and architecture, especially the most famous of them; the accuracy of his descriptions of these is proved by surviving remains.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Pausanias is in five volumes; the fifth volume contains maps, plans, illustrations, and a general index.