"The Chronology of the Elean War", by Ron K. Unz, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, Spring 1986, Volume 27, Number 1

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by Ron K. Unz
In Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, Spring 1986, Volume 27, Number 1, pp. 29-42

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The Chronology of the Elean War
Ron K. Unz
REGARDING THE CHRONOLOGY and events of the Elean War,
fought between Sparta and Elis ca 400 B.C., our sources are
in notorious disagreement.1 Xenophon's account and that of
Pausanias, which ultimately derives from it appears to differ irrecon
cilably from that of Diodorus.2 A resolution of this crux is desirable
for its own sake, but even more important are the substantive issues
involved: reconstruction of the actual course of the war should help
us gain a better understanding of Spartan foreign policy during the
aftermath of the Peloponnesian War, allow us to learn the circum
stances and date of the accession of King Agesilaus, and, perhaps
most significantly, provide further insight into the reliability and
methods of our two principal sources for the events of the period.
I
There is little dispute about the origins of the war. In 420 the
Eleans barred Spartans from the Olympic Games because of an al
leged truce violation and flogged Lichas, a prominent Spartiate who
attempted to participate; some time later the Eleans refused King
Agis permission to sacrifice at Olympia for victory in the war against
Cf. W. Judeich, Kleinasiatische Stud/en Marburg 1892 182f; G. E. Underhill, "The
Chronology of the Elean War," CR 7 1893 156-58; E. Meyer, Theopomps Hellenika
Halie 1909 114-16; J. Hatzfeld, "Notes sur Ia chronologie des Helléniques," REA 35
1933 395-409; and D. H. KELLY, Sources and Interpretations of Spartan History in the
Reigns of Agesilaus II, Archidamus III and Agis III diss.Cambridge 1975 [hereafter
'Kelly'l 21-41. The inveterate notoriety and difficulty of the issue is summed up in
Underhill's opening sentence: "A complete solution of all the difficulties involved in
this problem, which has occupied the attention of commentators and historians for
more than a century, is almost out of the question: we have to content ourselves with
weighing one set of probabilities against the other."
Xen. Hell. 3.2.21-3.3.1, Paus. 3.8.3-5; Diod. 14.17.4-12, 34.1. Though condensed,
Pausanias' account of the war is virtually identical with Xenophon's both in material
and in order of presentation, the only major difference being his statement that the war
lasted three years, whereas many modern scholars interpret Xenophon's phrase IrEpi
uivm TO? vwvrii to impl that the war lasted only two years cf n.3 infra. Pausanias'
other differences from Xenophon involve minor details, and are probably best ex
plained as errors due to Pausanias' faulty memory or his intermediate source, although
Kelly 21 sees in them the traces of an additional tradition.
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