Pausanias’ Kings of Arcadia

Abstract

The contribution is dedicated to earlier periods of the history of Arcadia as mirrored in Pausanias’ Description of Greece. Those periods are represented by ancient sources through mythological characters and stories, which nevertheless convey meaningful information about historical facts and developments. Except for some narrative details eluding historical verification, Pausanias’ account is conventional, basically faithful, and often confirmed by archaeological findings. Not only a source of historical facts from early Arcadia, Pausanias proves to be an important secondary witness revealing the circumstances that gave birth to the underlying traditions.