Pausanias

Pausanias was a Spartan prince who commanded the allied Greek army at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC and helped end the Persian land invasion. He later led operations in the eastern Aegean but alienated allies through harsh and aristocratic behaviour.

Accused of secret dealings with Persia and of plotting with helots, he took refuge in a temple at Sparta. The authorities sealed the building, and he died from starvation. Pausanias served as regent. Pausanias belonged to Agiads.

Conn Iggulden’s Protector brings Pausanias into the aftermath of the Persian invasion as the Spartan commander associated with the Greek victory at Plataea and the uneasy coalition that follows. Valerio Massimo Manfredi’s Spartan places him within the harsh political world of the Spartan state and the rivalries produced by victory over Persia. Christian Cameron’s Rage of Ares uses Pausanias’s command and reputation in the post-war Aegean as part of the tensions between Sparta and its allies, while Treason of Sparta turns the accusations of medism and secret ambition surrounding him into a problem of loyalty, evidence and factional politics.