description Pausanias Overview
Pausanias was a Greek traveler and writer active in the second century AD under Roman rule. His surviving work, commonly called Description of Greece, records the geography, monuments, artworks, myths, rituals, and local histories of regions including Attica, the Peloponnese, and central Greece. The text is an important source for historians, classicists, and archaeologists studying ancient Greek sites and religious practices.
insights Ranking position
Pausanias ranks #25 of 172 in the Geographer ranking, behind Denis Cosgrove, ahead of Michael Batty.
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What is Pausanias's Description of Greece actually about?
It is a ten-book account of Greek places, monuments, artworks, sanctuaries, myths, and local traditions under Roman rule. Pausanias moves through regions including Attica, Laconia, Messenia, Arcadia, Boeotia, and Phocis.
Did Pausanias personally visit the places he described?
Much of the work reads as eyewitness travel writing, with routes and monuments described in physical sequence. He also incorporated oral traditions and earlier written sources, so not every historical or mythological claim came from direct observation.
Why do archaeologists still use Pausanias?
His route descriptions can help identify the locations and ancient functions of ruins, statues, temples, and sanctuaries. Excavations at places such as Olympia and Delphi can therefore be compared with details recorded in Description of Greece.
When did Pausanias write Description of Greece?
He wrote during the second century AD, when Greece formed part of the Roman Empire. Internal references place the work broadly in the reigns of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.
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