Pausanias_Travel_Writing_in_Ancient Greece [Maria_Pretzler]

Pausanias: Travel Writing in Ancient Greece
expect a steady stream of visitors, possibly offering their services for
money. Ancient authors seem to have a rather low opinion of such guides.
For example, Plutarch’s De Pythiae Oraculis is a philosophical dialogue
presented as a tour around Delphi where the learned discussion is frequently
interrupted by tourist guides offering standard information about
monuments and traditions. 22 Pausanias was prepared to consult local
guides, but he does at times express disapproval, especially when he
suspects that they are manipulating local history. 23 The exact status of his
guides is usually impossible to determine, and it is likely that because local
history was valued so highly in this period even smaller communities had
recognised experts who were eager to offer their assistance. 24
Wealthy, well-educated travellers probably also depended on local
pepaideumenoi for information. Members of the élite preferred to rely on
the hospitality of their peers rather than to stay at inns, and letters of
introduction could open doors in places where one did not have personal
friends. 25 Pausanias mentions only one guest-friend (xenos) of his, a man
in Larisa in Thessaly, 26 but after years of travelling he probably had an
extensive network of acquaintances in Greece. In most smaller cities this
would give him access to the wealthiest and best-educated local families,
the same people who were actively involved in maintaining local monuments
and traditions. Plutarch’s philosophical tour of Delphi takes it for
granted that educated locals would show around visiting friends, and as a
priest in Delphi he probably did so himself on numerous occasions. 27
Pausanias’ guides usually remain anonymous, but in Olympia he mentions
an Aristarchos who was possibly the member of an ancient priestly
family. In Athens he may have known the Lykomidai, an important family
with connections to Eleusis, while in the city of Elis he talked to a man
with the title nomophylax Êleiôn, presumably a local official. 28 Sometimes
Pausanias hints at learned conversations he had on a site, usually when
he felt compelled to comment on the local tradition or to question the
information he had been given, but he was also prepared to engage in
philosophical discussion. 29
Travel was essential for the educated Greek élite of Pausanias’ time,
both for their activities as leading figures in their cities and to enhance
their credentials as pepaideumenoi. Although Greek culture was still
firmly tied to life in the polis, the role of the ancient city-state had changed
fundamentally since the beginning of the Hellenistic period. Leading
families carried on with their local, civic duties alongside political or
cultural activities on a supraregional level. Sophists in particular had to
keep moving to maintain their status among their competitive peers. They
would do most of their teaching in a particular city, but they travelled to
give rhetorical performances, and the most distinguished orators could
expect invitations to address crowds at festivals or to perform in front of
the emperor. 30 In most parts of the empire, well beyond the Greek world,
the élite shared a similar lifestyle and ideals and a distinguished travel-
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