Pausanias was a Spartan general of the 5th century BC. He was responsible for the Greek victory over Mardonius and the Persians at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC, and was the leader of the Hellenic League created after the end of the Persian Wars. In 478 BC he was suspected of conspiring with the Persians and was recalled to Sparta. He took refuge in a temple, which was then boarded up so he could not escape; he refused to come out, however, and starved to death. Cimon and the Athenians then became the leaders of the Hellenic League, which later turned into the Delian League.
