Pausanias, born probably in Lydia in Asia Minor, was a Greek of the 2nd century CE, about 120–180, who travelled widely not only in Asia Minor, Palestine, Egypt and North Africa, but also in Greece and in Italy, including Rome. He left a description of Greece in ten books, which is like a topographical guidebook or tour of Attica, the Peloponnese, and central Greece, filled out with historical accounts and events and digressions on facts and wonders of nature. His chief interest was the monuments of art and architecture, especially the most famous of them; the accuracy of his descriptions of these is proved by surviving remains.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Pausanias is in five volumes; the fifth volume contains maps, plans, illustrations, and a general index.