plain, and hence Euripides, in contrasting the two countries, describes Laconia as a poor land, in which there is a large tract of arable, but of laborious tillage (ap. Strab. viii. p. 366). This is in accordance with the account of Leake, who says that the soil of the plain is in general a poor mixture of white clay and stones, difficult to plough, and better suited to olives than corn. (Morea, vol. i. p. 148.) The vale, however, possesses a genial climate, being sheltered on every side by mountains, and the scenery is of the most beautiful description. Hence Lacedaemon has been aptly characterised by Homer P.S a hollow pleasant valley" (koiλn éparewh, Il. ii. 581, iii. 443, Od. iv. 1). The climate is favourable to beauty; and the women of the Spartan plain are at present taller and more robust than the other Greeks, have more colour in general, and look healthier; which agrees also with Homer's AakeSaíuova kaλybvaika (Leake, Morea, vol. iii. p. 149). The security of the Spartan plain against hostile attacks has been briefly alluded to. There were only two roads practicable for an invading army; one by the upper Eurotas, leading from southern Arcadia and Stenyclarus; the other by the long and narrow valley of the Oenus, in which the roads from Tegea and Argos united near Sellasia.

3. Vale of the Lower Eurotas. At the southern extremity of the Spartan plain, the mountains again approach so close, as to leave scarcely space for the passage of the Eurotas. The mountains on the western side are the long and lofty counterfork of Mt. Taygetus, called Lykobúni, which has been already mentioned. This gorge, through which the Eurotas issues from the vale of Sparta into the maritime plain, is mentioned by Strabo (¿ Eupáras — διεξιὼν αὐλῶνά τινα μακρὸν, viii. p. 343). It is about 12 miles in length. The maritime plain, which is sometimes called the plain of Helos, from the town of this name upon the coast, is fertile and of some extent. In the lower part of it the Eurotas flows through marshes and sandbanks into the Laconian gulf.

The banks of the Eurotas and the dry parts of its bed are overgrown with a profusion of reeds. Hence the epithets of Sovakoтpopos and Sovaróeis are frequently given to it by the poets. (Theogn. 785; Eurip Iphig. in Aul. 179, Helen. 207.)

The only tributary of the Eurotas, which possesses an independent valley, is the Oenus already mentioned. The other tributaries are mere mountain torrents, of which the two following names have been preserved, both descending from Mt. Taygetus through the Spartan plain: TIASA (Tiara, Paus. iii. 18. § 6; Athen. iv. p. 139), placed by Pausanias on the road from Amyclae to Sparta, and hence identified by Leake with the Pandeleimona; PHELLIA (Péλia, iii. 20. § 3), the river between Amyclae and Pharis. The CNACION (Kvakiwv), mentioned in one of the ordinances of Lycurgus, was identified by later writers with the Oenus. (Plut. Lyc. 6.)

The streams SMENUS and SCYRAS, flowing into the sea on the western side of the Laconian gulf, are spoken of below. [See p. 114, b.]

Before leaving the rivers of Laconia, a few words must be said respecting an ancient Laconian bridge still existing, which has been assigned to the remotest antiquity. This is the bridge of Xerókampo, built over a tributary of the Eurotas, about three hours' ride to the south of Sparta, just where the stream issues from one of the deepest and darkest

gorges of Taygetus. It was first discovered by Ross, and has been described by Mure, who supposes it to belong to the same period as the monuments of Mycenae. Even if it does not belong to so early a date, but is a genuine Hellenic work, it would establish the fact that the Greeks were acquainted with the use of the concentric arch at a very early period; whereas it has been usually supposed that it was not known to them till the time of Alexander the Great. The general appearance and character of this structure will be best seen from the annexed drawing taken from Mure. The masonry is of the polygonal species: the largest stones are those of the arch, some of which are from four to five feet long, from two to three in breadth, and between one and two in thickness. From the character of the structure, and from its remote situation, Mure concludes that it cannot be a Roman work; and there are strong reasons for believing that the Greeks were acquainted with the use of the arch at a much earlier period than has been usually supposed. (Mure, vol. ii. p. 247, seq.; comp. Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 116, seq.)

The political history of the country forms a prominent part of Grecian history, and cannot be narrated in this place at sufficient length to be of value to the student. But as the boundaries of Laconia differed considerably at various periods, it is necessary to mention briefly those facts in the history of the country which produced those changes.

It will be seen from the preceding description of the physical features of Laconia, that the plain of Sparta forms the very kernel and heart of the country. Accordingly, it was at all times the seat of the ruling class; and from it the whole country received its appellation. This place is said to have been originally inhabited by the Leleges, the most ancient inhabitants of the country. According to tradition, Lelex, the first king, was succeeded by his son Myles, and the latter by his son Eurotas, who collected into a channel the waters which were spread over the plain, and gave his own name to the river which he had thus formed. He died without male offspring, and was succeeded by Lacedaemon, the son of Zeus and Taygeta, who married Sparta,

With respect to the population of Laconia, we have a few isolated statements in the ancient writers. Of these the most important is that of Herodotus, who says that the citizens of Sparta at the time of the Persian wars was about 8000 (vii. 234). The number of the Perioeci is nowhere stated; but we know from Herodotus that there were 10,000 of them present at the battle of Plataea, 5000 heavyarmed, and 5000 light-armed (ix. 11, 29); and, as there were 5000 Spartans at this battle, that is fiveeighths of the whole number of citizens, we may venture to assume as an approximate number, that the Perioeci at the battle may have been also fiveeighths of their whole number, which would give 16.000 for the males of full age. After the time of the Persian wars the number of the Spartan citizens gradually but steadily declined; and Clinton is probably right in his supposition that at the time of the invasion of Laconia, in B. c. 369, the total number of Spartans did not exceed 2000; and that Isocrates, in describing the original Dorian conquerors of Laconia as only 2000, has probably adapted to the description the number of Spartans in his own time. (Isocr. Panath. p. 286, c.) About 50 years after that event, in the time of Aristotle, they were scarcely 1000 (Aristot. Pol. ii. 6. § 11); and eighty years still later, in the reign of Agis, B. C. 244, their number was reduced to only 700 (Plut. Agis, 5.) The number of Helots was very large. At the battle of Plataea there were 35,000 light-armed Helots, that is seven for every single Spartan (Herod. ix. 28.) On the population of Laconia, see Clinton, F. H. vol. ii. p. 407, seq.

From B. c. 547 to B. C. 371, the boundaries of Laconia continued to be the same as we have mentioned above. But after the overthrow of her supremacy by the fatal battle of Leuctra, the Spartans were successively stripped of the dominions they had acquired at the expense of the Messenians, Arcadians, and Argives. Epaminondas, by establishing the independent state of Messenia, confined the Spartans to the country east of Mount Taygetus; and the Arcadian city of Megalopolis, which was founded by the same statesman, encroached upon the Spartan territory in the upper vale of the Eurotas. While the Thebans were engaged in the Sacred War, the Spartans endeavoured to recover some of their territory which they had thus lost;

father of Alexander the Great, who deprived the Spartans of several districts, which he assigned to the Argives, Arcadians, and Messenians. (Polyb. ix. 28; Paus. iv. 28. § 2.) After the establishment of the Achaean League their influence in the Peloponnesus sank lower and lower. For a short time they showed unwonted vigour, under their king Cleomenes, whose resolution had given new life to the state. They defeated the Achaeans in several battles, and seemed to be regaining a portion at least of their former power, when they were checked in their progress by Antigonus Doson, whom the Achaeans called in to their assistance, and were at length completely humbled by the fatal battle of Sellasia, B. C. 221. (Dict. of Biogr. art. Cleomenes.) Soon afterwards Sparta fell into the hands of a succession of usurpers; and of these Nabis, one of the most sanguinary, was compelled by T. Quinctius Flamininus, to surrender Gythium and the other maritime towns, which had sided with the Romans, and were now severed from the Spartan dominion and placed under the protection of the Achaean League, B. C. 195. (Strab. viii. p. 366; Thirlwall, Hist. of Greece, vol. viii. p. 326.) The Spartans were thus confined almost to the valley in which their Dorian ancestors had first settled, and, like them, were surrounded by a number of hostile places. Seven years afterwards, B. c. 188, Sparta itself was taken by Philopoemen, and annexed to the Achaean League (Plut. Phil. 16; Liv. xxxviii. 32-34); but this step was displeasing to the Romans, who viewed with apprehension the further increase of the Achaean League, and accordingly encouraged the party at Sparta opposed to the interests of the Achaeans. But the Roman conquest of Greece, which soon followed, put an end to these disputes, and placed Laconia, together with the rest of Greece, under the immediate government of Rome. Whether the Lacedaemonian towns to which Flamininus had granted independence were placed again under the dominion of Sparta, is not recorded; but we know that Augustus guaranteed to them their independence, and they are henceforth mentioned under the name of Eleuthero-Lacones. Pausanias says there were originally 24 towns of the Eleuthero-Lacones, and in his time there were still 18, of which the names were Gythium, Teuthrone, Las, Pyrrhicus, Caenepolis, Oetylus, Leuctra, Thalamae, Alagonia, Gerenia, Asopus, Acriae, Boeae, Zarax, Epidaurus Limera, Brasiae, Geronthrae, Marios. (Paus. iii. 21. § 7.) Augustus showed favour to the Spartans as well as to the Lacedaemonians in general; he gave to Sparta the Messenian town of Cardamyle (Paus. iii. 26. § 7); he also annexed to Laconia the Messenian town of Pharae (Paus. iv. 30. § 2), and gave to the Lacedaemonians the island of Cythera. (Dion Cass. liv. 7.)

At the end of the fourth century of the Christian era, Laconia was devastated by the Goths under Alaric, who took Sparta (Zosim. v. 6). Subsequently Slavonians settled in the country, and retained possession of it for a long time; but towards the end of the eighth century, in the reign of the empress Irene, the Byzantine court made an effort to recover their dominions in Peloponnesus, and finally succeeded in reducing to subjection the Slavonians in the plains, while those in Laconia who would not submit were obliged to take refuge in the fastnesses of Mt. Taygetus. When the Franks became masters of Laconia in the 13th century, they found upon

the site of ancient Sparta a town still called Lacedaimonia; but in A. D. 1248, William Villehardoin built a fortress on one of the rocky hills at the foot of Mt. Taygetus, about three miles from the city of Lacedaemonia. Here he took up his residence; and on this rock, called Misithra, usually pronounced Mistrá, a new town arose, which became the capital of Laconia, and continued to be so till Sparta began to be rebuilt on its ancient site by order of the present Greek government. (Finlay, Medieval Greece, p. 230; Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 214.)

V. TOWNS.

1. In the Spartan Plain.— The three chief towns were SPARTA, AMYCLAE, and PHARIS, all situated near one another, and upon some of the lower heights close to the Eurotas. Their proximity would seem to show that they did not arise at the same time. Amyclae lay only 2 miles south of Sparta, and appears to have been the chief place in the country before the Dorian invasion. South of Amyclae, and on the road from this town to the sea, was Pharis, also an Achaean town in existence before the Dorian conquest. THERAPNE may be regarded as almost a part of Sparta. [SPARTA.] On the slopes of Mt. Taygetus, above the plain, there were several places. They were visited by Pausanias (iii. 20. §§ 3-7), but it is difficult to determine the road which he took. After crossing the river Phellia, beyond Amyclae, he turned to the right towards the mountain. In the plain was a sanctuary of Zeus Messapeus, belonging, as we learn from Stephanus, to a village called MESSAPEAE (Meσraréal), and beyond it, at the entrance into the mountains, the Homeric city of BRYSEAE. In the mountains was a sanctuary of Demeter Eleusinia, and 15 stadia from the latter LAPITHAEUM, near which was DERRHIUM, where was a fountain called Anonus. Twenty stadia froin Derrhium was HARPLEIA, which borders upon the plain. Pausanias gives no information of the direction in which he proceeded from the Eleusinium to Harpleia. Leake supposes that he turned to the south, and accordingly places Harpleia at the entrance into the plain by the bridge of Xerókampo; while Curtius, on the contrary, imagines that he turned to the north, and came into the plain at Mistrá, which he therefore identifies with Harpleia. It impossible to determine which of these views is the more correct. The antiquities and inscriptions discovered at Mistrá prove that it was the site of an ancient town, and Leake conjectures that it represents the Homeric MESSE.

|-21. § 3.) In the neighbourhood of Belemina was AEGYS, originally an Arcadian town, which was conquered at an early period by the Spartans, and its territory annexed to Laconia. In the upper vale of the Eurotas was the Lacedaemonian TRIPOLIS. (Liv. xxxv. 27.) Pellana was one of the three cities (Polyb. iv. 81); Belemina was undoubtedly another; and the third was either Aegys or Carystus.

The road to Tegea and Argos ran along the vale of the Oenus. (Paus. iii. 10. §§ 6-8.) After crossing the bridge over the Eurotas, the traveller saw on his right hand Mount Thornax, upon which stood a colossal statue of Apollo Pythaeus, guarding the city of Sparta, which lay at his feet. (Comp. Herod. i. 69; Xen. Hell. vi. 5. § 27.) A little further on in the vale of the Oenus, was SELLASIA, which was the bulwark of Sparta in the vale of the Oenus, as Pellana was in that of the Eurotas. Above Sellasia was a small plain, the only one in the vale of the Oenus, bounded on the east by Mt. Olympus and on the west by Mt. Evas: a small stream, called Gorgylus, flowed through the western side of the plain into the Oenus. This was the site of the celebrated battle in which Cleomenes was defeated by Antigonus. [SELLASIA.] In this plain the road divided into two, one leading to Argos and the other to Tegea. The road to Argos followed the Oenus; and to the west of the road, about an hour distant from the modern Arákhova, lay CAKYAE. From this place to the confines of the Thyreatis in Argolis, was a forest of oaks, called SCOTITAS (EKOTĺTas), which derived its name from a temple of Zeus Scotitas, about 10 stadia west of the road. (Paus. iii. 10. § 6; Polyb. xvi. 37.) On the ridge of Mt. Parnon the boundaries of Argolis and Laconia were marked by Hermae, of which, three heaps of stones, called oi povevμévoi (the slain), may perhaps be the remains. (Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes, p. 173.) There was also a town OENUS, from which the river derived its name.

The road to Tegea, which is the same as the present road from Sparta to Tripolitzá, after leaving the plain of Sellasia, passes over a high and mountainous district, called SCIRITIS in antiquity. The territory of Laconia extended beyond the highest ridge of the mountain; and the chief source of the Alpheius, called Sarantopótamos, formed the boundary between Laconia and the Tegeatis. Before reaching the Arcadian frontier, the road went through a narrow and rugged pass, now called Klisúra. The two towns in Sciritis were SCIRUS and OEUM, called Ium by Xenophon.