occupied by the village of La Colonna; a height a little in advance of the Tusculan hills, and commanding the adjoining portion of the plain. It is about a mile from the 15th milestone on the Roman road, where, as we have seen, the suburb Ad Quintanas afterwards grew up, and is certainly the only position that accords with Strabo's description. No ruins are visible; but the site is one well calculated for an ancient city, of small magnitude, and the discovery of the inscriptions already noticed in its immediate neighbourhood may be considered conclusive of the point. The modern village of La Colonna dates only from the 11th century. (Holsten. Not. ad Cluv. p. 194; Fabrett. de Aquaeduct. p. 182; Nibby, Dintorni di Roma, vol. ii. pp. 157 -164.) Ficoroni, in his elaborate work (Memorie della Prima e Seconda Città di Labico, 4to. Roma, 1745), has laboured to prove, but certainly without success, that Labicum was situated on the Colle dei Quadri, near Lugnano, about 5 miles beyond La Colonna. The remains there discovered and described by him render it probable that Lugnano was an ancient site, probably that of Bola [BOLA]; but the distance froin Rome excludes the supposition that it was that of Labicum. The VIA LABICANA, which issued from the Porta Esquilina at Rome together with the Via Praenestina, but separated from the latter immediately afterwards, held a course nearly parallel with it as far as the station Ad Quintanas; from whence it turned round the foot of the Alban hills, and fell into the Via Latina at the station Ad Pictas, where the latter road had just descended from Mt. Algidus. (Strab. v. p. 237; Itin. Ant. pp. 304, 305.) It is strange that the Itinerary gives the name of Lavicana to the continuation of the road after their junction, though the Via Latina was so much the more important of the two. The course of the ancient Via Labicana may be readily traced from the gates of Rome by the Torre Pignatara, Cento Celle, Torre Nuova, and the Osteria di Finocchio to the Osteria della Colonna, at the foot of the hill of that name. This Osteria is 16 miles from Rome and a mile beyond the ancient station Ad Quintanas. From thence the road proceeded to San Cesario, and soon after, quitting the line of the modern road to Valmontone, struck off direct to join the Via Latina but the exact site of the station Ad Pictas has not been determined. (Westphal, Röm. Kampagne, pp. 78-80; Gell's Topogr. of Rome, p. 279.) On the left of the Via Labicana, about thirteen miles and a half from Rome, is a small crater-formed lake, which has often been considered as the ancient Lacus Regillus but the similar basin of the Lago di Cornufelle, near Tusculum, appears to have a better claim to that celebrated name. [REGILLUS LACUS.] The course of the Via Labicana in the immediate neighbourhood of Rome was bordered, like the other highways that issued from the city, with numerous sepulchres, many of them on a large scale, and of massive construction. Of these, the one now known as the Torre Pignatara, about three miles from the Porta Maggiore, is represented by very ancient tradition, but with no other authority, as the mausoleum of Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. (Nibby, vol. iii. p. 243.) We learn, also, that the family tomb of the emperor Didius Julianus was situated on the same road, at the distance of 5 miles from Rome. (Spartian. Did. Jul. 8.) LABISCO. [LAVISCO.] LA BOTAS (Aa6óras), a small river of the plain of Antioch. (Strab. xvi. p. 751.) It runs from the north, parallel to the ARCEUTHUS, and, mixing with its waters and those of the Oenoparas coming from the east, in a small lake, they flow off in one stream and join the Orontes a little above Antioch. It is the western of the two rivers shown in map, Vol. I. p. 115, and Pagrae (Bagras) is situated on its western bank near its mouth. [G. W.] LABRANDA (τὰ Λάβρανδα or Λάβρανδα), village in the west of Caria, about 60 stadia from the town of Mylasa, to which the village belonged, and with which it was connected by a road called the sacred. Labranda was situated in the mountains, and was celebrated for its sanctuary of Zeus Stratios, to which processions went along the sacred road from Mylasa. Herodotus describes (v. 119) the sanctuary as an extensive grove of plane trees, within which a body of Carians, in their war against the Persians, retreated for safety. Strabo (xiv. p. 659) speaks of an ancient temple with a coavov of Zeus Stratios, who was also surnamed "Labrandenus" or "Labrandeus." Aelian (H. A. xii. 30), who states that. the temple of Labranda was 70 stadia from Mylasa, relates that a spring of clear water, within the sanctuary, contained fishes, with golden necklaces and rings. Chandler (Antiq. of Ionia, pt. 1. c. 4, and Asia Minor, c. 58) was the first who stated his belief, that the ruins at Iakli, south of Kizeljik, consisting of a theatre and a ruined temple of the Ionian order, of which 16 columns, with the entablature, were then still standing, were those of ancient Labranda and of the temple of Zeus Stratios. But Choiseul Gouffier, Barbié du Bocage, and Leake (Asia Minor, p. 232), agree in thinking that these ruins belong to Euromus rather than Labranda. Their view is supported by the fact that the ruins of the temple have nothing very ancient about them, but rather show that they belong to a structure of the Roman period. The remains of Labranda must be looked for in the hills to the north-east of Mylasa. Sir C. Fellows (Journal, p. 261), apparently not knowing what had been done by his predecessors, unhesitatingly speaks of the ruins at Takli as those of Labranda, and gives an engraving of the remains of the temple under the name of the "Temple at Labranda." [L. S.] LABRONIS PORTUS. [LIBURNUM.] LABUS or LABUTAS (Λάβος or Λαβούτας), a mountain range in the N. of Parthia, mentioned by Polybius (x. 29). It seems to have a part of the greater range of M. Coronus, and is probably represented now by the Sobad-Koh, a part of the [V.] Elburz mountains. LACANI'TIS (Aakaviτis), the name of a district in Cilicia Proper, above Tarsus, between the rivers Cydnus and Sarus, and containing the town of Irenopolis. (Ptol. v. 8. § 6.) [L. S.] LACCU'RIS. [ORETANI.] LACEDAEMON (Aakedaíμwv, Steph. B. s. v.; Eustath. ad. Il. ii. 582), a town in the interior of Cyprus. (Engel, Kypros, vol. i. p. 158.) [E. B. J.] LACEDAEMON, LACEDAEMO'NII." [LACO NIA.] LACEREIA. [DOTIUS CAMPUS.] LACETA'NI (Aakeтavoi), one of the small peoples of Hispania Tarraconensis, who occupied the valleys at the S. foot of the Pyrenees. (Lace tania quae subjecta Pyrenaeis montibus est, Liv.). Their " pathless forests" (devia et silvestris gens, Liv.) lay S. of the CERRETANI, W. of the INDIGETES, and N. of the LALETANI. (It is impossible to avoid the suspicion that these names are identical, especially as we have the intermediate form LAEAETANI, and that Lacetania is only the N. part of Laletania. Moreover, the name is confounded with the JACETANI in the MSS. of Caes. B. C. i. 60.) Only one town is mentioned as belonging to them, and that without a name, but simply as having been taken by M. Cato. (Plut. Cat. Maj. 11; Liv. xxi. 23, 26, 60, et seq., xxviii. 24, 26, et seq., xxxiii. 34, xxxiv. 20; Dion Cass. xlv. 10; Martial, i. 49. 22.) [P.S.] or LACHISH (Aaxis, LXX.; Aáxeis, Aaxeioa, Joseph.), a city to the south of the tribe of Judah (Josh. xv. 39), the capital of one of the petty kings or sheikhs of the Canaanites (x. 3). It was taken and destroyed by Joshua (iv. 31-33), and is joined with Adoraim and Azekah (2 Chron. xi. 9) as one of the cities built, or rather fortified, by Rehoboam. It was besieged by Sennacherib on his invasion of Judaea, B. c. 713. (2 Kings, xviii. 14, 17, xix. 8.) It is placed by Eusebius and St. Jerome (Onomast. s. v.) seven miles south of Eleutheropolis, in Darana "the valley." (Josh. xv. 39.) But for this it might have been identified with Um Lâkis, on the left of the road between Gaza and Hebron, about five hours from the former, where is an ancient site now covered confusedly with heaps of small round stones, among which are seen two or three fragments of marble columns." (Robinson, Bibl. Res. vol. ii. p. 388.) The objections to the identification are not, perhaps, so great as is represented: the title Um, equivalent to metropolis, would seem to mark it as a place of importance; and there is no other vestige of a town in those parts that can be referred to Lachish. It is considerably south of west from Beit Jebrin (Eleutheropolis), which is near enough to satisfy the description of Eusebius, who is not remarkable for precise accuracy in his bearings, nor, indeed, in his distances, except in the parts with which he was familiar, and on the more frequented thoroughfares. No argument can be drawn from its juxtaposition with Adoraim and Azekah, in 2 Chron. xi. 9, as it might be near enough to group with them in a list of names which, it is evident, does not pretend to geographical precision. [G. W.] LACIACA or LACIACUM (in the Peut. Table it is called Laciacis), a town in the north-west of Noricum (It. Ant. pp. 235, 258). The name seems to be connected with "lacus," and thus to point to the lake district in upper Austria; hence some have identified the place with Seewalchen, or St. Georgen on the Attersee. But Muchar (Noricum, p. 267) is probably right in identifying it with Franken[L. S.] markt. LA'CIBI (Plin. iii. 1. s. 3; Aаki6is, Ptol. ii. 4. §11), a tributary town of Hispania Baetica, which Pliny assigns to the conventus of Gades, while Ptolemy places it among the cities of the Turduli, in in the neighbourhood of Hispalis. [P.S.] LACIBURGIUM (Aаkiểоúрyiov), a German town on the south coast of the Baltic, between the rivers Chalusus, and Suevus or Suebus. It is mentioned only by Ptolemy (ii. 11. § 27), and it is certain that its site must be looked for to the west of Warnemünde, but the precise spot cannot be ascertained, whence some have identified it with Wismar, others with Ratzeburg, and others again with Lauenburg. [L.S.] | LACIDAE. [ATTICA, p. 326, a.] LACI'NIA. [APYDIA.] LACINIUM (τὸ Λακίνιον ἄκρων: Capo delle Colonne), a promontory on the E. coast of the Bruttian peninsula, about 6 miles S. of Crotona. It formed the southern limit of the gulf of Tarentum, as the Iapygian promontory did the northern one: the distance between the two is stated by Strabo, on the authority of Polybius, at 700 stadia, while Pliny apparently (for the passage in its present state is obviously corrupt) reckons it at 75 Roman miles, or 600 stadia; both of which estimates are a fair approximation to the truth, the real interval being 65 geog. miles, or 650 stadia. (Strab. vi. p. 261; Plin. iii. 11. s. 15; Mel. ii. 4. § 8.) The Lacinian promontory is a bold and rocky headland, forming the termination of one of the offshoots or branches of the great range of the Apennines (Lucan. ii. 434; Plin. iii. 5. s. 6): it was crowned in ancient times by the celebrated temple of the Lacinian Juno, the ruins of which, surviving through the middle ages, have given to the promontory its modern appellation of Capo delle Colonne. It is also known by that of Capo Nau, a name evidently derived from the Greek Naós, a temple; and which seems to date from an early period, as the promontory is already designated in the Maritime Itinerary (p. 490) by the name of Naus. That Itinerary reckons it 100 stadia from thence to Crotona: Strabo gives the same distance as 150 stadia; but both are greatly overrated. Livy correctly says that the temple (which stood at the extreme point of the promontory) was only about 6 miles from the city. (Liv. xxiv. 3.) For the history and description of this famous temple, see CROTONA. : Pliny tells us (iii. 10. s. 15) that opposite to the Lacinian promontory, at a distance of 10 miles from the land, was an island called Dioscoron (the island of the Dioscuri), and another called the island of Calypso, supposed to be the Ogygia of Homer. Seylax also mentions the island of Calypso immediately after the Lacinian promontory (§ 13, p. 5). But there is at the present day no island at all that will answer to either of those mentioned by Pliny there is, in fact, no islet, however small, off the Lacinian cape, and hence modern writers have been reduced to seek for the abode of Calypso in a small and barren rock, close to the shore, near Capo Rizzuto, about 12 miles S. of Lacinium. Swinburne, who visited it, remarks how little it corresponded with the idea of the Homeric Ogygia: but it is difficult to believe that so trifling a rock (which is not even marked on Zannoni's elaborate map) could have been that meant by Seylax and Pliny.* The statement of the latter concerning the island which he calls Dioscoron is still more precise, and still more difficult to account for. On the other hand, he adds the names of three others, Tiris, Eranusa, and Meloessa, which he introduces somewhat vaguely, as if he were himself not clear of their position. Their names were probably taken from some poet now lost to us. [E. H. B.] LACIPEA. [LUSITANIA.] LACIPPO (Aaкinяw, Рtol. ii. 4. § 11; LACIPO, coin ap. Sestini, Med. Isp. p. 57; Mionnet, Suppl. *The different positions that have been assigned to the island of Calypso, and the degree of probability of their claims, will be discussed under the article OGYGIA. vol. i. p. 34), a tributary town of the Turduli in Hispania Baetica, near the shore of the Mediterranean, where its ruins are still seen at Alecippe, near Casares. Ptolemy places it too far inland. (Mela, ii. 6. §7; Plin. iii. 1. s. 3; Carter, Travels, p. 128; Ukert, vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 348.) [P.S.] LACMON (Aάкμwv, Hecat. Fr. 70; Herod. ix. 92; Steph. B. s. v.) or LACMUS (Aáкuos, Strab. vi. p. 271, vii. p. 316), the highest summit of Mount Pindus, the Zygós or ridge of Metzoro. This is geographically the most remarkable mountain in Greece; situated in the heart of Pindus as to its breadth, and centrally also in the longitudinal chain which pervades the continent from N. to S.: it gives rise to five principal rivers, in fact to all the great streams of Northern Greece except the Spercheius; north-eastward to the Haliacmon, south-eastward to the Peneius, southward to the Achelous, south-westward to the Arachthus, and north-westward to the Aous. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. i. pp. 294, 411-415, vol. iv. pp. 240, 261, 276.) [E. B. J.] LACOBRIGA. [1. LUSITANIA; 2. VACCAEI.] LACO'NIA, LACO'NICA, or LACEDAEMON, the south-easterly district of Peloponnesus. I. NAME. Its most ancient name was Lacedaemon (Aakedaluar), which is the only form found in Homer, who applies this name as well to the country, as to its capital. (I. ii. 581, iii. 239, 244, &c.) The usual name in the Greek writers was Laconica (ʼn Aakwvikń, sc. y), though the form Lacedaemon still continued to be used. (Herod. vi. 58.) The Romans called the country LACONICA (Plin. xxv. 8. s. 53; Laconice, Mela, ii. 3) or LACONIA (Plin. vi. 34. s. 39, xvii. 18. s. 30), the latter of which is the form usually employed by modern writers. Mela (1. c.) also uses LACONIS, which is borrowed from the Greek ( Aanwvis yaîa, Hom. Hymn. in Apoll. 410.) The Ethnic names are Nákwv, -wvos, Aakedaiμóvios, Lat. Laco or Lacon, -nis, Lacedaemonius; fem. Aάkaiva, Aakwvis, Laconis. These names are applied to the whole free population of Laconia, both to the Spartan citizens and to the Perioeci, spoken of below (for authorities, see Clinton, F. H. vol. ii. pp. 405, 406). They are usually derived from a mythical hero, Lacon or Lacedaemon; but some modern writers think that the root LAC is connected with Aákos, λákкos, lacus, lacuna, and was given originally to the central district from its being deeply sunk between mountains. (Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 309.) II. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. The natural features of Laconia are strongly marked, and exercised a powerful influence upon the history of the people. It is a long valley, surrounded on three sides by mountains, and open only on the fourth to the sea. On the north it is bounded by the southern barrier of the Arcadian mountains, from which run in a parallel direction towards the south, the two lofty mountain ranges of Taygetus and Parnon,- the former dividing Laconia and Messenia, and terminating in the promontory of Taenarum, now C. Matapan, the southernmost extremity of Greece and of Europe, the latter stretching along the eastern coast, and terminating in the promontory of Malea. The river Eurotas flows through the entire length of the valley lying between these mountain masses, and falls into the sea, which Laconia is well de 66 hollow, sur was called the Laconian gulf. scribed by Euripides as a country rounded by mountains, rugged, and difficult of access to an enemy" (ap. Strab. viii. p. 366); and the difficulty of invading it made even Epaminondas hesitate to enter it with his army. (Xen. Hell. v. 5. § 10.) On the northern side there are only two natural passes by which the plain of Sparta can be invaded. (See below.) On the western side the lofty masses of Taygetus form an almost insurmountable barrier; and the pass across them, which leads into the plain of Sparta, is so difficult as scarcely to be practicable for an army. On the eastern side the rocky character of the coast protects it from invasion by sea. III. MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, AND PLAINS. MOUNT TAΫGETUS (Ταΰγετον, τὸ Τηΰγετον pos, the common forms; Tavyeros, Lucian, Icarom. 19; тà Tavyera, Polyaen. vii. 49; Taygeta, Virg. Georg. ii. 487: the first half of this word is said by Hesychius to signify great). This mountain is the loftiest in Peloponnesus, and extends in an almost unbroken line for the space of 70 miles from Leondari in Arcadia to C. Matapan. Its vast height, unbroken length, and majestic form, have been celebrated by both ancient and modern writers. Homer gives it the epithet of TеριμýкeтOV (Od. vi. 103), and a modern traveller remarks that, "whether from its real height, from the grandeur of its outline, or the abruptness of its rise from the plain, it created in his mind a stronger impression of stupendous bulk and loftiness than any mountain he had seen in Greece, or perhaps in any other part of Europe." (Mure, Tour in Greece, vol. ii. p. 221.) Taygetus rises to its greatest height immediately above Sparta. Its principal summit was called TALETUM (TaλetÓv) in antiquity: it was sacred to the Sun, and horses and other victims were here sacrificed to this god. (Paus. iii. 20. § 4.) It is now called S. Elias, to whose chapel on the summit an annual pilgrimage is made in the middle of the summer. Its height has been ascertained by the French Commission to be 2409 metres, or 7902 English feet. Another summit near Taletum was called Evoras (Evópas, Belvedere, Paus. l. c.), which Leake identifies with Mt. Paximádhi, the highest summit next to St. Elias, from which it is distant 5 geographical miles. The ancient names of none of the other heights are mentioned. By the Byzantine writers Taygetus was called PENTEDACTYLUM (TÒ ПEVтedáкTUλov), or the "Five Fingers," on account of its various summits above the Spartan plain. (Constant. Porphyr. de Adm. Imp. c. 50.) In the 13th century it bore the name of Melingus (8 (vyds TOÙ MeAryyou, see Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 138). At the base of Taygetus, immediately above the Spartan plain, there is a lower ridge running parallel to the higher summits. This lower ridge consists of huge projecting masses of precipitous rocks, some of which are more than 2000 feet high, though they appear insignificant when compared with the lofty barrier of Taygetus behind them. After attaining its greatest elevation, Mt. Taygetus sinks gradually down towards the south, and sends forth a long and lofty counterfork towards the Eurotas, now called Lykobúni (Avкobody, Wolfs-mountain), which bounds the Spartan plain on the south. It there contracts again, and runs down, as the backbone of a small peninsula, to the southernmost ex tremity of Greece. This mountainous district between | p. 728.] On its western side Mt. Parnon sinks the Laconian and Messenian gulfs is now called down more rapidly, and divides itself into separate Mani, and is inhabited by the Maniátes, who always hills, which bear the names of BARBOSTHENES, maintained their independence, while the rest of OLYMPUS, OSSA, THORNAX, and MENELAIUM; the Greece was subject to the Turks: the southern part two last are opposite Sparta, and a modern observer of the peninsula, as well as the promontory, bore the describes Menelaium as not remarkable either for name of Taenarum in antiquity. [TAENARUM.] height or variety of outline, but rising gradually in Although there is no trace of any volcanic action in a succession of gentle ridges. (Mure, vol. ii. p. 223.) Mt. Taygetus, many of its chasms and the rent In its southern continuation, Mt. Parnon still conforms of its rocks have been produced by the nume- tinues of moderate height till near the commencerous and violent earthquakes to which the district ment of the peninsula between the Myrtoan and has been subjected. Hence Laconia is called by Laconian gulfs, where it rises under the name of Homer "full of hollows" (KŋTweσσa, Il. ii. 581, Mount ZARAX (Zápaέ) to a height of 3500 feet, Od. iv. 1), and Strabo describes it as a country and runs along the eastern coast at a considerable easily shaken by earthquakes (Strab. viii. p. 367). elevation, till it reaches the promontory of Malea. In the fearful earthquake, which laid Sparta in ruins in B. c. 464, and killed more than 20,000 Lacedaemonians, huge masses of rocks were rolled down from the highest peaks of Taygetus. (Plut. Cim. 16.) On the sides of Mt. Taygetus are forests of deep green pine, which abounded in ancient times with game and wild animals, among which Pausanias mentions wild goats, wild boars, stags, and bears. The district between the summits of Taletum and Evoras was called THERAS (Onpas), or the hunting ground. (Paus. iii. 20. §§ 4, 5.) Hence Taygetus was one of the favourite haunts of the huntress Artemis (Od. vi. 103), and the excellence of the Laconian dogs was proverbial in antiquity. (Aristot. Hist. An. vi. 20; Xen. de Ven. 10. § 1; Virg. Georg. iii. 405; Hor. Epod. vi. 5.) Modern travellers tell us that the dogs of the country still support their ancient character for ferocity and courage. (Mure, vol. ii. p. 231.) The southern part of Mount Taygetus is rich in marble and iron. Near Croceae there were quarries of green porphyry, which was extensively employed by the Romans. [CROCEAE.] There was also another kind of marble obtained from quarries more to the south, called by the Romans Taenarian marble. The whetstones of Mount Taygetus were likewise in much request. (Strab. viii. p. 367; "Taenarius lapis," Plin. xxxvi. 22. s. 43; "cotes Laconicae ex Taygeto monte," Plin. xxxvi. 22. s. 47.) The iron found in the mountain was considered very good, and was much used in the manufacture of warlike weapons and agricultural instruments. (Steph. B. s. v. Aakedaluwv; Xen. Hell. iii. 3. §7; Plin. vii. 57; Eustath. ad I. p. 298, ed. Rom.) The EUROTAS (Eùpúras) flows, as already observed, throughout the entire length of the valley between the ranges of Taygetus and Parnon. Its more ancient names were BOмYCAS (Вwμúkas, Etym. M. s. v.) and HIMERUS ("Iμepos, Plut. de Fluv. 17): it is now called Iris and Niris in its upper and middle course, and Basili-potamó from the time it leaves the Spartan plain till it reaches the sea. In its course three districts may be distinguished; the vale of the upper Eurotas; the vale of the middle Eurotas, or the plain of Sparta; and the vale of the lower Eurotas, or the maritime plain. 1. The Vale of the Upper Eurotas. The river Eurotas rises in the mountains which form the southern boundary of the Arcadian plains of Asea and Megalopolis. It was believed by both Pausanias and Strabo that the Alpheius and the Eurotas had a common origin, and that, after flowing together for a short distance, they sank under ground; the Alpheius reappearing at Pegae, in the territory of Megalopolis in Arcadia, and the Eurotas in the Bleminatis in Laconia; but for a fuller account of their statements upon this subject the reader is referred to the article ALPHEIUS. All that we know for certain is that the Eurotas is formed by the union of several copious springs rising on the southern side of the mountain above mentioned, and that it flows from a narrow glen, which gradually opens towards the SSW. On the eastern side it keeps close to the mountains, while on the western side there is a little level ground and some mountain slopes between the river and the heights of Taygetus. At the distance of little more than a mile from Sparta, the Eurotas receives the OENUS (Olvous, Polyb. ii. 65, 66; Athen. i. p. 31; Liv. xxxiv. 28), now called Kelefina, which rises in the watershed of Mt. Parnon, and flows in a butary of the Oenus was the GORGYLUS (Tópyvλos, Polyb. ii. 66), probably the river of Vrestená. (Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 347.) Nearly opposite the union of the Oenus and the Eurotas, the mountains of Taygetus press close upon the river, but again almost immediately withdraw to a greater distance than before, and the river emerges into the Spartan plain. MOUNT PARNON (ó Пáрvæv, Рaus. ii. 38. § 7) is of an entirely different character from the opposite range of Taygetus. It does not form one uninter-general south-westerly direction: the principal trirupted line of mountains, but is broken up into various detached masses of less elevation, which form a striking contrast to the unbroken and majestic barrier of Taygetus. The mass to which the name of Parnon was more especially applied was the range of mountains, now called Malevó, forming the natural boundary between Arcadia, Laconia, and Argolis. It is 6355 feet high, and its summit is nearly equidistant from the Eurotas and the eastern coast. This mountain is continued in a general south-easterly direction, but how far southwards it continued to bear the name of Parnon is unknown. Its eastern declivities, which extend as far as the coast at a considerable elevation, contain the district now called Tzakonia, a corruption of the word Laconia, the inhabitants of which speak a dialect closely resembling the ancient Greek: of this an account has been given elsewhere. [Vol. I. 2. The Vale of the Middle Eurotas. Sparta is situated at the commencement of this vale on the left bank of the Eurotas. Between the river and Mt. Taygetus the plain is of considerable extent. Its soil is particularly adapted for the growth of olives, which are in the present day preferred to those of Athens; and the silk of the Spartan plain is superior to the silk of every other district of Greece. (Mure, vol. ii. p. 224.) The soil, however, cannot be compared with that of the rich Messenian 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 as "a hollow pleasant valley" (koiλn épaтewh, 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 kaλyúvaika (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 Lykobini, 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 (ó Evpúras - διεξιὼν αὐλῶνά τινα μακρόν, viii. p. 843). 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 Sovakóeis 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 (Þéλλia, 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, |