Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/125

 LACONIA. tremity of Greece. Tliis mountainous district between the Laconian and Messenian pulfs is now called 31(1111, and is inhabited by the JIaniates, who always maintained their independence, while the rest of Greece was subject to the Turks : the southern part of the peninsula, as well as the promontory, bore the name of Taenarum in antiquity. [Taenarum.] Although there is no trace of any volcanic action in lIt. Taygetus, many of its chasms and the rent forms of its rocks have been produced by the nume- rous and violent earthquakes to which the district has been subjected. Hence Laconia is called by Homer ''full of hollows" QcrjTutffcra, II. ii. 581, Ckl. iv. 1), and Strabo describes it as a country easily shaken by earthquakes (Strab. viii. p. 367). In the fearful earthquake, which laid Sparta in ruins in B. c. 464, and killed more tlian 20,000 I<acedaemonians, huge masses of rocks were rolled down from the highest peaks of Taygetus. (I'lut. dm. 16.) On the sides of Jit. Taj^ctus 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 Tiieras (07j^as), 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. Uist. An. vi. 20; Xen. de Ven. 10. § 1; Virg. CVory. iii. 40.5; Ylor. Ej)od.y. 5.) Modern travellers tell us that the dogs of the country still support their ancient character for ferocity and courage. (Mure, vol. iu p. 231.) The southern part of Jlount Taj-getus is rich in marble and iron. Near Croceae there were quames 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 Komans Taenarian marble. The whetstones of Mount Taygetus were likewise in much request. (Strab. viii. p. 367; " Taenarius lapis," I'hn. xxxvi. 22. s. 43; "cotes Laconicae exTaygeto 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. AaKiSaifjLuv- Xen. Hell. iii. 3. § 7; Plin. vii. 57; Eustath. ad II. p. 298, ed. Rom.) Mount Parnon (o Vldpvwv, Paus. ii. 38. § 7) is of an entirely different character from the opposite range of Taygetus. It does not form one uninter- rupted line of mountains, but is broken up into various detached masses of less elevation, which form a striking contrast to the unbroken and ma- jestic barrier of Taygetus. The mass to which the name of Parnon was more especially applied was the range of mountains, now called Mcdevo, 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 south- wards 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 Tzakunia, 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. LACONIA. 109 p. 728.] On its western side Mt. Parnon sinks down more rapidly, and divides itself into separate hills, which bear the names of Barbosthenes Oi.YiMPUS, OssA, TiioRNAX, and Menelaium; tho two last are opposite Sparta, and a modern observer describes Slenelaium as not remarkable either for height or variety of outline, but rising gradually in a succession of gentle ridges. (JMure, vol. ii. p. 223.) In its southern continuation, Mt. Panion still con- tinues of moderate height till near the commence- ment of the peninsula between the Myrtoan and Laconian gulfs, where it rises under the name of Mount Zarax (Zapa|) to a height of 3500 feet, and runs along the eastern coast at a considerable elevation, till it reaches the promontoiy of Malea. The Etrotas (Ewpwras) flows, as already ob- served, throughout the entire length of the valley between the ranges of Taygetus and Parnon. Its more ancient names were Bomycas (fiwfivKas, Etym. 5L s. r.) and Himerus ("l/iepos. Pint, dt Fluv. 17): it is now called Iris and Niris in its upper and middle course, and Basili-potamo from the time it leaves the Spartan plain till it reaches the sea. In its course three districts may be dis- tinguished; — 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 tho southern boundary of the Arcadian plains of Asea and Megalopolis. It was believed by both Pausanias and Strabo that the Alpheius and the Eurot;is 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 Alpheils. 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 moun- tain slopes between the river and the heights of Taygetus. At the distance of Uttle more than a mile from Sparta, the Eurotas receives the Oenus (Olvovs, 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 general south-westerly direction: the principal tri- butary of the Oenus was the Gorgylus {TopyvXos, Polyb. ii. 66), probably the river of Vrestend. (Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 347.) Nearly opposite the union of the Oenus and the Eurotas, the moun- tains 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. 2. The Vale of the Middle Eurotas. Sparta is situated at the commencement of this vale on the right bank of the Eurotas. Between the river and lit. 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