Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/129

 LACONIA. the site of ancient Sparta a town still called Lacc- daimonia; but in a. d. 1248, William Yilk'hardoiii built a fijitress on one of the rocky hills at the foot of Mt. Tajtjetus, about three miles from the city of Lacedaemonia. Here he took up his residence ; and on this rock, called Midthra, usually pronounced Mistrd, 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. To^YNS. 1. In the Spartan Plain. — The three chief towns were Sparta, Ajvivclae, and Pharis, all situated near one another, and upon some of the lower lieights 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 ]Iessapeus, belonging, as we learn from Stephanos, to a village called Mkssapeae (MectrcTreai), 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 from DeiThium was H.r- PLEi.i, 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 accord- ingly places Harpleia at the entrance into the plain by the bridge of Xerokampo ; while Curtius, on the contrary, miagines that he turned to the north, and came into the plain at Mistrd, which he therefore identifies with Harpleia. It is impossible to de- termine which of these views is the more correct. The antiquities and inscriptions discovered at Mistrd prove that it was the site of an ancient town, and Leake conjectures that it represents the Homeric JIesse. 2. In the Vale of the Upper Eurotas. — The ro-.id from Sparta to Megalopolis followed the vale of the Eurotas. On this road Pausanias mentions first several monuments, the position of one of which, the tomb of Ladas, may still be identified. This tomb is described as distant 50 stadia from Sparta, and as situated above the road, which here passes very near to the river Eurotas. At about this distance from Sparta, Leake perceived a cavern in the rocks, with two openings, one of which appeared to have been fashioned by art, and a little beyond a semi- circular sepulchral niche : the place is called by the peasants aroi/s ^ovpvovs. (Leake, Morea, vol. iii. p. 13.) Further on was the Characoma (Xapd/fco^a), a fortification, probably, in the narrow part of the valley ; above it the town Pellana, the frontier- fortress of Sparta in the vale of the Eurotas ; and 100 stadia from Pellana, Belemina. (Paus. iii. 20. § 8 VOL. II. LACONIA. 113 — 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 Titi- POLis. (Liv. xsxv. 27.) Pellana was one of the three cities ( Polyb. iv. 81); Belemina was un- doubtedly another ; and the third was either Aegy.s 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 Sei.lasia, 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 Ardkhova, lay Ca- ryae. From this place to the confines of the Thyreatis in Argolis, was a forest of oaks, called ScoTiTAS (SicoTiTas), 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 lilt. Parnon the bomidaries of Argolis and Laconia were marked by Hermae, of which, three heaps of stones, called ol ipovtvuiivoi (the slain), may perhaps be the remains. (Ross, Reisen im Pelo- poniKs, 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 Tripolitzd, after leaving the plain of Sellasia, passes over a high and moun- tainous dL-trict, called SciRiTis in antiquity. The territory of Laconia extended beyond the highest ridge of the mountain ; and the chief source of the Alpheius, called Sarantopotamos, formed the boun- dary between Laconia and the Tegeatis. Before reaching the Arcadian frontier, the road went through a narrow and rugged pass, now called Klisura. The two towns in Sciritis were SciRUS and Oeum, called lum by Xenophon. 3. In the southern part of Laconia. — On the road from Sparta to Gythium, the chief port of the country, Pausanias (iii. 21. § 4) first mentions Croceae, distant about 135 stadia from Spaita, and celebrated for its quarries. Gythiuji was 30 stadia beyond Croceae. Above Gythium, in the interior, was Aegiae, to which a road also led from Croceae. Opposite Gythium was the island Cbanak. After giving an account of Gythium, Pausanias divides the rest of Laconia, for the pur- poses of his description, into what lies left and what lies right of Gythium {iv apiarepa TvO'lov, iii. 22. § 3 TO eV 5e|i5 TvOiov, iii. 24. § 6). Following the order of Pausanias, we will first mention the towns to the left or east of Gythium. Thirty stadia above Gythium was Trinasus, si- tuated upon a promontory, which formed the NE. extremity of the peninsula terminating in Cape