Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/145

 LARXUJr. mnst be looked for between Iilria and Krainhnrg, in Illyricuni. {It. Ant. p. 276; comp. Muchar, Nori- cum, p. 247.) [L. S.] LAKNOI {Tordera), a small coast river in the territory of the Laeetani, in Ilispania Tarra- conensis, falling; into the sea between Iluro and Ijjanda. (Plin. iii. 3. s. 4.) It has been inferred that there was a town of the same name on the river, fiom Pliny's mention of the Larnexses in the conventus of Caesaraiigusta : but it is plain that the Laeiitani belonj:;ed to the conventus of 'I'arraco. (Ukert, vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 456, assigns these Larnenses to the Arevacae.) [P. S.] LAPvTOLAEAETAE. [Laeetani.] LARYMXA (Adpu/xva), the name of two towns in Boeotia, on the river Cephissus, distinguished as Upper and Lower Larynma. (Strab. ix. pp. 405, 40(5.) Strabo relates that the Cephissu.s emerged from its subterranean channel at the Upper Larynma, and joined the sea at the Lower Larymna ; and that Upper Larymna had belonged to Phocis until it was annexed to the Lower or Boeotian Larymna by the liomans. Upper Larymna belonged originally to the Opuntian Locris, and Lycophron mentions it as one of the towns of Ajax Oileus. (Lycophr. 1146.) Pausanias also states, that it was originally Locrian; and he adds, that it voluntarily joined the Boeotians on the increase of the power of the Thebans. (Pans, is. 2.3. § 7.) This, however, probably did not take place in the time of Epaminondas, as Scylax, who lived subsequently, still calls it a Locrian town (p. 2.3). Ulrichs conjectures that it joined the Boeotian league after Thebes had been rebuilt by C;ussander. In b. c. 230, Laiymna is described as a Boeotian town (Polyb. xx. 5, where Aapv/xvau should be read instead of Aa§pvvav); and in the time of Sulla it is again spoken of as a Boeotian town. We may conclude from the preceding statements that the more ancient town was the Locrian La- rynma, situated at a spot, called Anchoe by Strabo, where the Cephissus emerged from its subterranean channel. At the distance of a mile and a half Larymna had a port upon the coast, which gra- dually rose into importance, especially from the time when Larymna joined the Boeotian Leagiie, as its port then became the most convenient communication with the eastern sea for Lebadeia, Chaeroneia, Or- choraenos, Copae, and other Boeotian towns. The port-town was called, from its position. Lower Larymna, to distinguish it from the Upper city. The former may also have been called more espe- cially the Boeotian Laiymna, as it became the sea- port of so many Boeotian towns. Upper Larymna, though it had joined the Boeotian League, continued to be frequently called the Locrian, on account of its ancient connection with Locris. 'When the Romans united Upper Larymna to Lower Larymna, the in- habitants of the fomer place were probably trans- ferred to the latter ; and LTpper Larymna was henceforth abandoned. This accounts for Pausanias mentioning only one Larymna, which must have been the Lower city ; for if he had visited Upper Larymna, he could hardly have failed to mention the emissaiy of the Cephissus at this spot. More- over, the ruins at Lower Larymna show that it be- came a place of much more importance than Upper Larymna. These ruins, which are called Ka.stri, like those of Delphi, are situated on the shore of the ^'"1/ 1^ Larmes, on a level covered with bushes, ten minutes to the left of the mouth of the Cephissus. VOL. II. LA.S. 129 The circuit of the walls is less than a mile. The annexed plan of the remains is taken from Leake. PLAN OF LARTTMNA. 1. Pi. small port, anciently closed in the manner here descrihed. 2. The town w.-ill, traceable all around. 3. Another wall along the sea, likewise traceable. 4. A mole, in the sea. h. Various ancient foundations in the tower and acro- polis, fi. A Sorus. 7. Glyfuncro, or Salt Source. 8. An oblong foundation of an ancient building. Leake adds, that the walls, which in one place are extant to nearly half their height, are of a red soft stone, very much corroded by the sea air, and in some places are constracted of rough masses. The sorus is high, with comparison to its length and breadth, and stands in its original place upon the rocks : there was an inscription upon it, and some ornaments of sculpture, which are now quite defaced. The Glyfonero is a small deep pool of water, impregnated with salt, and is considered by the peasants as sacred water, because it is cathartic. The sea in the bay south of the ruins is very deep ; and hence we ought probably to read in Pausanias (ix. 23. § 7), tfj.r]v 5e' (r<pia:v iariv ayx^SaOris, instead of Ai'iucrj, since there is no land-lake at this place. The ruins of Upper Larymna he at Bazaraki, on the right hank of the Cephissus, at the place where it issues from its subterranean channel, (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 287, seq.; Ulrichs, Reisen in Griechenland, p. 229, seq.) LAKY'SIUM. [Gythium.] LAS (Aa'ay, Hom.; Aay, Scyl., Pans., Strab.; AS, Steph. B. s. V. : Eth. Aaos), one of the most ancient towns of Laconia, situated upon the western coast of the Laconian gulf. It is the only to^vn on the coast mentioned by Scylax (p. 17) between Tae- narus and Gythium. Scylax speaks of its port; but, according to Pausanias, the towni itself was dis- tant 10 stadia from the sea, and 40 stadia from Gythium. (Pans. iii. 24. § 6.) In the time of Pausanias the town lay in a hollow between the three mountains, Asia, Ilium, and Cnacadium; but the old town stood on the summit of Lit. Asia. The name of Las signified the rock on which it originally stood. It is mentioned by Homer (//. ii