Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/357

 MESSENIA. I. General Desceiption of the Country. Messenia, in its general features, resembles La- conia. The Pamisus in Jlessenia, like the Eurotas in Laconia, flows through the entire length of the country, from north to south, and forms its most cultivated and fertile plains. But these plains are much larger than those in Laconia, and constitute a considerable portion of the whole country ; while the mountains on the western coast of Messenia are much less rugged than on the eastern coast of Laconia, and contain a larger proportion of fertile land. Hence the rich plains of Messenia are often contrasted with the sterile and rugged soil of Laconia; and the climate of the former country is praised by the ancients, as temperate and soft, in comparison with that of the latter. The basin of the Pamisus is divided into two distinct parts, which are separated from each other on the east by a ridge of mountains extending from Mt. Tay^etus to the Pamisus, and on the west by Mt. Ithome. The upper part, called the plain of Stenyclerus or Stenyclarus (rh l.TevvKAripiKhv Trebiov), is of small extent and moderate fertility, and is entirely shut in by moun- tains. The lower plain, which opens to the Mes- senian gulf, is much more extensive, and was some- times called Macaria (Ma/capia), or the '' Blessed," on account of its surprising fertility. (Strab. viii. p. 361.) It was, doubtless, to this district that Euripides referred, when he described the excellence of the Messenian soil as too great for words to explain, and the land as watered by innumerable streams, abounding in fruits and flocks ; neither too hot in summer, nor too cold in winter. (Eurip. ap. Strab. viii. p. .366.) Even in the present day, although a part of the plain has become marshy by neglecting the embankments of the Pamisus, it is describeil by travellers as the most fertile district in the Peloponnesus. It now produces oil, silk, figs, ■wheat, maize, cotton, wine, and honey, and presents as rich a cultivation as can well be imagined. (Leake, Morea, vol. i. pp. 347, 352.) Besides the Pamisus, numerous other streams and copious per- ennial springs gush in all directions from the base of the mountains. The most remarkable feature on the western coast is the deep bay of Pylos, now called Navarino, which is the best, and indeed the only really good harbour in the Peloponnesus. II. Mountains, Promontories, Rivers, and Islands. 1. Mountains. — The upper plain, in which are the sources of the Pamisus, was the original abode of the Messenians, and the stronghold of the nation. Here was Andania, the capital of the most ancient Messenian kings. Thither the Messenians retreated, as often as they were overpowered by their enemies in the lower plains, for here were their two great natural fortresses, Ithome and Eira, the former commanding the entrance to the lower plain, and the latter situated in the mountains, which rise in the northern part of the upper plain. These moun- tains, now called Tetrdzi, fonri, as has been already said, the watershed of the rivers Neda, Pamisus, and Alpheius. From this central ridge, which is 4.'j54 feet high, a chain extends towards the west, along the banks of the Neda, and is also prolonged towards the south, forming tlie mountains of the western peninsula, and terminating at the promontory Acritas. From the same central ridge of Tetrdzi, another chain extends towards the east, dividing the Mes- Benian plain from the upper basin of the Alpheius, MESSENIA. 341 and then uniting with Mount Taygetus, and form- ing the barrier between the basins of the lower Pamisus and the Eurotas. These two mountain chains, which, issuing from tho same point, almost meet about half-way between Mount Tatrdzi and the sea, leave only a narrow defile through which the waters of the Pamisus force their way from the upper to the lower plain. South of this defile the mountains again retire to the east and we.-t, leaving a wide opening for the lower plain, which has been already described. Scarcely in any part of Greece have the names of the ancient mountains been so little preserved as in Messenia. Tetrdzi was perhaps the mountains of Eira. The eastern continuation of Tatrdzi, now named Mah-yplui, formed part of the ancient ]It. Nomia. (No/ii'a upt), Paus. viii. 38. § 11.) The western prolongation of Tetrdzi along the banks of the Neda was called Elaeum ( 'EAaiof), now Kuvela. and vi-as partly in the territories of Phigalia. (Paus. viii. 41. § 7.) The mountains Ithome and Evan are so closely connected with the city of Messene that they are described under that head. [Messene.] In the southern chain extending down the western peninsula, the names only of Aegaleum, Buphras, Tomeus or Mathia, and Temathia have been preserved. Aegaleum (^PilyaKiov') appears to have been the name of the long and lofty ridge, running parallel to the western shore between Cyparissia and Coryphasium (Pylos); since Strabo places the Messenian Pylos at the foot of Mt. Aegaleum (viii. p. 359; Leake, Morea, vol. i. pp. 426, 427). BupiiRAS (^ BoiK^pas) and ToMEUs (6 Tof.i.ivs') are mentioned by Thucydides (iv. 118) as points near Coryphasium (Pylos), beyond which the Lacedaemonian garrison in the latter place were not to pass. That they were mountains we may conclude from the statement of Stephanus B., who speaks of the Toixaiov upos near Coryphasium. (Stepli. B. s. v. Tofievs.) Te- mathia (TTj^aeia), or Mathia (Madia, the reading is doubtful), was situated, according to Pausanias (iv. 34. § 4), at the foot of Corone, and must there- fore coiTespond to Lyhodimo, which rises to the height of 3140 feet, and is prolonged southward in a gradually falling ridge till it tenninates in the promontory Acritas. 2. Promontories. — Of these only four are men- tioned by name, — Acritas ('AKpiras), now C. Gallo, the most southerly point of Messenia [Acri- tas] ; and on the west coast CoRvrnASiUM, forming the entrance to the bay of Pylus [Pvlus] ; Platamodes (nAara^ciSSrjy, Strab. viii. p. 348), called by Pliny (iv. 5. s. C) Platanodes, distant, according to Strabo (I. c), 120 stadia N. of Cory- phasium, and therefore not far from Aia Kyriuhe (Leake, vol. i. p. 427) ; and lastly Cyparissium [Cyparissia], a little further north, so called from the town Cyparissia. 3. Rivers. — The Pamisus (ITa/^tKro's) is described by Strabo as the greatest of the rivers within the Isthmus (viii. p. 361); but this name is only given by the ancient writers to the river in the lower plain, though the moderns, to facilitate the descri))- tion of the geograpliy of the country, apply this name to the whole course of the waters from their sources in the upper plain till they fall into tiie Messenian gulf. The principal river in the upper plain was called Bai.yra (HaAi'pa). It rises near the village of Sulimd, and flows along the western side of the plain: two of the streams composing i' Z 3