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LACONIA (Gr. AaKWVLK1])

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 52 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LACONIA (Gr. AaKWVLK1]) , the See also:ancient name of the See also:south-eastern See also:district of the Peloponnese, of which See also:Sparta was the See also:capital. It has an See also:area of some 1,048,000 acres, slightly greater than that of See also:Somersetshire, and consists of three well-marked zones See also:running N. and S. The valley of the Eurotas, which occupies the centre, is bounded W. by the See also:chain of See also:Taygetus (mod. Pentedaktylon, 7900 ft.), which starts from the Arcadian mountains on the N., and at its See also:southern extremity forms the promontory of Taenarum (Cape Matapan). The eastern portion of Laconia consists of a far more broken range of See also:hill See also:country, rising in Mt. See also:Parnon to a height of 6365 ft. and terminating in the headland of Malea. The range of Taygetus is well watered and was in ancient times covered with forests which afforded excellent See also:hunting to the Spartans, while it had also large See also:iron mines and quarries of an inferior bluish See also:marble, as well as of the famous rosso antico of Taenarum. Far poorer are the slopes of Parnon, consisting for the most See also:part of barren See also:limestone uplands scantily watered. The Eurotas valley, however, is fertile, and produces at the See also:present See also:day See also:maize, See also:olives, oranges and mulberries in See also:great abundance. Laconia has no See also:rivers of importance except the Eurotas and its largest tributary the Oenus (mod. Keleffna).

The See also:

coast, expecially on the See also:east, is rugged and dangerous. Laconia has few See also:good harbours, nor are there any islands lying off its shores with the exception of See also:Cythera (Cerigo), S. of Cape Malea. The most important towns, besides Sparta and See also:Gythium, were Bryseae, Amyclae and Pharis in the Eurotas See also:plain, Pellana and Belbina on the upper Eurotas, Sellasia on the Oenus, Caryae on the Arcadian frontier, Prasiae, Zarax and See also:Epidaurus Limera on the east coast, Geronthrae on the slopes of Parnon, Boeae, Asopus, Helos, See also:Las and Teuthrone on the Laconian Gulf, and Hippola, Messa and Oetylus on the Messenian Gulf. The earliest inhabitants of Laconia, according to tradition, were the autochthonous See also:Leleges (q.v.). Minyan immigrants then settled at various places on the coast and even appear to have penetrated into the interior and to have founded Amyclae. Phoenician traders, too, visited the shores of the Laconian Gulf, and there are indications of See also:trade at a very See also:early See also:period between Laconia and See also:Crete, e.g. a number of blocks of See also:green Laconian See also:porphyry from the quarries at Croceae have been found in the See also:palace of See also:Minos at See also:Cnossus. In the Homeric poems Laconia appears as the See also:realm of an Achaean See also:prince, See also:Menelaus, whose capital was perhaps Therapne on the See also:left See also:bank of the Eurotas, S.E. of Sparta; the Achaean conquerors, however, probably contented themselves with a See also:suzerainty over Laconia and part of See also:Messenia (q.v.) and were too few to occupy the whole See also:land. The Achaean See also:kingdom See also:fell before the incoming See also:Dorians, and throughout the classical period the See also:history of Laconia is that of its capital Sparta (q.v.). In 195 B.C. the Laconian coast towns were freed from Spartan See also:rule by the See also:Roman See also:general T. Quinctius See also:Flamininus, and became members of the Achaean See also:League. When this was dissolved in 146 B.C., they remained See also:independent under the See also:title of the " See also:Confederation of the Lacedaemonians " or "of the See also:Free-Laconians" (KOW& rem AaKeSacµoviwvor'EXevBepo-Xaalivwv), the supreme officer of which was a orparnyes (general) assisted by a raplas (treasurer). See also:Augustus seems to have reorganized the league in some way, for See also:Pausanias (iii.

21, 6) speaks of him as its founder. Of the twenty-four cities which originally composed the league, only eighteen remained as members by the reign of See also:

Hadrian (see ACHAEAN LEAGUE). In A.U. 395 a See also:Gothic See also:horde under See also:Alaric devastated Laconia, and subsequently it was overrun by large bands of Slavic immigrants. Throughout the See also:middle ages it was the See also:scene of vigorous struggles between Slays, Byzantines, See also:Franks, See also:Turks and Venetians, the See also:chief memorials of which are the ruined strongholds of Mistra near Sparta, Geraki (anc. Geronthrae) and Monemvasia, " the See also:Gibraltar of See also:Greece," on the east coast, and Passava near Gythium. A prominent part in the See also:War of See also:Independence was played by the Maniates or Mainotes, the inhabitants of the rugged See also:peninsula formed by the southern part of Taygetus. They had all along maintained a virtual independence of the Turks and until quite recently retained their See also:medieval customs, living in fortified towers and practising the See also:vendetta or See also:blood-See also:feud. The district has been divided into two departments (nomes), See also:Lacedaemon and Laconia, with their capitals at Sparta and Gythium respectively. Pop. of Laconia (1907) 61,522. See also:Archaeology.—Until 1904 archaeological See also:research in Laconia was carried on only sporadically. Besides the excavations under-taken at Sparta, Gythium and See also:Vaphio (q.v.), the most important were those at the .See also:Apollo See also:sanctuary of Amyclae carried out by C.

Tsountas in 1890 ('E e. apxwok. 1892, r ff.) and in 1904 by A. See also:

Furtwangler. At Kampos, on the western See also:side of Taygetus, a small domed See also:tomb of the " Mycenean " See also:age was excavated in 18go and yielded two leaden statuettes of great See also:interest, while at Arkina a similar tomb of poor construction was unearthed in the previous See also:year. Important See also:inscriptions were found at Geronthrae (Geraki), notably five See also:long fragments of the Edictum Diocletiani, and elsewhere. In 1904 the See also:British Archaeological school at See also:Athens undertook a systematic investigation of theancient and medieval remains in Laconia. The results, of which the most important are summarized in the See also:article SPARTA, are published in the British School See also:Annual, x. if. The See also:acropolis of Geronthrae, a See also:hero-See also:shrine at Angelona in the south-eastern See also:highlands, and the sanctuary of Ino-Pasiphae at Thalamae have also been investigated. Inscriptions: Le Bas-Foucart, Voyage archeologique: Inscriptions, Nos. 160-290; Inscriptiones Graecae, v.; Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum (See also:Berlin, 1828), Nos. 1237-1510; Collitz-Bechtel, Sammlung der griech. Dialektinschriften, iii.

2 (See also:

Gottingen, 1898), Nos. 4400-4613. Coins: See also:Catalogue of See also:Greek Coins in the British Museum: See also:Peloponnesus (See also:London, 1887), xlvi. if., 121 ff. ; B. V. See also:Head, Historic Numorum (See also:Oxford, 1887), 363 if. Cults: S. Wide, Lakonische Kulte (See also:Leipzig, 1893). Ancient roads: W. Loring, Some Ancient Routes in the Peloponnese " in See also:Journal of Hellenic Studies, xv. 25 if. (M.

N.

End of Article: LACONIA (Gr. AaKWVLK1])

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