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MESSENE

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 190 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MESSENE , an See also:

ancient See also:Greek See also:city, the See also:capital of See also:Messenia, founded by See also:Epaminondas in 369 B.C., after the See also:battle of See also:Leuctra and the first Theban invasion of the Peloponnese. The See also:town was built by the combined Theban and Argive armies and the exiled Messenians who had been invited to return and found a See also:state which should be See also:independent of, Spartan See also:rule. The site was chosen by Epaminondas and See also:lay on the western slope of the See also:mountain which dominates the Messenian See also:plain and culminates in the two peaks of Ithome and Eua. The former of these (2630 ft.) served as the See also:acropolis, and was included within the same See also:system of fortifications as the See also:lower city. Messene remained a See also:place of some importance under the See also:Romans, but we hear nothing of it in See also:medieval times and now the See also:hamlet of Mavromati occupies a small See also:part of the site. See also:Pausanias has See also:left us a description of the city (iv. 31-33), its See also:chief temples and statues, its springs, its See also:market-place and gymnasium, its place of See also:sacrifice (tepo0uo-wv), the See also:tomb of the See also:hero See also:Aristomenes (q.v.) and the See also:temple of See also:Zeus Ithomatas on thesummit of the acropolis with a statue by the famous Argive sculptor See also:Ageladas, originally made for the Messenian See also:helots who had settled at See also:Naupactus at the See also:close of the third Messenian See also:War. But what chiefly excited his wonder was the strength of its fortifications, which excelled all those of the Greek See also:world. Of the See also:wall, some 52 M. in extent, considerable portions yet remain, especially on the See also:north and north-See also:west, and almost the entire See also:circuit can still be traced, affording the finest extant example of Greek fortification. The wall is flanked by towers about 31 ft. high set at irregular intervals: these have two storeys with loopholes in the lower and windows in the upper, and are entered by doors on a level with the See also:top of the wall which is reached by flights of steps. Of the See also:gates only two can be located, the eastern or Laconian, situated on the eastern See also:side of the See also:saddle uniting Ithome and Eua, and the See also:northern or Arcadian See also:gate. Of the former but little remains: the latter, however, is excellently preserved and consists of a circular See also:court about 20 yds. in See also:diameter with inner and See also:outer gates, the latter flanked by square towers some 11 yds. apart.

The See also:

lintel of the inner gate was formed by a single See also:stone 18 ft. 8 in. in length, and the See also:masonry of the circular court is of astonishing beauty and accuracy. The other buildings which can be identified are the See also:theatre, the See also:stadium, the See also:council chamber or Bouleuterion, and the propylaeum of the market, while on the See also:shoulder of the mountain are the See also:foundations of a small temple, probably that of See also:Artemis Laphria. See E. See also:Curtius, Peloponnesos, ii. 138 sqq. ; W. M. See also:Leake, Travels in the Morea, i. 366 sqq. ; J. G.

Frazer, Pausanias's Description of See also:

Greece, iii. 429 sqq ; W. G. See also:Clark, Peloponnese, 232 sqq. ; A. Blouet, Exiled. scient. de Moree: See also:Architecture, 1. 37-42, Plates 38—47; E. P. Boblaye, Recherches geogr. sur See also:les ruines de la See also:Mora, 107 sqq.; C. See also:Bursian, Geographie von Griechenland, ii. 165 sqq. (M.

N.

End of Article: MESSENE

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