Listed 6 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "LAKEDEMON Ancient country PELOPONNISOS" .
ETHEA (Ancient city) LACONIA
Aethaea (Aithaia: Eth. Aithaiens), a town of Messenia of unknown site, the inhabitants of which revolted from Sparta with the Thuriatae in B.C. 464. (Thuc. i. 101; Steph. B. s. v.)
LAKEDEMON (Ancient country) PELOPONNISOS
SKIRITIS (Mountain settlement) LAKEDEMON
Sciritis (he Skiritis: Eth. Skirites, fem. Skiritis), a rugged and
barren mountainous district, in the north of Laconia, between the upper Eurotas
on the west and the Oenus on the east, and extending north of the highest ridge
of the mountains, which were the natural boundary between Laconia and Arcadia.
The name probably expressed the wild and rugged nature of the country, for the
word signified hard and rugged (skiron, skeiron, skleron, Hesych.). It was bounded
by the Maenalians on the north, and by the Parrhasians on the west, and was originally
part of Arcadia, but was conquered at an early period, and its inhabitants reduced
to the condition of Lacedaemonian Perioeci. (Steph. B. s. v. Skiros; Thuc. v.
33.) According to Xenophon they were subjected to Sparta even before the time
of Lycurgus. (De Rep. Lac. c. 12.) They were distinguished above all the other
Perioeci for their bravery; and their contingent, called the Skirites lochos,
600 in number, usually occupied the extreme left of the Lacedaemonian wing. (Thuc.
v. 67, 68.) They were frequently placed in the post of danger, and sometimes remained
with the king as a body of reserve. (Xen. Cyr. iv. 2. 1, Hell. v. 2. § 24, v.
4. § 52; Died. xv. 32.) On the first invasion of Laconia by the Thebans the Sciritae,
together with the Perioeci of Caryae and Sellasia, revolted from Sparta, in consequence
of which their country was subsequently ravaged by the Lacedaemonians. (Xen. Hell.
vii. 24. 1) The only towns in the Sciritis appear to have been Scirus and Oeum
called Ium by Xenophon. The latter is the only place in the district mentioned
in historical times. Scirus may perhaps have been the same as Scirtonium (Skirtonion),
in the district of Aegytis. (Paus. viii. 27. § 4; Steph. B. s. v.)
The road from Sparta to Tegea, which is the same as the present road
from Sparta to Tripolitza, led through the Sciritis. (Leake, Morea, vol. iii.
p. 28; Boblaye, Recherches, &c. p. 75; Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes, p. 178; Curtius,
Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 263.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
LAKEDEMON (Ancient country) PELOPONNISOS
Physical Description
Laconia is the southeastern district of the Peloponnese. It is bounded
on the north by the Argolid and Arcadia, on the west by Messenia, and on the south
by the Aegean Sea. Laconia is a mountainous limestone region whose eastern portion
is defined by Mt. Parnon, which rises to nearly 1818 m near the Argive frontier,
and runs southeast towards Cape Malea. In the west is Mt. Taygetus (2364 m), which
runs north to south forming a high range overlooking the plain of Sparta. Between
barren Parnon and the dark cliffs of Taygetus is the valley of the Eurotas River
which flows into the Laconian Gulf.
Laconia possesses arable plains suitable for olives as well as land
suitable for summer pastures and forested highlands. To the east the slopes of
Mt. Parnon are barren except near the coast where woods of Mediterranean pine
face the sea and pockets of arable land produce cereals and figs.
The stormy promontories of Taenarum and Malea endanger any entry into
the Laconian Gulf, and the harbors of east Laconia are remote from the inland
plain, making Laconia primarily an agricultural area. The swampy delta of the
Eurotas provides good pasture land for horses but lacks serviceable harbors.
History
A Mycenaean kingdom flourished in Laconia until the twelfth century
B.C., and was the mythical seat of Menelaus and his queen, Helen. Later in the
tenth century Dorian settlements appeared. One of these settlements, Sparta annexed
the Eurotas valley down to the sea along with the adjoining coastal plain and
the fertile lands to the west. The rest of Laconia was administered by independent
perioikoi ( literally, " those who dwelled around [the Spartans]"), but the entire
region spoke the same dialect in the Classical period, Doric.
Sites
Sparta, the capital of Laconia, was a vast triangular area in the
fertile Eurotas plain between the Taygetus and Parnon mountain ranges. During
its period of supremacy the city remained unwalled because the natural strength
of its position and the bravery of its soldiers were sufficient protection. The
first defensive walls were built around the town in 200 B.C. Spartan inhabitants
dwelt in five scattered townships separated by gardens and plantations. Few public
buildings and monuments adorned Sparta, but the city did have a sixth century
B.C. temple to Athena built by Gitiadas, a Hellenistic theater altered in Roman
times, and just outside town, the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, so named because
the cult image was found standing upright. The sanctuary, where Spartan boys were
flogged as part of their upbringing, existed as early as the tenth century B.C.
In Archaic times it was comprised of a walled enclosure with an altar on the east
side and a small temple on the west side. Farther north along the Eurotas is a
Heroon and a large stone altar. The Lakonian plain was populated by Helots, enslaved
indigenous people who took their name from the ancient city of Helos on the southern
edge of the plain.
Leaving Sparta and going westward past Mistra toward Messene one must
go through the Langadha Pass. The road is steep with hairpin turns and marvellous
views of all the mountain ranges. The village of Mistra, 7 km from Sparta, is
a Medieval city built on an outlying hill of the Taygetus range by the Franks
under Villehardouin, and it was subsequently the most important Byzantine city
after Thessaloniki and Constantinople.
Text by: Curtis Runnels
This text is cited May 2003 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains interesting hyperlinks
LAKEDEMON (Ancient country) PELOPONNISOS
Lacedaemon, Lacedaemonian, Lacedaemonians, Laconia, Laconian, Laconians, Lakonia, Lakonian, Lakonians, Lelegia
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