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[1] Be this as it may, after the Messenian Gulf comes the Laconian Gulf, lying between Taenarum¹ and Maleae,² which bends slightly from the south towards the east; and Thyrides,³ a precipitous rock exposed to the currents of the sea, is in the Messenian Gulf at a distance of one hundred and thirty stadia from Taenarum. Above Thyrides lies Taÿgetus; it is a lofty and steep mountain, only a short distance from the sea, and it connects in its northerly parts with the foothills of the Arcadian mountains in such a way that a glen is left in between, where Messenia borders on Laconia. Below Taÿgetus, in the interior, lies Sparta, and also Amyclae, where is the temple of Apollo,⁴ and Pharis. Now the site of Sparta is in a rather hollow district,⁵ although it includes mountains within its limits; yet no part of it is marshy, though in olden times the suburban part was marshy, and this part they called Limnae;⁶ and the temple of Dionysus in Limnae⁷ stood on wet ground, though now its foundations rest on dry ground. In the bend of the seaboard one comes, first, to a headland that projects into the sea, Taenarum, with its temple of Poseidon situated in a grove; and secondly, near by, to the cavern⁸ through which, according to the myth writers, Cerberus was brought up from Hades by Heracles. From here the passage towards the south across the sea to Phycus,⁹ a cape in Cyrenaea, is three thousand stadia; and the passage towards the west to Pachynus,¹⁰ the promontory of Sicily, is four thousand six hundred, though some say four thousand; and towards the east to Maleae, following the sinuosities of the gulfs, six hundred and seventy; and to Onugnathus,¹¹ a low-lying peninsula somewhat this side of Maleae, five hundred and twenty; off Onugnathus and opposite it, at a distance of forty stadia, lies Cythera, an island with a good harbor, containing a city of the same name, which Eurycles, the ruler of the Lacedaemonians in our times, seized as his private property; and round it lie several small islands, some near it and others slightly farther away; and to Corycus,¹² a cape in Crete, the shortest voyage is seven hundred stadia.¹³

[2] After Taenarum, on the voyage to Onugnathus and Maleae, one comes to the city Psamathus; then to Asine, and to Gythium, the seaport of Sparta, situated at a distance of two hundred and forty stadia from Sparta. The roadstead of the seaport was dug by the hand of man, so it is said. Then one comes to the Eurotas, which empties between Gythium and Acraea. Now for a time the voyage is along the shore, for about two hundred and forty stadia; then comes a marshy district situated above the gulf, and also a village called Helus.¹⁴ In earlier times Helus was a city, just as Homer says:

“And they that held Amyclae, and Helus, a city by the sea.”

¹⁵It is said to have been founded by Helius, a son of Perseus. And one comes also to a plain called Leuce;¹⁶ then to a city Cyparissia, which is situated on a peninsula and has a harbor; then to Onugnathus, which has a harbor; then to the city Boea; and then to Maleae. And the distance from Onugnathus to Maleae is one hundred and fifty stadia; and there is also a city Asopus¹⁷ in Laconia.

[3] They say that one of the places mentioned in Homer’s Catalogue,¹⁸ Messe, is nowhere to be seen; and that Messoa was not a part of the country but of Sparta, as was the case with Limnaeum,¹⁹ . . . ²⁰ But some take “Messe” as an apocopated form of “Messene,” for, as I have said,²¹ Messene too was a part of Laconia. As examples of apocope from the poet himself, writers cite “kri,” “do,” and “maps,”²² and also the passage

“the heroes Automedon and Alcimus,”

²³for “Alcimedon”; then from Hesiod, who uses “bri” for “brithu” or “briaron”; and Sophocles and Ion, “rha” for “rhadion”; and Epicharmus, “li” for “lian,” and “Syraco” for “Syracuse”; and in Empedocles,²⁴ “ops” for “opsis”:

“the ‘ops’²⁵ of both becomes one;”

²⁶ and in Antimachus,

“the sacred ‘ops’ of the Eleusinian Demeter,”

²⁷ and “alphi” for “alphiton”; and Euphorion even uses “hel” for “helos”; and in Philetas, “eri” for “erion”:

“maidservants bring white ‘eri’²⁸ and put it in baskets;”

²⁹ and Aratus says “peda” for “pedalia”: “the ‘peda’³⁰ towards the wind”; and Simmias, “Dodo” for “Dodona.” As for the rest of the places listed by the poet, some have been destroyed; of others traces are still left; and of others the names have been changed, for example, Augeiae³¹ to Aegaeae;³² for the Augeiae in Locris³³ no longer exists at all. As for Las, the story goes, the Dioscuri³⁴ once captured it by siege, and it was from this fact that they got the appellation “Lapersae.”³⁵ And Sophocles says,

“by the two Lapersae, I swear, by Eurotas third, by the gods in Argos and about Sparta.”

³⁶

[4] According to Ephorus: Eurysthenes and Procles, the Heracleidae, took possession of Laconia,³⁷ divided the country into six parts, and founded cities;³⁸ now one of the divisions, Amyclae, they selected and gave to the man³⁹ who had betrayed Laconia to them and who had persuaded the ruler who was in possession of it to accept their terms and emigrate with the Achaeans to Ionia; Sparta they designated as a royal residence for themselves; to the other divisions they sent kings, and because of the sparsity of the population gave them permission to receive as fellow inhabitants any strangers who wished the privilege; and they used Las as a naval station because of its good harbor, and Aegys⁴⁰ as a base of operations against their enemies (for its territory⁴¹ bordered on those of the surrounding peoples) and Pharis as a treasury, because it afforded security against outsiders; . . . but though the neighboring peoples, one and all, were subject to the Spartiatae, still they had equal rights, sharing both in the rights of citizenship and in the offices of state, and they were called Helots;⁴² but Agis, the son of Eurysthenes, deprived them of the equality of rights and ordered them to pay tribute to Sparta; now all obeyed except the Heleians, the occupants of Helus, who, because they revolted, were forcibly reduced in a war, and were condemned to slavery, with the express reservation that no slaveholder should be permitted either to set them free or to sell them outside the borders of the country; and this war was called the War against the Helots. One may almost say that it was Agis and his associates who introduced the whole system of Helot-slavery that persisted until the supremacy of the Romans; for the Lacedaemonians held the Helots as state slaves in a way, having assigned to them certain settlements to live in and special services to perform.

[5] Concerning the government of the Laconians and the changes that took place among them, one might omit most things as well known, but there are certain things which it is perhaps worthwhile to mention. For instance, they say that the Achaeans of Phthiotis came down with Pelops into the Peloponnesus, took up their abode in Laconia, and so far excelled in bravery that the Peloponnesus, which now for many ages had been called Argos, came to be called Achaean Argos, and the name was applied not only in a general way to the Peloponnesus, but also in a specific way to Laconia; at any rate, the words of the poet,

“Where was Menelaüs?”

⁴³

or was he not in Achaean Argos?”

⁴⁴are interpreted by some thus: “or was he not in Laconia?” And at the time of the return of the Heracleidae, when Philonomus betrayed the country to the Dorians, the Achaeans emigrated from Laconia to the country of the Ionians, the country that still today is called Achaea. But I shall speak of them in my description of Achaea.⁴⁵ Now the new possessors of Laconia restrained themselves at first, but after they turned over the government to Lycurgus they so far surpassed the rest that they alone of the Greeks ruled over both land and sea, and they continued ruling the Greeks until they were deprived of their hegemony, first by the Thebans, and immediately after them by the Macedonians. However, they did not wholly yield even to the Macedonians, but, preserving their autonomy, always kept up a struggle for the primacy both with the rest of the Greeks and with the kings of the Macedonians. And when the Macedonians had been overthrown by the Romans, the Lacedaemonians committed some slight offences against the praetors who were sent by the Romans, because at that time they were under the rule of tyrants and had a wretched government; but when they had recovered themselves, they were held in particular honor, and remained free, contributing to Rome nothing else but friendly services. But recently Eurycles has stirred up trouble among them, having apparently abused the friendship of Caesar unduly in order to maintain his authority over his subjects; but the trouble⁴⁶ quickly came to an end, Eurycles retiring to his fate,⁴⁷ and his son⁴⁸ being averse to any friendship of this kind.⁴⁹ And it also came to pass that the Eleuthero-Lacones⁵⁰ got a kind of republican constitution, since the Perioeci⁵¹ and also the Helots, at the time when Sparta was under the rule of tyrants, were the first to attach themselves to the Romans. Now Hellanicus says that Eurysthenes and Procles drew up the constitution;⁵² but Ephorus censures Hellanicus, saying that he has nowhere mentioned Lycurgus and that he ascribes the work of Lycurgus to persons who had nothing to do with it. At any rate, Ephorus continues, it is to Lycurgus alone that a temple has been erected and that annual sacrifices are offered, whereas Eurysthenes and Procles, although they were the founders, have not even been accorded the honor of having their respective descendants called Eurysthenidae and Procleidae; instead, the respective descendants are called Agidae, after Agis the son of Eurysthenes, and Eurypontidae, after Eurypon the son of Procles; for Agis and Eurypon reigned in an honorable way, whereas Eurysthenes and Procles welcomed foreigners and through these maintained their overlordship; and hence they were not even honored with the title of “archegetae,”⁵³ an honor which is always paid to founders; and further, Pausanias,⁵⁴ after he was banished because of the hatred of the Eurypontidae, the other royal house, and when he was in exile, prepared a discourse on the laws of Lycurgus, who belonged to the house that banished him,⁵⁵ in which he also tells the oracles that were given out to Lycurgus concerning most of the laws.

[6] Concerning the nature of the regions, both Laconia and Messenia, one should accept what Euripides says in the following passages: He says that Laconia has

“much arable land but is not easy to cultivate, for it is hollow,⁵⁶ surrounded by mountains, rugged, and difficult for enemies to invade;” and that Messenia is “a land of fair fruitage and watered by innumerable streams, abounding in pasturage for cattle and sheep, being neither very wintry in the blasts of winter nor yet made too hot by the chariot of Helios;”

⁵⁷and a little below, in speaking of the lots which the Heracleidae cast for the country, he says that the first lot conferred

“lordships over the land of Laconia, a poor country,”

⁵⁸ and the second over Messenia,

“whose fertility is greater than words can express;”

⁵⁹ and Tyrtaeus speaks of it in the same manner. But one should not admit that the boundary between Laconia and Messenia is formed, as Euripides says,

“by the Pamisus, which rushes into the sea,”

⁶⁰ for it flows through the middle of Messenia, nowhere touching the present Laconia. Neither is he right when he says that to mariners Messenia is far away, for Messenia like Laconia lies on the sea; and he does not give the right boundary of Elis either,

“and far away, after one crosses the river, lies Elis, the neighbor of Zeus;”

⁶¹for if, on the one hand, he means the present Eleian country, which borders on Messenia, the Pamisus does not touch this country, any more than it does Laconia, for, as I have said, it flows through the middle of Messenia; or if, on the other hand, he means the old Coele Elis,⁶² he deviates much further from the truth; for after one crosses the Pamisus there is still a large part of Messenia to traverse, and then the whole of the territories of the Lepreatae and the Macistii, which they used to call Triphylia; and then come Pisatis and Olympia, and then, three hundred stadia farther on, Elis.

[7] Since some critics write⁶³ Lacedaemon “Ketoessan” and others “Kaietaessan,” the question is asked, how should we interpret “Ketoessa,” whether as derived from “Kete,”⁶⁴ or as meaning “large,”⁶⁵ which seems to be more plausible. And as for “Kaietaessan,” some interpret it as meaning “Kalaminthode,”⁶⁶ whereas others say that the clefts caused by earthquakes are called “Kaietoi,” and that from “Kaietoi” is derived “Kaietas,” the word among the Lacedaemonians for their “prison,” which is a sort of cavern. But some prefer to call such cavernous places “Kooi,” and whence, they add, comes the expression

“’oreskoioi’ monsters.”

⁶⁷⁶⁸ Laconia is subject to earthquakes, and in fact some writers record that certain peaks of Taÿgetus have been broken away. And there are quarries of very costly marble—the old quarries of Taenarian marble on Taenarum; and recently some men have opened a large quarry in Taÿgetus, being supported in their undertaking by the extravagance of the Romans.

[8] Homer makes it clear that both the country and the city are called by the same name, Lacedaemon (and when I say “country” I include Messenia with Laconia). For in speaking of the bows, when he says,

“beautiful gifts which a friend had given him when he met him in Lacedaemon, even Iphitus the son of Eurytus,”

⁶⁹and then adds,

“these twain met one another in Messene in the home of Ortilochus,”

⁷⁰Homer means the country of which Messenia was a part. Accordingly it made no difference to him whether he said “a friend had given him when he met him in Lacedaemon” or “these twain met in Messene.” For, that Pherae is the home of Ortilochus, is clear from this passage:

“and they” (Telemachus and Peisistratus) “went to Pherae, the home of Diocles, son of Ortilochus;”

and Pherae is in Messenia. But when Homer says that, after Telemachus and his companions set out from Pherae, they shook the yoke all day long,⁷¹ and then adds,

“and the sun set, and they came to Hollow Lacedaemon ‘Ketoessan,’ and then drove to the palace of Menelaüs,”

⁷²we must interpret him as meaning the city; otherwise it will be obvious that the poet speaks of their arrival at Lacedaemon from Lacedaemon! And, besides, it is not probable that the residence of Menelaüs was not at Sparta, nor yet, if it were not there, that Telemachus would say,

“for I would go both to Sparta and to Pylus.”

⁷³But the fact that Homer uses the epithets of the country⁷⁴ is in disagreement with this view⁷⁵ unless, indeed, one is willing to attribute this to poetic license—as one should do, for it were better for Messene to be included with Laconia or with the Pylus that was subject to Nestor, and not to be set off by itself in the Calalogue as not even having a part in the expedition.

Geography. Strabo. Horace Leonard Jones (Translator). London. 1924-1929.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Geography (Books 6-14) (English) (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 3-6. Jones, Horace Leonard, translator. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924-1929 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 8.5 focus

[1] ἔστι δʼ οὖν μετὰ τὸν Μεσσηνιακὸν κόλπον ὁ Λακωνικὸς μεταξὺ Ταινάρου καὶ Μαλεῶν, ἐκκλίνων μικρὸν ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας πρὸς ἕω· διέχουσι δὲ σταδίους ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα αἱ Θυρίδες τοῦ Ταινάρου ἐν τῷ Μεσσηνιακῷ οὖσαι κόλπῳ, ῥοώδης κρημνός. τούτων δʼ ὑπέρκειται τὸ Ταΰγετον· ἔστι δʼ ὄρος μικρὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς θαλάττης ὑψηλόν τε καὶ ὄρθιον, συνάπτον κατὰ τὰ προσάρκτια μέρη ταῖς Ἀρκαδικαῖς ὑπωρείαις, ὥστε καταλείπεσθαι μεταξὺ αὐλῶνα, καθʼ ὃν ἡ Μεσσηνία συνεχής ἐστι τῇ Λακωνικῇ. ὑποπέπτωκε δὲ τῷ Ταϋγέτῳ ἡ Σπάρτη ἐν μεσογαίᾳ καὶ Ἀμύκλαι, οὗ τὸ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερόν, καὶ ἡ Φᾶρις. ἔστι μὲν οὖν ἐν κοιλοτέρῳ χωρίῳ τὸ τῆς πόλεως ἔδαφος καίπερ ἀπολαμβάνον ὄρη μεταξύ· ἀλλʼ οὐδέν γε μέρος αὐτοῦ λιμνάζει, τὸ δὲ παλαιὸν ἐλίμναζε τὸ προάστειον, καὶ ἐκάλουν αὐτὸ Λίμνας· καὶ τὸ τοῦ Διονύσου ἱερὸν ἐν Λίμναις ἐφʼ ὑγροῦ βεβηκὸς ἐτύγχανε, νῦν δʼ ἐπὶ ξηροῦ τὴν ἵδρυσιν ἔχει. ἐν δὲ τῷ κόλπῳ τῆς παραλίας τὸ μὲν Ταίναρον ἀκτή ἐστιν ἐκκειμένη τὸ ἱερὸν ἔχουσα τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος ἐν ἄλσει ἱδρυμένον· πλησίον δʼ ἐστὶν ἄντρον, διʼ οὗ τὸν Κέρβερον ἀναχθῆναι μυθεύουσιν ὑφʼ Ἡρακλέους ἐξ ᾄδου. ἐντεῦθεν δʼ εἰς μὲν Φυκοῦντα ἄκραν τῆς Κυρηναίας πρὸς νότον δίαρμά ἐστι σταδίων τρισχιλίων· εἰς δὲ Πάχυνον πρὸς δύσιν, τὸ τῆς Σικελίας ἀκρωτήριον, τετρακισχιλίων ἑξακοσίων, τινὲς δὲ τετρακισχιλίων φασίν· εἰς δὲ Μαλέας πρὸς ἕω ἑξακοσίων ἑβδομήκοντα κατακολπίζοντι· εἰς δὲ Ὄνου γνάθον, ταπεινὴν χερρόνησον ἐνδοτέρω τῶν Μαλεῶν, πεντακοσίων εἴκοσι (πρόκειται δὲ κατὰ τούτου Κύθηρα ἐν τετταράκοντα σταδίοις, νῆσος εὐλίμενος, πόλιν ἔχουσα ὁμώνυμον, ἣν ἔσχεν Εὐρυκλῆς ἐν μέρει κτήσεως ἰδίας ὁ καθʼ ἡμᾶς τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἡγεμών· περίκειται δὲ νησίδια πλείω τὰ μὲν ἐγγὺς τὰ δὲ καὶ μικρὸν ἀπωτέρω)· εἰς δὲ Κώρυκον ἄκραν τῆς Κρήτης ἐγγυτάτω πλοῦς ἐστι σταδίων ἑπτακοσίων πεντήκοντα.

[2] μετὰ δὲ Ταίναρον πλέοντι ἐπὶ τὴν Ὄνου γνάθον καὶ Μαλέας Ψαμαθοῦς ἐστι πόλις· εἶτʼ Ἀσίνη καὶ Γύθειον τὸ τῆς Σπάρτης ἐπίνειον ἐν διακοσίοις καὶ τετταράκοντα σταδίοις ἱδρυμένον· ἔχει δʼ, ὥς φασι, τὸ ναύσταθμον ὀρυκτόν· εἶθʼ ὁ Εὐρώτας ἐκδίδωσι μεταξὺ Γυθείου καὶ Ἀκραίων. τέως μὲν οὖν ὁ πλοῦς ἐστι παρʼ αἰγιαλὸν ὅσον διακοσίων καὶ τετταράκοντα σταδίων· εἶθʼ ἑλῶδες ὑπέρκειται χωρίον καὶ κώμη Ἕλος· πρότερον δʼ ἦν πόλις, καθάπερ καὶ Ὅμηρός φησιν

οἵ τʼ ἄρʼ Ἀμύκλας εἶχον Ἕλος τʼ ἔφαλον πτολίεθρον

¹κτίσμα δʼ Ἑλίου φασὶ τοῦ Περσέως. ἔστι δὲ καὶ πεδίον καλούμενον Λεύκη· εἶτα πόλις ἐπὶ χερρονήσου ἱδρυμένη Κυπαρισσία λιμένα ἔχουσα· εἶτα ἡ Ὄνου γνάθος λιμένα ἔχουσα· εἶτα Βοία πόλις, εἶτα Μαλέαι· στάδιοι δʼ εἰς αὐτὰς ἀπὸ τῆς Ὄνου γνάθου πεντήκοντα καὶ ἑκατόν· ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ἀσωπὸς πόλις ἐν τῇ Λακωνικῇ.

[3] τῶν δʼ ὑφʼ Ὁμήρου καταλεγομένων τὴν μὲν Μέσσην οὐδαμοῦ δείκνυσθαί φασι· Μεσσόαν δʼ οὐ τῆς χώρας εἶναι μέρος ἀλλὰ τῆς Σπάρτης, καθάπερ καὶ τὸ Λιμναῖον, κατὰ τὸν κα. ἔνιοι δὲ κατὰ ἀποκοπὴν δέχονται τὴν Μεσσήνην· εἴρηται γὰρ ὅτι καὶ αὕτη μέρος ἦν τῆς Λακωνικῆς. παραδείγμασι δὲ χρῶνται τοῦ μὲν ποιητοῦ τῷ κρῖ καὶ δῶ καὶ μάψ, καὶ ἔτι

ἥρως δʼ Αὐτομέδων τε καὶ Ἄλκιμος,

²ἀντὶ τοῦ Ἀλκιμέδων· Ἡσιόδου δέ, ὅτι τὸ βριθὺ καὶ βριαρὸν βρῖ λέγει· Σοφοκλῆς δὲ καὶ Ἴων τὸ ῥᾴδιον ῥᾴ· Ἐπίχαρμος δὲ τὸ λίαν λῖ, Συρακὼ δὲ τὰς Συρακούσσας· παρʼ Ἐμπεδοκλεῖ δέ

μία γίνεται ἀμφοτέρων ὄψ

³ἡ ὄψις· καὶ παρʼ Ἀντιμάχῳ

Δήμητρός τοι Ἐλευσινίης· ἱερὴ ὄψ.

⁴καὶ τὸ ἄλφιτον ἄλφι· Εὐφορίων δὲ καὶ τὸν ἧλον λέγει ἧλ· παρὰ Φιλήτᾳ δέ

δμωίδες εἰς ταλάρους λευκὸν ἄγουσιν ἔρι

εἰς ἄνεμον δὲ τὰ πηδά

⁵τὰ πηδάλια Ἄρατός φησι, Δωδὼ δὲ τὴν Δωδώνην Σιμμίας. τῶν δʼ ἄλλων τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ κατωνομασμένων τὰ μὲν ἀνῄρηται, τῶν δʼ ἴχνη λείπεται, τὰ δὲ μετωνόμασται, καθάπερ αἱ Αὐγειαὶ Αἰγαιαί· αἱ γὰρ ἐν τῇ Λοκρίδι οὐδʼ ὅλως περίεισι. τὴν δὲ Λᾶν οἱ Διόσκουροί ποτε ἐκ πολιορκίας ἑλεῖν ἱστοροῦνται, ἀφʼ οὗ δὴ Λαπέρσαι προσηγορεύθησαν.⁶

[4] φησὶ δʼ Ἔφορος τοὺς κατασχόντας τὴν Λακωνικὴν Ἡρακλείδας Εὐρυσθένη τε καὶ Προκλῆ διελεῖν εἰς ἓξ μέρη καὶ πολίσαι τὴν χώραν· μίαν μὲν οὖν τῶν μερίδων, τὰς Ἀμύκλας, ἐξαίρετον δοῦναι τῷ προδόντι αὐτοῖς τὴν Λακωνικὴν καὶ πείσαντι τὸν κατέχοντα αὐτὴν ἀπελθεῖν ὑπόσπονδον μετὰ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν εἰς τὴν Ἰωνίαν· τὴν δὲ Σπάρτην βασίλειον ἀποφῆναι σφίσιν αὐτοῖς· εἰς δὲ τὰς ἄλλας πέμψαι βασιλέας, ἐπιτρέψαντας δέχεσθαι συνοίκους τοὺς βουλομένους τῶν ξένων διὰ τὴν λιπανδρίαν· χρῆσθαι δὲ Λαῒ μὲν να υστάθμῳ διὰ τὸ εὐλίμενον, Αἴγυι δὲ πρὸς τοὺς πολέ μους ὁρμητηρίῳ· καὶ γὰρ ὁμορεῖν τοῖς κύκλῳ, Φάριδι δ ὲ ἀρχείῳ, πλείστην ἀπὸ τῶν ἐντὸς ἀσφάλειαν ἐχούσῃ, τ ὑπακούοντας δʼ ἅπαντας τοὺς περιοίκους Σπαρτιατῶν ὅμως ἰσονόμους εἶναι, μετέχοντας καὶ πολιτείας καὶ ἀρχείων· Ἆγιν δὲ τὸν Εὐρυσθένους ἀφελέσθαι τὴν ἰσοτιμίαν καὶ συντελεῖν προστάξαι τῇ Σπάρτῃ. τοὺς μὲν οὖν ἄλλους ὑπακοῦσαι, τοὺς δʼ Ἑλείους τοὺς ἔχοντας τὸ Ἕλος (καλεῖσθαι δὲ Εἵλωτας) ποιησαμένους ἀπόστασιν κατὰ κράτος ἁλῶναι πολέμῳ καὶ κριθῆναι δούλους ἐπὶ τακτοῖς τισιν, ὥστε τὸν ἔχοντα μήτʼ ἐλευθεροῦν ἐξεῖναι μήτε πωλεῖν ἔξω τῶν ὅρων τούτους· τοῦτον δὲ λεχθῆναι τὸν πρὸς τοὺς Εἵλωτας πόλεμον. σχεδὸν δέ τι καὶ τὴν εἱλωτείαν τὴν ὕστερον συμμείνασαν μέχρι τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἐπικρατείας οἱ περὶ Ἆγιν εἰσὶν οἱ καταδείξαντες· τρόπον γάρ τινα δημοσίους δούλους εἶχον οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τούτους, κατοικίας τινὰς αὐτοῖς ἀποδείξαντες καὶ λειτουργίας ἰδίας.

[5] περὶ δὲ τῆς Λακώνων πολιτείας καὶ τῶν γενομένων παρʼ αὐτοῖς μεταβολῶν τὰ μὲν πολλὰ παρείη τις ἂν διὰ τὸ γνώριμον, τινῶν δʼ ἄξιον ἴσως μνησθῆναι. Ἀχαιοὺς γὰρ τοὺς Φθιώτας φασὶ συγκατελθόντας Πέλοπι εἰς τὴν Πελοπόννησον οἰκῆσαι τὴν Λακωνικήν, τοσοῦτον δʼ ἀρετῇ διενεγκεῖν ὥστε τὴν Πελοπόννησον, ἐκ πολλῶν ἤδη χρόνων Ἄργος λεγομένην, τότε Ἀχαϊκὸν Ἄργος λεχθῆναι, καὶ οὐ μόνον γε τὴν Πελοπόννησον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἰδίως τὴν Λακωνικὴν οὕτω προσαγορευθῆναι· τὸ γοῦν τοῦ ποιητοῦ

ποῦ Μενέλαος ἔην;

⁷

ἢ οὐκ Ἄργεος ἦεν Ἀχαιικοῦ;

⁸δέχονταί τινες οὕτως ἢ οὐκ ἦν ἐν τῇ Λακωνικῇ; κατὰ δὲ τὴν τῶν Ἡρακλειδῶν κάθοδον Φιλονόμου προδόντος τὴν χώραν τοῖς Δωριεῦσι μετανέστησαν ἐκ τῆς Λακωνικῆς εἰς τὴν τῶν Ἰώνων τὴν καὶ νῦν Ἀχαΐαν καλουμένην· ἐροῦμεν δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς Ἀχαϊκοῖς. οἱ δὲ κατασχόντες τὴν Λακωνικὴν⁹ κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν ἐσωφρόνουν, ἐπεὶ δʼ οὖν Λυκούργῳ τὴν πολιτείαν ἐπέτρεψαν, τοσοῦτον ὑπερεβάλοντο τοὺς ἄλλους ὥστε μόνοι τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ γῆς καὶ θαλάττης ἐπῆρξαν, διετέλεσάν τε ἄρχοντες τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἕως ἀφείλοντο αὐτοὺς τὴν ἡγεμονίαν Θηβαῖοι καὶ μετʼ ἐκείνους εὐθὺς Μακεδόνες. οὐ μὴν τελέως γε οὐδὲ τούτοις εἶξαν, ἀλλὰ φυλάττοντες τὴν αὐτονομίαν ἔριν εἶχον περὶ πρωτείων ἀεὶ πρός τε τοὺς ἄλλους Ἕλληνας καὶ πρὸς τοὺς τῶν Μακεδόνων βασιλέας· καταλυθέντων δὲ τούτων ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων, μικρὰ μέν τινα προσέκρουσαν τοῖς πεμπομένοις ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων στρατηγοῖς τυραννούμενοι τότε καὶ πολιτευόμενοι μοχθηρῶς· ἀναλαβόντες δὲ σφᾶς ἐτιμήθησαν διαφερόντως καὶ ἔμειναν ἐλεύθεροι, πλὴν τῶν φιλικῶν λειτουργιῶν ἄλλο συντελοῦντες οὐδέν. νεωστὶ δʼ Εὐρυκλῆς αὐτοὺς ἐτάραξε δόξας ἀποχρήσασθαι τῇ Καίσαρος φιλίᾳ πέρα τοῦ μετρίου πρὸς τὴν ἐπιστασίαν αὐτῶν, ἐπαύσατο δʼ ἡ ἀρχὴ ταχέως, ἐκείνου μὲν παραχωρήσαντος εἰς τὸ χρεών, τοῦ δʼ υἱοῦ τὴν φιλίαν ἀπεστραμμένου τὴν τοιαύτην πᾶσαν· συνέβη δὲ καὶ τοὺς Ἐλευθερολάκωνας λαβεῖν τινα τάξιν πολιτείας, ἐπειδὴ Ῥωμαίοις προσέθεντο πρῶτοι οἱ περίοικοι τυραννουμένης τῆς Σπάρτης, οἵ τε ἄλλοι καὶ οἱ Εἵλωτες. Ἑλλάνικος μὲν οὖν Εὐρυσθένη καὶ Προκλέα φησὶ διατάξαι τὴν πολιτείαν, Ἔφορος δʼ ἐπιτιμᾷ φήσας Λυκούργου μὲν αὐτὸν μηδαμοῦ μεμνῆσθαι, τὰ δʼ ἐκείνου ἔργα τοῖς μὴ προσήκουσιν ἀνατιθέναι· μόνῳ γοῦν Λυκούργῳ ἱερὸν ἱδρῦσθαι καὶ θύεσθαι κατʼ ἔτος, ἐκείνοις δὲ καίπερ οἰκισταῖς γενομένοις μηδὲ τοῦτο δεδόσθαι ὥστε τοὺς ἀπʼ αὐτῶν τοὺς μὲν Εὐρυσθενίδας τοὺς δὲ Προκλείδας καλεῖσθαι, ἀ λλὰ τοὺς μὲν Ἀγίδας ἀπὸ Ἄγιδος τοῦ Εὐρυσθένους τοὺς δʼ Εὐρυπωντίδας ἀπὸ Εὐρυπῶντος τοῦ Προκλέους· τοὺς μὲν γὰρ δυναστεῦσαι δικαίως, τοὺς δὲ δεξαμένους ἐπ ήλυδας ἀνθρώπους, διʼ ἐκείνων δυναστεῦσαι· ὅθε ν οὐδʼ ἀρχηγέτας νομισθῆναι ὅπερ πᾶσιν ἀποδέδοτα ι οἰκισταῖς. Παυσανίαν τε τῶν Εὐρυπωντιδῶν ἐκπεσόν τα τῆς οἰκείας ἐν τῇ φυγῇ συντάξαι λόγ ον κατὰ τοῦ Λυκούργου, νόμων ὄντος τῆς ἐκβαλούση ς αὐτὸν αἰτίου, καὶ τοὺς χρησμοὺς λέγειν τοὺς δοθέντα ς αὐτῷ περὶ τῶν πλείστων.

[6] περὶ δὲ τῆς φύσεως τῶν τόπων καὶ τούτων καὶ τῶν Μεσσηνιακῶν ταῦτα μὲν ἀποδεκτέον λέγοντος Εὐριπίδου· τὴν γὰρ Λακωνικήν φησιν ἔχειν

πολὺν μὲν ἄροτον, ἐκπονεῖν δʼ οὐ ῥᾴδιον·

κοίλη γάρ, ὄρεσι περίδρομος, τραχεῖά τε

δυσείσβολός τε πολεμίοις,

¹⁰ τὴν δὲ Μεσσηνιακὴν

καλλίκαρπον

κατάρρυτόν τε μυρίοισι νάμασι,

καὶ βουσὶ καὶ ποίμναισιν εὐβοτωτάτην

οὔτʼ ἐν πνοαῖσι χείματος δυσχείμερον,

οὔτʼ αὖ τεθρίπποις ἡλίου θερμὴν ἄγαν.

¹¹καὶ ὑποβὰς τῶν πάλων φησὶν ὧν οἱ Ἡρακλεῖδαι περὶ τῆς χώρας ἐποιήσαντο, τὸν μὲν πρότερον γενέσθαι

γαίας Λακαίνης κύριον, φαύλου χθονός·

¹²τὸν δὲ δεύτερον τῆς Μεσσήνης

ἀρετὴν ἐχούσης μείζονʼ ἢ λόγῳ φράσαι.

¹³οἵαν καὶ ὁ Τυρταῖος φράζει. τὴν δὲ Λακωνικὴν καὶ τὴν Μεσσηνίαν ὁρίζειν αὐτοῦ φήσαντος

Παμισὸν εἰς θάλασσαν ἐξορμώμενον,

¹⁴οὐ συγχωρητέον, ὃς διὰ μέσης ῥεῖ τῆς Μεσσηνίας, οὐδαμοῦ τῆς νῦν Λακωνικῆς ἁπτόμενος. οὐκ εὖ δὲ οὐδʼ ὅτι τῆς Μεσσηνίας ὁμοίως ἐπιθαλαττιαίας οὔσης τῇ Λακωνικῇ φησὶν αὐτὴν πρόσω ναυτίλοισιν εἶναι. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τὴν Ἦλιν εὖ διορίζει

πρόσω δὲ βάντι ποταμὸν Ἦλις ἡ Διὸς

γείτων κάθηται.

¹⁵εἴτε γὰρ τὴν νῦν Ἠλείαν βούλεται λέγειν, ἥτις ὁμορεῖ τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ, ταύτης οὐ προσάπτεται ὁ Παμι σός, ὥσπερ γε οὐδὲ τῆς Λακωνικῆς· εἴρηται γὰρ ὅτι διὰ μέ σης ῥεῖ τῆς Μεσσηνίας· εἴτε τὴν παλαιὰν τὴν κοίλην καλουμένην, πολὺ μᾶλλον ἐκπίπτει τῆς ἀληθείας· διαβάν τι γὰρ τὸν Παμισὸν ἔστι πολλὴ τῆς Μεσσηνίας, εἶθʼ ἡ τῶν Λεπρεατῶν ἅπασα καὶ Μακιστίων, ἣν Τριφυλίαν ἐκάλουν, εἶθʼ ἡ Πισᾶτις καὶ ἡ Ὀλυμπία, εἶτα μετὰ τριακοσί ους σταδίους ἡ Ἦλις.

[7] γραφόντων δὲ τῶν μὲν Λακεδαίμονα κητώεσσαν τῶν δὲ καιετάεσσαν, ζητοῦσι τὴν κητώεσσαν τίνα δέχεσθαι χρή, εἴτε ἀπὸ τῶν κητῶν εἴτε μεγάλην, ὅπερ δοκεῖ πιθανώτερον εἶναι· τὴν δὲ καιετάεσσαν οἱ μὲν καλαμινθώδη δέχονται, οἱ δὲ ὅτι οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν σεισμῶν ῥωχμοὶ καιετοὶ λέγονται· καὶ ὁ καιέτας τὸ δεσμωτήριον ἐντεῦθεν τὸ παρὰ Λακεδαιμονίοις, σπήλαιόν τι· ἔνιοι δὲ κώους μᾶλλον τὰ τοιαῦτα κοιλώματα λέγεσθαί φασιν, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ τὸ

φηρσὶν ὀρεσκῴοισιν.

¹⁶ εὔσειστος δʼ ἡ Λακωνική· καὶ δὴ τοῦ Ταϋγέτου κορυφάς τινας ἀπορραγῆναι τινὲς μνημονεύουσιν. εἰσὶ δὲ λατομίαι λίθου πολυτελοῦς τοῦ μὲν Ταιναρίου ἐν Ταινάρῳ παλαιαί, νεωστὶ δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ Ταϋγέτῳ μέταλλον ἀνέῳξάν τινες εὐμέγεθες, χορηγὸν ἔχοντες τὴν τῶν Ῥωμαίων πολυτέλειαν.

[8] ὅτι δὲ Λακεδαίμων ὁμωνύμως λέγεται καὶ ἡ χώρα καὶ ἡ πόλις, δηλοῖ καὶ Ὅμηρος· λέγω δὲ χώραν σὺν τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ. περὶ μ ὲν δὴ τῶν τόξων ὅταν λέγῃ

καλά, τὰ οἱ ξεῖνος Λακεδαίμονι δῶκε τυχήσας,

Ἴφιτος Εὐρυτίδης,

¹⁷εἶτʼ ἐπενέγκῃ

τὼ δʼ ἐν Μεσσήνῃ ξυμβλήτην ἀλλήλοιιν

οἴκῳ ἐν Ὀρτιλόχοιο,¹⁸

¹⁹τὴν χώραν λέγει, ἧς μέρος ἦν καὶ ἡ Μεσσηνία· οὐ διήνεγκεν οὖν αὐτῷ καὶ οὕτως εἰπεῖν

ξεῖνος Λακεδαίμονι δῶκε τυχήσας,

καὶ

τὼ δʼ ἐν Μεσσήνῃ ξυμβλήτην.

ὅτι γὰρ αἱ Φηραὶ εἰσὶν ὁ τοῦ Ὀρτιλόχου οἶκος δῆλον·

ἐς Φηρὰς δʼ ἵκοντο Διοκλῆος ποτὶ δῶμα,

υἱέος Ὀρτιλόχοιο,

²⁰ὅ τε Τηλέμαχος καὶ ὁ Πεισίστρατος· αἱ δὲ Φηραὶ τῆς Μεσσηνίας εἰσίν. ὅταν δʼ ἐκ τῶν Φηρῶν ὁρμηθέντας τοὺς περὶ Τηλέμαχον πανημερίους φῇ σείειν ζυγόν, εἶτʼ εἴπῃ

δύσετό τʼ ἠέλιος,

οἱ δʼ ἷξον κοίλην Λακεδαίμονα κητώεσσαν·

πρὸς δʼ ἄρα δώματʼ ἔλων Μενελάου,

²¹ τὴν πόλιν δεῖ δέχεσθαι· εἰ δὲ μή, ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος εἰς Λακεδαίμονα φανεῖται λέγων τὴν ἄφιξιν· ἄλλως τε οὐ πιθανὸν μὴ ἐν Σπάρτῃ τὴν οἴκησιν εἶναι τοῦ Μενελάου, οὐδὲ μὴ οὔσης ἐκεῖ τὸν Τηλέμαχον λέγειν

εἶμι γὰρ ἐς Σπάρτην τε καὶ εἰς Πύλον.

²²δοκεῖ δὲ συμπίπτειν τούτῳ τὸ τοῖς τῆς χώρας ἐπιθέτοις αὐ εἰ μὴ νὴ Δία ποιητικῇ τις τοῦτο συγχωρήσει ἐξο υσίᾳ. βέλτιον γὰρ τὴν Μεσσήνην μετὰ τῆς Λακωνικῆ ς καὶ Πύλου τῆς ὑπὸ τῷ Νέστορι, μηδὲ δὴ καθʼ αὑτὴν τάτ τεσθαι ἐν τῷ καταλόγῳ μηδὲ κοινωνοῦσαν τῆς στρα τείας.

Translations (1)

Geography Perseus (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 1-3. Hamilton, Hans Claude, translator; Falconer, William, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854-1857.) — 8.5 focus

CHAPTER V.

[1] NE5T after the Messenian is the Laconian Gulf, situated between Taenarum and Maleae, declining a little from the south to the east. Thyrides, a precipitous rock, beaten by the waves, is in the Messenian Gulf, and distant from Taenarum 100 stadia. Above is Taÿgetum, a lofty and perpendicular mountain, at a short distance from the sea, approaching on the northern side close to the Arcadian mountains, so as to leave between them a valley, where Messenia is continuous with Laconia.

At the foot of Taÿgetum, in the inland parts, lie Sparta and Amyclae,¹ where is the temple of Apollo, and Pharis. The site of Sparta is in rather a hollow, although it comprises mountains within it; no part of it, however, is marshy, although, anciently, the suburbs were so, which were called Limnae. The temple of Bacchus, also in Limnnae, was in a wet, situation, but now stands on a dry ground.

In the bay on the coast is Taenarum, a promontory projecting into the sea.² Upon it, in a grove, is the temple of Neptune, and near the temple a cave, through which, according to the fable, Cerberus was brought up by Hercules from Hades. Thence to the promontory Phycus in Cyrenaica, is a passage across towards the south of 3000 stadia; and to Pachynus, towards the west, the promontory of Sicily, 4600, or, according to some writers, 4000 stadia; to Maleae, towards the east, including the measurement of the bays, 670 stadia; to Onugnathus,³ a low peninsula a little within Maleae, 520 stadia. (In front of Onugnathus, at the distance of 40 stadia, lies Cythera,⁴ an island with a good harbour, and a city of the same name, which was the private property of Eurycles, the commander of the Lacedaemonians in our time. It is surrounded by several small islands, some near it, others lying somewhat farther off.) To Corycus, a promontory of Crete, the nearest passage by sea is 250 stadia.⁵

[2] Next to Taenarum on the voyage to Onugnathus and to Maleae⁶ is Amathus, (Psamathus,) a city; then follow Asine, and Gythium,⁷ the naval arsenal of Sparta, situated at an interval of 240 stadia. Its station for vessels, they say, is excavated by art. Farther on, between Gythium and Acraea, is the mouth of the Eurotas.⁸ To this place the voyage along the coast is about 240 stadia; then succeeds a marshy tract, and a village, Helos, which formerly was a city, according to Homer;

They who occupied Amyclae, and Helos, a small town on the sea-coast.⁹

Il. ii. 584. They say that it was founded by Helius the son of Perseus. There is a plain also call Leuce; then Cyparissia,¹⁰ a city upon a peninsula, with a harbour; then Onugnathus with a harbour; next Boea, a city; then Maleae. From these cities to Onugnathus are 150 stadia. There is also Asopus,¹¹ a city in Laconia.

[3] Among the places enumerated by Homer in the Catalogue of the Ships, Messa, they say, is no longer to be found; and that Messoa is not a part of Laconia, but a part of Sparta itself, as was the Limnaeum near Thornax. Some understand Messē to be a contraction of Messene, for it is said that this was a part of Laconia. [They allege as examples from the poet, the words cri, and do, and maps,¹² and this passage also;

The horses were yoked by Automedon and Alcimus,¹³

Il. xix. 392. instead of Alcimedon. And the words of Hesiod, who uses βοͅῖ for βοͅιθν̀ and βριαοͅὸν; and Sophocles and Io, who have ῥᾳ for ῥᾴδιιν; and Epicharmus, λῖ for λίαν, and συρακὼ for συοͅα- κουσαι; Empedocles also has ὂψ for ὄψις?̔μία γίγνεται ἀμφτέρων ὄψ or ὄψις;) and Antimachus, δήμητρός τοι?̓ελυσινίης ἱερὴ ὄψ, and ἄλφι for ἄλφιτον; Euphorion has ἧλ for ἧλος; Philetes has δμωίδες εἰς ταλάρκὸν ἄγουσιν ἔρι for ἔοͅιον Aratus, εἰς ἄνεμον δὲ τὰ πηδά for τὰ πηδάλια; Simmias, Dodo for Dodona.]¹⁴

Of the rest of the places mentioned by the poet, some are extinct; of others traces remain, and of others the names are changed, as Augeiae into Aegaeae: [the city] of that name in Locris exists no longer. With respect to Las, the Dioscuri are said to have taken it by siege formerly, whence they had the name of Lapersae, (Destroyers of Las,) and Sophocles says somewhere, by the two Lapersae, by Eurotas, by the gods in Argos and Sparta.

[4] Ephorus says that the Heracleidae, Eurysthenes and Procles, having obtained possession of Laconia, divided it into six parts, and founded cities throughout the country, and assigned Amyclae to him who betrayed to them Laconia, and who prevailed upon the person that occupied it to retire, on certain conditions, with the Achaei, into Ionia. Sparta they retained themselves as the royal seat of the kingdom. To the other cities they sent kings, permitting them to receive whatever strangers might be disposed to settle there, on account of the scarcity of inhabitants. Las was used as a naval station, because it had a convenient harbour; Aegys, as a stronghold, from whence to attack surrounding enemies; Pheraea, as a place to deposit treasure, because it afforded security from¹⁵ attempts from without. * * * * that all the neighbouring people submitted to the Spartiatae, but were to enjoy an equality of rights, and to have a share in the government and in the offices of state. They were called Heilotae. But Agis, the son of Eurysthenes, deprived them of the equality of rights, and ordered them to pay tribute to Sparta. The rest submitted; but the Heleii, who occupied Helos, revolted, and were made prisoners in the course of the war; they were adjudged to be slaves, with the conditions, that the owner should not be allowed to give them their liberty, nor sell them beyond the boundaries of the country. This was called the war of the Heilotae.¹⁶ The system of Heilote-slavery, which continued from that time to the establishment of the dominion of the Romans, was almost entirely the contrivance of Agis. They were a kind of public slaves, to whom the Lacedaemonians assigned habitations, and required from them peculiar services.

[5] With respect to the government of the Lacones, and the changes which have taken place among them, many things, as being well known, may be passed over, but some it may be worth while to relate. It is said that the Achaean Phthiotae, who, with Pelops, made an irruption into Peloponnesus, settled in Laconia, and were so much distinguished for their valour, that Peloponnesus, which for a long period up to this time had the name of Argos, was then called Achaean Argos; and not Peloponnesus alone had this name, but Laconia also was thus peculiarly designated. Some even understand the words of the poet,

Where was Menelaus, was he not at Achaean Argos?¹⁷

Od. iii. 249, 251. as implying, was he not in Laconia? But about the time of the return of the Heracleidae, when Philonomus betrayed the country to the Dorians, they removed from Laconia to the country of the Ionians, which at present is called Achaia. We shall speak of them in our description of Achaia.

Those who were in possession of Laconia, at first conducted themselves with moderation, but after they had intrusted to Lycurgus the formation of a political constitution, they acquired such a superiority over the other Greeks, that they alone obtained the sovereignty both by sea and land, and continued to be the chiefs of the Greeks, till the Thebans, and soon afterwards the Macedonians, deprived them of this ascendency.

They did not however entirely submit even to these, but, preserving their independence, were continually disputing the sovereignty both with the other Greeks and with the Macedonian kings. After the overthrow of the latter by the Romans, the Lacones living under a bad government at that time, and under the power of tyrants, had given some slight offence to the generals whom the Romans sent into the province. They however recovered themselves, and were held in very great honour. They remained free, and performed no other services but those expected from allies. Lately however Eurycles¹⁸ excited some disturbances amongst them, having abused excessively, in the exercise of his authority, the friendship of Caesar. The government soon came to an end by the death of Eurycles, and the son rejected all such friendships. The Eleuthero-Lacones¹⁹ however did obtain some regular form of government, when the surrounding people, and especially the Heilotae, at the time that Sparta was governed by tyrants, were the first to attach themselves to the Romans.

Hellanicus says that Eurysthenes and Procles regulated the form of government, but Ephorus reproaches him with not mentioning Lycurgus at all, and with ascribing the acts of the latter to persons who had no concern in them; to Lycurgus only is a temple erected, and sacrifices are annually performed in his honour, but to Eurysthenes and Procles, although they were the founders of Sparta, yet not even these honours were paid to them, that their descendants should bear the respective appellations of Eurysthenidae and Procleidae.²⁰ [The descendants of Agis, however, the son of Eurysthenes, were called Agides, and the descendants of Eurypon, the son of Procles, were called Eurypontiadae. The former were legitimate princes; the others, having admitted strangers as settlers, reigned by their means; whence they were not regarded as original authors of the settlement, an honour usually conferred upon all founders of cities.]

[6] As to the nature of the places in Laconia and Messenia, we may take the description of Euripides;²¹

Laconia has much land capable of tillage, but difficult to be worked, for it is hollow, surrounded by mountains, rugged, and difficult of access to an enemy.

Messenia he describes in this manner:

It bears excellent fruit; is watered by innumerable streams; it affords the finest pasture to herds and flocks; it is not subject to the blasts of winter, nor too much heated by the coursers of the sun;

and a little farther on, speaking of the division of the country by the Heracleidae according to lot, the first was

lord of the Lacaenian land, a bad soil,

the second was Messene,

whose excellence no language could express;

and Tyrtaeus speaks of it in the same manner.

But we cannot admit that Laconia and Messenia are bounded, as Euripides says,

by the Pamisus,²² which empties itself into the sea;

this river flows through the middle of Messenia, and does not touch any part of the present Laconia. Nor is he right, when he says that Mess nia is inaccessible to sailors, whereas it borders upon the sea, in the same manner as Laconia.

Nor does he give the right boundaries of Elis;

after passing the liver is Elis, the neighbour of Jove;

and he adduces a proof unnecessarily. For if he means the present Eleian territory, which is on the confines of Messenia, this the Pamisus does not touch, any more than it touches Laconia, for, as has been said before, it flows through the middle of Messenia: or, if he meant the ancient Eleia, called the Hollow, this is a still greater deviation from the truth. For after crossing the Pamisus, there is a large tract of the Messenian country, then the whole district of [the Lepreatae], and of the [Macistii], which is called Triphylia; then the Pisatis, and Olympia; then at the distance of 300 stadia is Elis.

[7] As some persons write the epithet applied by Homer to Lacedaemon, κητώεσσαν, and others καιετάεσσαν, how are we to understand κητώεσσα, whether it is derived from Cetos,²³ or whether it denotes large, which is most probable. Some understand καιετάεσσα to signify, abounding with calaminthus; others suppose, as the fissures occasioned by earthquakes are called Caeeti, that this is the origin of the epithet. Hence Caeietas also, the name of the prison among the Lacedaemonians, which is a sort of cave. Some however say, that such kind of hollows are rather called Coi, whence the expression of Homer,²⁴ applied to wild beasts, φηοͅσὶν ὀρεσκῴοισιν, which live in mountain caves. Laconia however is subject to earthquakes, and some writers relate, that certain peaks of Taÿgetum have been broken off by the shocks.²⁵

Laconia contains also quarries of valuable marble. Those of the Taenarian marble in Taenarum²⁶ are ancient, and certain persons, assisted by the wealth of the Romans, lately opened a large quarry in Taÿgetum.

[8] It appears from Homer, that both the country and the city had the name of Lacedaemon; I mean the country together with Messenia. When he speaks of the bow and quiver of Ulysses, he says,

A present from Iphitus Eurytides, a stranger, who met him in Lacedaemon,²⁷

Od. xxi. 13. and adds,

They met at Messene in the house of Ortilochus.

He means the country which was a part of Messenia.²⁸ There was then no difference whether he said A stranger, whom he met at Lacedaemon, gave him, or, they met at Messene; for it is evident that Pherae was the home of Ortilochus:

they arrived at Pherae, and went to the house of Diocles the son of Ortilochus,²⁹

Od. iii. 488. namely, Telemachus and Pisistratus. Now Pherae³⁰ belongs to Messenia. But after saying, that Telemachus and his friend set out from Pherae, and were driving their two horses the whole day, he adds, The sun was setting; they came to the hollow Lacedaemon ( κητ́εσσαν), and drove their chariot to the palace of Menelaus.³¹ Here we must understand the city; and if we do not, the poet says, that they journeyed from Lacedaemon to Lacedaemon. It is otherwise improbable that the palace of Menelaus should not be at Sparta; and if it was not there, that Telemachus should say,

for I am going to Sparta, and to Pylus,³²

Od. ii. 359. for this seems to agree with the epithets applied to the country,³³ unless indeed any one should allow this to be a poetical licence; for, if Messenia was a part of Laconia, it would be a contradiction that Messene should not be placed together with Laconia, or with Pylus, (which was under the command of Nestor,) nor by itself in the Catalogue of Ships, as though it had no part in the expedition.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. Now Cape Matapan.

2. Now Cape Malea.

3. Literally, “Windows”; now called Kavo Grosso, a peninsular promontory about six miles in circumference, with precipitous cliffs that are riddled with caverns (Frazer, Pausanias 3, p. 399, and Curtius, Peloponnesos 2, p. 281).

4. For a description of this temple, see Paus. 3.18.9ff

5. Hence Homer’s “Hollow Lacedaemon” ( Hom. Od. 4.1 ).

6. “Marshes.”

7. Bölte ( Mitteilungen d. Kaiserl. deutsch. Arch. Intst. Athen. Abt. vol. 34 p. 388 shows that Tozer ( Selections, note on p. 212 was right in identifying this “temple of Dionysus in Limnae” with the Lenaeum at Athens, where the Lenaean festival was called the “festival in Limnae.”

8. The “Taenarias fauces” of Vergil Georgics 4.467 .

9. Now Ras-al-Razat.

10. Now Cape Passero.

11. Literally, “Ass’s-jaw”; now Cape Elaphonisi.

12. To be identified with Cimarus (10. 4. 5); see Murray’s Small Classical Atlas ( 1904, Map 11). The cape is now called Garabusa.

13. From Cape Taenarum.

14. “Helus” means “Marsh.”

15. Hom. Il. 2.584

16. This plain extends northeast from Cyparissia.

17. Between Acraeae and Cyparissia. Now in ruins near Xyli.

18. Hom. Il. 2.484-877

19. “Limnae or Limnaeum, Cynosura, Messoa, and Pitane, seem to have been the quarters or wards of Sparta, the inhabitants of each quarter forming a local tribe” (Frazer’s Pausanias, note on Paus. 16.9 ).

20. Three or four Greek letters are missing. Meineke’s conjecture yields “near Thornax,” which, according to Stephanus Byzantinus, was a mountain in Laconia. But as yet such a mountain has not been identified, and on still other grounds the conjecture is doubtful (cp. the note on Paus. 10.8 , “Thornax,” in Frazer’s Pausanias.). Kramer’s tempting conjecture yields “according to the Thracian,” i.e., Dionysius the Thracian, who wrote Commentaries on Homer; but it is doubtful whether Strabo would have referred to him merely by his surname (cp. the full name in 14. 2. 13).

21. 8. 3. 29, 8. 4. 1.

22. For “krithe,” “doma,” “mapsidion,” Aristot. Poet. 1458a quotes the same example.

23. Hom. Il. 19.392

24. Aristotle (l.c.) quotes the same example.

25. “Vision.”

26. Empedocles Fr. 88 (Diels)

27. Antimachus Fr.

28. For “erion,” “wool.”

29. Euphorion Fr.

30. “Rudders.”

31. Hom. Il. 2.583

32. That is, the Laconian (not the Locrian) Augeiae, which was thirty stadia from Gytheium ( Paus. 3.21.6 ), near the Limni of today.

33. Hom. Il. 2.532

34. Castor and Pollux.

35. “Sackers of Las.”

36. Soph. Fr. 871 (Nauck)

37. Tradition places the Dorian Conquest as far back as 1104 B.C.

38. Cp. 8. 5. 5.

39. Philonomus (section 5 following).

40. Aegys was situated in northwestern Laconia near the source of the Eurotas.

41. Its territory included Carystus (10. 1. 6.)

42. Meineke and Forbiger transfer “and they were called Helots” to a position after “Helus” (following).

43. Hom. Od. 3.249

44. Hom. Od. 3.351

45. 8. 7. 1.

46. Eurycles likewise abused the friendship of Herod the Great and others ( Josephus Antiq. Jud. 16.10 and Josephus Bell. Jud. 1.26.1-5 ).

47. Others interpret the clause to mean simply “he died,” but the Greek certainly alludes to his banishment by Caesar ( Josephus Bell. Jud. 1.26.4 and Plut. Apophth. 208a), after which nothing further is known of him (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Eurykles”).

48. Gaius Julius, apparently named after Julius Caesar. In an inscription found on Cape Taenarum by Falconer he was extolled as the special benefactor of the Eleuthero-Lacones.

49. i.e., disloyalty to Caesar.

50. That is, “Free Laconians.” Augustus released them from their subjection to the Lacedaemonians, and hence the name. At first they had twenty-four cities, but in the time of Pausanias only eighteen. For the names see Paus. 3.21.6

51. “Perioeci” means literally “people living round (a town),” but it came to be the regular word for a class of dependent neighbors. They were not citizens, though not state slaves as were the Helots.

52. Strabo now means the Spartan constitution.

53. i.e., the original, or independent, founders of a new race or state.

54. A member of the house of the Agidae, and king of Sparta, 408-394 B.C. ( Diod. Sic. 13.75 and 14.89 ).

55. He was the sixth in descent from Procles (10. 4. 18).

56. I.e., “low-lying.” Cp. Homer’s “Hollow Lacedaemon” ( Hom. Il. 2.581 ).

57. Eur. Fr. 1083 (Nauck)

58. Eur. Fr. 1083 (Nauck)

59. Eur. Fr. 1083 (Nauck)

60. Eur. Fr. 1083 (Nauck)

61. Eur. Fr. 1083 (Nauck)

62. See 8. 3. 2.

63. i.e., in Homer’s text, Hom. Il. 2.581 and Hom. Od. 4. 1

64. The usual meaning of Kete is “deep-sea monsters,” or more specifically the “cetaceans,” but Strabo obviously speaks of the word in the sense of “ravines” or “clefts” (see Buttman, Lexilogus, and Goebel, Lexilougus).

65. The meaning given to the word in the scholia to Homer, and one which seems more closely associated with the usual meaning, “deep-sea monster.”

66. i.e., “abounding in mint.”

67. Hom. Il. 1.268

68. Here Homer refers to the Centaurs, which, according to the above interpretation, are “monsters that live in mountain-caverns.”

69. Hom. Od. 21.13

70. Hom. Od. 21.15

71. Hom. Od. 3.486

72. Hom. Od. 3.497; 4.1f

73. Hom. Od. 2.359

74. In Hom. Od. 4.1 , and Hom. Il. 2.581 ( Catalogue of Ships. But the epithets are omitted in Hom. Od. 21.13

75. i.e., that Homer’s country of Lacedaemon includes Messenia.

Strabo Geography 8.5

Horace Leonard Jones (Translator)

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