LACONIA, the ancient name of the south-eastern district of the Peloponnese (Gr. Acuccovuci) of which Sparta was the capital. It has an area of some 1,048,000 acres, slightly greater than that of Somersetshire, and consists of three well-marked zones run ning north and south; (I) The valley of the Eurotas, which occu pies the centre, is bounded west by (2) the chain of Taygetus (mod. Pentedaktylon, 7,900 ft.), which runs from the Arcadian mountains on the north to the promontory of Taenarum (Cape Matapan). The eastern portion (3), a more broken range of hill country, rises in Mt. Parnon to 6,365 ft. and terminates in the Cape Malea. The range of Taygetus is well watered and in ancient times had forests which afforded excellent hunting; also iron mines and quarries of the famous rosso antico of Taenarum, as well as an inferior bluish marble. The quarries of green por phyry (lapis Lacedaemonius) were at Croceae. Far poorer are the slopes of Parnon for the most part barren limestone scantily watered. The Eurotas valley, however, is fertile and produces maize, olives, oranges and mulberries. Laconia has no large rivers except Eurotas and its largest tributary Oenus (mod. Kelefina). The coast, especially on the east, is rugged with few good har bours. Cythera island, q.v., lies south of Cape Malea. Important towns, besides Sparta and Gythium, were Bryseae, Amyclae and Pharis in the Eurotas plain ; Pellana and Belbina on the upper Eurotas; Sellasia on the Oenus, Caryae on the Arcadian frontier; Prasiae, Zarax and Epidaurus Limera on the east coast; Geron thrae on the slopes of Parnon; Boeae, Asopus, Helos, Las and Teuthrone on the Laconian Gulf ; and Hippola, Messa and Oetylus on the Messenian Gulf.
The earliest inhabitants in tradition, were autochthonous Leleges (q.v.). Minyan immigrants settled on the coast and even founded Amyclae in the Eurotas valley; Phoenician traders visited the Laconian Gulf, and there are indications of very early trade between Laconia and Crete, e.g., blocks of green Laconian porphyry have been found in the Minoan palace at Cnossus. In Homer, Laconia is the realm of an Achaean prince, Menelaus, whose seat was perhaps Therapne, south-east of Sparta. This Achaean kingdom fell before the Dorians c. 1100 B.C. and through out the classical period the history of Laconia is that of its capital Sparta (q.v.).
In 195 B.C. the coast towns were freed from Spartan rule by the Roman general T. Quinctius Flamininus, and became mem
bers of the Achaean League. When this was dissolved in 146 B.C., they remained independent under the title of the "Confederation of the Lacedaemonians" or "of the Free-Laconians" (see Gv THIUM). Augustus seems to have reorganized the league, for Pausanias (iii. 21, 6) speaks of him as its founder. Of the twenty four cities which originally composed the league, only eighteen remained by the reign of Hadrian (see ACHAEAN LEAGUE). In A.D. 395 Goths under Alaric devastated Laconia, and later it was overrun by large bands of Slays. Throughout the middle ages it was the scene of struggles between Slays, Byzantines, Franks, Turks and Venetians, the memorials of which are the fortresses of Mistra near Sparta, Geraki (anc. Geronthrae) and Moncm vasia, "the Gibraltar of Greece," on the east coast, and Passava near Gythium. In the War of Independence a prominent part was played by the Maniates or Mainotes, the inhabitants of the rugged peninsula formed by the southern part of Taygetus who had maintained virtual independence of the Turks and until quite recently retained many mediaeval customs, living in fortified towers and practising blood-feud and marriage by capture.
The district has been divided into two departments (nomes), Lacedaemon and Laconia, with their capitals at Sparta and Gythium respectively. Pop. of Laconia (1923 estimate) Archaeology.:—.Besides the excavations undertaken at Sparta, Gythium and Vaphio (q.v.), the most important were those at the Apollo sanctuary of Amyclae before 1904 by C. Tsountas in 1890 ('E(Inw. apxacoX. 1892, I ff.) and in 1904 by A. Furt wangler. At Kampos, on the western side of Taygetus, a small domed tomb of Mycenean age was excavated in 1890 and yielded two leaden statuettes of great interest ; at Arkina a similar tomb had been explored in 1889. Important inscriptions were found at Geronthrae (Gerald), notably five long fragments of the Edictum Diocletiani. In 1904 the British Archaeological school at Athens undertook a systematic investigation of the ancient and mediaeval remains in Laconia. The results, of which the most important are summarized in the article SPARTA, are pub lished in the British School Annual, x. ff. The acropolis of Geron thrae, a hero-shrine at Angelona in the south-eastern highlands, and the sanctuary of Ino-Pasiphae at Thalamae have also been investigated.
See the works cited under SPARTA and GREECE.