Marcus Niebuhr Tod

“ LACONIA (Gr. Λακωνική) , the ancient name of the south-eastern district of the Peloponnese, 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 running N. and S. The valley of the Eurotas, which occupies the centre, is bounded W. by the chain of Taygetus (mod. Pentedaktylon, 7900 ft.) ”

“ Far poorer are the slopes of Parnon, consisting for the most part of barren limestone uplands scantily watered. The Eurotas valley, however, is fertile, and produces at the present day maize, olives, oranges and mulberries in great abundance. Laconia has no rivers of importance except the Eurotas and its largest tributary the Oenus (mod. Kelefína) . The coast, especially on the east, is rugged and dangerous. ”

“ B. V. Head, Historia Numorum (Oxford, 1887) , 363 ff. Cults: S. Wide, Lakonische Kulte (Leipzig, 1893) . Ancient roads: W. Loring, “Some Ancient Routes in the Peloponnese” in Journal of Hellenic Studies, xv. ”