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; / ἢ οὐκ Ἄργεος ἦεν Ἀχαιικοῦ; / δέχονταί 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 Λακωνικὴν 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 Ἀγίδας ἀπὸ Ἄγιδος τοῦ Εὐρυσθένους τοὺς δʼ πὸ Εὐρυπῶντος τοῦ Προκλέους· τοὺς μὲν σαι δικαίως, τοὺς δὲ δεξαμένους ἐππους, διʼ ἐκείνων δυναστεῦσαι· ὅθε νομισθῆναι ὅπερ πᾶσιν ἀποδέδοτασανίαν τε τῶν Εὐρυπωντιδῶν ἐκπεσόν οἰκείας ἐν τῇ φυγῇ συντάξαι λόγγου, νόμων ὄντος τῆς ἐκβαλούση τοὺς χρησμοὺς λέγειν τοὺς δοθέντα πλείστων.
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? / 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 Eurycles 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-Lacones 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. [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.]
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, / τὴν δὲ Μεσσηνιακὴν καλλίκαρπον / κατάρρυτόν τε μυρίοισι νάμασι, / καὶ βουσὶ καὶ ποίμναισιν εὐβοτωτάτην / οὔτʼ ἐν πνοαῖσι χείματος δυσχείμερον, / οὔτʼ αὖ τεθρίπποις ἡλίου θερμὴν ἄγαν. / καὶ ὑποβὰς τῶν πάλων φησὶν ὧν οἱ Ἡρακλεῖδαι περὶ τῆς χώρας ἐποιήσαντο, τὸν μὲν πρότερον γενέσθαι γαίας Λακαίνης κύριον, φαύλου χθονός· / τὸν δὲ δεύτερον τῆς Μεσσήνης ἀρετὴν ἐχούσης μείζονʼ ἢ λόγῳ φράσαι. / οἵαν καὶ ὁ Τυρταῖος φράζει. τὴν δὲ Λακωνικὴν καὶ τὴν Μεσσηνίαν ὁρίζειν αὐτοῦ φήσαντος Παμισὸν εἰς θάλασσαν ἐξορμώμενον, / οὐ 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. / εἴτε γὰρ τὴν νῦν Ἠλείαν βούλεται λέγειν, ἥτις ρεῖ τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ, ταύτης οὐ προσάπτεται ὁ Παμι, ὥσπερ γε τῆς Λακωνικῆς· εἴρηται γὰρ ὅτι διὰ μέεῖ τῆς Μεσσηνίας· εἴτε τὴν παλαιὰν τὴν κοίλην νην, πολὺ μᾶλλον ἐκπίπτει τῆς ἀληθείας· διαβάνὸν Παμισὸν ἔστι πολλὴ τῆς Μεσσηνίας, εἶθʼ ἡ τῶν Λεπρεατῶν ἅπασα καὶ Μακιστίων, ἣν Τριφυλίαν ἐκάλουν, σᾶτις καὶ ἡ Ὀλυμπία, εἶτα μετὰ τριακοσί ἡ Ἦλις.
As to the nature of the places in Laconia and Messenia, we may take the description of Euripides; 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, 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.
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. / 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.
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, 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, applied to wild beasts, φηρσὶν 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.
Laconia contains also quarries of valuable marble. Those of the Taenarian marble in Taenarum are ancient, and certain persons, assisted by the wealth of the Romans, lately opened a large quarry in Taÿgetum.
ὅτι δὲ Λακεδαίμων ὁμωνύμως λέγεται καὶ ἡ χώρα καὶ ἡ πόλις, δηλοῖ καὶ Ὅμηρος· λέγω δὲ χώραν σὺν τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ. περὶ μ τόξων ὅταν λέγῃ καλά, τὰ οἱ ξεῖνος Λακεδαίμονι δῶκε τυχήσας, / Ἴφιτος Εὐρυτίδης, / εἶτʼ ἐπενέγκῃ τὼ δʼ ἐν Μεσσήνῃ ξυμβλήτην ἀλλήλοιιν / οἴκῳ ἐν Ὀρτιλόχοιο, / τὴν 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, / ὅ 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, / 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, μὴ οὔσης ἐκεῖ τὸν Τηλέμαχον λέγειν εἶμι γὰρ ἐς Σπάρτην τε καὶ εἰς Πύλον. / δοκεῖ πίπτειν τούτῳ τὸ τοῖς τῆς χώρας ἐπιθέτοις αὐ […] εἰ μὴ νὴ Δία ποιητικῇ τις τοῦτο συγχωρήσει ἐξοτιον γὰρ τὴν Μεσσήνην μετὰ τῆς Λακωνικῆ τῆς ὑπὸ τῷ Νέστορι, μηδὲ δὴ καθʼ αὑτὴν τάτ καταλόγῳ μηδὲ κοινωνοῦσαν τῆς στρα.
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, / and adds, They met at Messene in the house of Ortilochus. / He means the country which was a part of Messenia. 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, / namely, Telemachus and Pisistratus. Now Pherae 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 (κητέσσαν), and drove their chariot to the palace of Menelaus. 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, / for this seems to agree with the epithets applied to the country, 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.
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