The Second Messenian War was a war which occurred ca. 660–650 BC between the Ancient Greek states of Messenia and Sparta , with localized resistance possibly lasting until the end of the century. It started around 40 years after the end of the First Messenian War with the uprising of a slave rebellion. Other scholars, however, assign earlier dates, claiming, for example, that 668 BC is the date of the war's start, pointing at Sparta's defeat at the First Battle of Hysiae as a possible catalyst for the uprising. Current events concerning this war are stated, too.
27-738: The First Messenian War lasted from 743 BC to 724 BC. During the period prior to conquest, Sparta dealt with overpopulation in the Laconia region by assimilating other Laconians as perioeci ('those who live around us'). In an effort to further expand their territory in the Peloponnese , the Spartan Army went to war with the Messenians. As a result of two decades' struggle, the Messenian people became enslaved as helots and made serfs of
54-611: A blunt, concise way—is derived from the name of this region, a reference to the ancient Spartans who were renowned for their verbal austerity and blunt, often pithy remarks. Laconia is bordered by Messenia to the west and Arcadia to the north and is surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea to the east and by the Laconian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It encompasses Cape Malea and Cape Tainaron and
81-469: A devastating fire ruined the finest olive crops in the northern part of the prefecture, and affected the area of Sellasia along with Oinountas and its surrounding areas. Firefighters, helicopters and planes battled for days to put out the horrific fire. In early 2006, flooding ruined olive and citrus crops as well as properties and villages along the Eurotas river. In the summer 2006, a fire devastated
108-574: A large part of the Mani Peninsula . The Mani Peninsula is in the west region of Laconia. The islands of Kythira and Antikythera lie to the south, but they administratively belong to the Attica regional unit of islands . The island, Elafonisos , situated between the Laconian mainland and Kythira, is part of Laconia. The Evrotas is the longest river in the prefecture. The Evrotas Valley
135-617: A major tourist attraction, is located south of Areopolis in the southwest of Laconia. The city of Sparta enjoys a sunny and warm Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csa ). January highs are around 14 °C (57 °F) while July and August highs are around 36 °C (97 °F) in the city proper. Sparta records the highest summer average maximum temperatures in Greece. In July 2012 the city registered an average maximum temperature of 38.3 °C (100.9 °F), making it Greece's second highest monthly average maximum temperature to date after
162-488: A part of the Mani Peninsula, ruining forests, crops, and numerous villages. The regional unit, Laconia, is subdivided into five municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox): As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, regional unit Laconia was created out of the former prefecture Laconia ( Greek : Νομός Λακωνίας ). The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At
189-520: Is a cave that Greek legends claimed was the home of Hades , the god of the dead. The ancient Spartans built several temples there, dedicated to various gods. On the hill situated above the cave, lie the remnants of an ancient temple dedicated to the sea god Poseidon (Νεκρομαντεῖον Ποσειδῶνος). Under the Byzantine Empire , the temple was converted into a Christian church, and Christian rites are conducted there to this day. Cape Matapan
216-509: Is a verse drama, based on Pausanias, about Messenian history, including episodes from the Second Messenian War. Laconia (ancient region)#Laconia Laconia or Lakonia ( Greek : Λακωνία , Lakonía , [lakoˈni.a] ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta . The word laconic —to speak in
243-624: Is predominantly an agricultural region that contains many citrus groves, olive groves, and pasture lands. It is the location of the largest orange production in the Peloponnese and probably in all of Greece. Lakonia , a brand of orange juice, is based in Amykles . The main mountain ranges are the Taygetus 2,407 m (7,897 ft) in the west and the Parnon 1,961 m (6,434 ft) in
270-471: Is situated at the end of the Mani Peninsula , Greece . Cape Matapan is the southernmost point of mainland Greece , and the second southernmost point in mainland Europe. It separates the Messenian Gulf in the west from the Laconian Gulf in the east. Cape Taenarum in classical antiquity was the site of the city of Taenarum ( Ancient Greek : Ταίναρον), now in ruins. In ancient Greek mythology
297-800: The Titanic 's would-be rescue ship, the SS Californian , was torpedoed and sunk by German forces on 9 November 1915. In March 1941, a major naval battle, the Battle of Cape Matapan , occurred off the coast of Cape Matapan, between the Royal Navy and the Italian Regia Marina , in which the British emerged victorious in a one-sided encounter. The encounter's main result was to drastically reduce future Italian naval activity in
SECTION 10
#1732765411398324-742: The Palaiologoi . The capital of the Despotate, Mystras , was a major site of the Palaiologan Renaissance , the last flowering of Byzantine culture . With the fall of the Despotate to the Ottomans in 1460, Laconia was conquered as well. With the exception of a 30-year interval of Venetian rule, Laconia remained under Ottoman control until the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence of 1821. Following independence, Sparta
351-575: The Vaphio-tomb site in Laconia. Found there is advanced Bronze Age art as well as evidence of cultural associations with the contemporaneous Minoan culture on Crete . At the end of the Mycenean period, the population of Laconia sharply declined. In classical Greece , Laconia was Spartan territory but from the 4th century BC onward Sparta lost control of various ports, towns and areas. From
378-710: The 38.6 °C (101.5 °F) recorded in Stylida in July 2023. The highest temperature ever recorded in Sparta is 45.7 °C (114.3 °F) in August 2021. On average, Sparta records 5 days per year with temperatures of over 40.0 °C (104.0 °F). Evidence of Neolithic settlement in southern Laconia has been found during excavations of the Alepotrypa cave site. Significant archaeological recovery exists at
405-529: The Spartans advanced into battle. Again, this loss forced the Messenians into a fortified city at Mt. Eira (Ira). It was, while fortified here, that the Messenians started to use the land as enemy territory and several raids were made of the surrounding towns, some even led by Aristomenes himself. During this time Aristomenes was captured. Before he could be executed he escaped his holding and made it back to Eira. The Messenians held Eira for over ten years before
432-402: The Spartans made their last attack. Before Eira fell, however, the Spartans allowed the women and children to be released along with Aristomenes. The ones who did not escape Eira were again turned into helots and most of the ones who escaped fled to Italy. Aristomenes himself left for Rhodes where he died and was honored as a hero. Ultimately, the Spartans were able to quell the revolts following
459-467: The Spartans to send to Delphi where they were told to gain a leader from Athens. Upon doing so the Spartans marched on the Messenians at Boar's Grave where they met Aristomenes and his troops, who defeated them. However, it was Sparta who had the upper hand in the Battle of the Great Foss when they bribed Aristocrates, king of Messenia-allied Arcadia, into retreating through the Messenian lines when
486-515: The aid of the Argives and the Arcadians . In an attempt to regain freedom, the Messenians invaded Laconia . The first battle, the Battle of Deres , happened before the allies arrived. Aristomenes fought so well that he was made the new king of Messenia by his people. He followed this up by crossing into Sparta and placed a shield in the temple of Athena in order to scare the Spartans. This forced
513-536: The death of the Argive commander, and further suppressed the Messenians back to a helot status. As a result of this war, Spartan society became a strong militaristic power in the Mediterranean in order to control the masses along the Peloponnese and to prevent further rebellions brought on by the helots who later did manage to break away from Spartan rule around 350 BC. F. L. Lucas 's Messene Redeemed (1940)
540-591: The eponymous founder-hero of the city was Taenarus (Ταίναρος), who was credited with establishing the city's important temple of Poseidon . Greeks used the proverb Tainarian evil ( Ancient Greek : Ταινάριον κακόν ), meaning a great and unlawful evil affecting suppliants, for the Spartans killed the Helots who had fled into Tainaron and were suppliants in the temple of Poseidon. Cape Matapan has been an important place for thousands of years. Near Taenarum , there
567-784: The late Middle Ages. Following the Fourth Crusade , Laconia was gradually conquered by the Frankish Principality of Achaea . In the 1260s, the Byzantines recovered Mystras and other fortresses in the region and managed to evict the Franks from Laconia, which became the nucleus of a new Byzantine province. By the mid-14th century, this evolved into the Despotate of the Morea , held by the last Greek ruling dynasty,
SECTION 20
#1732765411398594-575: The mid-2nd century BC until 395 AD, Laconia was a part of the Roman Empire . In the medieval period, Laconia formed part of the Byzantine Empire . In the 7th century, Slavic tribes settled in the Peloponnese. Two of them, the Melingoi and the Ezeritai , who settled in parts of Laconia, survived the subsequent Byzantine reconquest and re-Hellenization of the Peloponnese, and are attested until
621-670: The northeast. Taygetus, known as Pentadaktylos ( five-fingers ) throughout the Middle Ages, is west of Sparta and the Evrotas Valley . It is the highest mountain in Laconia and the Peloponnese and is mostly covered with pine trees. Two roads join the Messenia and Laconia prefectures: one is a tortuous mountain pass through Taygetus and the other bypasses the mountain via the Mani district to the south. The stalactite cave, Dirou,
648-465: The same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below. Note: Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece . The main cities and towns of Laconia are (ranked by 2021 census population): Cape Tainaron Cape Matapan ( Greek : Κάβο Ματαπάς , Maniot dialect: Ματαπά), also called Cape Tainaron or Taenarum ( Greek : Ακρωτήριον Ταίναρον ), or Cape Tenaro ,
675-408: The state, following Spartan victory in the southwestern region of the Peloponnese. Furthermore, it was said that the first battle was initiated because some Messenian men carried off some Spartan women praying at a temple . When the Messenians refused to return them, the Spartans invaded Messenia . The Second Messenian War was the result of revolt by the helot population of Messenia, supported with
702-649: Was once the place where mercenaries waited to be employed. A naval battle occurred there on 19 July 1717, between the Venetian navy of the Republic of Venice , supported by a mixed squadron of allied ships from Portugal , the Papal States and Malta , and the Ottoman fleet , under Kapudan Pasha Eğribozlu İbrahim Pasha. It is known as the Battle of Matapan and its results were indecisive. At Cape Matapan,
729-551: Was selected as the capital of the modern prefecture, and its economy and agriculture expanded. With the incorporation of the British-ruled Ionian Islands into Greece in 1864, Elafonissos became part of the prefecture. After World War II and the Greek Civil War , its population began to somewhat decline, as people moved from the villages toward the larger cities of Greece and abroad. In 1992,
#397602