Leros

LEROS (Λέρος: Eth. Λέριος: Leros), a small island of the Aegean, and belonging to the scattered islands called Sporades. It is situated opposite the Sinus Iassius, on the north of Calymna, and on the south of Lepsia, at a distance of 320 stadia from Cos and 350 from Myndus. (Stadiasm. Mar. Magni, § § 246, 250, 252.) According to a statement of Anaximenes of Lampsacus, Leros was,like Icaros, colonised by Milesians. (Strab. 14. p. 635.) This was probably done in consequence of a suggestion of Hecataeus; for on the breaking out of the revolt of the Ionians against Persia, he advised his countrymen to erect a fortress in the island, and make it the centre of their operations, if they should be driven from Miletus. (Hdt. 5.125; comp. Thucyd. 8.27.) Before its occupation by the Milesians, it was probably inhabited by Dorians. The inhabitants of Leros were notorious in antiquity for their ill nature, whence Phocylides sang of them:-- Λέριοι κακοί, οὐχ ὁ μὲν ὃς δ' οὔ, πάντες, πλὴν Προκλέους, καὶ Προκλέης Λέριος.

(Strab. 10. p. 487, &c.) The town of Leros was situated on the west of the modern town, on the south side of the bay, and on the slope of a hill; in this locality, at least, distinct traces of a town have been discovered by Ross. (Reisen auf d. Griech. Inseln, 2. p. 119.) The plan of Hecataeus to fortify Leros does not seem to have been carried into effect. Leros never was an independent community, but was governed by Miletus, as we must infer from inscriptions, which also show that Milesians continued to inhabit the island as late as the time of the Romans. Leros contained a sanctuary of Artemis Parthenos, in which, according to mythology, the sisters of Meleager were transformed into guinea fowls (μελεαγρίδες; Anton. Lib.; comp. Ov. Met. 8.533, &c.), whence these birds were always kept in the sanctuary of the goddess. (Athen. 14. p. 655.) In a valley, about ten minutes' walk from the sea, a small convent still bears the name of Partheni, and at a little distance from it there are the ruins of an ancient Christian church, evidently built upon some ancient foundation, which seems to have been that of the temple of Artemis Parthenos. This small island,s ays Ross, though envied on account of its fertility, its smiling valleys, and its excellent harbours, is nevertheless scorned by its neighbours, who charge its inhabitants with niggardliness( l. c. p. 122; comp. Böckh, Corp. Inscript. n. 2263; Ross, Inscript. ined. ii 188.)

(Λέρος). A small island, one of the Sporades, opposite to the mouth of the Sinus Iassius, on the coast of Caria (Herod.v. 125). Here the sisters of Meleager were said to have been transformed into guinea-pigs (μελεαγρίδες). See Meleager.

One of the Sporades, lying between Patmos and Kalymnos, ca. 40 km from the Anatolian coast (Caria). The island was inhabited in prehistoric times and again at least from the 7th c. B.C. A close, though not exactly definable, political relationship with Miletos is attested epigraphically and by statements of Herodotos (5.125) and Thucydides (8.26-27) from at least the early 5th c. to Roman times. It has been suggested that Leros was a deme of Miletos in Hellenistic times, a cleruchy earlier. Habitation of the island apparently continued uninterrupted into Byzantine times.

There have been no systematic excavations. The principal ancient town may have been located on the site of the modern Ayia Marina, where remains of a few unidentified Classical structures are visible. However, the places where various inscriptions have been found suggest that the administrative center was Parthenion in the N part of the island. The temple of Parthenos (Artemis) mentioned by Athenaeus (Deipnosophists (14.655,b,c) and in inscriptions has not been located, but is presumed to have been in the locality now known as Partheni (Metochion). At the S end of the island, on top of the hill of Xerokampos, are the remains of a wall probably built in the late 4th c. B.C., usually thought to be part of a tower. This, and a similar tower at Partheni, may link Leros to the precautions taken by Miletos on its peripheral islands, in order to control the sea in Hellenistic times. Architectural fragments of Classical date are built into later structures, especially churches, in various parts of the island (Smalu and Lakki), implying widespread habitation in Classical times. Inscriptions and some ancient objects are in the Archaeological HaIl in the Library at Platanos.

L. Bürchner, Die Insel Leros (1898); R. M. Dawkins & A.J.B. Wace, “Notes from the Sporades: Astypalaea, Telos, Nisyros and Leros,” BSA 12 (1905-6) 172-74; G. B. Bean & J. M. Cook, “The Carian Coast III,” ibid. 52 (1957) 134-35; J. L. Benson, Ancient Leros, GRB Monographs No. 3 (1963) MPI; G. Manganaro, “Le Iscrizioni delle Isole Milesie,” Annuario 25-26 (1963-64) 296-317; R. Hope Simpson & I. F. Lazenby, “Notes from the Dodecanese II,” BSA 65 (1970) 52-54.

• proposal that the Ionian rebels against Darius should take refuge there: Hdt. 5.125