Peloponnesus
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Peloponnesum Proper-name noun: feminine accusative singular, Proper-name noun: feminine genitive plural of Peloponnesus
- the Peloponnesus, the southern part of Greece, so named from Pelops, who settled there, the modern Morea, Mel. 2, 3, 3; 4; 7; 8; 2, 7, 10; Plin. 4, 4, 5, § 9; Cic. Rep. 2, 4, 8; id. Tusc. 3, 22, 53; id. Fam. 7, 28, 1.—Prov.: nos juveni, ut rogas, suppeditabimus et Peloponnesum ipsam sustinebimus, i. e. will exert ourselves to the utmost, will try to make impossibilities possible (cf. the Greek proverb. Ἀρκαδίαν μʼ αἰτεῖς, μέγα μʼ αἰτεῖς), Cic. Att. 10, 12, 7; cf. id. ib. 10, 5, 2.—Hence,
- A Pĕlŏponnensis, e, adj., Peloponnesian. —Subst.: Pĕlŏponnensēs, ĭum, m., the Peloponnesians (post-class.), Just. 13, 5, 16 (Jeep. Peloponnensii); Curt. 4, 3, 16; 4, 13, 29.—
- B Pĕlŏponnēsĭăcus, a, um, adj., Peloponnesian: litus, Mel. 2, 7, 16: ora, id. 2, 3, 8: gentes, id. 2, 3, 5: bellum, Cic. Rep. 3, 32, 44; id. Off. 1, 24, 84.—In plur.: Pĕ-lŏponnēsĭăci, ōrum, m., the Peloponnesians, Mel. 2, 3, 9.—
- C Pĕlŏponnēsĭus, a, um, adj., Peloponnesian: civitates, Cic. Att. 6, 2, 3: bellum, Nep. Alcib. 3, 1; Thras. 1, 3: circa Peloponnesia tempora, about the time of the Peloponnesian war, Quint. 12, 10, 4.
- —Hence, Pĕlŏponnēsii, ōrum, m., the Peloponnesians, Varr. R. R. 2, 6, 2; Vell. 1, 2, 5.
PELOPONNE´SUS [GRAECIA]
(Πελοπόννησος). Now the Morea; the southern part of Greece, or the peninsula, which was connected with Hellas proper by the isthmus of Corinth. It is said to have derived its name—Peloponnesus, or the “island of Pelops”— from the mythical Pelops. (See Pelops.) This name does not occur in Homer. In his time the peninsula was sometimes called Apia, from Apis, son of Phoroneus, king of Argos, and sometimes Argos, which names were given to it on account of Argos being the chief power in Peloponnesus at that period. On the east and south there are three great gulfs—the Argolic, Laconian, and Messenian. The ancients compared the shape of the country to the leaf of a plane-tree; and its modern name, the Morea, which first occurs in the twelfth century of the Christian era, was given to it on account of its resemblance to a mulberry-leaf. Peloponnesus was divided into various provinces, all of which were bounded on one side by the sea, with the exception of Arcadia, which was in the centre of the country. These provinces were Achaia in the north, Elis in the west, Messenia in the west and south, Laconia in the south and east, and Corinthia in the east and north. An account of the geography of the peninsula is given under these names. The area of Peloponnesus is computed to be 7779 English square miles, and it probably contained a population of upwards of a million in the flourishing period of Greek history.
The Peloponnesus was originally inhabited by Pelasgians. Subsequently the Achaeans, who belonged to the Aeolic race, settled in the eastern and southern parts of the peninsula, in Argolis, Laconia, and Messenia; and the Ionians in the northern part, in Achaia; while the remains of the original inhabitants of the country, the Pelasgians, collected chiefly in the central part, in Arcadia. Eighty years after the Trojan War, according to mythical chronology, the Dorians, under the conduct of the Heraclidae, invaded and conquered Peloponnesus, and established Doric States in Argolis, Laconia, and Messenia, whence they extended their power over Corinth, Sicyon, and Megara. Part of the Achaean population remained in these provinces as tributary subjects to the Dorians, under the name of Perioeci; while others of the Achaeans passed over to the north of the Peloponnesus, expelled the Ionians, and settled in this part of the country, which was called after them Achaia. The Aetolians, who had invaded the Peloponnesus along with the Dorians, settled in Elis, and became intermingled with the original inhabitants. The peninsula remained under Doric influence during the most important period of Greek history, and opposed to the great Ionic city of Athens. After the conquest of Messenia by the Spartans it was under the supremacy of Sparta till the overthrow of the power of the latter by the Thebans at the battle of Leuctra, B.C. 371. See Curtius, Peloponnesos (Gotha, 1851-52); Clark, Peloponnesus (London, 1858); Gell, Itinerary of the Morea (London, 1827); Beulé, Études sur le Péloponèse (Paris, 1875); Leake, Peloponnesiaca (London, 1846); Wyse, Excursion in the Peloponnesus (London, 1865); Bursian, Geographie von Griechenland, ii. pp. 1-343 (Leipzig, 1872); and the articles Doris; Heraclidae; and Hellas.