Lacedaemon
Lacedaemon, or
Lakedaimon,
Grk. Λακεδαιμων or
Λακεδαιμωνία in historical times, was an alternative name of
Sparta, in the
Classical period the chief
polis of
Laconia.
Homer and
Herodotus use only the former, and in some passages seems to denote by it the Achaean citadel, the Therapnae of later times, in contrast to the lower town
Sparta. Lacedaemon is now the name of a separate department, which had in 1907 a population of 87,106.
*The Lakedaimonians were the only full-time army in ancient
Greece. Their state institutions and system of education were designed for the purpose of creating superbly trained soldiers.In
Greek mythology,
Lacedaemon was a son of
Zeus by
Taygete, and was married to
Sparta the daughter of
Eurotas, by whom he became the father of
Amyclas,
Eurydice, and
Asine. He was king of the country which he called after his own name, Lacedaemon, while he gave to his capital the name of his wife,
Sparta. He was believed to have built the sanctuary of the
Charites, which stood between Sparta and
Amyclae, and to have given to those divinities the names of
Cleta and
Phaenna. An heroum was erected to him in the neighbourhood of
Therapne.
