MESSENIA (in Homer Messene), a state of Greece, and the most westerly of the three peninsulas of the Peloponnesus. Its area is a little over 1160 square miles. It is separated from Elis and Arcadia on the north by the river Neda and the Nomian mountains, and from Laconia on the east by the lofty range of Taygetus. The other sides are washed by the sea, which indents its shores with four gulfs or bays,—Messenia, Phoenicus, Pylus, and Cyparissus. On its south-west corner are the Oenussae Islands, and opposite the bay of Pylus (Navarino) the famous Sphacteria. The interior is divided by mountain chains into fertile plains, watered by rivers, the chief of which is the Pamisus (with its tributaries Leucasia, Charadrus, Amphitus, and Aris), falling into the Messenian Gulf. The great valley of this river is divided, near Mount Ithome, into two distinct parts, the plain or basin of Stenyclarus on the north, and the plain of Macaria, so called from its extreme fertility, on the south. The climate is delightful.
The earliest inhabitants of Messenia were Leleges, whose capital was at Andania. After these came Aetolians, whose chief centre was at Pylus. After the Dorian conquest the country was divided by Cresphontes into five parts, whose chief cities were respectively Stenyclarus, Pylus, Rhion, Hyamia, and Mesola. The towns of Messenia were not numerous. Homer mentions Pylus (the seat of the Thessalian Neleids), Amphigeneia (possibly the same as Ampheia), Dorion, Aepeia (possibly Methone), Oechalia, Pharae, Antheia (probably the later Thuria), Pedasus, and Ira (the later Abia). Other important towns were Asine, Corone, Limnae, Carnasium, Cyparissia, and, finally, Messene....
Of the history of Messenia before the Dorian invasion little is known except a few fables related by Pausanias. Two generations after the Trojan war, the country was invaded by the Dorians, who expelled the Neleids and conferred the sovereignty upon Cresphontes, who seems to have been a popular king. Perhaps for this reason he was put to death by the chiefs along with all his sons except Aepytus. Aepytus was restored to the throne by the Arcadians, took vengeance for his father’s death, and became very popular. His line lasted through several generations. We know little of the subsequent history of Messenia until the date of the Messenian wars, waged against Sparta. The ostensible and immediate causes of these wars are variously assigned; but the true cause was the cupidity of Sparta. Our chief trustworthy authority for the history of them is the old elegiac poet Tyrtaeus; but so little is known about them that it is a matter of doubt in which of them the great hero Aristomenes won his fame. The date of the first was from 743 to 724, of the second from 685 to 668 or, according to others, from 648 to 631 b.c. Ithome was the centre of action in the first, Eira in the second. The result of these wars was the complete subjugation of Messenia to Sparta. Its territory was parcelled out among Spartans, and its towns handed over to rerioeci and Helots. Many of the inhabitants took refuge in Arcadia, but still more in Italy and Sicily. A very large number settled in Rhegium, whose chiefs for many generations were of Messenian stock. About 200,000 remained behind in bondage. After the second war a large number of Messenians settled on the Sicilian coast at Zancle, to which they subsequently gave the name Messana (see Messina). In 464 B.C. the Messenian Helots, taking advantage of an earthquake at Sparta, revolted, and, though they were finally compelled to surrender in 455, they did so only on condition of being allowed to retire to Naupactus on the Corinthian Gulf. This city had been offered them as a residence by the Athenians, ever glad to favour the foes of Sparta. Here the Messenians remained for sixty years, until the loss of the battle of Aegospotami deprived them of the protection of the Athenians. They were then dπven out, and had to find homes in Cephallenia and Zacynthus, or among their kinsmen in Rhegium and Messana. Some even went to Africa, and took up their abode at Euesperidae or Hesneridae, afterwards called Berenice. Things remained in this condition until 369 B.C., when Epaminondas, having broken the power of Sparta, rent from her Messenia, and, collecting from all quarters the descendants of the exiled inhabitants, helped them to found the city of Messene (q.v.). Sparta never gave up her claim to Messenia, and made many attempts to reconquer it, but without success. The Messenians maintained their independence until 146 B.C., when, with the Achaeans, they were reduced under the power of Rome. From that time they fall into the background of history. In the Middle Ages the country, like the rest of the Peloponnesus, was largely overrun by Slavic tribes, as is shown by the numerous Slavic local names occurring in it. At the establishment of Greece as a kingdom, Messenia was constituted into a province, with a governor or nomarch residing at Kalamata (officially Kalamai), the ancient Pharae. The country, though beautiful and fertile, is still in a deplorably backward condition, and the population is sparse and semi-barbarous. Agriculture langιιishes, and the roads and bridges are few and bad. More deeds of violence occur in Messenia than in any other part of Greece. With the exception of Kalamata, it contains no town of importance. Navarino, on the Gulf of Pylus, was the scene of the destruction of the Turkish fleet in 1827.
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