Lacedaemon

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Lacedaemon, or Lakedaimon, Grk. Λακεδαιμων or Λακεδαιμωνία, in historical times, was the proper name of the Spartan state as used by Thucydides in his histories.

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 province in the prefecture of Laconia.

The Lakedaimonians were the only Greek-speaking people to employ a full-time army in ancient Greece. Their state institutions and system of education were designed for the purpose of creating superbly-trained soldiers. As one historian has said, the Spartans were essentially a full-time army disguised as a city-state.

The Spartans used the red Greek capital letter, lambda (Λ) (displayed on their shields) as an identification as the people of Lacedaemon, their home city-state or polis.

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 neighborhood of Therapne.