Amyclae

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Amyclae or Amyklai (Ancient Greek: Ἀμύκλαι) was a city of ancient Laconia, situated on the right or western bank of the Eurotas, 20 stadia south of Sparta, in a district remarkable for the abundance of its trees and its fertility. Amyclae was one of the most celebrated cities of Peloponnesus in the Greek Heroic Age. It is said to have been founded by the Lacedaemonian king Amyclas, the father of Hyacinthus, and to have been the abode of Tyndarus, and of Castor and Pollux, who are hence called Amyclaei Fratres. Amyclae is mentioned by Homer, and it continued to maintain its independence as an Achaean town long after the conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians.

Conquest by Sparta: According to the common tradition, which represented the conquest of Peloponnesus as effected in one generation by the descendants of Heracles, Amyclae was given by the Dorians to Philonomus, as a reward for his having betrayed to them his native city Sparta. Philonomus is further said to have peopled the town with colonists from Imbros and Lemnos; but there can be no doubt that the ancient Achaean population maintained themselves in the place independent of Sparta for many generations. It was only shortly...