ABSTRACT
The journeys of Pausanias around the Peloponnese were made during a long period of peace, which lasted for more than a century, since the time of Augustus. In the course of his travels Pausanias also visited the district of Lakonia. Sparta, which by that time had adopted the name of the district, and was known as ‘Lakedaimon’, or ‘Lakedaimonia’, was a provincial Roman town with limited sovereignty and political power, but was an attractive destination for visitors, having many important monuments and public rituals, which were still in function and referred to the glorious past of the city; they are described in detail by him.1
