Sciritis or Skiritis ( grc, ἡ Σκιρῖτις) was a rugged and barren mountainous district in the north of ancient Laconia, between the upper Eurotas on the west and the Oenus on the east, and extending north of the highest ridge of the mountains, which were the natural boundary between Laconia and

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

. The name probably expressed the wild and rugged nature of the country, for the word signified hard and rugged (σκίρον, σκεῖρον, σκληρόν, Hesych). It was bounded by Maenalia on the north, and by

Parrhasia In rhetoric, parrhesia is a figure of speech described as "speak ngcandidly or ... ask ngforgiveness for so speaking". This Ancient Greek word has three different forms, as related by Michel Foucault. ''Parrhesia'' is a noun, meaning "free speec ...

on the west, and was originally part of Arcadia, but was conquered at an early period, and its inhabitants reduced to the condition of Lacedaemonian Perioeci. According to Xenophon they were subjected to Sparta even before the time of Lycurgus. They were distinguished above all the other Perioeci for their bravery; and their contingent, called the Σκιρίτης λόχος, 600 in number, usually occupied the extreme left of the Lacedaemonian wing. They were frequently placed in the post of danger, and sometimes remained with the king as a body of reserve. On the first invasion of Laconia by the Thebans the Sciritae, together with the Perioeci of

Caryae Caryae or Karyai ( grc, Κάρυαι) was a town of ancient Laconia upon the frontiers of Arcadia. It was originally an Arcadian town belonging to Tegea, but was conquered by the Spartans and annexed to their territory. Caryae revolted from Sparta ...

and Sellasia, revolted from Sparta, in consequence of which their country was subsequently ravaged by the Lacedaemonians. The only towns in the Sciritis appear to have been

Scirus Scirus was a comprehensive science-specific search engine, first launched in 2001. Like CiteSeerX and Google Scholar, it was focused on scientific information. Unlike CiteSeerX, Scirus was not only for computer sciences and IT and not all of the ...

and

Oeum Oeum or Oion ( grc, Οἰόν or Οἶον), also known as Ium or Ion (Ἰόν), was the chief town of the district Sciritis in ancient Laconia. It commanded the pass through which was the road from Tegea to Sparta. When the Theban army under Ep ...

called Ium by Xenophon. The latter is the only place in the district mentioned in historical times. Scirus may perhaps have been the same as

Scirtonium Scirtonium or Skirtonion ( grc, Σκιρτώνιον) was a town of ancient Arcadia, in the region of Aegytis, to the south of Megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are ...

(Σκιρτώνιον), in the district of

Aegytis Aegys or Aigys ( grc, Αἴγυς or Αἶγυς) was a town of ancient Arcadia then of ancient Laconia, on the frontiers of the two regions. It originally belonged to the Arcadians, but was conquered at an early period by Charilaus, the reputed ne ...

. The road from Sparta to Tegea led through the Sciritis.

References

Geography of ancient Arcadia Geography of ancient Laconia Historical regions in Greece {{AncientArcadia-geo-stub