

SPALATBO. 



SPARTA. 



618 



French who served under Henry of Besanfou, became more distinct 

 from the Castilian. [PoimroAL.] How far the Arabic hag contributed 

 to the formation of the modern Spanish is a contested point among 

 Spanish critics. That the Castilian language has borrowed a consider- 

 able number of its words from the Arabic is a fact beyond all doubt. 

 If any one opens the ' Diccionario de la Lengua Castellana,' published 

 by the Royal Academy of Spain, he will find that most words begin- 

 ning with al, or with the letters j, x, :, are of Arabic origin. The 

 names of plants, flowers, drugs, minerals, furniture, dresses, weights 

 and measures, &c , are, with a few exceptions, all Arabic, although 

 there are also corresponding names derived from the Latin. All 

 words relating to the different branches of the mechanical arts which 

 were introduced by the Moors into Spain are likewise borrowed from 

 their language. la general, nouns of Arabic origin abound more than 

 either adverbs or prepositions, and these in proportion are more 

 numerous than the verbs. The connection of both languages would 

 be still greater, if the writers of the best age of Spanish literature 

 had not formed their style on the Latin, and avoided, as much as 

 possible, words of Arabic origin ; to which may be added, that when 

 the Academicians compiled the above-mentioned dictionary, they left 

 out many word* authorised by use, which are found in the oldest 

 Spanish works. It was about the beginning of the 16th century, 

 and during the reigns of Fernando and Isabel and Carlos V., that the 

 Castilian became the general language of the Peninsula, though works 

 in Valencian, C'atalonian, and Basque continued to be published from 

 time to time, and those languages were and are still spoken by a large 

 number of the inhabitants of Spain. 



SI'A'LATRO, or SPA'LATO, a town of Dalmatia, situated on a 

 promontory hi a bay of tho Adriatic, formed by the islands of Brazza 

 and Bua and the mainland. It is about midway between Zara and 

 Ragusa, in 43 30' X. lat, 16 23' . long. Spalatro has a harbour, 

 sufficiently extensive, bat not very safe. The town is walled and 

 fortified, but the principal defence on the land side consists of the fort 

 of Cliesa, which commands a defile in the mountains towards the 

 Turkish borders. Spalatro stands principally on the site of the 

 extensive palace which the emperor Diocletian built for himself near 

 the ancient town of Salona. Salona was destroyed by the Slavonians 

 in the 7th century, but many remains of antiquity have been found 

 by digging among the vineyards which occupy it* former area between 

 Spalatro and Cliasa. The outer wall* of the residence of Diocletian, 

 which formed a square of nearly one mile, are hi great measure still 

 existing, as well as some of the gates. The cathedral of Spalato is 

 formed out of a temple built by Diocletian in the middle of the area 

 of his residence; it contains some fine columns and is adorned with a 

 handsome frieze. Other considerable remains of the Imperial build- 

 ings are seen within the precincts of Spalatro. 



Spalatro is one of the most commercial towns of Dalmatia ; the 

 population is about 10,000. 



SI'ALDIN'G, Lincolnshire, a market-town, and the seat of a Poor- 

 Law Union, in the parish of Spalding, is situated on the banks of the 

 river Wdland, in 52 48' N. lat, 9' W. long., distant 43 miles S.S.E. 

 from Lincoln, 98 miles N.N.W. from London by road, and 93 miles 

 by the Great Northern railway. The population of the town in 1851 

 was 7627. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry and 

 diocese of Lincoln. Spalding Poor-Law Union contains nine parishes 

 and townships, with an area of 70,181 acres, and a population in 1851 

 of 21,290. 



As early as the Saxon times Spalding was a place of some conse- 

 quence. A Benedictine monastery existed here. The district in 

 which the town stands is fenny, but well drained. The town is clean, 

 well paved, lighted with gas, and contains many neat houses. The 

 town-hall is a strong brick building. The sessions-house is a large and 

 handsome structure. There are assembly-rooms, a theatre, and a 

 house of correction. The high bridge over the river Wetland was 

 rebuilt in 1838. The church, a fine edifice, chiefly of perpendicular 

 character, has an elegant tower, surmounted with a erocketed spire. 

 The Wesleyan Methodists, Independents, Baptists, and Quakers have 

 places of worship. The Royal Free Grammar school, founded in 

 1568, which has an income from endowment of 174/. a year, had 19 

 scholar* in 1854. There are also National school*. Endowed Blue- 

 Coat schools, Willesby's Endowed Charity school, a Union school, 

 and a savings bank. There is a considerable trade in corn, meal, 

 flour, coal, timber, wool, oil-cake, and wine. Brick-making, bone- 

 crushing, coach-making, brewing, and malting are carried on. Thcr.) 

 are some extensive steam flour-mills. Markets are hold on Tuesday 

 and Saturday. Fairs are held seven times a year. The river Wetland 

 is navigable up to the town for vessels of 70 tons burden. Quarter 

 and petty sessions, and a county court, are held in the town. 



\NI>AU. (BRASDEHBUR0.1 



SPANISH TOWN. [JAMAICA.] 



SPARTA, or, as it wss sometimes called, Lacedamon, the capital of 

 Laconia, and the chief city of Peloponnesus, was situated on tho 

 right bank of the Eurotas, about 20 miles from the sea, in 37 4' 

 N. lat, 22' 26' K. long. It was built in a plain of some extent, and 

 was bounded E. by the Eurotas, and S. by a smaller stream running 

 intA it, now called Trypi-Hiko, and supposed to be the ancient 

 Knakion. On the north-west the torrent Labyca separated the height 

 on which the acropolis stood from the spurs of Mount Taygetus. On 



the left or- eastern bank of the Eurotas, is a range of hills at a littla 

 distance, on which stood the suburb Meuelaium. These hilU of the 

 Menelaium form a part only of a steep bank which rises ou the 

 eastern side of the Eurotas to the height of 500 or 600 feet and ia 

 surmounted by a table-laud, beyond which again lies an uneven 

 country, intersected with ravines and rivers, gradually rising to 

 Mount Parnon and the other summits of the range of mountains 

 which bounds the view from the plain of Sparta on the east. A cor- 

 responding boundary on the west is formed by the more elevated 

 range of Mount Taygetus; hence Homer applies the term 'hollow 

 Lacedaemon' to the plain of Sparta, and to the city itself, which 

 Strabo (vol. viii. p. 367) also speaks of as being in a hollow. There 

 are two villages Magula and Psykhiktf on tho site of Sparta, nearly 

 a mile apart. The former is a little south of the ancient theatre ; the 

 latter in the south-east part of the site, near the left bank of the 

 Trypiotiko. The principal modern town in the neighbourhood is 

 Mistra, which lies about two miles to the west, on the slopes of Mount 

 Taygetus. 



The only considerable remnant of Hellenic workmanship is the 

 theatre, from which Mistra and the surrounding neighbourhood have 

 been supplied with stone for building. Colonel Leake thought that 

 the exterior masonry aiid brickwork which still subsist are uot older 

 than the time of the Roman empire. Nevertheless, the theatre 

 itself may have existed from an early period, though not originally 

 used for dramatic purposes, but for gymnastic and choral exercises 

 and public meetings. (Herod., vi. 67.) The centre of the building 

 was excavated in a bill, but the ground does not afford much 

 advantage compared with the situations of other Greek theatres. The 

 largest diameter, says Sir W. Gell, was 413 feet in length ; tho 

 orchestra is 140 feet wide, and adjoining are two parallel walls about 

 the length of a furlong. In front of it there is a sepulchral chamber 

 carefully built of large quadrangular stones. "Not far from the 

 theatre," observes Colonel Leake, " I found two opposite doors, each 

 formed of three stones, and buried almost to the soffit. On one side 

 of these doors is some appearance of seats, as if the building had 

 been a place of public assembly." In another place he found two 

 other similar doors buried in the ground to nearly the same height. 

 Another relic is an ancient bridge over the Trypiotiko, which is still 

 in use, constructed of large single blocks of stone reaching from side 

 to side. There is also part of an old causeway of similar construction 

 at each end of the bridge. 



Every part of the site of ancient Sparta is covered with fragments 

 of wrought stones ; and here aud there are scattered pieces of Doric 

 columns of white marble, and other relics of ancient buildings. Tho 

 materials of the Roman walls, now nearly ruined, which once sur- 

 rounded the principal heights of tho city, are formed of similar 

 fragments. 



Of Sparta, Thncydides (i. 10) observes, that if "it were evacuated, 

 and only the temples and foundations of its buildings left, posterity 

 would be very incredulous about the extent of its former power, of 

 which no adequate idea would be afforded by the city itself, as it wag 

 not embellished with temples and splendid edifices, nor built in con- 

 tiguity, but in separate quarters." Such was the state of Sparta 

 about B.C. 400 ; but with the increase of riches in after times, public 

 monuments also multiplied with more rapidity than in earlier ages. 

 These monuments, it appears from Pausanias, were still remaining 

 about A.D. 200, in a more perfect aud uninjured state than those of 

 any other Grecian city except Athens. 



The following summary of the topography is taken from Pausanias : 

 The Agora, or public square, which was in the north-west of the 

 city, between the theatre and the acropolis, contained the council- 

 house of the senate and the offices of the principal magistrates. The 

 most remarkable building in this part of the city was the Persian 

 portico, originally built of the spoils taken in the Persian war. It 

 was ornamented with statues, in white marble, of some of the Persian 

 generals, including that of Mardonius ; and also with one of Artemisin, 

 the queen of Halioarnassus, an ally of Xerxes. The Agora also con- 

 tained shrines of Julius Csasar and the emperor Augustus. A part of 

 it was known by the name of the chorus, or dancing-place, in which 

 young men danced at the games in honour of the Dorian god Apollo. 

 In its immediate neighbourhood were various statues and temples. 

 Southward from the Agora ran a street called Apheteo, along the line 

 of which was a number of public monuments, including a tomple of 

 Minerva Keleutheia, with a statue said to have been dedicated by 

 Ulysses. At the end of the street, close to the city walla, was it 

 temple of Dictynna, or Diana, and the royal tombs of the lOury- 

 pontidm. 



The street in which the Skias was situated also led out of tho 

 Agora, a little eastward of the preceding street, and ran nearly parallel 

 to the river, but at the distance of nearly half a mile. It extended 

 to the walls, and crossed the Knakion by a bridge, of which there 

 are still some remains. The Skias was sn ancient place of assembly, 

 of a circular form, and with a roof shaped like an umbrella. (1'ausau., 

 12, 8.) Along this street also were various temples, statues, nnd 

 altars, erected in honour of the tutflary divinities of Sparta and its 

 hero**. In connection with these, Pausanias also mentions a quad- 

 rangular structure, surrounded with porticoes in which second hand 

 goods were sold. To the west of the Agora was a cenotaph of Brasidas, 



