Limnae

Limnae (Λίμναι), a place on the frontiers of Messenia and Laconia, containing a temple of Artemis Limnatis, used jointly by the Messenians and Lacedaemonians. An outrage offered by the Messenians to some Lacedaemonian virgins at the festival of this goddess is said to have been the cause of the First Messenian War. (Strab. vi. p.257, viii. p. 362; Paus. 3.2.6, 4.31.3.) The possession of this temple, and of the Ager Dentheliatis, the district in which it was situated, was a frequent subject of the dispute between the Lacedaemonians and Messenians down to the time of the Roman emperors. (Tac. Ann. 4.43.) The ruins of the temple of Artemis Limnatis have been discovered by Ross, near the church of Panaghía Volimniátissa, in the village of Vólimnos; but the topography of this district requires a more particular description, and will be found under MESSENIA