Caryae or Karyai () was a town of

ancient Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

upon the frontiers of Arcadia. It was originally an Arcadian town belonging to

Tegea Tegea (; ) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal unit with an area o ...

, but was conquered by the

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

and annexed to their territory. Caryae revolted from Sparta after the

Battle of Leuctra The Battle of Leuctra (, ) was fought on 6 July 371 BC between the Boeotians led by the Thebes (Greece), Thebans, and the History of Sparta, Spartans along with their allies amidst the post–Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the ...

(371 BCE), and offered to guide a Theban army into Laconia; but shortly afterwards it was severely punished for its treachery, for

Archidamus III Archidamus III (died 338 BC) ( ) was the son of Agesilaus II and Kings of Sparta, king of Sparta from 360 to 338 BC. Biography While still a prince, he was the Pederasty in ancient Greece#Terminology, eispnílas (, inspirer, or pederastic ...

took the town and put to death all the inhabitants who were made prisoners. Caryae was celebrated for its temple of Artemis Caryatis, and for the annual festival of this goddess, at which the Lacedaemonian virgins used to perform a peculiar kind of dance. This festival was of great antiquity, for in the

Second Messenian War The Second Messenian War was a war which occurred ca. 660–650 BC between the Ancient Greek states of Messenia and Sparta, with localized resistance possibly lasting until the end of the century.L. G. Pechatnova, ''A History of Sparta (Archaic ...

Aristomenes Aristomenes () was a king of Messenia, celebrated for his struggle with the Spartans in the Second Messenian War (685–668 BC), and his resistance to them on Mount Eira for 11 years. At length the mountain fell to the enemy, while he escaped ...

is said to have carried off the Lacedaemonian virgins, who were dancing at Caryae in honour of Artemis. It was, perhaps, from this ancient dance of the Lacedaemonian maidens, that the Greek artists gave the name of Caryatid to the female figures which were employed in architecture instead of pillars. The tale of

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

respecting the origin of these figures, is not entitled to any credit. He relates that Caryae revolted to the

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

after the

Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Polis, Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting over the course of three days, it wa ...

; that it was in consequence destroyed by the allied Greeks, who killed the men and led the women into captivity; and that to commemorate the disgrace of the latter, representations of them were employed in architecture instead of columns. The exact position of Caryae has given rise to dispute. It is evident from the account of Pausanias, and from the history of more than one campaign that it was situated on the road from Tegea to Sparta. Modern scholars place its site near the modern Karyes, formerly Arachova, but renamed to reflect association with the ancient town.

References

Populated places in ancient Arcadia Populated places in ancient Laconia Former populated places in Greece {{AncientLaconia-geo-stub