People / group
Messenians
The Messenians were the people of Messenia in the south-western Peloponnese. Conquered by Sparta in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, most were reduced to helots and rebelled repeatedly, while refugees settled at Naupactus and at Zancle in Sicily, renamed Messana. After Thebes defeated Sparta at Leuctra, Epaminondas freed Messenia and founded the city of Messene in 369 BCE.
Mentioned in 3 state histories
See also
Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Messenians. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/messenians
- MLA
- “Messenians.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/messenians. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Messenians.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/messenians.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Messenians’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/messenians (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻