Besides Athens and Corinth, there were no states in ancient Greece, the consideration of whose maritime and commercial affairs will detain us long. Lacedæmonia was favourably situated in these respects; but either her laws, or the disposition and pursuits of her inhabitants, prevented her from taking advantage of her situation. All the south part of Laconia was encompassed by the sea, and on the east and north-east was the Argelic Bay: on its coasts were a great number of capes, the most celebrated of which were those of Malea and Tanara; they were also furnished with a great number of sea-port towns and commodious harbours. In consequence of the capes extending far into the sea, and the deepness of some of the bays, the ancients took three days to navigate the length of the coast in vessels wrought by oars, following, as they generally did, all the windings of the land. The little river Pameros, which divided Beotia from Laconia, formed one extremity, and the port of Prais, on the Gulf of Argelis, formed the other. The most difficult and dangerous part of this navigation consisted in doubling Cape Malea. The most convenient and frequented sea-ports in Laconia were Trinassus and Acria, situated on each side the mouth of the Eurotas; and Gythium, not far from Trinassus, at the mouth of a small river on the Laconic Gulf. The mouth of this river, which was navigable up to Sparta, was defended by a citadel, the ruins of which were remaining in the time of Pausanias. As the Lacedæmonians regarded this town as their principal port, in which their naval forces, as well as the greater part of their merchant ships assembled, they employed considerable labour and expence in rendering it commodious and safe; for this purpose they dug a very spacious basin which, on one side was defended by motes, and on the other by numerous fortifications: the strength of these may be judged of from the circumstance, that even after the armies of Sparta had been utterly defeated by Epaminondas, and Philip, the son of Demetrius, neither of these conquerors could capture this sea-port. In it were deposited all the requisites for their naval force, and from it sailed their merchant ships with cargoes to Crete, Africa, and Egypt; to all of which countries, according to Thucydides, the Lacedæmonians carried on a lucrative and regular traffic. Another of their sea-ports was Epidaurus, situated on the Gulf of Argos, in the eastern part of Laconia. The country round it contained many vineyards, the wine of which was exported in considerable quantities, and supplied other parts of Greece. This district is still celebrated for its wine, called Malvasia, (or Malmsey,) a corruption from Maleates, the ancient name of this part of Laconia.