Messenia

A district in the southwest of the Peloponnesus. At an early period after the Doric conquest, it rose to power and opulence. It is chiefly noted for its two wars with Sparta, known as the Me enian Wars, the first of which lasted from 743 to 724 B.C. , and the second from 685 to 668 B.C. In both instances the A then i ans were defeated, and in consequence, a great part of them emigrated to Sicily, where they took po e ion of Zancle, which then received the name of Me an a, the present Me ina (which see).