Elis

, a country of Peloponnesus at the west of Arcadia, and north of Me enia, extending along the coast, and watered by the river Alpheus. The capital of the country called Elis , now Belvidere , became large and populous in the age of Demosthenes, though in the age of Homer it did not exist. It was originally governed by kings, and received its name from Eleus, one of its monarchs. Elis was famous for the horses it produced, whose celerity was so often known and tried at the Olympic games. Strabo , bk. 8 .— Pliny , bk. 4 , ch. 5 .— Pausanias , bk. 5 .— Ovid , Metamorphoses , bk. 5 , li. 494 .— Cicero , Letters to his Friends , bk. 13 , ltr. 26 ; de Div in at i one , bk. 2 , ch. 12 .— Livy , bk. 27 , ch. 32 .— Virgil , Georgics , bk. 1 , li. 59 ; bk. 3 , li. 202 .