Messenia

(měs-se'ne-ah.) (Anc. Geog.) The name borne by the N.W. portion of the Greek Peloponnesus, separated from Elis on the N. by the river Neda. It was subjugated by Sparta in the times when legend was so largely blended with history that the result only can be confidently accepted. It was reëstablished as an independent state by Epa min on das in 369 B. c., and afterwards fell before the power of Rome in 146 B. c. [s. 594]