Lacedaemon, or Lakedaimon, Grk. Λακεδαιμων or Λακεδαιμωνία in historical times, was an alternative name of Sparta, in the Classical period the chief polis of Laconia.
Homer uses only the former, and in some passages seems to denote by it the Achaean citadel, the Therapnae of later times, in contrast to the lower town Sparta. Lacedaemon is now the name of a separate department, which had in 1907 a population of 87,106.
The Lakedaimonians were the only full-time army in ancient Greece. Their state institutions and system of education were designed for the purpose of creating superbly trained soldiers.
Lacedaemon, or Lakedaimon, was also the mythical founder of Sparta, a son of Zeus and Taygete.
