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 Lacedaemonians 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 Lacedaemonians 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.

We have already alluded to the supposed aversion of the Spartans to maritime affairs, which, according to some authors, arose from Lycurgus having prohibited them from building vessels, or employing sailors; but this idea is unfounded, and seems to have arisen from the fact, that their kings were prevented, by a positive law, from commanding the fleets.  That the Spartans engaged in commerce, we have, as has been just stated, the express testimony of Thucydides; and there is abundant evidence that they had always armed vessels during their wars; and even so early as the time of Croesus, they sent some troops to Satnos, and plundered that island:  and in later times, they used such efforts to equip vessels, in order to gain the mastery of the seas, that, according to Xenophon, they entirely neglected their cavalry.  They were stimulated to this line of conduct by Alcibiades, who advised the kings, ephori, and the nation at large, to augment their marine, to compel the ships of all other nations to lower their flag to theirs, and to proclaim themselves exclusive masters of the Grecian seas.  Isocrates informs us, that, before Alcibiades came to Lacedaemon, the Spartans, though they had a navy, expended little on it; but afterwards they increased it almost daily.  The signal defeat they sustained at the battle of Cnidus, where Conon destroyed their whole fleet, not only blasted their hopes of becoming masters of the seas, but, according to Isocrates, led to their defeat at the battle of Leuctra.