in Ancient Geography, a town of Argolis, Epidauros. Argolis, in Peloponnesus, on the Saronic bay, to the south of the promontory Spireium; called Sacred, because of the religious veneration paid to Æsculapius, whose temple stood at the distance of five miles from the town. The Romans, during a pestilence, being advised to convey the god to Rome, sent a ship, with a solemn embassy, for his conveyance; but while the Epidaurians were in suspense to part with him, a huge serpent sailed to the ship; and being taken for the god, was carried to Rome in great solemnity. Epidaurus stood in a recess of the bay, fronting the east; and was fortified by nature, being inclosed by high mountains reaching to the sea, and rendering it difficult of access. It had several temples, and in the acropolis or citadel was a remarkable statue of Minerva. The site is now called Epithoros. The traces are indistinct, and it has probably been long deserted. The harbour of Epidaurus is long. Its peripius or circuit was 15 stadia or near two miles. The entrance is between mountains, and on a small rocky peninsula on the left hand are ruins of a modern fortress. This, it seems, was the point on which a temple of Juno stood. It is frequented by vessels for wood or corn. The grove of Æsculapius was inclosed by mountains, within which all the sacrifices as well of the Epidaurians as of strangers were consumed. One was called Titthion; and on this the god when an infant was said to have been exposed, and to have been suckled by a she-goat. He was a great physician, and his temple was always crowded with sick persons. Beyond it was the dormitory of the supplicants; and near it, a circular edifice called the Tholus, built by Polycletus, of white marble, worth seeing. The grove, besides other temples, was adorned with a portico, and a fountain remarkable for its roof and decorations. The bath of Æsculapius was one of the benefactions of Antoninus Pius, while a Roman senator; as was also a house for the reception of pregnant women and dying persons, who before were removed out of the inclosure, to be delivered or to expire in the open air. The remains are heaps of stones, pieces of brick wall, and scattered fragments of marble; besides some churches or rather piles of rubbish miscalled, being destitute of doors, roofs, or any kind of ornament. The statue of Æsculapius was half as big as that of Jupiter Olympus at Athens. It was made of ivory and gold, and, as the inscription proved, by Thrasymedes son of Arignotus of Paros. He was represented sitting, holding his staff, with one hand on the head of a serpent, and a dog lying by him. Two Argive heroes, Bellerophon combating with the monster Chimera, and Perseus severing the head of Medusa, were carved on the throne. Many tablets described the cures performed by the deity, yet he had not escaped contumely and robbery. Dionysius deprived him of his golden beard, affirming that it was unseemly in him to appear in that manner when his father Apollo was always seen with his face smooth. Sylla amassed the precious offerings belonging to him, and to Apollo and Jupiter, at Delphi and Olympia, to pay his army before Athens. The marks in the walls testified that a great number had been plucked down. A few fragments of white marble exquisitely carved occur in the heap of the temple. The inclosure of the temple once abounded in inscriptions. In the second century fix marbles remained, on which were written Epidaurus in the Doric dialect the names of men and women who had been patients of the god, with the distemper each had laboured under, and the remedies he had directed. Dr Chandler found only a couple of votive inscriptions, and two pedestals of statues, one of which represented a Roman, and was erected by the city of the Epidaurians. The stadium was near the temple. It was of earth, as most in Greece were. At the upper end are seats of stone, but these were continued along the sides only a few yards. A vaulted passage leading underneath into the area, now choked up, was a private way by which the agonothete or presidents with the priests and persons of distinction entered. Two large cisterns or reservoirs remain, made by Antoninus for the reception of rain water. Beyond them is a dry watercourse; and in the mountain-side on the right hand are the marble seats of the theatre, overgrown with bushes. The springs and wells by the ruins are supposed to possess many excellent properties. To these and a good air, Dr Chandler thinks, with the recreations of the theatre and of the stadium, and to the medicinal knowledge and experience of the priests, may be attributed both the recovery of the sick and the reputation of Æsculapius.

Epidaurus, with the surname Limera, to distinguish it from the Epidaurus of Argolis; called so, either from its meadows or its commodious harbours (Stephanus, Apollodorus): a town of Laconia, on the Ionian sea, to the south of the Sinus Argolicus, situated where now Molvaka stands, in the Morea. E. Long. 23.30° N. Lat. 35.40°