Laconian (dog)

The Laconian (Ancient Greek: Λακωνικοί Κύνες, romanized: Lakonikoí Kýnes), also known as the Spartan, is an extinct dog breed from Ancient Greece, famous for their sense of smell, typically used for hunting.

The breed originated in Laconia, a region of Ancient Greece, famous for its city state, Sparta.

Renowned and highly valued^[2] for their hunting skills,^[3] Laconian hounds garnered praise over the centuries, with their sense of smell^[4] and swiftness^[5] often singled out. They were widely depicted in classical sculptures,^[6] mosaics, gravestones, coins,^[7] vases,^[8] and drinking cups.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Contemporary fragments, praising the breed^[13] or using it as a mark of wealth^[2] or quality,^[14] include writers such as classical writers Pindar,^[3] Sophocles,^[14] Xenophon,^[5] Plato,^[4] Aristotle,^[15] Theophrastus,^[2] as well as later Roman writers such as such as Horace,^[16] Petronius,^[17] Pliny The Elder,^[18] Oppian,^[13] and Pollux.^[19] Late antiquity writer Claudian^[20] and Elizabethan playwright Shakespeare^[21] also make allusion to the breed.

Known as a swifter^[22] breed, particularly when contrasted with the more "powerful" Molossian,^[22] the Laconian was best known for its olfactory ability.^[4]

Four principal surviving sources describe the breed: Xenophon (c.350 BC), Aristotle (c.350 BC), Pliny The Elder (50AD), and Oppian (200AD). Aristotle and Pliny closely describe the typical characteristics of dogs and contrast them with the traits proper to the Laconian breed. In both cases the Laconian is the only dog breed in which they go into detail.^[23]

Both sexes gained sexual maturity at eight months old and remained sexual active throughout their lives. Gestation lasted sixty to sixty-three days. Typical litter was of eight pups.^[15][18] Puppies typically opened their eyes after twelve days.^[15] The female would restart sexual activity six months after she had littered. The male lived ten years and the female twelve.^[15][18]

Often described as "tawny",^[16] typically either tan with white markings on the face, throat, chest, legs, and stern or black with similarly placed tan markings.^[5] Their eyes were dark although they could be born with defective blue eyes.^[5]

Oppian lists the breed as one of the best hunting dogs and gives the characteristics for dogs best suited for "the swift chase of the gazelle and deer and swift-footed hare".^[13] Xenophon also covers in details, the appearance and temperament of the best hunting dogs and the specific methods of hunting that use Laconians.^[5]

Both authors agree that for the best hunting dogs: the head should be light with dark eyes with a long neck; Ears should be small and thin with little hair^[25]; The chest and shoulder blades should be broad with sloping ribs; The forelegs should be shorter than the hind legs and the tail should be long, straight and prominent. Both recommend selecting larger dogs above their smaller counterparts. ^[5][13]

There are multiple terms used to describe the Laconian.

The term Laconian refers to the region of Laconia in ancient Greece and, when applied to dogs, may denote either a general geographic origin or, more likely, a specific breed distinguished by consistent traits (tawny, great olfactory sense, great at hunting) in various descriptions over time. The most frequent names seem to be variations on "Laconian" (Spartan, Lacedaemonian), which were used synonymously.^[13][23]

Other epithets are more "open to debate".^[23]

Spartan village-based names like Amyclaeus^[22][26] (from Amyclae) or Cynosuran^[27] (from Cynosura) may have been used to refer to the same breed but bred in that village, or to identify different local variants, though the limited nature of the sources leaves some ambiguity.

Some additional confusion exists in regards to the terms Castorian (Greek: καστορίδες, romanized: kastorides) and Vulpine (Greek: ἀλωπεκίδες, romanized: alopekides). The Castorian's name was derived from the myth that they were bred from hounds that Castor was said to have received from Apollo.^[5] The Vulpine's name was derived from the erroneous belief that they were the result of a cross between a dog and a fox.^[15][5]

Xenophon clears distinguishes the larger Castorian (Greek: καστορίδες, romanized: kastorides) and the smaller fox-like Vulpine (Greek: ἀλωπεκίδες, romanized: alopekides) stating that "there are two breeds of sporting dogs: the Castorian and the fox-like".^[5] Hull classifies both as sub-types of the overall Laconian breed.^[24]

However Pollux, echoing Nicander of Colophon, states that kastorides are alopekides, since he claims that it was Castor himself who crossed dogs with foxes and thus create a new breed.^[19] Pollux also states that Laconians, since they were originally bred from foxes and dogs, were also alopekides.

Hull and other scholars noted this contradiction and theorized that both observations may be true if either,

1. kastorides and alopekides interbred and, over time, became indistinguishable,^[5][28] or
2. one of the sub-types became extinct.^[24][29]

It is speculated that the Hellenic Hound may be the modern-day descendant to the Laconian.^[30] Both breeds have similar lifespans, litter sizes, colouring^[31] and overall temperament.^[15][32]

Hull speculated that as the Laconian, after loosing favor to the greyhound, may have been cross bred with the Segusiae by Bishop of Liege, St. Hubert, to make the hounds of his kennel from which “came the four royal races: the white hounds of the king, the hounds of St. Hubert, the gray hounds of St. Louis, and the fawn hounds of Brittany.” From these four lines “came all of the modern tracking hounds—the bloodhound, the basset hound, the beagle, the harrier, and the foxhound.”^[24]

It has been speculated that Alexander the Great's favourite dog, Peritas, may have been a Laconian.^[33]

It has long^[15] been theorized that Odysseus's dog's Argos may have been a Laconian. Laconians were often described as swift and Homer's choice to name it Argos ("swift-footed", Homer's most common epithet for speed) may have been an allusion to Argos being a Laconian. Further evidence is provided by the specification that Argos had been used to hunt "wild goats, or deer, or hares",^[34] less ferocious game typically hunted with Laconian hounds.^[35] One limitation of this theory^[24] is that the breed may not have existed when Homer wrote the Odyssey c. 750 BC. There have been depictions in art of Laconian-like dogs from as early as 500 BC^[36] and the earliest written sources^[5][15] providing a specific description of the breed characteristics were written c. 450 BC. Another limitation is that "swiftness" was a desirable trait in a hunting dog and a variety of breeds were described as being suited to hunt the type of game described^[13].

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Theseus brags, "My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind [...]",^[21] which is interpreted to be an intended reference to the Laconian breed.^[37] However the description more closely matches the basset hound, a breed contemporary to Shakespeare.^[24][38]

• List of dog breeds
• List of extinct dog breeds