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Mani

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Administratively, Mani is divided between the districts of [[Laconia]] and [[Messenia]], in the province of Peloponnesos, but in ancient times it lay entirely within Laconia, the district dominated by [[Sparta]]. The Messenian Mani receives somewhat more rainfall than the Laconian, and is consequently more fertile. Messenian Maniot surnames almost uniformly end in ''-eas'', whereas Laconian Maniot ones in ''-akos''.
Neolithic remains have been found in the many caves along the Mani coasts. [[Homer]] refers to a number of towns in the Mani region, and some artifacts from the [[Mycenean]] period have been found. The area was occupied by the [[Dorians]] in about [[1200 BC]], and became a dependency of Sparta. When Spartan power was destroyed in the 3rd century, the Mani was self-governing for a time before being absorbed into the [[Roman Empire]] in the 2nd century.
As the power of the [[Byzantine Empire]] declined in the 9th century AD, the peninsula drifted out of the Empire's control. The fortress of Maini in the south became the area's centre. Over the subsequent centuries the peninsula was fought over by the Byzantines, the Franks and the Saracens.

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