The Eurotas was the river that flowed along the eastern side of ancient Sparta.
Sparta stood in the Eurotas valley, in the region of Laconia in the southeastern Peloponnese. The river ran southward through the valley before reaching the Laconian Gulf. Its watercourse helped define the landscape in which the Spartan settlement and its agricultural territory developed.
The Eurotas was not a large navigable river like some famous rivers of central Greece. Its importance was local: it supplied the fertile valley and served as a prominent geographic marker. Ancient writers frequently used the river and the surrounding plain when describing Spartan territory.
A common mix-up is confusing the Eurotas with the nearby Taygetus range. Taygetus formed the mountainous western boundary of the valley, while the Eurotas occupied its eastern side. The city’s main harbor, Gytheion, lay much farther south on the coast.