1 This paper was translated into German and published in volume 27 of the Reallexikon für Antike und Christientum (2016) Peloponnese Contents: A. General: I Name – II. Landscape – III. The Main Cities – IV. Roads – V. Ports – VI. Production B. Non-Christian: I. Political and Economic Conditions – II. Administration – III. Religion – IV. The Main Cults and Shrines of the Greek Religion – V. Other Cults and Shrines C. Judaism: I. Textual Testimonies; II. Cultural Identity and Communal Organization; III. Synagogues D. Christianity before Constantine: I. Corinth and the First Christian Groups; II. The Legend of Andrew the Apostle E. Christianity after Constantine: I. General Conditions; II. Ecclesiastical Life and Institutions; III. Ecclesiastical Building. A. General I Name. PeloponnƝsos ΧΠİζκσθθβıκμ, poetically ΠΫζκκμ ΝῆıκμΨ, the ‘Ἑsle oἸ Pelops’, was called after the mythical king of Pisa and primogenitor of the Mycenaean royal house of the Atreids (for the sources see: E. Meyer, Art. P.: RE19.1 [1937] 380/4). From the 10th century AD on, the area is also called by the name εorea, possibly derived Ἰrom the Slavic more Χ‘sea’Ψ or the ύreek ηκλΫα Χ‘mulberry tree’Ψ Χψon [1λη1] γίθήγ1ζΨέ II. Landscape. The P. is a quasi-island of 21,549 km2 at the southernmost end of the southeast European peninsula, linked to the Greek mainland by the Corinthian Isthmus which is crossed by the Corinth Canal since 1893. Its contour is characterized by protruding peninsulas (the Argolid, Cape Maleas, the Mani with Cape Tainaron and the Messenian peninsula with Cape Akritas) and gulfs (the Gulfs of Patras and Corinth to the north, the Saronic and Argolic Gulfs to the east, the Gulfs of Laconia and Messenia to the south and the Gulf of Kyparissia to the west). Its shape was compared by ancient authors to a plane tree leaf (Strab. 3.2.1; Plin. NH 4.9; Pomponius Mela 2.38; E. Meyer, Art. P.: RE 19.1 [1937] 384). Its landscape is extremely rough with mountains radiating from its centre (Arcadia) outwards to the sea. The highest of them are the Taygetos Χβζίι mΨ, the KyllƝnƝ Χβγιθ mΨ, the Erymanthos Χβββζ mΨ, the Parnǀn Χ1λγη mΨ, the Panachaikon Χ1λβθ mΨ and the δykaion Χ1ζβ1 mΨέ The uplands mostly consist of limestone and Flysch rocks, except for marble massifs on the south Taygetos and the central part oἸ Parnǀnέ The mountains oἸ χrcadia enclose small basins which are drained by rivers flowing down to the plains and the sea, freely through the Alpheios valley to the west and through subterranean swallow-holes to the east. The longest rivers are the Alpheios (Alpheus) (110 kmΨ, the Eurǀtas Χκβ kmΨ, the PƝneios ΧPeneusΨ Χιί kmΨ, the σeda Χθί kmΨ and the Pamisos Χηί kmΨέ These flow through zones of Neogene, Pleistocene and alluvial sediments on small plains and in narrow coastal lowlands. The succession of plains, rivers and mountains dictated the division of the P. into the seven historical departments of the Corinthia, the Argolid, Laconia, Messenia, Elis, Achaia and Arcadia. The P. is characterized by very high seismicity affecting especially the south-west and the areas along the Corinthian Gulf where earthquakes in the past were accompanied by destructive tsunamis. There is an active volcanic zone in the south Saronic Gulf, with the volcano of Methana, and rests of modest volcanic activity in south Laconia (M. and R. Higgins, A Geological Companion to Greece and the Aegean [London 1996], 35/73; 210/216; M. Seger and P. Mandl, Sattelitenbildinterpretation und ökologische Landschaftsforschung: Erdkunde 48 [1994] 34/47; Avramea [1997] 41/50). Draft Only