Chaeronea

Chaeronea Χαιρώνεια
Location
Chaeronea
Coordinates	38°31′N 22°51′E
Location within the regional unit
Government
Country:	Greece
Region:	Central Greece
Regional unit:	Boeotia
Municipality:	Livadeia
Population statistics (as of 2001)
Municipal unit
- Population:	2,218
Other
Time zone:	EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)
Auto:	ΒΙ

Chaeronea ( /ˌkaɪrəˈniːə/; Greek: Χαιρώνεια, Chaironeia, Ancient Greek: [kʰai̯rɔ̌ːneːa]) is a village and a former municipality in Boeotia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Livadeia, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 2,218 (2001). It is located in the Kifisós river valley and NW of Thebes.

History

The Lion of Chaeronea as it appeared circa 1914. It was erected by the Thebans in memory of their dead after the battle of Chaeronea. Excavation of the tomb brought to light 254 skeletons, laid out in seven rows.

First settled in the Prehistoric period at the site now known as Magoula Balomenou (Μαγούλα Μπαλωμένου), Chaeronea was subject to Orchomenus which was, beginning in 600 BCE, a member of the Boeotian League. In the late 5th century BCE, Chaironeia belonged to one of the 11 Boeotian districts along with Acraephnium and Copia. In 338 BCE, Chaeronea was the site of a battle fought by Philip II of Macedon against a coalition of Greek states; during the battle, the elite unit of soldiers known as the Sacred Band of Thebes was wiped out completely (See Battle of Chaeronea). In 1818, the so-called Lion of Chaeronea, a nearly 20-foot-tall (6.1 m) funerary monument erected in honor of the Sacred Band, was rediscovered by English travellers. The fragmentary monument was reassembled and installed atop a pedestal at the site of its discovery. The ancient biographer and essayist Plutarch was born in Chaeronea, and several times refers to these and other facts about his native place in his writings.

Funerary relief for Athenian footman Pancahres, likely fell at the battle of Chaeronea.

In 86 BCE, Archelaus, a general of Mithridates VI of Pontus, landed in Boeotia. He was met by the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla near Chaeronea and in the ensuing battle Archelaus was defeated.

The site of the Theban mass grave was excavated in 1879-80 by P. Stamatakis, and the prehistoric site of Magoula Balamenou 23 years later by the archaeologist G. Soteriadis.