Battlefield Chaironeia Page 3

The lion is near a clump of cypress trees. The marble sculpture is 5.5meters/18 feet high, and sits on a plinth. After its reconstruction in 1902 it was set on the ossuary that contained the remains of the Theban Sacred Band killed in the battle. Excavations of the mausoleum turned up 154 skeletons. It was a party of English travelers that found it in 1818, half-buried in the ground.

The battle Demosthenes had worked up anti-Macedonian feeling in the Athenians and made an alliance with Boeotia (pronounced 'Vo-ee-tee-ah'), provoking Philip to attack southern Greece. The army defending it was only slightly smaller in number than his own, and at first barred his way on the plain to the east of the battle sight. The Athenians gained an initial advantage, attacking from the other side, but the Macedonian cavalry, under the young Alexander, overwhelmed the Theban Sacred Band, which fought to the death, while the Athenians were forced to flee. Macedonian supremacy was crystallized the following year at the Synedrion of Corinth (Conference of Corinth). Thebes was treated severely after the battle, but Athens with surprising leniency.

The chief industry of the ancient city was the disillation of unguents from the lily, rose, narcissus, and iris. The Roman biographer Plutarch (50-127AD) was born and died in Chaironeia, and had a school here . Ruins of fortifications for the ancient acropolis , made of polygonal masonry and a theater are nearby. The acropolis is at 270meters , and occupies two summits with a saddle inbetween.

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