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Chaeronea

Alternative names: Khaironea

Place description

Chaironeia was a small Boiotian city located on a fertile plain. This city stood strategically along the main road between Thermopylai and the southern Greece. Two famous battles were fought there. In 338BC, Philip II and the future Alexander the Great defeated the alliance of the Greek cities. In 86BC, Sulla defeated Archelaos, the general of Mithradates VI of Pontos. The city was also the birth place and the residence of Plutarch. The Lion Monument was discovered in 1818. It was a part of a rectangular enclosure, containing 254 skeletons with weapons. According to Pausanias, it was a common grave of the Thebans killed in their contest with Philip II. It probably dates after the refoundation of the city in 316BC. An ancient theatre is located about 200m west of the Lion Monument. The theatre was poorly cut into the rock. There are 14 rows of seats. The stage buildings no longer exist today. An inscription there mentioned about the gift of a proskenion for the god Dionysos. The acropolis is located near the theatre.