Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

PLATAEA, or PLATAEAE

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 789 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

PLATAEA, or PLATAEAE , an See also:ancient See also:Greek See also:city of See also:Boeotia, situated See also:close under Mt See also:Cithaeron, near the passes leading from See also:Peloponnesus and See also:Attica to See also:Thebes, and separated from the latter city's territory by the See also:river Asopus. Though one of the smallest Boeotian towns, it stubbornly resisted the centralizing policy of Thebes. In 519 B.C. it invoked See also:Sparta's help against its powerful See also:neighbour, but was referred by See also:king Cleomenes to See also:Athens (for the date, see See also:Grote's See also:History of See also:Greece, ed. 1907, p. 82, See also:note 4). The Athenians secured Plataea's See also:independence, and thus secured its enduring friendship. In 490 the Plataeans sent their full See also:levy to the assistance of the Athenians at See also:Marathon, and during the invasion of See also:Xerxes they joined eagerly in the See also:national See also:defence. At Artemisium they volunteered to See also:man several Athenian See also:ships, and subsequently abandoned their See also:town to be burnt by Xerxes. In 479 they fought against the Persians under Mardonius in the decisive See also:battle which bears the name of the city. In this See also:campaign the See also:Persian See also:commander, retiring from Attica before the combined Peloponnesian and Athenian levy, had encamped in the Asopus See also:plain in See also:order to give battle on ground suited to his numerous See also:cavalry. The Greeks under the Spartan See also:regent See also:Pausanias at first did not venture beyond the spurs of Cithaeron, but, encouraged by successful skirmishing, advanced towards the river and attempted a flanking See also:movement so as to cut Mardonius off from his See also:base at Thebes. The operation miscarried, and in their exposed See also:condition the Greeks were severely harassed by the enemy's See also:horse, which also blocked the Cithaeron passes against their See also:supply columns.

Pausanias thereupon ordered a See also:

night See also:retreat to the hilly ground near Plataea, but the movement was badly executed; for whereas the Peloponnesians in the centre retired beyond their proper station, the Spartans and Athenians on the wings were still in the plain at daybreak. The Persians immediately See also:fell upon these isolated contingents, but the Spartan See also:infantry See also:bore the brunt of the attack with admirable steadiness, and both wings ultimately rolled back their opponents upon the See also:camp. When this was stormed the enemy's resistance collapsed, and Mardonius's See also:army was almost annihilated. This See also:great victory was celebrated by See also:annual sacrifices and a Festival of Liberation (Eleutheria) in every See also:fourth See also:year at Plataea, whose territory moreover was declared inviolate. In spite of this See also:guarantee Plataea was attacked by Thebes at the beginning of the Peloponnesian See also:War (431) and formally besieged by the Peloponnesians (429-27). The See also:garrison after capitulating was put to See also:death, and the city razed by the Thebans. The remaining Plataeans received a qualified See also:franchise in Athens, and in 42r were settled on the territory of Scione. Expelled by See also:Lysander in 404 they returned to Athens, until in 387 Sparta restored them in their native town as a check upon Thebes. The city was again destroyed by Thebes in 373, and the inhabitants once more became citizens of Athens. Plataea was rebuilt by See also:Philip and See also:Alexander of Macedon, and during the See also:rest of antiquity enjoyed a safe but obscure existence. It continued to flourish in See also:Byzantine and Frankish times. The walls of the town, which at various periods occupied different portions of the triangular ledge on which it stood, remain partly visible.

See also:

Recent excavations have discovered the Heraeum; but the See also:temple of See also:Athena the Warlike, built from the Persian spoils and adorned by the most famous artists, has not been identified.

End of Article: PLATAEA, or PLATAEAE

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
PLATA, RIO DE LA, or RIVER PLATE 		[next]
PLATE

Site © 2006 - Net Industries