Recent from talks
Plataea
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Plataea
Plataea (/pləˈtiːə/; Ancient Greek: Πλάταια, Plátaia) was an ancient Greek city-state situated in Boeotia near the frontier with Attica at the foot of Mt. Cithaeron, between the mountain and the river Asopus, which divided its territory from that of Thebes. Its inhabitants were known as the Plataeans (Πλαταιαί; Plataiaí, Latin: Plataeae).
It was the location of the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC, in which an alliance of Greek city-states defeated the Persians.
Plataea was destroyed and rebuilt several times during the Classical period of ancient Greece. The modern Greek town of Plataies is adjacent to its ruins.
Plataea was settled during the Bronze Age. (It was mentioned in Homer in the Iliad as among the other Boeotian cities). Local tradition, as related by the geographer Pausanias, was that its people were "sprung from the soil" (autochthonous, or indigenous). Its name is that of the daughter of an ancient king, Asopus, for whom the nearby river is named. According to the ancient Thebans, who claimed authority over the city, Plataea was founded by them.
In 520 BC Plataea, unwilling to submit to the supremacy of Thebes, and unable to resist this powerful neighbour with its own resources, sought the protection of Sparta. Sparta, however, demurred, saying:
We live too far away, and our help would be cold comfort to you. You could be enslaved many times over before any of us heard about it. We advise you to put yourselves under the protection of the Athenians, since they are your neighbours and not bad men at giving help.
Herodotus, the source of this statement, went on to say that the Spartans had an ulterior motive in this: that they wished to cause trouble between Athens and Thebes. In the end, Plataea did form a close alliance with Athens, to which its people remained faithful during the whole of its subsequent history.
When the Persian king Dareios sent an armada to invade Attica in 490 BC, Plataea sent 1,000 men to join Athens at the Battle of Marathon, and shared in the glories of that victory. A decade later, they also served in the Athenian fleet at the sea battle at Artemisium, though they had no ships of their own. They missed the later Battle of Salamis, in order to remove their families and property from the city at the approach of the Persian army. Upon the arrival of the Persians shortly afterwards their city was burned to the ground.
Hub AI
Plataea AI simulator
(@Plataea_simulator)
Plataea
Plataea (/pləˈtiːə/; Ancient Greek: Πλάταια, Plátaia) was an ancient Greek city-state situated in Boeotia near the frontier with Attica at the foot of Mt. Cithaeron, between the mountain and the river Asopus, which divided its territory from that of Thebes. Its inhabitants were known as the Plataeans (Πλαταιαί; Plataiaí, Latin: Plataeae).
It was the location of the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC, in which an alliance of Greek city-states defeated the Persians.
Plataea was destroyed and rebuilt several times during the Classical period of ancient Greece. The modern Greek town of Plataies is adjacent to its ruins.
Plataea was settled during the Bronze Age. (It was mentioned in Homer in the Iliad as among the other Boeotian cities). Local tradition, as related by the geographer Pausanias, was that its people were "sprung from the soil" (autochthonous, or indigenous). Its name is that of the daughter of an ancient king, Asopus, for whom the nearby river is named. According to the ancient Thebans, who claimed authority over the city, Plataea was founded by them.
In 520 BC Plataea, unwilling to submit to the supremacy of Thebes, and unable to resist this powerful neighbour with its own resources, sought the protection of Sparta. Sparta, however, demurred, saying:
We live too far away, and our help would be cold comfort to you. You could be enslaved many times over before any of us heard about it. We advise you to put yourselves under the protection of the Athenians, since they are your neighbours and not bad men at giving help.
Herodotus, the source of this statement, went on to say that the Spartans had an ulterior motive in this: that they wished to cause trouble between Athens and Thebes. In the end, Plataea did form a close alliance with Athens, to which its people remained faithful during the whole of its subsequent history.
When the Persian king Dareios sent an armada to invade Attica in 490 BC, Plataea sent 1,000 men to join Athens at the Battle of Marathon, and shared in the glories of that victory. A decade later, they also served in the Athenian fleet at the sea battle at Artemisium, though they had no ships of their own. They missed the later Battle of Salamis, in order to remove their families and property from the city at the approach of the Persian army. Upon the arrival of the Persians shortly afterwards their city was burned to the ground.
Recent media