Boeotia

Boeotia, sometimes alternatively Latinised as Beotia(/biːˈoʊʃiə/ or /biːˈoʊʃə/; Greek: Βοιωτία, Modern Greek:[vi.oˈti.a], Ancient Greek: [bojɔːtía]; modern translitera-tion Voiotía, also Viotía, formerly Cadmeis), is one of theregional units of Greece. It is part of the region of CentralGreece. It was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capitalis Livadeia, and its largest city is Thebes.

1 Geography

Map of ancient Boeotia.

Boeotia lies to the north of the eastern part of the Gulfof Corinth. It also has a short coastline on the Gulf ofEuboea. It bordered on Megaris (nowWest Attica) in thesouth, Attica in the southeast, Euboea in the northeast,Opuntian Locris (now part of Phthiotis) in the north andPhocis in the west.The main mountain ranges of Boeotia are Mount Par-nassus in the west, Mount Helicon in the southwest,Kithairon in the south and Parnitha in the east. Its longestriver, the Cephissus, flows in the central part, where mostof the low-lying areas of Boeotia are found.Lake Copais was a large lake in the center of Boeotia. Itwas drained in the 19th century. Lake Yliki is a large lakenear Thebes.

2 Origins

The earliest inhabitants of Boeotia, associated with thecity of Orchomenus, were called Minyans. Pausaniasmentions that Minyans established the maritime Ioniancity of Teos,[1] and occupied the islands of Lemnos

and Thera. The Argonauts were sometimes referredto as Minyans. Also, according to legend the citi-zens of Thebes paid an annual tribute to their kingErginus.[2] The Minyans may have been proto-Greekspeakers, but although most scholars today agree that theMycenean Greeks descended from the Minyans of theMiddle Helladic period, they believe that the progenitorsand founders of Minyan culture were an autochthonousgroup.[3] The early wealth and power of Boeotia is shownby the reputation and visible Mycenean remains of sev-eral of its cities, especially Orchomenus and Thebes.The origin of the name “Boeotians” may lie in the moun-tain Boeon in Epirus.[4]

Some toponyms and the common Aeolic dialect indicatethat the Boeotians were related to the Thessalians. Tra-ditionally, the Boeotians are said to have originally occu-pied Thessaly, the largest fertile plain in Greece, and tohave been dispossessed by the north-western Thessalianstwo generations after the Fall of Troy (1200 BC). Theymoved south and settled in another rich plain, while oth-ers filtered across the Aegean and settled on Lesbos andin Aeolis in Asia Minor. Others are said to have stayed inThessaly, withdrawing into the hill country and becomingthe perioikoi, (“dwellers around”).[5]

Though far from Anthela, which lay on the coast of Malissouth of Thessaly in the locality of Thermopylae, Boeotiawas an earlymember of the oldest religiousAmphictyonicLeague (Anthelian)[6] because her people had originallylived in Thessaly.[7]

3 Legends and literature

Mount Helicon

1

2 4 HISTORY

Map showing ancient regions of central Greece in relation to ge-ographical features.

Many ancient Greek legends originated or are set in thisregion. The older myths took their final form duringthe Mycenean age (1600–1200 BC) when the MyceneanGreeks established themselves in Boeotia and the city ofThebes became an important centre. Many of them arerelated to the myths of Argos, and others indicate con-nections with Phoenicia, where theMyceneanGreeks andlater the Euboean Greeks established trading posts.Important legends related to Boeotia include:

• The Muses of Mount Helicon

• Ogyges and the Ogygian deluge

• Cadmus, who was said to have founded Thebes andbrought the alphabet to Greece

• Dionysus and Semele

• The Theban Cycle, including the myths of Oedipusand the Sphinx, and the Seven against Thebes

• Antiope and her sons Amphion and Zethus

• Niobe

Many of these legends were used in plays by the tragicGreek poets, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides:

• Aeschylus’s Seven Against Thebes

• Sophocles’s Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus,and Antigone, known as the Theban plays

• Euripides’s Bacchae, Phoenician Women,Suppliants, and Heracles

They were also used in lost plays such as Aeschylus’sNiobe and Euripides’s Antiope.Boeotia was also notable for the ancient oracular shrine ofTrophonius at Lebadea. Graea, an ancient city in Boeotia,is sometimes thought to be the origin of the Latin wordGraecus, from which English derives the words Greeceand Greeks.The major poets Hesiod and Pindar were Boeotians.

4 History

18th century map of ancient Boeotia.

Ruins of the Cadmeia, the central fortress of ancient Thebes.

Boeotia had significant political importance, owing to itsposition on the north shore of the Gulf of Corinth, thestrategic strength of its frontiers, and the ease of com-munication within its extensive area. On the other hand,the lack of good harbours hindered its maritime develop-ment.The importance of the legendary Minyae has been con-firmed by archaeological remains (notably the “Treasuryof Minyas”). The Boeotian population entered the landfrom the north possibly before the Dorian invasion. Withthe exception of the Minyae, the original peoples weresoon absorbed by these immigrants, and the Boeotians

4.3 Fourth century BC 3

henceforth appear as a homogeneous nation. AeolicGreek was spoken in Boeotia.In historical times, the leading city of Boeotia wasThebes, whose central position and military strengthmade it a suitable capital;[8] other major towns were Or-chomenus, Plataea, and Thespiae. It was the constant am-bition of the Thebans to absorb the other townships intoa single state, just as Athens had annexed the Attic com-munities. But the outlying cities successfully resisted thispolicy, and only allowed the formation of a loose federa-tion which, initially, was merely religious.[8]

While the Boeotians, unlike the Arcadians, generallyacted as a united whole against foreign enemies, the con-stant struggle between the cities was a serious check onthe nation’s development. Boeotia hardly figures in his-tory before the late 6th century BC. Previous to this, itspeople are chiefly known as the makers of a type of ge-ometric pottery, similar to the Dipylon ware of Athens.In about 519 BC, the resistance of Plataea to the federat-ing policy of Thebes led to the interference of Athens onbehalf of the former; on this occasion, and again in 507BC, the Athenians defeated the Boeotian levy.

4.1 Fifth century BC

During the Persian invasion of 480 BC, Thebes assistedthe invaders. In consequence, for a time, the presidencyof the Boeotian League was taken from Thebes, but in457 BC the Spartans reinstated that city as a bulwarkagainst Athenian aggression after the Battle of Tanagra.Athens retaliated with a sudden advance upon Boeotia,and after the victory at the Battle of Oenophyta took con-trol of the whole country, taking down the wall the Spar-tans had built. With the victory the Athenians also occu-pied Phocis, the original source of the conflict, and Op-untian Locris.[9] For ten years the land remained underAthenian control, which was exercised through the newlyinstalled democracies; but in 447 BC the people revolted,and after a victory at the Battle of Coronea regained theirindependence.[8]

In the Peloponnesian War the Boeotians fought zealouslyagainst Athens. Though slightly estranged from Spartaafter the peace of Nicias, they never abated their en-mity against their neighbours. They rendered good ser-vice at Syracuse and at the Battle of Arginusae in theclosing years of the Pelopennesian War; but their great-est achievement was the decisive victory at the Battle ofDelium over the Athenian army (424 BC) in which boththeir heavy infantry and their cavalry displayed unusualefficiency.

4.2 Boeotian League

About this time the Boeotian League comprised elevengroups of sovereign cities and associated townships, each

Boeotian cup from Thebes painted with birds, 560–540 BC(Louvre).

of which elected one Boeotarch or minister of war andforeign affairs, contributed sixty delegates to the federalcouncil at Thebes, and supplied a contingent of about1000 infantry and 100 cavalry to the federal army. Asafeguard against undue encroachment on the part of thecentral government was provided in the councils of the in-dividual cities, to which all important questions of policyhad to be submitted for ratification. These local councils,to which the propertied classes alone were eligible, weresubdivided into four sections, resembling the prytaneis ofthe Athenian council, which took it in turns to vote on allnew measures.[8][10]

Two Boeotarchs were provided by Thebes, but by 395BC Thebes was providing four Boeotarchs, includingtwo who had represented places now conquered byThebes such as Plataea, Scolus, Erythrae, and Scaphae.Orchomenus, Hysiae, and Tanagra each supplied oneBoeotarch. Thespiae, Thisbe, and Eutresis supplied twobetween them. Haliartus, Lebadea and Coronea sup-plied one in turn, and so did Acraephnium, Copia, andChaeronea.[11]

4.3 Fourth century BC

Boeotia took a prominent part in the Corinthian Waragainst Sparta, especially in the battles of Haliartus andCoronea (395-394 BC). This change of policy wasmainlydue to the national resentment against foreign interfer-ence. Yet disaffection against Thebes was now growingrife, and Sparta fostered this feeling by insisting on thecomplete independence of all the cities in the peace ofAntalcidas (387 BC). In 374, Pelopidas restored Thebandominion[8] and their control was never significantly chal-lenged again. Boeotian contingents fought in all the cam-paigns of Epaminondas against the Spartans, most no-tably at the Battle of Leuctra in 371, and in the ThirdSacred War against Phocis (356-346); while in the deal-ings with Philip of Macedon the cities merely followed

4 7 ADMINISTRATION

Thebes.The federal constitution was also brought into accord withthe democratic governments now prevalent throughoutthe land. Sovereign power was vested in the popular as-sembly, which elected the Boeotarchs (between seven andtwelve in number), and sanctioned all laws. After theBattle of Chaeroneia, in which the Boeotian heavy in-fantry once again distinguished itself, the land never againrose to prosperity.[8]

4.4 Hellenistic period

The destruction of Thebes by Alexander the Great (335)destroyed the political energy of the Boeotians. Theynever again pursued an independent policy, but followedthe lead of protecting powers. Though military train-ing and organization continued, the people proved un-able to defend the frontiers, and the land became morethan ever the “dancing-ground of Ares”. Though enrolledfor a short time in the Aetolian League (about 245 BC)Boeotia was generally loyal to Macedon, and supportedits later kings against Rome. Rome dissolved the league,but it was revived under Augustus, and merged with theother central Greek federations in the Achaean synod.The death-blow to the country’s prosperity was dealt bythe devastations during the First Mithridatic War.[8]

4.5 Middle Ages and later

Save for a short period of prosperity under theFrankish rulers of Athens (1205–1310), who repaired thekatavothra and fostered agriculture, Boeotia long contin-ued in a state of decay, aggravated by occasional barbar-ian incursions. The first step towards the country’s recov-ery was not until 1895, when the outlets of Copais wereagain put into working order.

5 Archaeological sites

5.1 Orchomenus (Boeotia)

In 1880–86, Heinrich Schliemann's excavations atOrchomenus (H. Schliemann, Orchomenos, Leipzig1881) revealed the tholos tomb he called the “Tombof Minyas", a Mycenaean monument that equalled the“Tomb of Atreus” at Mycenae itself. In 1893, A. de Rid-der excavated the temple of Asklepios and some buri-als in the Roman necropolis. In 1903–05, a Bavarianarchaeological mission under Heinrich Bulle and AdolfFurtwängler conducted successful excavations at the site.Research continued in 1970–73 by the ArchaeologicalService under Theodore Spyropoulos, uncovering theMycenaean palace, a prehistoric cemetery, the ancientamphitheatre, and other structures.

Ancient theatre of Orchomenus.

6 Pejorative term

The Boeotian people, although they included greatmen like Pindar, Hesiod, Epaminondas, Pelopidas andPlutarch, were portrayed as proverbially dull by the Athe-nians (cf. Boeotian ears incapable of appreciating mu-sic or poetry and Hog-Boeotians, Cratinus.310). Proba-bly for this reason, Boeotia came to be proverbial for thestupidity of its inhabitants (OED).[12]

7 Administration

View of Livadeia town.

The regional unit Boeotia is subdivided into 6 municipal-ities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox):[13]

• Aliartos (2)

• Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra (3)

• Livadeia (1)

• Orchomenos (5)

• Tanagra (6)

• Thebes (Thiva, 4)

5

7.1 Prefecture

The lion of Chaeronea.

Boeotia was created as a prefecture in 1899 (Greek: Νο-μός Βοιωτίας), and again in 1943 out of the Attica andBoeotia Prefecture. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis gov-ernment reform, the regional unit Boeotia was created outof the former prefecture Boeotia. The prefecture had thesame territory as the present regional unit. At the sametime, the municipalities were reorganised, according tothe table below.[13]

7.2 Provinces

The provinces were:

• Livadeia Province - Livadeia• Thiva Province - Thiva (Thebes)

8 Economy

Boeotia is the home of the third largest pasta factory inEurope, built by Misko, a member of Barilla Group.[14]

8.1 Transport• Greek National Road 1/E75, SE, E, NE

• Greek National Road 3, S, E, Cen., W, NW

• Greek National Road 27, W, SW

• Greek National Road 44, E

• Greek National Road 48, W

9 Natives of Boeotia• Bakis

• Corinna

• Epaminondas

• Gorgidas

• Hesiod

• Luke the Evangelist (traditionally location of hisdeath)

• Narcissus (mythology)

• Pelopidas

• Pindar

• Plutarch

10 See also• Boeotian helmet

• Minyans

• Ogyges

• Aeolic Greek

• List of settlements in Boeotia

• Graea

• Graïke

11 References[1] Pausanias.Description of Greece 7.3.6

[2] Bibliotheke 2.4.11 records the origin of the Theban tributeas recompense for themortal wounding of Clymenus, kingof the Minyans, with a cast of a stone by a charioteer ofMenoeceus in the precinct of Poseidon at Onchestus; themyth is also reported by Diodorus Siculus, 4.10.3.

[3] Cambitoglou & Descœudres 1990, p. 7 under “Excava-tions in the Region of Pylos” by George S. Korrés.

[4] Sylvain Auroux. History of the language sciences: an in-ternational handbook on the evolution.

6 13 EXTERNAL LINKS

[5] L. H .Jeffery (1976). Archaic Greece. The Greek city-states 700-500 BC. Ernest Benn Ltd. London & Ton-bridge. pp. 71, 77 ISBN 0-510-03271-0

[6] The Parian marble. Entry No 5: “When Amphictyon sonof Hellen became king of Thermopylae brought togetherthose living round the temple and named them Amphicty-ones; Entry No 6: Graeces-Hellenes

[7] L. H . Jeffery (1976). Archaic Greece. The Greek citystates c. 700-500 B.C. Ernest Benn Ltd. London & Ton-bridge pp. 72, 73 ISBN 0-510-03271-0

[8] One or more of the preceding sentences incorpo-rates text from a publication now in the public domain:Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Boeotia". EncyclopædiaBritannica 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp.114–115. This cites as authorities:

• Thucydides iv. 76-101• Xenophon, Hellenica, iii.-vii.• Strabo, pp. 400-412• Pausanias ix.• Theopompus (or Cratippus) in theOxyrhynchus Pa-pyri, vol v. (London, 1908, No. 842, col 12

• W. M. Leake, Travels in Northern Greece, chs. xi.-xix. (London, 1835)

• H. F. Tozer, Geography of Greece (London, 1873),pp. 233-238

• W. Rhys Roberts, The Ancient Boeotians (Cam-bridge, 1895)

• E. A. Freeman Federal Government (ed. 1893,London), ch. iv. § 2

• B. V. Head, Historia Nomorum, pp. 291 sqq. (Ox-ford, 1887)

• W. Larfeld, Sylloge Inscriptionum Boeoticarum(Berlin, 1883). (See also Thebes.)

[9] Fine, John VA (1983). The Ancient Greeks: A CriticalHistory. Harvard University Press. pp. 354–355.

[10] Thucydides (v. 38), in speaking of the “four councils ofthe Boeotians,” is referring to the plenary bodies in thevarious states. (Chisholm 1911)

[11] Nick Sekunda, The Ancient Greeks, p.27

[12] The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories,Merriam-Webster, 1 Jan 1991, p.360

[13] Kallikratis reform law text PDF

[14] http://www.miskocareers.gr/

• Larson, Stephanie L. Tales of epic ancestry: Boio-tian collective identity in the late archaic and earlyclassical periods (Historia Einzelschriften, 197).Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 2007. 238 p.

12 Sources• Victor Davis Hanson (1999). The Soul of Battle.New York: Simon & Schuster.

13 External links• “Boeotia digital cultural encyclopedia”. Foundationof the Hellenic World. Retrieved 9 July 2012.

7

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