Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1174

 1150 THEBAE ROEOTIAE. besieged the Macedonian garrison in the Cadmeia, and invited the other Grecian states to declare their independence. But the rapidity of Alexiinder's movements disconcerted all their plans. He ap- peared at Onchestus in Boeotia, before any intel- ligence had arrived of his quitting the north. He was willing to allow the Thebans an opportunity for repentance ; but as his proposals of peace were rejected, he directed a general assault upon the city. The Theban troops outside the gates were driven back, and the JIacedonians entered the town along with them. A dreadful carnage ensued ; 6000 Thebans are said to have been slain, and 30,000"to have been taken prisoners. The doom of the conquered city was referred to the Grecian allies in his army, Orchomenians, Plataeans, Phocians, and other inveterate enemies of Thebes. Their decision must have been known beforehand. They decreed that Thebes should be razed to the ground, with the exception of the Cadmeia, which was to be held by a Macedonian garrison; that the territory of the city should be divided among the allies ; and that all the inhabitants, men, women, and children should be sold as slaves. This sentence was carried into execution by Alexander, who levelled the city to the ground, with the exception of the house of Pin- dar (Arrian, Anab. i. 8, 9 ; Diodor. xvii. 12 — 14; Justin, xi. 4.) Thebes was thus blotted out of the map of Greece, and remained without inhabitants for the next 20 years. In B.C. 315, Cassander undertook the restoration of the city. He united the Theban exiles and their descendants from all parts of Greece, and was zealously assisted by the Athenians and other Grecian states in the work of restoration. The new city occupied the same area as the one destroyed by Alexander; and the Cad- meia was held by a garrison of Cassander. (Diodor. xix. 52 — 54, 78; Paus. is. 7. § 4.) Thebes was twice taken by Demetrius, first in b. c. 293, and a second time in 290, but on each occasion he used his victory with moderation. (Plut. Demetr. 39, 40; Diod. xxi. p. 491, ed. We.ss.) Dicaearchus, who visited Thebes not long after its restoration by Cassander. has given a very interesting account of the city. " Thebes," he says (§ 12, seq. ed. Miiller), " is situated in the centre ot Boeotia, and is about 70 stadia in circumference; its site is level, its shape circular, and its appearance gloomy. The city is ancient, but it has been lately rebuilt, having been three times destroyed, as history relates*, on account of the insolence and haughtiness of its inhabitants. It is well adapted for rearing horses since it is plentifully provided with water, and abounds in green pastures and hills : it contains also better gardens than any other city in Greece. Two rivers flow throush the town, and irrigate all the subjacent plain. There is also a subterraneous stream issuing from the Cadmeia, through pipes, said to be the work of Cadmus. Thebes is a most agreeable residence in the summer, in consequence of the abundance and coolness of the water, its large gardens, its agreeable breezes, its verdant appearance, and the quantity of summer and autumnal fruits. In the winter, however, it is a most disagreeable resi- dence, from being destitute of fuel, and constantly exposed to floods and winds. It is then often covered wiih snow and very muddy." Although Dicaearchus city by the Epigoni ; secondly by the Pelasgi, during the Trojan war; and lastly by Alexander. THEBAE BOEOTIAE. in this passage gives to Thebes a circumference of 70 stadia, he assigns in his verses {Stat. Graec. 93) a much smaller extent to it, namely 43 .stadia. The latter number is the more probable, and, being in metre was less likely to be altered; but if the num- ber in prose is correct, it probably includes the sub- urbs and gardens outside the city walls. Dicaearchus also gives an account of the character of the inha- bitants, which is too long to be extracted. He re- presents them as noble-minded and sanguine, but in- solent and proud, and always ready to settle their disputes by fighting rather than by the ordinary course of justice. Thebes had its full share in the later calamities of Greece. After thefall of Corinth, B.C. 146, Mummius is said to have destroyed Thebes (Liv. Ejrit. 52), by whitdi we are probably to understand the walls of the city. In consequence of its having sided with Mithridates in the war against the Romans, Sulla deprived it of half its territory, which he dedicated to the gods, in order to make compensation for his having plundered the temples at Olympia, Epidaurus, and Delphi. Although the Romans afterwards re- stored the land to the Thebans, they never recovered from this blow (Paus. ix. 7. §§ 5, 6) ; and so low was it reduced in the time of Augustus and Tibeiius that Strabo says that it was little more than a vil- lage (ix. p. 403). In the time of the Antonines, Pausanias found the Cadmeia alone inhabited, and the lower part of the town destroyed, with the ex- ception of the temples (ix. 7. § 6). In the decline of the Roman Empire, Thebes became the seat of a considerable population, probably in consequence of its inland situation, which afforded its inhabitants greater security than the maritime towns from hostile attacks. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries Thebes was one of the mo.st flourishing cities in Greece, and was celebrated for its manufactures of silk. In A. D. 1040 the Thebans took the field to oppose the Bulgarian invaders of Greece, but were defeated with great loss. (Cedren. p. 747, ed. Paris., p. 529, ed. Bonn.) In a. d. 1146 the city was plundered by the Normans of Sicily, who carried ofl' a large amount of plunder (Nicetas, p. 50, ed. Paris., p. 98, ed. Bonn.) Benjamin of Tudela, who visited Thebes about 20 years later, speaks of it as still a large city, possessing 2000 Jewish inhabitants, who were very skilful manufacturers of silk and purple cloth (i. 47, ed. Asher; Finlay, Byzantine Empire, vol. i. p. 493, vol. ii. p. 199). The silks of Thebes continued to be esteemed even at a later period, and were worn by the emperors of Constantinople, (Ni- cetas, p. 297, ed. Paris., p. 609, ed. Bonn.) They were, however, gradually supplanted by tho.se of Sicily and Itiily; and the loss of the silk trade was followed by the rapid decline of Thebes. Under the Turks the city was again reduced, as in the time of Pausanias, to the site of the Cadmeia. II. Topography. Thebes stood on one of the hills of Mount Ten- mcssus, which divides southern Boeotia into two distinct parts, the northern being the plain of Thebes and the southern the valley of the Asopus. The Greeks, in founding a city, took care to select a s])ot where there was an abundant supply of water, and a hill naturally defensible, which might be easily j converted into an acropolis. They generally preferred I a position which would command the adjacent plain, 1 and which was neither immediately upon the coast nor
 * Dicaearchus probably means the capture of the