Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/504

 488 ORCHOMENUS. the whole of Northern Boeotia; and that even Thebes was for a time compelled to pay tribute to Erginus, king of Orchomenus. From this tribute, however, the Thebans were delivered by Hercules, who made war upon Orchomenus, and greatly reduced its power. (Paus. is. 37. § 2; Strab. ix. p. 414; Diod. iv 18.) In the Homeric catalogue Orchomenus is mentiiiiied along with Aspledon, but distinct from the other Boeotian towns, and as sending 30 ships to the Trojiin War (//. ii. 511). Sixty years after the Trojan War, according to the received chronology, the sovereignty of the Slinyae seems to have been overthrown by the Boeotian immigrants from Thessaly; and Orchomenus became a member of the Boeotian confederacy. (Strab. ix. p. 401 ; comp. Thuc. i. 1 2.) The city now ceased to be the Minyeian and became the Boeotian Orchomenus (Thuc. iv. 76); but it still remained a powerful state, and throughout the whole historical period was second only to Tliebes in the Boeotian confederacy. The town of Chaeroneia appears to have been always one of its dependencies. (Thuc. iv. 76.) In the Persian War Orchomenus, together with the other Boeotian towns, with the exception of Thespiae and Plataeae, deserted the cause of Grecian independence. Orchomenus pos- sessed an aristocratical government, and continued on friendly terms with Thebes, as long as the aristo- cratical party in the latter city had the direction of public affairs. But when, after the close of the Peloponnesian War, a revolution placed the govern- ment of Thebes in the hands of the democracy, Or- chomenus became opposed to Thebes. Accordingly, when war broke out between Sparta and Thebes, and Lysander invaded Boeotia in b. c. 395, Orchomenus revolted from Thebes, and sent troops to assist Ly- sander in his siege of H:iliartus (Plut. Lys. ii8 ; Xen. Hell. iii. 5. § 6, seq.; Diod. xiv. 81; Corn. Nepos, Lys. 3.) In the following year (b. c. 394), when all the other Boeotians joined the Thebans and Athenians at the battle of Coroneia, the Orchomenians fought in the army of Agesilaus, who arrayed them against the Thebans. (Xen. Bell. iv. 3. § 15, Ages. 2. § 9.) It was now the object of the Spartans to deprive Thebes of her supremacy over the Boeotian cities. This they effected by the peace of Antalcidas, b. c. 387, by which Thebes was obliged to acknowledge the independence of Orchomenus and of the cities of Boeotia. (Xen. Hell. v. 1. § 31.) The battle of Leuctra (b. c. 371) changed the position of affairs, and made Thebes the undisputed master of Boeotia. Orchomenus was now at the mercy of the Thebans, who were anxious to destroy the city, and reduce the inhabitants to slavery. Epaminondas, however, dis- suaded them from carrying their wishes into effect, and induced them to pardon Orchomenus, and re- admit it as a member of the Boeotian confederation. (Diod. XV. 57.) The Thebans appear to have yielded with reluctance to the generous advice of Epami- nondas ; and they took advantage of his absence in Thessaly, in b. c. 368, to carry their original design into effect. The pretext was that the 300 knights at Orchomenus had entered into a conspiracy with some Theban exiles to overthrow the democratical constitution of Thebes. It is not improbable that the whole story was a fiction ; but the Thebans eagerly listened to the accusation, condemned the 300 Or- chomenians, and decreed that the city should be destroyed. A Theban army was immediately sent against it, which burnt it to the ground, put all the male inhabitants to the sword, and sold all the women and children into slavery. (Diod. xv. 79 ; Paus. ix. OECHOMENUS. 15. § 3.) This atrocious act of vengeance remained as an indelible stigma upon the Theban character (Dem. c. Leptin. p. 490.) Orchomenus remained a long time in ruins, though the Athenians were anxious for its restoration, for the purpose of humbling Thebes. (Dem. Megal. pp. 203, 208.) It appears to have been rebuilt during the Phocian War, when the Phocians en- deavoured to e.xpel the Thebans from the northern parts of Boeotia. In b. c. 353 we find the Phocian leader Onomarchus in possession of Orchomenus and Coroneia (Diod. xvi. 33, 35); and in the following year Phayllus was defeated in the neighbourhood oi these towns. (Diod. xvi. 37.) Orchomenus, Coro- neia, and Corsiae were the three fortified places in Boeotia, which the Phocians had in their power (Diod. xvi. 58); and from which they made their devastating inroads into the other parts of Boeotia. On the conclusion of the Sacred War, b. c. 346, Orchomenus was given by Philip to its implacable enemy the Thebans, who, under Philip's eyes, de- stroyed the city a second time, and sold all its inha- bitants as slaves. (Aesch. de Fals. Leg. p. 309; Dem. Phil. ii. p. 69, de Pace, p. 62, de Fals. Leg. p. 375.) It did not, however, remain long in ruins; for after the defeat of the Thebans and Athenians at the battle of Chaeroneia, b. c. 338, it was rebuilt by Philip's order (Paus. iv. 27. § 10, ix. 37. § 8; ac- cording to Arrian, Anab. i. 9, it was rebuilt by Alexander the Great after the destruction of Thebes). From this time the name of Orchomenus is seldom mentioned in history Under the Romans it shared the common fiite of the Boeotian towns, all of which were, in Strabo's time, only ruins and names, with the exception of Thespiae and Tanagra. Orchomenus was famous for the worship of the Charites or Graces, and for the festival in their honour, celebrated with musical contests, in which poets and musicians from all parts of Greece took part. Hence Pindar calls Orchomenus the citv of the Charites {Pyih. xii. 45), and Theocritus describes them as the goddesses who love the Minyeian Or- chomenus (xvi. 104). An ancient inscription re- cords the names of the victors in this festival of the Charites. (Miiller, Orckomenos, p. 172, seq.) Pin- dar's fourteenth Olympic ode, which was written to commemorate the victory of Asopichus, an Orcho-- menian, is in reality a hymn in honour of these goddesses, and was probably sung in their temple. It was in tlie marshes in the neighbourhood of Or- chomenus that the aulefic or flute-reeds grew, which exercised an important influence upon the develop- ment of Greek music. [See Vol. I. p. 414, b.] The ruins of Orchomenus are to be seen near the village of Skripu. The city stood at the edge of the marshes of theCopaiclake,and occupied the triangular face of a steep mountain. The Cephissus " winds like a serpent" round the southern base of the mountain (5i' 'Opxa/J-ivov iliyfx,fvoi ilcrt, SpaKuv o5s, Hes. ap. Strab. ix. p. 424). At its northern base are the sources of tlie river Melas. [See Vol. I. p. 413, a.] Leake observes that the " upper part of the hill, forming a very acute angle, was fortified dif- ferently from the customary modes. Instead of a considerable portion of it having been enclosed to form an acropolis, there is only a small castle on the summit, having a long narrow approach to it from the body of the town, between walls which, for the last 200 yards, are almost parallel, and not more than 20 or 30 yards asunder. Below this approach to the citadel tho breadth of the hill gradually