Delium
Delium(Greek:Δήλιον,Dḗlion) was a small town inancient Boeotiawith a celebrated temple ofApollo.It was located upon the sea-coast in the territory ofTanagrainBoeotia,and at the distance of about a mile (1.6 km) from the territory ofOropus.This temple, which like the town took its name from the island ofDelos,is described byLivyas overhanging the sea, and distant 5 miles (8.0 km) from Tanagra, at the spot where the passage to the nearest parts ofEuboeais less than 4 miles (6.4 km).[1]Strabospeaks of Delium as a temple of Apollo and a small town (πολίχνιον) of the Tanagraei, distant 40 stadia fromAulis.[2]
There were two important battles at Delium. In the first battle, called theBattle of Delium,theAthenianssuffered a signal defeat at the hands of theBoeotiansin the eighth year of thePeloponnesian War,in 424 BCE. This battle took place over several days.Hippocrates,the Athenian commander, had seized the temple at Delium, which he converted into a fortress by erecting some temporary works. Leaving a garrison there, he was on his march homewards and had already reached the territory of Oropus, 10stadiadistant from Delium, when he encountered the Boeotian army advancing to cut off his retreat. The Athenians numbered 15,000, while the Boeotians mustered 18,500.[citation needed]The Athenians were defeated in the ensuing battle, losing 1,200, including Hippocrates, while the Boeotians lost only 500.[3]Socratesfought at this battle among thehoplites,and, according to one account, saved the life ofXenophon,[2]while, according to another, his own retreat was protected byAlcibiades,who was serving in the cavalry.[4]
On the seventeenth day after the battle, the Boeotians retook the temple.[5]The war was won in 404 BCE, with financial help from thePersians.[6]
In the second battle, theRomanswere defeated byAntiochus III the Greatin 192 BCE.[1][7][8][9][10]
Its site is located near modernDilesi.[11][12]
References
[edit]- ^abLivy.Ab urbe condita Libri[History of Rome]. Vol. 35.51.
- ^abStrabo.Geographica.Vol. ix. p.403.Page numbers refer to those ofIsaac Casaubon's edition.
- ^Hanson, Victor Davis.Ripples of Battle: How Wars Fought Long Ago Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think.Doubleday, 2003.ISBN0-385-50400-4
- ^Plutarch,Alc.7.
- ^Thucydides.History of the Peloponnesian War.Vol. 4.90.
- ^Brice, Lee L. "The Peloponnesians won the war in 404 with Persian financial support. Among the terms of the surrender was the dissolution of the Delian League." Greek Warfare: From the Battle of Marathon to the Conquests of Alexander the Great (2012): 48.
- ^Strabo.Geographica.Vol. viii. p.368.Page numbers refer to those ofIsaac Casaubon's edition.
- ^Pausanias(1918)."20.1".Description of Greece.Vol. 9. Translated byW. H. S. Jones;H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – viaPerseus Digital Library.
- ^Ptolemy.The Geography.Vol. 3.15.20.
- ^Livy.Ab urbe condita Libri[History of Rome]. Vol. 31.45.
- ^Richard Talbert,ed. (2000).Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World.Princeton University Press. p. 55, and directory notes accompanying.ISBN978-0-691-03169-9.
- ^Lund University.Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Smith, William,ed. (1854–1857). "Delium".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography.London: John Murray.
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