Delium

For the town in ancient Laconia, see Delium (Laconia).
"Delion" redirects here. For the bicycle racer, see Gilles Delion.

Delium (Greek: Δήλιον, Dḗlion) was a small town in ancient Boeotia with a celebrated temple of Apollo. It was located upon the sea-coast in the territory of Tanagra in Boeotia, and at the distance of about a mile (1.6 km) from the territory of Oropus. This temple, which like the town took its name from the island of Delos, is described by Livy as overhanging the sea, and distant 5 miles (8.0 km) from Tanagra, at the spot where the passage to the nearest parts of Euboea is less than 4 miles (6.4 km).[1] Strabo speaks of Delium as a temple of Apollo and a small town (πολίχνιον) of the Tanagraei, distant 40 stadia from Aulis.[2]

There were two important battles at Delium. In the first battle, called the Battle of Delium, the Athenians suffered a signal defeat at the hands of the Boeotians in the eighth year of the Peloponnesian 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, 10 stadia distant 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] Socrates fought at this battle among the hoplites, and, according to one account, saved the life of Xenophon,[2] while, according to another, his own retreat was protected by Alcibiades, 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 the Persians.[6]

In the second battle, the Romans were defeated by Antiochus III the Great in 192 BCE.[1][7][8][9][10]

Its site is located near modern Dilesi.[11][12]

  1. ^ a b Livy. Ab urbe condita Libri [History of Rome]. Vol. 35.51.
  2. ^ a b Strabo. Geographica. Vol. ix. p.403. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
  3. ^ 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. ISBN 0-385-50400-4
  4. ^ Plutarch, Alc. 7.
  5. ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 4.90.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. viii. p.368. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
  8. ^ Pausanias (1918). "20.1". Description of Greece. Vol. 9. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.
  9. ^ Ptolemy. The Geography. Vol. 3.15.20.
  10. ^ Livy. Ab urbe condita Libri [History of Rome]. Vol. 31.45.
  11. ^ Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 55, and directory notes accompanying. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.
  12. ^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.