Platea
a city in the W. part of Bœotia, on the borders of Attica, and at the foot of Mount Cithæron, 6 miles from Thebes. In 480 B. c. it was destroyed by the Persians, because the inhabitants had taken part with Athens in the battle of Marathon; but in the following year it was the scene of the glorious victory won by the Lacedæmonian Greeks, under Pausanias and Aristides, over the Persian hordes commanded by Mardonius. In the third year of the Peloponnesian war (429) it was attacked by a Theban-Lacedæmonian force, and heroically defended itself for more than two years, when the little garrison of about 200 men were put to the sword, and the city demolished. Some Platæans escaped to Athens and by the treaty of Antalcidas (387) their descendants were allowed to return and rebuild their city. They were driven forth again by the Thebans, and half a century passed before Philip of Macedon's victory at Chæronea enabled the Platæans to return home where they remained until the 6th century A. D.