Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC) 338 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 338 BC | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Greece | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Fourth Sacred War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Acarnania, Achaea, Ancient Corinth, Ancient Thessaly, Arcadia, Argos, Chalcis, Classical Athens, Epidaurus, Macedonia, Megara, Phocis, Thebes, Troezen | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 38.4950, 22.8475 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Chaeronea was fought in 338 BC, near the city of Chaeronea in Boeotia, between Macedonia under Philip II and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Athens and Thebes. The battle was the culmination of Philip's final campaigns in 339–338 BC and resulted in a decisive victory for the Macedonians and their allies.
Philip had brought peace to a war-torn Greece in 346 BC by ending the Third Sacred War and separately concluding his ten-year conflict with Athens for supremacy in the north Aegean with the Peace of Philocrates. Philip's much-expanded kingdom, powerful army and plentiful resources then made him the de facto leader of Greece. To many of the fiercely independent city-states, Philip's power after 346 BC was perceived as a threat, especially in Athens, where the politician Demosthenes led efforts to break away from Philip's influence. In 340 BC Demosthenes convinced the Athenian assembly to sanction action against Philip's territories and to ally with the Achaemenids in Byzantium, which Philip was besieging. These actions were against the terms of their treaty oaths and amounted to a declaration of war. In summer 339 BC, Philip therefore led his army towards Greece, prompting the formation of an alliance of Greek states opposed to him, led by Athens and Thebes.
After several months of stalemate, Philip finally advanced into Boeotia in an attempt to march on Thebes and Athens.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC) (revision 1377878687), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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