Book 9
2.29
CoroneiaIt was here that the Athenians under Tolmides were defeated by the Boeotians in B. C. 447; in consequence of which defeat the Athenians lost the sovereignty which they had for some years exercised over Boeotia. The plain of Coroneia was also the scene of the victory gained by Agesilaus over the Thebans and their allies in B. C. 394. is situated upon an eminence, near Helicon. The Boeotians took possession of it on their return from the Thessalian Arne, after the Trojan war, when they also occupied Orchomenus. Having become masters of Coroneia, they built in the plain before the city the temple of the Itonian Minerva, of the same name as that in Thessaly, and called the river flowing by it, Cuarius, the name of the Thessalian river. Alcaeus, however, calls it Coralius in these words, Minerva, warrior queen, who o’er Coroneia keepest watch before thy temple, on the banks of Coralius. The festival Pamboeotia was here celebrated. Hades is associated with Minerva, in the dedication of the temple, for some mystical reason. The inhabitants of the Boeotian Coroneia are called Coronii, those of the Messenian Coroneia, Coronenses.
