Plataea [key], ancient city of Greece, in S Boeotia (now Voiotía), on the slope of Mt. Cithaeron (Kithairón). Plataea had voluntarily passed from Theban to Athenian protection before the Persian Wars and stood by Athens at Marathon (490 b.c.). In 479 b.c., Plataea was the scene of the decisive defeat of the Persians by the Greeks under Pausanias (with Aristides commanding the fleet). At the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, Thebes attacked (431) the city. It was besieged for two years (429–427), and then captured and sacked. It was subsequently rebuilt, razed (c.373) by the Thebans, and reconstructed by Alexander the Great.
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