什麼是底比斯

希臘語作錫韋（Thívai）

希臘中東部波奧蒂亞州主要城市、古希臘重要城市和強國之一。傳說稱底比斯由卡德摩斯神建立，為伊底帕斯國王的住地，並且是許多希臘著名悲劇的發生地。城內著名建築七門牆通常被認為是安菲翁神的特徵。在青銅器時代（西元前1500～西元前1200?年）底比斯是邁錫尼政權的一箇中心。由於與雅典存在利益衝突，在波斯戰爭和伯羅奔尼撒戰爭中分別與波斯人和斯巴達人合作。隨後，底比斯人和斯巴達人之間爆發衝突，並被斯巴達人佔領。約西元前380年，底比斯人起義並在Tegyra（西元前375年）和留克特拉（西元前371年）戰役中打敗斯巴達人。在隨後的十年時間裡，底比斯成為希臘主要的軍事力量。西元前338年其與雅典人共同對抗馬其頓王國的菲利普二世，後在喀羅尼亞戰役中戰敗。西元前336年底比斯被亞歷山大大帝征服，並於西元前1世紀最終歸於羅馬人的統治之下。底比斯僅存的歷史遺址中包括古城牆遺蹟、邁錫尼宮殿（西元前1450～西元前1350?年）和一座阿波羅神廟。

Thebes

Ancient city, Boeotia, eastern central Greece, one of the chief Greek city-states. Traditionally said to have been founded by Cadmus, it was the seat of the legendary Oedipus and the setting for many classic Greek tragedies. The building of its celebrated seven-gated wall is usually attributed to Amphion. It was a center of Mycenaean power in the Bronze Age (c. 1500-1200 BC). Hostility to Athens led it to side with the Persians in the Persian Wars and with Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. Thebes and Sparta subsequently clashed, and the victorious Sparta occupied it. It revolted c. 380 BC and defeated Sparta at the battles of Tegyra (375 BC) and Leuctra (371 BC). For the next 10 years it was the chief military power in Greece. It joined Athens against Philip II of Macedon and shared the defeat at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC. It was sacked by Alexander the Great in 336 and eventually fell to Rome in the 1st century BC. Among the few ancient remains are remnants of the city walls, the Mycenaean palace (c. 1450-1350 BC), and a temple of Apollo.