JournalofHellenicStudies128 (2008) 72-91
CHAIRONEIA338: TOPOGRAPHIES OF COMMEMORATION* Abstract:This articleexaminestwo funerary monuments associatedwiththebattleof Chaironeiain 338: first, the themassburialsurrounded mound,coveringa masscremation, bytheKephissos;second,nearthetownofChaironeia, areconfirmed bya stoneenclosureandtoppedbya colossalstonelion.The acceptedidentifications (themoundis that of theMacedoniandead, the lion monumentthatof Thebandead, in all probabilitythe Sacred Band), and two propositions developed:themounddoes notrelateto thetacticaldispositionsofthebattle,andhencethegenerally ofthebattlemustbe discarded;thelionmonument mustdatetomuchlaterthan338. In develacceptedreconstruction these I examinematerialwhichhas been longknown,butneverconsideredin depth;I notably oping propositions, ofsomeoftheosteologicalmaterialfromthemassburialunderthelion presentwhatI believearethefirst photographs monument. Moregenerally, thetwomonuments, locatedat different setup bydifferent actors pointsofthebattlefield, andat different offertheopportunity forconsiderations on thedifferent functions of 'memory'surrounding moments, an historical event:theMacedonianmoundreflected theneedsand self-imagining ofthevictorious army,imposinga traceinthelandscape;thelionmonument embedsitselfinpreexisting for a more andmore reflective, topographies, effect. troubled,
'AufChäroneasHeide Im altenSchlachtgefild' in Leide Liegtwie versteint Ein marmorn Löwenbild.' E. Geibel,Erinnerungen aus Griechenland, stanza20. 'In thisroomareexposedthebonesofthosewhodiedat Chaeronea,withthesword-cuts showing.This has no bearingon art,andis a rather shockingsight.It wouldhavebeenbetterto leavetheseheroesin thegravestheyearnedso nobly.' MacmillanGuideto Greece(1908).
On 2 August338 BC, in theplainbetweenChaironeiaand theKephissos,PhilipII decisively defeateda coalitionofGreekstates,especiallyAthensandtheBoiotianLeague.1The subsequent settlement confirmed Philip'spoliticaldominanceovertheGreekstates.Thismostévénementiel ofevents,onceheldto symbolizea watershed in Greekhistory, tookplace as a concretehappenit then existed not as a but also as a monumental andcultural ing; construct, just historiographical in a thebattlefrominterrelated phenomenon particular landscape.Thepresent paperre-examines thedetailsofthebattle,ritualpractices, ofmemory. viewpoints: topographies I. CHAIRONEIA AncientChaironeia(Plate 4(a)),2likeitsmodernsuccessors(Kápraina,knownto generations of andthecontemporary dhimosofCherónia), liesinan important lieudepassage,thewest travellers, endoftheKephissoscorridor.Theplainstretches easttowest,aboutthreekilometres widefrom thesouthern mountainrangeto theriver.On theotherside oftheriver,therangeofAkontion * I thank PollyLow,GrahamOliverandPeterRhodesfor theinvitation to givean originally verydifferent paper;I owe theexpression 'culturesofcommemoration' tothem. Researchforthispaperwas carriedoutthanksto a Philip Leverhulme Prize,forwhichI amgladtothanktheLeverhulmeTrust. Workin Greece was enabled by James Helen Clark,VassiliosPetrakos,IoannaNinou, Whitley, VassiliosAravantinos, IannisPhappas,GiorgiosKorres, Roza Proskynitopoulou, Mika Palaiokrassa.I also thank the followingpersonsforassistance:Kostas Buraselis, ChristopheChandezon(withwhom I trampedaround
Kápraina,and who helpedme withhis Plutarchanand Chaironeianexpertise), AngelosChaniotis,JimCoulton, SylvianFachard,thelate PeterFraser,Tonio Hölscher, AlistarJackson, MariaListon,ParaskeviMartzavou, Josh Ober,Karen Schlott,AntonySpawforth.Mistakesand omissionsremainmyown. 1Plut.Cam. 19.8 Hammond(1973) (7 Metageitnion); 567. 2Paus. 9.40-1,withFrazer(1898); Fossey(1988) 37585; Kountouri (2006).