Orchomenos

an ancient city in Boeotia, central Greece. The site of Orchomenos was inhabited as early as the Neolithic. A palace and a royal tomb (about 2,000 B.C.) discovered there by H. Schliemann are attributed to the Mycenaean period. Greek tradition ascribes the tomb to King Minos, and therefore the city is sometimes called Minoan Orchomenos. During this period, Orchomenos controlled almost all of western Boeotia. However, by the sixth century B.C., Thebes had seized the cities that Orchomenos controlled and had forced Orchomenos to join the Boeotian League, which was under Theban hegemony. Orchomenos fought on the side of Sparta in the Corinthian War and was destroyed by Thebes around 364 B.C. Restoration of Orchomenos was begun by the Phocaeans in 353 B.C. The city grew stronger under the Macedonian kings Philip II and Alexander but never regained its former significance.