The northernmost city of Boeotia, ancient Greece, the scene of two important battles. In 338 bc Philip II of Macedonia crushed the Thebans, Athenians, and their allies there, and so brought mainland Greece under his control. An enormous stone lion, commemorating the site of the fighting, can still be seen.

In 86 bc two armies of Mithridates VI, King of Pontus, combined there against the Roman forces of Sulla, but were defeated despite a considerable numerical superiority. A further Roman victory at Orchomenus ensured the ejection of the Pontic forces from Greece.