M/M: The Lion of Chaeronea: Pausanias, Descriptio Graeciae, IX.xl.9

The Lion of Chaeronea was a memorial dedicated to the Theban Band (an army of paired lovers) who fell at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE

Proximo urbi loco est commune Thebanis sepulcrum, iis qui in acie contra Philippum stantes ceciderunt. Nulla est apposita inscriptio. Insigne tumuli leo est, ad eorum virorum animi magnitudinem significanda. Inscriptum (ut opinor) propterea nihil est,quod illorum hominum virtutem dii non fortunassent.

προσιόντων δὲ τῇ πόλει πολυάνδριον Θηβαίων ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ πρὸς Φίλιππον ἀγῶνι ἀποθανόντων. ἐπιγέγραπται μὲν δὴ ἐπίγραμμα οὐδέν, ἐπίθημα δ᾽ ἔπεστιν αὐτῷ λέων: φέροι δ᾽ ἂν ἐς τῶν ἀνδρῶν μάλιστα τὸν θυμόν: ἐπίγραμμα δὲ ἄπεστιν ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐοικότα τῇ τόλμῃ σφίσι τὰ ἐκ τοῦ δαίμονος ἠκολούθησε.

--Pausanias, Descriptio Graeciae IX.xl.10; Translated into Latin by Roulus Amaseus (1696)

Next to the city is a memorial for the soldiers who fell in the battle against Philipp. The memorial has no inscription; it is a lion, signifying the courage of these men. I think the reason there is no inscription is that victory did not accompany their daring effort.

PAUSANIAS	MAP:
Name:  Pausanias Date:  110 – 180 CE Works:  Description of Greece	REGION  5
BIO:	Timeline:
Pausanias was a Greek writer who lived during the era of the “Five Good Emperors.” His work, the Description of Greece, is an important source for geographical, historical, archaeological, and cultural information about ancient Greece.	ROMAN GREEK