The Cadmea, or Cadmeia (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Καδμεία, ''Kadmía''), was the

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

of ancient

Thebes, Greece Thebes ( ; , ''Thíva'' ; , ''Thêbai'' .) is a city in Boeotia, Central Greece (administrative region), Central Greece, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the largest city in Boeotia and a major cente ...

, which was named after

Cadmus In Greek mythology, Cadmus (; ) was the legendary Phoenician founder of Boeotian Thebes, Greece, Thebes. He was, alongside Perseus and Bellerophon, the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. Commonly stated to be a ...

, the legendary founder of Thebes. The area is thought to have been settled since at least the early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, although the history of settlement can only be reliably dated from the late Mycenaean period (c. 1400 BC).

Classical period

In the classical and the early Hellenistic periods, the Cadmea served a similar purpose to the

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

; many public buildings were situated there, and the assemblies of Thebes and the Boeotian Confederacy are thought to have met there. During the

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

n (382–379/2 BC) and Macedonian occupations of Thebes, foreign garrisons were stationed on the Cadmea. Phoebidas was the Spartan general responsible for the unauthorized seizure of the citadel of Cadmea in 382 BC, in violation of the

Peace of Antalcidas The King's Peace (387 BC) was a peace treaty guaranteed by the Persian King Artaxerxes II that ended the Corinthian War in ancient Greece. The treaty is also known as the Peace of Antalcidas, after Antalcidas, the Spartan diplomat who traveled to ...

in place then. The

Sacred Band of Thebes The Sacred Band of Thebes (Ancient Greek: , ) was an elite heavy infantry of select soldiers, allegedly consisting of 150 pairs of Homosexuality in ancient Greece, male couples which formed the elite force of the Ancient Thebes (Boeotia), Theba ...

was stationed in Cadmea as a standing force after it was recaptured from the Spartans in 379 BC, likely as defense against future attempts by foreign forces to take the citadel.

Destruction and rebuilding

The Cadmea was destroyed in 335 BC by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

, who razed the city of Thebes as a warning to other Greek cities contemplating revolt against his rule.

Cassander Cassander (; ; 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and '' de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a contemporary of Alexander the ...

, the Macedonian general who inherited the Greek territorial possessions of Alexander after his death, rebuilt the Cadmea in 316 BC.

Alternative meaning of cadmea

Cadmea is also an ancient name for

calamine Calamine, also known as calamine lotion, is a medication made from powdered calamine (mineral), calamine mineral that is used to treat mild itchiness. Conditions treated include sunburn, insect bites, Toxicodendron radicans, poison ivy, poiso ...

or zinc carbonate. Combined with copper, it was used in ancient times for the production of brass, as mentioned, for instance, by the Roman author,

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

. The element,

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12 element, group 12, zinc and mercury (element), mercury. Like z ...

(Cd), was, in 1817, first isolated from an impurity in calamine; hence, the name, cadmium.

Excavation

The Cadmea was rediscovered by the Greek archaeologist Antonios Keramopoulos.

References

{{Authority control Ancient Greek buildings and structures Hellenistic architecture Thebes, Greece Military history of Thebes, Greece Fortifications in Greece