The Cadmea, or Cadmeia, was the citadel of ancient Thebes, named after the legendary Phoenician founder of Thebes, Cadmus. Two important places in antiquity were called Thebes: Thebes, Greece – Thebes of the Seven Gates; one-time capital of Boeotia. ...

The area is thought to have been settled since at least the early Bronze age, although the history of settlement can only be reliably dated from the late Mycenaean period onwards. The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... Mycenaean can have the following meanings: coming from or belonging to the ancient town of Mycenae in Pelloponese in Greece; belonging to the culture of the Mycenaean period of the eastern Mediterranean in the late Bronze Age; the Mycenaean language, an ancient form of Greek, known from inscriptions in Linear...

The Classical Period

In the Classical and early Hellenistic periods, the Cadmea served a similar purpose to the Acropolis of Athens; many public buildings were situated there, and the assemblies of Thebes and the Boeotian Confederacy are thought to have met there. During the Spartan occupation of Thebes (382-379/8 BC) the garrison was stationed on the Cadmea. This article refers to acropoleis in general. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα Athína IPA ) is the capital of Greece and one of the most famous cities in the world. ... Spartan may refer to: Spartan, an inhabitant of Sparta, a city in ancient (and modern) Greece Spartan, the supposed qualities of those inhabitants: ascetic, simple, and self-disciplined Spartan, a 2004 movie by David Mamet The Spartan II class of supersoldiers in the Halo video games, named for the Spartans...

Destruction & Rebuilding

The Cadmea was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 335, who razed the city of Thebes as a warning to other Greek cities contemplating revolt against his rule. Cassander, the Macedonian general who inherited the Greek territorial possessions of Alexander the Great after his death, rebuilt the Cadmea in 316 BC.