Daily Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1876-1884, 1880-11-06
The Field Of Ch4ronea.
Relics Of Rravo Hen Who Died 1000 Years
Ago.

Thickly sown with the relies OF
brave sous are the fair fields OF
Greece, aud not even Thermopy 90
or Marathon eau boast a noU!er
historical record than the almost
forgotten battle field of Chmronea,
winch lies just under the towering.
peaks of Mount Parnassus. Tho
mountains look on Che ronea, 1t
they do on Marathon, and Hellenic
warriors Of ancient times could
have wished for no more auspiciOus
fighting ground than the fertile
plain which lies close to the haunt
Of the National MUSES. and the
great Delphio shrine of Apollo. On
the snowy summit Of Parnassus,
the Greek Aararat, D-ucalion amt
Pyrrha were believed by the
Greeks to have taken refuge from
the Flood, and the same precipi-
tour heights were the scenes of the
dances and midnight reveiry when
the Thy AIDES celebrated the praises
of their gods with maddened orgies.
Apollo himself was said to have
looked down from those peaks Oh
the struggle which took place more
than 2UUO years ago, when Theb
ans and Athenians fought side by
side--a small but devoted band
against the overwhelming forces of
Philip OF Macedon aud his youth
full son, soon to be known as Alex
auder the Great. II the favor Q
deity of the Greeks did indeed SUI.
vey the conflict, tie must have shed
divine tears when he saw the pick
of Athenian manhood driven back
with slaughter and the "HO y
Band" of the Theban youth 800
in pumber-full, every one of them,
where they stood, fighting STUB
bornly to the last. The Macedonian
monarch, we are told by classic
history, was SO overjoyed at his
victory that he danced among the
corpses ON the battlefield in drunk.
en- glee.
More thau o thousand Athenians
met their death, aud those of them
who were not swept down the
blood-stained stream, which cross
ed the plain at that spot, were car
ried back to the sepulture at
Athens, that Demcsthenes might
pay the last hOuOrs Of n splendid
funeral Grafton over their bodies.
But the Thebans were buried AS
they fell, and to-day, after lying in
their silent resting place. since The
fourth century before Christ, the
remains of the "Holy Band" have
been brought to light by the efforts
of Greek archie 'lOgist, M
Stamartakis. 1t Is hitting that this
fresh laurel In antiquarian discOv-
cry should fall to Greece, after the
honors which have been won by
that interchangeable German, D..
Schllemann, at Agamemnon's
tomb in Mycens.
Not even his splendid trophies of
golden masks and rings aud brace
let's, worn by Ciytemnestra and
her murdered lord, can surpass In
interest the discovery that has just
been made at ChWrouea. A mound
like that at Marathon marks the
spot where the dead lie, and CO.
lOssal monumental lion In marble
used to adOrn the place. but this
az uCatiOy ou oOno y Coio oSos Hoi
several months excavations have
been going on, and they have been
rewarded by bringing 10 light the
tOmbs Of the heroic warriors OF
rhebes. There they lie in rows OF
forty men. just as they fell, the
heads of lower rows resting on the
feet of the upper; and all the
corpses, even after this lapse OF
time, are reported to bear CHASTITY
trace of the wounds which caused
their deaths. Broken jaw-bones,
thlgh-bones pierced through aud
through by that terrible pike which
the Macedonian phalanx carried,
and smashed skulls bear witness to
the fierceness Of the struggle where
in these brave men were defending
their country against the willy and
powerful despOt of the NORTH
London TeieQrdph.