PAMBOEO´TIA
PAMBOEO´TIA (
παμβοιώτια), a festive panegyris of all the Boeotians, which the
grammarians compare with the Panathenaea of the Atticans, and the Panionia
of the Ionians. The principal object of the meeting was the common worship
of Athena Itonia, who had a temple in the neighbourhood of Coronea, near
which the panegyris was held (
Strabo ix.
p.411;
Paus. 9.34.1). From Polybius
(
4.3,
9.34) it
appears that during this national festival no war was allowed to be carried
on, and that in case of a war a truce was always concluded. This panegyris
is also mentioned by Plutarch (
Amat. Narrat. p.
774 f.). It is a disputed point whether the Pamboeotia had anything to do
with the political constitution of Boeotia, and with the relation of its
several towns to Thebes. The question is discussed in Sainte-Croix,
Des Gouvernements fédérat. p. 211,
&c.; Raoul-Rochette,
Sur la Forme et l'Administr, de
l‘État fédératif des
Béotiens, in the
Mém. de l'Acad.
des Inscript. vol. viii. (1827), p. 214. It seems probable that
its object was religious, not political, though, as at other panegyreis,
there were no doubt political harangues [
PANEGYRIS]. The state and constitution of Boeotia is
discussed under
BOEOTARCHES
(See also Gilbert,
Staatsalterthümer, 2.53.)
[
L.S] [
G.E.M]
