Boeotia, << bee OH shuh, >> was a district of ancient Greece that lay northwest of Athens. It had an area of about 1,100 square miles (2,850 square kilometers). The land was rich, and most of it was developed in farms and small towns. Thebes, the chief city, led a group of cities called the Boeotian League, which helped Persia invade Greece. The Boeotians fought with the Spartans against Athens in the Peloponnesian War. The Theban generals Epaminondas and Pelopidas led the Boeotian League to victory over a Spartan army at Leuctra in 371 B.C., and the League was the most important power in Greece for 10 years afterward. Philip II of Macedonia defeated Thebes and Athens in the battle of Chaeronea in 338 B.C. Boeotia is now a prefecture (political division) of Greece. See also Thebes [Greece] .
