In 424
B.C., during the Peloponnesian War, Stageira seceded and became an ally of the
Spartans against Athens. Later, the city joined the Chalkidian League and in
348 B.C. it was captured and destroyed completely by king Philip II of Macedon.
A few years after the destruction, however, Philip himself repopulated the city
in return for Aristotle’s, tutoring of his son Alexander.
Yet Stageira never recovered its former brilliance and it is henceforth mentioned by ancient authors only in a few occasions, invariably in connection with the great philosopher. An enchanting later written tradition records that after Aristotle died, the inhabitants of Stageira transferred and buried his relics inside the city, in a place called “the Aristoteleion”, a large altar was erected on his grave, and an annual festival was instituted in his honour, called the "Aristoteleia".
Author
Kostas Sismanidis, 16th Ephorate of Prehistoric & Classical Antiquities
Kostas
Papastathis, 16th Ephorate of Prehistoric & Classical Antiquities
