Vasilika ( el, Βασιλικά) is a small village in the prefecture of

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its lar ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It is about 150 kilometers (ca. 90 miles) NW of Athens, and about 25 kilometers (ca. 15 miles) from the prefecture's capital,

Livadeia Livadeia ( el, Λιβαδειά ''Livadiá'', ; grc, Λεβάδεια, Lebadeia or , ''Lebadia'') is a town in central Greece. It is the capital of the Boeotia regional district. Livadeia lies north-west of Athens, west of Chalkida, south-ea ...

. The village was originally called Kravasaras (Κραβασαράς). References to that name go back to the middle of the 17th century. Vasilika is built at the foot of the hill of Philoboiotos (Φιλοβοιωτός), where the Roman general

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had ...

assembled his troops prior to the Battle of Chaeronea, in 86 BC. There, Sulla was victorious against the forces of Taxiles, who was fighting for the

King of Pontus This is a list of kings of Pontus, an ancient Hellenistic kingdom of Persian origin in Asia Minor. Kings of Pontus * Mithridates I Ktistes 281–266 BC * Ariobarzanes 266 – c. 250 BC * Mithridates II c. 250 – c. 220 BC * Mithridates III c. 2 ...

Mithridates. To the west, about 400 meters away, scant ruins possibly indicate the temple of

Asklepios Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...

Archagetes, mentioned by

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

. The place is still called "The Columns". To the east of the village there used to be, until recently, the Inn of Katoikou where, according to

Ioannis Makrygiannis Yannis Makriyannis ( el, Γιάννης Μακρυγιάννης, ''Giánnēs Makrygiánnīs''; 1797–1864), born Ioannis Triantaphyllou (, ''Iōánnēs Triantafýllou''), was a Greeks, Greek merchant, military officer, politician and auth ...

, in 1823 during the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

, a small contingent of Greek fighters attacked and captured a Turkish supply caravan. In more recent times, Vasilika was the site of an anthropological study by Dr. Ernestine Friedl. Along with her classicist husband, Dr. Harry Levy, she lived in the village for a year, in 1955–56. This study was published in 1961, under the title, ''Vasilika: A Village in Modern Greece.''Friedl, Ernestine. ''Vasilika: A Village in Modern Greece.'' New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962.
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References

* Plutarch, Sulla, in ''Parallel Lives''. * Pausanias, ''Travels in Greece''. {{coord, 38.571, 22.784, type:city_region:GR, display=title Populated places in Boeotia