Orchomenus, Arcadia

An ancient city of Arcadia in the Peloponnese, originating as a prehistoric settlement and becoming one of the most powerful cities in western Arcadia alongside Tegea and Mantineia. The city flourished in the 7th-6th centuries BC, minting its own coinage. Homer described it as 'abundant in sheep'. Excavations by the French Archaeological School at Athens revealed a Hellenistic theatre, the temple of Artemis Mesopolitis, a bouleuterion, city walls, and prehistoric tumuli. Orchomenus sent 120 men to Thermopylae and 600 to Plataea during the Persian Wars.