Ancient city, Boeotia , east-central Greece, south of Thebes .
Plataea was settled by Boeotians who expelled the earlier Bronze Age inhabitants. The Plataeans fought along with the Athenians against the Persians at the Battle of Marathon (490 BC). Plataea was the scene of the Greek victory over the invading Persians in the Battle of Plataea (479 BC). It was destroyed by the Spartans in 427 BC but was rebuilt under the Macedonian kings Philip II and Alexander the Great as a symbol of Greek courage in resisting Persia.