Built on the foothills of Petrachou, the mountain on which, according to the mythological tradition preserved in the writings of the Roman traveler Pausanias in the 2nd Cent. A.D, Rea deceived Cronus to save the newborn Zeus, Chaeronea was first mentioned by Homer under the name of Arne, as one of the Boeotian cities which took part in the Trojan war. Chaeronea was the last Boeotian city on the borders to ancient Fokida and lay on the natural crossing between South and North Greece. Due to its strategic location, it had been the sight of significant battles in ancient times, first in 338 B.C. between the army of Philippe 2nd of Macedonia and the coalition of the city/states of Southern Greece, and also in 86 B.C. between the Roman army led by the general Lucius Cornelius Sulla and the forces of Mithridates, king of Pontus. The city reached its peak during the Roman period and became famous for its production of essential oils from flowers, used both in medicine and for the maintenance of the wooden parts of statues. Chaeronea was also the birthplace and home of the important influential writer and historian Plutarch (45-120 A.D.).