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Greece, Amphipolis: The Lion of Amphipolis
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The first pieces of this rather grand monument were discovered near the banks of the River Strymon in 1912 by Greek soldiers during the Second Balkan War. Further finds were made in 1916 and in 1930-32 during the creation of Lake Kerkini. The Lion was restored (and partly reconstructed) in 1937.
The sculpted Lion itself is 5.3m tall, on its base it stands over 8m high. It is plausibly dated to the late 4th century BCE. Recent work on the Kasta Tomb, which is about 4km distant, has revealed further fragments also apparently belonging to the Lion and it may be the case that the Lion originally surmounted that tomb and was only later moved to its present location.
Nobody knows what or who the monument commemorates; perhaps ongoing work on the Kasta Tomb will illuminate matters. A quite similar, somewhat smaller, statue, the “The Lion of Chaeronea”, honours the Sacred Band of Thebes, which was wiped out at the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE. But while several ancient sources (including Pausanias and Strabo) mention the Chaeronea lion and the circumstances of its construction, there is no ancient record of the Amphipolis lion.
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