Eretria is a town in Euboea, Greece. The town was founded by the Ionian Greeks during the 9th century BC, and its name means "city of the rowers". The city sent ships to fight in the Trojan War, and Eretria was rivals with the neighboring trade city of Chalcis; Eretria controlled the Aegean islands of Andros, Tenos, and Keos and colonized Pithekoussai (Ischia) and Cumae in Magna Graecia. During the 8th century BC, Eretria and Chalcis went to war in the Lelantine War. In 490 BC, the Persians sacked and burned the city at the start of the Greco-Persian Wars. However, Eretria was rebuilt shortly afterward and sent 600 hoplites to fight at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC. Euboea joined the Delian League after the end of the Persian invasions, but, after the Spartans defeated the Athenians at the Battle of Eretria in 411 BC, Euboea rebelled against Athenian domination. In 349 BC, the Eretrians shook off Athenian domination before being conquered by King Philip II of Macedon in 343 BC, only for Demosthenes to reconquer Eretria for Athens in 341 BC. During the Macedonian era, Eretria enjoyed renewed prosperity, and King Cassander lived in Eretria from 318 to 312 BC. In 304 BC, Eretria was granted partial autonomy, but it was garrisoned by Macedonian troops following the Chremonidean War in 262 BC. The Romans plundered Eretria in 198 BC, and it was destroyed in the First Mithridatic War in 87 BC and declined further. Modern Eretria was refounded in 1824 by refugees from Psara, and it became a popular beachside resort. In 2011, Eretria had a population of 13,053 people.
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