List of donors for the rebuilding of Thebes
The destruction of Thebes by Alexander in 335 BC was one of the most dramatic devastations of cities in Greek history. Its obliteration caused a sensation in the Greek world, as Thebes was considered one of the most ancient cities and a cradle of Greek civilization. Therefore, when the Macedonian king Cassander decided to re-establish it in 316 BC, many Greeks were willing to help. From the philological sources, mainly Pausanias, we know that the allied cities of Athens, Messene and Megalopolis contributed to the reconstruction of Thebes. The testimonies of Pausanias and Diodorus were confirmed by the discovery at the end of the 19th century a fragment of an inscription that listed donors for the rebuilding of the city. A century after the publication of the first fragment of the inscription, the second fragment of the inscription was found in rescue excavations, which was published in 2014.
This particular inscription, which is one of the most important of Boeotia, includes the names of donors for the reconstruction of Thebes.
The new fragment informs us that many Macedonians (vv. 2, 19) and Cypriots contributed to the rebuilding effort by Cassander, while also helping us to understand that the rebuilding of the city took many years because of its total destruction by Alexander.
The list of donors for the reconstruction of Thebes is one of the rare cases of international aid in the ancient world.