Lebadeia was originally an insignificant place, but it rose into importance in consequence of its possessing the celebrated oracle of Trophonius. The oracle was consulted both by Croesus and by Mardonius, and it continued to be consulted even in the time of Plutarch, when all the other oracles in Boeotia had become dumb. Pausanias himself consulted the oracle, and he speaks of the town in terms which show that it was in his time the most flourishing place in Boeotia. Notwithstanding the sanctity of the oracle, Lebadeia did not always escape the ravages of war. It was taken and plundered both by Lysander and by Archelaus, the general of Mithridates VI of Pontus. In the war against Perseus of Macedon, it espoused the side of the Romans, while Thebes, Haliartus, and Coroneia declared in favour of the Macedonian king.