Battle of Chaeronea

On August 2, 338 BC, the Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea. It secured Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean. An excerpt from the article:

" The Battle of Chaeronea took place in 338 BCE on an early August morning outside the town of Chaeronea. Although for centuries the cities of Athens and Sparta dominated Greece, politically, militarily and economically, the Battle of Chaeronea, one of the most renowned of all Greek battles, only involved one of these cities: Athens combined forces with Thebes to meet the rising power of Macedon in a fight that would change history.

Since the time of Homer, the concept of arête and its emphasis on strength and courage symbolized the Greeks in battle. However, in the 4th century BCE a new threat appeared to challenge the dominance of the city-states to the south when Macedon, previously viewed as a land of barbarians, came under the shrewd leadership of Philip II, a man who would completely reshape the Macedonian army. He would prove this new military might at the Battle of Chaeronea; the Macedonian victory at Chaeronea would put Greece into what historian G. Maclean Rogers describes as a 'deep sleep', both politically and militarily. It would never again regain its supremacy in the Mediterranean."