Aetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania.
Geography
The
Achelous River separates Aetolia from
Acarnania to the west; on the north it had boundaries with
Epirus and
Thessaly; on the east with the Ozolian
Locrians; and on the south the entrance to the
Corinthian Gulf defined the limits of Aetolia.
In classical times Aetolia comprised two parts: Old Aetolia in the west, from the Achelous to the Evenus and Calydon; and New Aetolia or Acquired Aetolia in the east, from the Evenus and Calydon to the Ozolian Locrians. The country has a level and fruitful coastal region, but an unproductive and mountainous interior. The mountains contained many wild beasts, and acquired fame in Greek mythology as the scene of the hunt for the Calydonian Boar.
History
The peoples known as the
Curetes and the
Leleges originally inhabited the country, but at an early period Greeks from
Elis, led by the mythical
eponym Aetolus, set up colonies.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentions that Curetes was the old name of the Aetolians and Leleges the old name of the
Locrians. The Aetolians took part in the
Trojan War, under their king
Thoas.
standing right. Circa
211-
196 BC]]
The Aetolians set up a united league, the
Aetolian League, in early times. It soon became a powerful military confederation and by c. 340 BC it became one of the leading military powers in ancient Greece. It had originally been organized during the reign of
Philip II by the cities of Aetolia for their mutual benefit and protection and became a formidable rival to the
Macedonian monarchs and the
Achaean League. The League was one of the more effective political institutions that was produced in its time. In 279 BC a great mass of
Gauls invaded mainland Greece, however they were repelled and driven out chiefly by the Aetolians.
(c. 1772 – 1841) a native of Aetolia was a Greek chief
klepht,
armatole, military commander and fighter of the 1821
Greek war of independence. ]]
Unlike
Achaea, there was a division between full members of the League and allies over which Aetolia maintained a
hegemony. This did however allow Aetolia to maintain a much more genuine democracy and the bi-annual meetings of the League assembly coincided with games so that a far higher proportion of the citizens would have attended in person. The Aetolians took the side of
Antiochus III against the
Roman Republic, and on the defeat of that monarch in
189 BC, they became virtually the subjects of
Rome. Following the conquest of the Achaeans by
Lucius Mummius Achaicus in
146 BC, Aetolia became part of the Roman province of Achaea.
Aetolia's reputation has suffered from a rather hostile treatment in the sources. Polybius is considered now to have a heavy anti Aetolian bias due to his having relied on Aetolia's opponent Aratus of Achaea.
During the Middle Ages, Aetolia was part of the Byzantine Empire and later passed to the Turks : after a relatively unsuccessful attempt at colonization they took a token amount of slaves and resources from the region, then departed. See Ottoman Greece.
Aetolia was mentioned in Francisco Baltazar's Florante at Laura.
(This article incorporates material from Harry Thurston Peck's Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898).)
List of Aetolians
Aitolos mythology
Andraemon
Thoas in Trojan War
Titormus, wrestler
Alexander Aetolus (ca.280 BC) poet
Damocritus, general of Aetolian War
Dorimachus, Aetolian general
Nicolaus of Aetolia Hellenistic general
Theodotus of Aetolia Hellenistic general
Pyrrhias
stadion race Olympics 200 B.C and
Pyrrhias Aetolian general in
Elis 218 BC
Agelaus of Naupactus 2nd c.BC
Cosmas of Aetolia (1714–1779) monk
See also
Aetolian League
List of traditional Greek place names
Aetolia Game
References
Category:Former place names
Category:Ancient Greek geography
![RTR VII - Aetolia vs Antigonidai [Rec. battle nr. 1]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110812090714im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/r7IO5GMv3uc/0.jpg "RTR VII - Aetolia vs Antigonidai [Rec. battle nr. 1]")
