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AETOLIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 299 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AETOLIA , a See also:

district of See also:northern See also:Greece, bounded on the S. by the Corinthian Gulf, on the W. by the See also:river See also:Achelous, on the N. and E. by the western spurs of See also:Parnassus and See also:Oeta. The See also:land naturally falls into two divisions. The basins of the See also:lower Achelous (mod. Aspropotamo) and Euenus (Phidharis) See also:form a See also:series of alluvial valleys intersected by detached ridges which mostly run parallel to the See also:coast. This district of "Old Aetolia" lacks a suitable See also:sea-See also:board, but the inland, and especially the See also:plain of central Aetolia lying to the See also:north of Lakes Hyria and Trichonis and See also:Mount Aracynthus, forms a See also:rich agricultural See also:country. The northern and eastern regions are„broken by an extensive complex of chains and peaks, whose rugged See also:limestone flanks are clad at most with stunted shrubs and barely leave See also:room for a few pre-carious See also:mule-tracks. These heights often rise in the frontier-ranges of Tymphrestus, Oxia and Corax to more than 7000 ft.; the See also:snow-capped See also:pinnacle of Kiona attains to 8240 ft. A few defiles pass through this barrier to the other See also:side of the north See also:Greek See also:watershed. In See also:early See also:legend Old Aetolia, with its cities of Pleuron and See also:Calydon, figures prominently. During the See also:great migrations (see See also:DORIANS) the See also:population was largely displaced, and the old inhabitants See also:long remained in a backward See also:condition. In the 5th See also:century some tribes were still living in open villages under See also:petty See also:kings, addicted to See also:plunder and piracy, and hardly recognized as Hellenes at all. Yet their military strength was not to be despised: in 426 their archers and slingers easily repelled an Athenian'invasion under See also:Demosthenes.

In the 4th century the Aetolians began to take a greater See also:

part in Greek politics, and, in return for helpingEpaminondas (367) and See also:Philip of Macedon (338), recovered See also:control of their sea-board, to which they annexed the Acarnanian coast and the Oeniadae. Aetolia's prosperity See also:dates from the See also:period of Macedonian supremacy. It may be ascribed partly to the See also:wealth and See also:influence acquired by Aetolian mercenaries in Hellenistic courts, but chiefly to the formation of a See also:national Aetolian See also:league, the first effective institution of this See also:kind in Greece. Created originally to meet the peril of an invasion by the Macedonian regents See also:Antipater and Craterus, who had undertaken a punitive expedition against Aetolia after the Lamian See also:War (322), and by See also:Cassander (314-31I), the confederacy See also:grew rapidly during the subsequent period of Macedonian weakness. Since 290 it had extended its See also:power over all the uplands of central Greece, where its command over Heracleia (28o) provided it with an important defensive position against northern invaders, its control of See also:Delphi and the Amphictyonic See also:council with a useful See also:political See also:instrument. The valour of the Aetolians was conspicuously displayed in 279, when they See also:broke the strength of the See also:Celtic irruption by slaughtering great hordes of marauders. The commemorative festival of the Soteria, which the league established at Delphi, obtained recognition from many leading Greek states. After annexing See also:Boeotia (by 245) the Aetolians controlled all central Greece. Endeavouring next to expand into See also:Peloponnesus, they allied themselves with Antigonus Gonatas of See also:Macedonia against the Achaean league (q.v.), and besides becoming protectors of See also:Elis and See also:Messenia won several Arcadian cities. Their See also:naval power extended to See also:Cephalonia, to the Aegaean islands and even to the See also:Hellespont. The league at its See also:zenith had thus a truly imperial status. Later in the century its power began to be sapped by Macedonia.

To check See also:

King See also:Demetrius (239–229) the Aetolians joined arms with the See also:Achaeans. In 224 they held Heracleia See also:Trachis against Antigonus Doson, but lost control of Boeotia and See also:Phocis. Since 228 their Arcadian possessions had been abandoned to See also:Sparta. At the same See also:time a new enemy arose in the Illyrian pirate fleets, which outdid them in unscrupulousness and violence. The raids of two Aetolian chiefs in Achaean territory (220) led to a See also:coalition between See also:Achaea and Philip V. of Macedon, who assailed the invaders with great See also:energy, See also:driving them out of Peloponnesus and marching into Aetolia itself, where he surprised and sacked the federal See also:capital Thermon. After buying See also:peace by the cession of Acamania (217) the league concluded a compact with See also:Rome, in which both states agreed to plunder ruthlessly their See also:common enemies (211). In the great war of their See also:Roman See also:allies against Philip the federal troops took a prominent part, their See also:cavalry being largely responsible for the victory of Cynoscephalae (197). The See also:Romans in return restored central Greece to the league, but by withholding its former Thessalian possessions excited its deep resentment. The Aetolians now invited See also:Antiochus III. of See also:Syria to See also:European Greece, and so precipitated a conflict with Rome. But in the war they threw away their chances. In 192 they wasted themselves in an unsuccessful See also:attempt to secure Sparta. In 191 they supported Antiochus badly, and by their slackness in the See also:defence of See also:Thermopylae made his position in Greece untenable.

Having thus isolated themselves the Aetolians stood at See also:

bay behind their walls against the Romans, who refused all compromises, and, after the See also:general surrender in 189, restricted the league to Aetolia proper and assumed control over its See also:foreign relations. In 167 the country suffered severely from the intrigues of a See also:philo-Roman party, which caused a series of judicial murders and the See also:deportation of many patriots to See also:Italy. By the time of See also:Sulla, when the league is mentioned for the last time, its functions were purely nominal. The federal constitution closely resembled that of the Achaean league (q.v.), for which it doubtless served as a See also:model. The general See also:assembly, convoked every autumn at Thermon to elect officials, and at other places in See also:special emergencies, shaped the league's general policy; it was nominally open to all freemen, though no doubt the Aetolian chieftains really controlled it. The council of deputies from the confederate cities undertook the routine of See also:administration and See also:jurisdiction. The See also:strategus (general), aided by 30 apocleti (ministers), had See also:complete control in the See also:field and presided over the assembly, though with restricted advisory See also:powers. The Aetolians also used the Amphictyonic See also:synod for passing See also:solemn enactments. The league's relation to outlying dependencies is obscure; many of these were probably See also:mere protectorates or " allied states" and secured no See also:representation. The federal executive was certainly much more efficient than that of the Achaeans, and its See also:councils suffered less from disunion; but its generals and admirals, See also:official or otherwise, enjoyed undue See also:licence; hence the league deservedly gained an evil name for the numerous acts of lawlessness or violence which its troops committed. But as a See also:champion of republican Greece against foreign enemies no other power of the See also:age rendered equal services. After the first overthrow of the See also:Byzantine See also:empire Aetolia passed to a See also:branch of the old imperial See also:house (1205).

In the 15th century it was held by See also:

Scanderbeg (q.v.) and by the Venetians, but Mahommed II. brought it definitely under See also:Turkish See also:rule. In the War of See also:Independence the Aetolians by their stubborn defence, culminating in the sieges of See also:Missolonghi (q.v.), formed the backbone of the See also:rebellion. Northern Aetolia remains a desolate region, inhabited mainly by Vlach shepherds. The See also:south-western plain, though rendered unhealthy by lagoons, and central Aetolia yield See also:good crops of currants, See also:vine, See also:maize and See also:tobacco, which are conveyed by railway from Agrinion and Anatolikon to the coast. The country, which forms part of the See also:modern See also:department of See also:Acarnania and Aetolia, contains numerous fragments of See also:ancient fortifications. It has contributed a notable proportion of distinguished men to modern Greece.

End of Article: AETOLIA

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