v23_0074 - AITOLIA - LEGA Statère

AETOLIA - AETOLIAN LEAGUE

(279-168 BC)

The Aetolians seem to have federated under Philip II of Macedon, but it was only after the death of Alexander III in 323 that the Aetolians became truly independent. However, their coinage does not begin before 279 BC.. -VS. , the invasion of the Galatians and the death of Ptolemy Ceraunus. The Aetolians crushed the Galatians the following year before Delphi. This victory is at the origin of the expansion of the League where the Boeotians and the Acarnanians and part of the Thessalians joined.. The capital of the League was located at Thermos under the protection of Apollo where the confederal assemblies of the League were held. Very quickly the Aetolian League opposed the Achaean League during the War of the Two Leagues (220-217 BC).. -VS. ). The Aetolians did not hesitate to appeal to the Romans to settle their account with Philip V of Macedonia, an ally of the Achaeans. Philip was defeated by Flaminius at Cynoscephali in 197 BC. -VS. Flaminius declared the Liberty of the Greeks the following year at Corinth at the Isthmian Games. The Aetolians, disappointed, then appealed to Antiochos III of Syria who was in turn defeated at Magnesia of the Meander in 189 BC.. -VS. and signed the Peace of Apamea the following year. The Aetolians maintained their independence until the fall of the Kingdom of Macedon and the defeat of Perseus at Pydna in 168 BC.. -VS. The Aetolians were then integrated into the province of Achaia.