Achaean League

The Achaean League, a federation of Greek city-states, was the chief military power in Greece in the third and early second centuries b. c.e.

Date: Fourth century b. c.e.-c. 323 b. c.e. and 280 b. c.e.-146 b. c.e. Category: Organizations and institutions; government and politics Locale: Peloponnese, southern Greece

Summary A confederation of Achaean (ah-KEE-uhn) cities, located in the northern Peloponnese, existed during the fourth century b. c.e., but this league was dissolved after the Macedonian conquest. The league was revived in 280 b. c.e., and in 251 b. c.e., it extended membership to Sicyon (Sikyon), a non-Achaean city. Under the leadership of Aratus of Sicyon, the league grew, and by 228 b. c.e., it had expelled the Macedonians from the Peloponnese and become the chief power in southern Greece.

The Achaean League was governed by a federal assembly, but a council and several magistrates handled daily business. The chief league official was an annually elected general who could hold office only in alternate years. Member cities did not give up local autonomy and lived under their own laws.

Significance The resurgence of Sparta forced the Achaean League into alliance with Macedonia in 224 b. c.e., but Achaea joined Rome against Macedonia in 198 b. c.e. Relations with Rome soured, and in 167 b. c.e., the Romans took one thousand Achaeans, including the historian Polybius, to Rome as hostages. In 146 b. c.e., the Romans declared war on and defeated the Achaean League. The league was dissolved, ending the last vestige of Greek freedom.

Further Reading

Cartledge, Paul, and Antony Spawforth. Hellenistic and Roman Sparta: A Tale of Two Cities. 2d ed. London: Routledge, 2002.

Larsen, J. A. O. Greek Federal States: Their Institutions and History. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1968.

Walbank, F. W. The Hellenistic World. Rev. ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993.

James P. Sickinger

See also: Achaean War; Hellenistic Greece; Polybius.