ĂCHĀĬCUM FOEDUS

The Achaean league is divided into two periods. 1. The earlier period. —When the Heracleidae took po e ion of Peloponnesus, which had until then been chiefly inhabited by Achaeans, a portion of the latter, under Tisamenus, turned northwards and occupied the north coast of Peloponnesus. The country thus occupied derived from them its name of Achaia, and contained twelve confederate towns, which were governed by the descendants of Tisamenus, till at length they abolished the kingly rule after the death of Ogyges, and established a democracy. In the time of Hero dot us the twelve towns of which the league consisted were: Pellene, Aegeira, Aegae, Bura, Helice, Aegium, Rhypes (Rhypae), Patreis (ae), Phareis (ae), Olenus, Dyme, and Tritaeeis (Tritaea). After the time of Hero dot us, Rhypes and Aegae disappeared from the number, and Ceryneia and Leontium stepped into their place. The bond which united the towns of the league was not so much a political as a religious one, as is shown by the common sacrifice offered at Helice to Poseidon, and after the destruction of that town, at Aegium to Zeus, surnamed Homa gyri us, and to Demeter Panachaea. The confederation exercised no great influence in the affairs of Greece down to the time when it was broken up by the Maced on i ans. 2. The later period. —When An tigon us in B.C. 281 made the unsucce ful attempt to deprive Ptolemaeus Ceraunus of the Maced on i an throne, the Achaeans availed themselves of the opportunity of shaking off the Maced on i an yoke, and renewing their ancient confederation. The grand object however now was no longer a common worship, but a real political union among the confederates. The fundamental laws were, that henceforth the confederacy should form one inseparable state, that each town, which should join it, should have equal rights with the others, and that all members, in regard to foreign countries, should be considered as dependent, and bound to obey in every respect the federal government, and those officers who were entrusted with the executive. Aegium was the seat of the government, and it was there that the citizens of the various towns met at regular and stated times, to deliberate upon the common affairs of the league, and if it was thought nece ary, upon those of separate towns, and even of individuals, and to elect the officers of the league. The league acquired its great strength in B.C. 251, when Aratus united Sicyon, his native place, with it, and some years later gained Corinth also for it. Megara, Troezene, and Epidaurus soon followed their example. Afterwards Aratus persuaded all the more important towns of Peloponnesus to join the confederacy, and thus Megalopolis, Argos, Hermione, Phlius, and others were added to it. In a short period the league reached the height of its power, for it embraced Athens, Megara, Aegina, Salamis, and the whole of Peloponnesus, with the exception of Sparta, Elis, Tegea, Orc home nos, and Mantineia. The common affairs of the confederate towns were regulated at general meetings attended by the citizens of all the towns, and held regularly twice every year, in the spring and in the autumn. These meetings, which lasted three days, were held in a grove of Zeus Homa gyri us in the neighbourhood of Aegium, and near a sanctuary of Demeter Panachaea. Every citizen, both rich and poor, who had attained the age of thirty, might attend the a emblies, to which they were invited by a public herald, and might speak and propose any measure. The subjects which were to be brought before the a embly were prepared by a council ( βουλή ), which seems to have been permanent. The principal officers of the confederacy were: 1. At first two strategi ( στρατηγοί ), but after the year B.C. 255 there was only one, who in conjunction with an hipparch us ( ἴππαρχος ) or commander of the cavalry and an under-strategus ( ὑποστρατηγός ) commanded the army furnished by the confederacy, and was entrusted with the whole conduct of war; 2. A public secretary ( γραμματεύς ); and, 3. Ten demiurgi ( δημιουργοί ). All the officers of the league were elected in the a embly held in the spring, at the rising of the Pleiades, and legally they were invested with their several offices only for one year, though it frequently happened that men of great merit and distinction were re-elected for several succe ive years. If one of the officers died during the period of his office, his place was filled by his predece or, until the time for the new elections arrived. The perpetual discord of the members of the league, the hostility of Sparta, the intrigues of the Romans, and the folly and rashne of the later strategi, brought about not only the destruction and di olution of the confederacy, but of the freedom of all Greece, which after the fall of Corinth, in B.C. 146, became a Roman province under the name of Achaia.