AETNA. See ETNA.
.iETOLIA, E-telia, ancient Greece, a dis trict lying along the north shore of the Gulf of Corinth and having Epirus and Thessaly north, Acarnania west, separated by the Ache boils and Locris and Dons east, separated by the Daphnus. The only other river of any size was the Evenus. Between it and the Acheloiis lies a marshy but fertile plain separated by the Aracynthus range on the north from a similar plain, of which two large communicating lakes — Trichonis (Apokuro) and Hyria (Zygos)— take up a great part. The rest of the country is crossed in all directions by rugged mountains, covered with forests and intersected by ravines. The plains produced plenty of corn and fine pasture and the iEtolian horses were famous, while the mountain slopes gave excellent wine and oil; but for some reason the tribes never till late in Greek history entered into the fel lowship of Greek civilization and then but imperfectly. They were wild, backward, an archic and untamable; a race of robbers and pirates and the best recruiting-ground in Greece for mercenary soldiers. In the Heroic age, when most other Greeks were like them, and Odysseus' grandfather won distinction as an accomplished klepht, they were conspicuous; and Xtolia was the scene of the Calydonian boar hunt. (See MELEAGER). When they reap pear in Thucydides' pages on the Peloponnesian war, they are a congenes of unfederated inde pendent tribes, living by plunder and the chase, with few and poor towns — Thermon, Calydon and Pleuron the chief — and taking to the mountains when hard pressed. They had a sort of union like the Iroquois League, for common action against a common enemy, but no corporate accountability and nobody to make a treaty with. After Alexander's death Anti pater and Craterus invaded the country; and this, with the great new wealth their general trade of soldiering was bringing in and conse quent increase of civilized interests, forced them to strengthen the bond into the €tolian League, first mentioned in 314 B.c., but of im mense weight in later times and chief rival to the Achaian League and Macedonia. Unlike the former, it was a league of tribes, not towns. But like that, it was a democracy nominally, every freeman over 30 having a vote if he could come to the capital and cast it, but an aristoc racy or timocracy in practice, only the wealthier being able. There was a Great Council, or
Panwtolicon, which met yearly at Thermon, elected all magistrates afresh and enacted gen eral laws and voted on foreign policy; a smaller body of Apocletx, who were in fact a cabinet, who prepared all questions to put before the Great Council and seemed to have been perma nent; a chief magistrate, the strategos (gen eral), who was not only military commander but president of the assembly, put such ques tions as he chose (Speaker), was elected annu ally and was not allowed a vote on the question of peace or war; a hipparchos or cavalry corn mander; and a chief secretary. After the ex pulsion of the Gauls from Greece in 279, in which the League did good service, it expanded enormously; not like the Achaian League be cause of the advantages of its membership, but from the exceeding disadvantages of its hos tility— for it never lost its piratical character wholly to its latest day. It took in Locris, Phocis and Bceotia, Acarnania, southern Thes saly and Epirus, many cities in the Pelopon nesus, Thrace and Asia Minor and the island of Cephallenia; it controlled the oracle at Delphi and the.Amphictyonic Council But its wanton invasion of Messenia (southwest Peloponne sus) in 220 brought the Achaian League and Macedonia both against it; Philip V invaded /Etolia in 218, sacked Thermon with its vast accumulated national treasures and burnt the sacred buildings; and the next year they made peace. In 211 they again provoked a war with Macedonia and again Thermon was captured, peace being made in 205. In 200 they joined Rome against Macedonia and helped to win the battle of Cynoscephalm, which crushed Philip; but they were so disgusted with Flamininus' settlement of the country without giving them the advantages they expected, that in 192 they made the fatal error of allying themselves with Antiochus of Syria against the Romans. An tiochus was crushed in 189 and the independ ence of the League came to an end. In 167 the pro-Roman party murdered 550 of the patriot leaders, and the League was dissolved and lEtolia made a Roman province.