Aetolian League

The Aetolian League was a confederation of ancient Greek tribal communities and cities, centered in Aetolia in Central Greece. Probably established during the late Classical or early Hellenistic era, around 400 BCE, it held two annual meetings. Initially regarded as semi-barbaric by other Greeks, the League emerged as a dominant state in central Greece during the Hellenistic period. It expanded its territory after a victory against the Gauls in 279 BC, eventually including regions like Locris, Phocis, and parts of Acarnania, as well as city-states outside central Greece. The League fought against Macedon and the Achaean League, allied with Rome in the Macedonian Wars, but later fought against Rome with the Seleucid empire, becoming a Roman client state in 188 BC.