- Aetolia
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—Aetolian, adj., n./ee toh"lee euh/, n.an ancient district in W Greece, now part of the province of Aetolia and Acarnania. See map under Delphi.Modern Greek, Aitolía.
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District north of the Gulf of Corinth, ancient Greece.Aetolia figures prominently in early legend. By 367 BC it had been organized by various tribes into a federal state comprising the Aetolian League. Coming under Roman rule, it was incorporated into the province of Achaea (see Achaean League) in 27 BC by Augustus. Governed later by Albania and Venice, it came under Turkish rule in AD 1450. It was the scene of fierce fighting in the War of Greek Independence (1821–29). Modern Aetolia is linked with Acarnania as a department of Greece.* * *
also spelled Aitolia,district of ancient Greece, located directly north of the Gulf of Corinth and bounded by Epirus (north), Locris (east), and Acarnania (west). In modern Greece, Aetolia is linked with Acarnania in the department of Aitolía kai Akarnanía. Aetolia, particularly its cities Pleuron and Calydon, figures prominently in early legend. During the great migrations (1200–1000 BC) most of the region's early inhabitants were displaced; those tribes that remained still lived in open villages under petty kings in the 5th century BC and were dedicated to piracy. Their archers and slingers, however, repulsed an Athenian invasion in 426 BC, and by 367 they had organized into a federal state, the Aetolian League. In 27 BC Augustus incorporated Aetolia into the Roman province of Achaea. In the 15th century AD it passed successively under the rules of Albania, Venice, and, in 1450, Turkey. In the War of Greek Independence (1821–29), it was the scene of fierce fighting, notably the sieges of Mesolóngion (Missolonghi).* * *
Universalium. 2010.
