Aetolia (Etolia)

Aetolia (Etolia) – a large region of Central Greece, with its southern side facing the Gulf of Corinth. From the west it bordered on Acarnania (q.v.), across the Achelous River, and from the east – with Locris (q.v.), Doris and Elis. The inhabitants of Aetolia were engaged in hunting and cattle breeding (horse breeding). The Aetolian tribes proved oneselves during the reign of Alexander the Great. In 370 BC they founded the Aetolian League, to which the Locrians and Arcadians joined. It represented a political counterbalance to Macedonia in central Greece. In 200–197 BC Aetolians fought on the side of Rome against Macedonia, and in 192 BC entered into an alliance with Antiochus III against the Romans, who in 146 BC turned their allied area into a Roman province.