Achaean League
| League of the Achaeans | ||||||||||
| Κοινὸν τῶν Ἀχαιῶν Koinon ton Achaion |
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 Achaean League in 150 BC
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| Capital | Aigion (meeting place) | |||||||||
| Languages | Achaean Doric Koine, Koine Greek | |||||||||
| Religion | Ancient Greek religion | |||||||||
| Government | Republican Confederacy | |||||||||
| Strategos | List of Strategoi | |||||||||
| Legislature | Achaean assembly | |||||||||
| Historical era | Classical Antiquity | |||||||||
| • | Re-founded under the leadership of Aigion, with the aim to "expel the Macedonians" | 280 BC | ||||||||
| • | Philopoemen conquers Sparta | 188 BC | ||||||||
| • | Conquered by the Roman Republic in the Achaean War | 146 BC | ||||||||
| Currency | Greek drachma | |||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Greece
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The Achaean League (Greek: Κοινὸν τῶν Ἀχαιῶν), also known as the Aegean League, was a Hellenistic-era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The first league was formed in the 5th century BC. The second Achaean League existed between 280 BC and 146 BC. The league was named after the region of Achaea.
The regional Achaean League was reformed in 281/0 BC (on the basis of a looser alliance of the founding city-states extending back to the 5th century BC), and soon expanded beyond its Achaean heartland. It was first joined by the city of Sicyon in 251, which provided it with its first great leader, Aratus of Sicyon. The League soon grew to control much of the Peloponnese, considerably weakening the Macedonian hold on the area. It acquired Corinth in 243 BC, Megalopolis in 235 BC and Argos in 229 BC. The increased size of the league meant a bigger citizen army and more wealth, which was used to hire mercenaries. However the league soon ran into difficulties with the revived Sparta of Cleomenes III. Aratus was forced to call in the aid of the Macedonian King, Antigonus Doson, to defeat Cleomenes in Sellasia. Antigonus re-established Macedonian control over much of the region.
In 220 BC, the Achaean League entered into a war against the Aetolian League, which was called the "Social War". The young king Philip V of Macedon sided with the Achaeans and called for a Panhellenic conference in Corinth, where the Aetolian aggression was condemned.
After Aratus's death, however, the League was able to reap much of the benefits of Macedon's defeat by Rome in 197 BC. Under the leadership of Philopoemen, the League was able to finally defeat a heavily weakened Sparta and take control of the entire Peloponnese.
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