Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Achaia
Achaia, in Ancient Geography, a name differently applied at different periods. In the earliest times the name was borne by a small district in the south of Thessaly, and was the first residence of the Achæans. At a later period Achaia Propria was a narrow tract of country in the north of the Peloponnesus, running 65 miles along the Gulf of Corinth, and bounded by the Ionian Sea on the W., by Elis and Arcadia on the S., and by Sicyonia on the E. On the south it is separated from Arcadia by lofty mountains, but the plains between the mountains and the sea are very fertile. Its chief town was Patne. The name of Achaia was afterwards employed to denote collectively the states that joined the Achsean League. When Greece was subdued by the Romans, Achaia was the name given to the most southerly of the provinces into which they divided the country, and included the Peloponnesus, the greater part of Greece Proper, and the islands.
Achæans and the Achaean League.—The early inhabitants of Achaia were called Achæans. The name was given also in those times to some of the tribes occupying the eastern portions of the Peloponnesus, particularly Argos and Sparta. Afterwards the inhabitants of Achaia Propria appropriated the name. This republic was not considerable, in early times, as regards either the number of its troops, its wealth, or the extent of its territory, but was famed for its heroic virtues. The Crotonians and Sybarites, to re-establish order in their towns, adopted the laws and customs of the Achæans. After the famous battle of Leuctra, a difference arose betwixt the Lacedæmonians and Thebant, who held the virtue of this people in such veneration, that they terminated the dispute by their decision. The government of the Achæans was democratical. They preserved their liberty till the time of Philip and Alexander; but in the reign of these princes, and afterwards, they were either subjected to the Macedonians, who had made themselves masters of Greece, or oppressed by domestic tyrants. The Achæan commonwealth consisted of twelve inconsiderable towns in Peloponnesus. About 280 years before Christ the republic of the Achæans recovered its old institutions and unanimity. This was the renewal of the ancient confederation, which subsequently became so famous under the name of the Achæan League—having for its object, not as formerly a common worship, but a substantial political union. Though dating from the year B.C. 280, its importance maybe referred to its connection with Aratus of Sicyon, about 30 years later, as it was further augmented by the splendid abilities of Philopœmen. Thus did this people, so celebrated in the heroic age, once more emerge from comparative obscurity, and become the greatest among the states of Greece in the last days of its national independence. The inhabitants of Patræ and of Dyme were the first assertors of ancient liberty. The tyrants were banished, and the towns again made one commonwealth. A public council was then held, in which affairs of importance were discussed and deter mined; and a register was provided for recording the trans actions of the council. This assembly had two presidents, who were nominated alternately by the different towns. But instead of two presidents, they soon elected but one. Many neighbouring towns, which admired the constitution of this republic, founded on equality, liberty, the love of justice, and of the public good, were incorporated with the Achæans, and admitted to the full enjoyment of their laws and privileges. The Achæan League affords the most perfect example in antiquity of the federal form of government; and, allowing for difference of time and place, its resemblance to that of the United States government is very remarkable. (See Arts. Amphictyony and Federal Government; also Freeman's Federal Government, 2 vols. 8vo. 1863, and Comparative Politics, 8vo. 1873; Droysen, Geschichte des Hellenismus, 2 vols.; Helwing, Geschichte des Achaïschen Bundes.)