Acarnania
Acarnania was the land of the ancient Greek tribe of Acarnanians in the westernmost part of central Greece. It lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Its capital and principal city was Stratos.
Acarnania is composed of three main regions: 1) a rocky coastline, 2) a rugged strip of mountain range that follows the coastline, and 3) plains lying between these mountains and the Achelous River. Ancient Acarnania was reckoned the most westerly province of Greece, bounded on the north by the Ambracian Gulf, on the northeast by Amphilochia, on the west and southwest by the Ionian Sea, and on the east by Aetolia. It contained about 1,571 square miles (4,070 km2). Under the Romans, or probably a little earlier, the river Achelous formed the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia; but in the time of the Peloponnesian War, the territory of Oeniadae, which was one of the Acarnanian towns, extended east of this river. The interior of Acarnania was covered with forests and mountains of no great elevation. Between these mountains there are several lakes, and many fertile valleys. The chief river of the country is the Achelous, which in the lower part of its course flows through a vast plain of great natural fertility, called after itself the Paracheloitis. By the 19th century, the plain was covered with marshes, and the greater part of it appeared to have been formed by the alluvial depositions of the Achelous. Owing to this circumstance, and to the river having frequently altered its channel, the southern part of the coast of Acarnania has undergone numerous changes since antiquity. The chief affluent of the Achelous in Acarnania is the Anapus (Ἄναπος), which flowed into the main stream 80 stadia south of Stratus.
Mythology
Acarnania's foundation in Greek mythology was traditionally ascribed to Acarnan, son of Alcmaeon. The name of Acarnania appears to have been unknown in the earliest times. Homer (8th century BC) only calls the country opposite Ithaca and Cephalonia, under the general name of "Epeirus" (῎ηπειρος), or the mainland, although he frequently mentions the Aetolians.[n 1] The country is said to have been originally inhabited by the Taphii (or Teleboae), the Leleges, and the Curetes. The Taphii, or Teleboae were chiefly found in the islands off the western coast of Acarnania, where they maintained themselves by piracy. The Leleges were more widely disseminated, and were also in possession at one period of Aetolia, Locris, and other parts of Greece. The Curetes are said to have come from Aetolia, and to have settled in Acarnania, after they had been expelled from the former country by Aetolus and his followers. The name of Acarnania is derived from Acarnan, the son of Alcmaeon, who is said to have settled at the mouth of the Achelous. If this tradition is of any value, it would intimate that an Argive colony settled on the coast of Acarnania at an early period.
Archaic and Classical era
In the 7th century BC, Corinth settled Anactorium, Sollium and Leucas, and Kefalonia settled Astacus in Acarnania. The original inhabitants of the country were driven more into the interior; they never made much progress in the arts of civilised life; and even at the time of the Peloponnesian War, they were a rude and barbarous people, engaged in continual wars with their neighbours, and living by robbery and piracy. The settlements of Alyzeia, Coronta, Limnaea, Medion, Oeniadae, Palaerus, Phoitiai and Stratus are also mentioned by Thucydides; the latter city being the seat of a loose confederation of Acarnanian powers that was maintained until the late 1st century BC.
Hellenistic period
After the time of Alexander the Great, in 314 BC, at the behest of the Macedonian king Cassander, the settlements of Acarnania lying near the Aetolian border were conglomerated into fewer, larger settlements. Then, Acarnania came under the rule of Pyrrhus of Epirus. Acarnania's territory was partitioned between the Aetolian League and Epirus in, c. 250 BC. After the fall of the Aeacid dynasty of Epirus, the Acarnanian territory that had been given to Epirus regained its independence, and Leucas became the capital of the region, but conflict with the Aetolians remained. The Acarnanians in consequence united themselves closely to the Antigonid kings, to whom they remained faithful in their various vicissitudes of fortune. They refused to desert the cause of Philip in his war with the Romans, and it was not till after the capture of Leucas, their principal town, and the defeat of Philip at the Battle of Cynoscephalae that they submitted to Rome. When Antiochus III king of the Seleucid Empire, invaded Greece, in 191 BC, the Acarnanians were persuaded by their countryman Mnasilochus to espouse his cause; but on the expulsion of Antiochus from Greece, they came again under the supremacy of Rome. In the settlement of the affairs of Greece by Aemilius Paulus and the Roman commissioners after the defeat of Perseus (168 BC), Leucas was separated from Acarnania, and the city of Thyrreion was appointed the new capital.
Roman and Byzantine period
In the 1st century BC, Acarnania suffered greatly at the hands of pirates, and in Roman civil wars. When Greece was reduced to the form of a Roman province, it is doubtful whether Acarnania was annexed to the province of Achaea or of Epirus, but it is mentioned at a later time as part of Epirus. The inhabitants of several of its towns were removed by Augustus to Nicopolis, which he founded after the Battle of Actium, and Acarnania fell under that city's rule; and in the time of Augustus emperor the country is described by Strabo as utterly worn out and exhausted. In 395, it became part of the Eastern Roman Empire. When the empire was attacked by Western powers in the Fourth Crusade (1204), Acarnania passed to the Despotate of Epirus and in 1348 it was conquered by Serbia. Then in 1480 it fell to the Ottoman Empire.
Since 1832 Acarnania has been part of Greece. Today it forms the western part of the regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Acarna'nia". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray. .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}38°45′N 21°05′E / 38.750°N 21.083°E / 38.750; 21.083
