DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9184#0449
426 Nezv Chapters in Greek History. [Chap. XV.
ways ; their rivalry made liberty more impossible than
ever, Aratus, as the weaker in the field, stultified his
whole life, which had been devoted to the securing of
independence to the Achaeans, by calling in the King
of Macedon to take his part against Cleomenes. On
the field of Sellasia the glorious hopes of Cleomenes
were wrecked, and the recently reformed Sparta was
handed over to a succession of bloodthirsty tyrants,
never again to emerge from obscurity. But to the
Achaeans themselves the interference of Macedon was
little less fatal. Henceforth a Macedonian garrison
occupied Corinth, which had been one of the chief cities
of the League; and King Antigonus Doson was the
recognized arbiter in all disputes of the Peloponnesian
Greeks.
In Northern Greece a strange contrast presented it-
self. The historic races of the Athenians and Boeotians
languished in peace, obscurity, and luxury. With them
every day saw something added to the enjoyments and
elegancies of life, and every day politics drifted more
and more into the background. On the other hand,
the rude semi-Greeks of the West, Aetolians, Acar-
nanians, and Epirotes, to whose manhood the repulse of
the Gauls was mainly due, came to the front and showed
the bold spirit of Greeks divorced from the finer facul-
ties of the race. The Acarnanians formed a league
somewhat on the plan of the Achaean. But they were
overshadowed by their neighbours the Aetolians, whose
union was of a different character. It was the first time
that there had been formed in Hellas a state framed in
order to prey upon its neighbours. Among themselves,
the Aetolians constituted the pure democracy peculiar
to men who live with arms in their hands. Yearly they
met at the stronghold of Thermus, where was stowed
the booty won in their piratical expeditions, in order to
ways ; their rivalry made liberty more impossible than
ever, Aratus, as the weaker in the field, stultified his
whole life, which had been devoted to the securing of
independence to the Achaeans, by calling in the King
of Macedon to take his part against Cleomenes. On
the field of Sellasia the glorious hopes of Cleomenes
were wrecked, and the recently reformed Sparta was
handed over to a succession of bloodthirsty tyrants,
never again to emerge from obscurity. But to the
Achaeans themselves the interference of Macedon was
little less fatal. Henceforth a Macedonian garrison
occupied Corinth, which had been one of the chief cities
of the League; and King Antigonus Doson was the
recognized arbiter in all disputes of the Peloponnesian
Greeks.
In Northern Greece a strange contrast presented it-
self. The historic races of the Athenians and Boeotians
languished in peace, obscurity, and luxury. With them
every day saw something added to the enjoyments and
elegancies of life, and every day politics drifted more
and more into the background. On the other hand,
the rude semi-Greeks of the West, Aetolians, Acar-
nanians, and Epirotes, to whose manhood the repulse of
the Gauls was mainly due, came to the front and showed
the bold spirit of Greeks divorced from the finer facul-
ties of the race. The Acarnanians formed a league
somewhat on the plan of the Achaean. But they were
overshadowed by their neighbours the Aetolians, whose
union was of a different character. It was the first time
that there had been formed in Hellas a state framed in
order to prey upon its neighbours. Among themselves,
the Aetolians constituted the pure democracy peculiar
to men who live with arms in their hands. Yearly they
met at the stronghold of Thermus, where was stowed
the booty won in their piratical expeditions, in order to