Greece: Antigonid Era (276-146 BC); Antigonus II Gonata, Aetolian and Achaean Leagues

Antigonus II Gonatas (80; r.276-274, 272-239 BC)

In 278 BC at Thermopylae and Delphi a Greek army with a large Aetolian contingent inflicted heavy casualties on the Gauls, forcing them to retreat. In 277 BC Gonatas sailed to the Hellespont and landing near Lysimachia at the neck of the Thracian Chersonese he managed to trap an army of Gauls against the sea. After inflicting a crushing defeat on them he claimed the Macedonian throne.

In 275 BC Pyrrhus invaded Macedonia and after defeating Gonatas at the Aous was proclaimed its king (274-272 BC). In 272 BC while Areus-I (Agiad; r.309-265 BC) in response to an appeal from his uncle Cleonymus was in Crete supporting Gortyn in its war against Knossos, Pyrrhus marched south and laid siege to Sparta. By the end of the second day of fighting, Areus had returned with two thousand troops together with Macedonian mercenaries dispatched by Gonatas from his garrison at Corinth. Pyrrhus retreated to Argos and during a battle in the city streets he was trapped and killed.

With his ambitions in the Aegean being threatened by Gonatas’ fleet, Ptolemy II (62; r.285-246 BC) decided to support the anti-Macedonian coalition in Greece. Chremonides (fl.270-240 BC) took power in Athens and declared war on Macedon. In 265 BC in a battle outside Corinth, Areus was killed and Gonatas won a decisive victory. Athens fell in 262 BC and was garrisoned by Macedonian troops until 229 BC. 

Alexander II (r.272-255; d.242 BC), son of Pyrrhus and his successor as king of Epirus, repeated his father’s adventure by conquering Macedonia. However, in c.260 BC at Derdia in Elimea he was defeated by Antigonus’ son Aetolicus. Losing both Macedon and Epirus, he took refuge in Acarnania.

Antiochus II of Syria (40; r.261-246 BC) began the Second Syrian War (c.260-253 BC). He reached an agreement with Gonatas, who wanted to push Ptolemy out of the Aegean. In 258 BC Gonatas defeated Ptolemy’s admiral Patroclus in a sea battle off the island of Cos. 

On his succession Gonatas had entrusted Corinth and Chalcis to his half-brother Craterus (321-263 BC), on whose death his son Alexander (d.247 BC) inherited the position. For a time he remained loyal to Gonatas, but around 253 BC he rebelled and allied with the Achaean League. 

In 245 BC close to the Egyptian naval base on Andros, the northernmost island of the Cyclades, Gonatas defeated an Egyptian fleet under a commander called Sophron and gained control of the Cyclades.

At Sparta in 243 BC, Agis IV (Eurypontid; c.24; r.245-241 BC) and his uncle Agesilaus made a serious attempt at radical political reform. Their plans were mainly social and included such measures as the remission of debts and the redistribution of land. But the ephors of 242 BC were hostile and the reform party was speedily vanquished.

Aetolian (367-190 BC) and Achaean (280-146 BC) Leagues

Apart from Macedon, the Aetolian and Achaean leagues were the two main powers in Greece. An alliance between Thebes and Aetolia in 370 BC was formalised as the Aetolian League in 367 BC with its centre in Thermum in the region northwest of the Corinthian Gulf. In 290 BC the league occupied Delphi and gained control of the Amphictyonic Council.

After the expulsion of the Gauls in 279 BC the league began to extend its influence into neighbouring territories. By the end of the third century BC it controlled western Arcanania, southern Epirus and Thessaly, Locris, Phocis and Boeotia.

Many cities asked for and were granted admittance to the league. These included several towns in the Peloponnese, Cephalonia in the Ionian Sea, Ceos in the Cyclades, Lysimachia in Thrace, islands and coastal cities in the Propontis, and some cities in Asia Minor.

The Achaean League was formed in 338 BC in the northern Peloponnese against Macedonia and broke up after the death of Alexander. It was reconstituted in 280 BC, but with mainly smaller cities in the Peloponnese. By the mid-century BC this anti-Macedonian league was centred on Sicyon and led by its first great leader Aratus of Sicyon (58; r.251-213 BC), who had expelled the tyrant Nicocles from his city. Aratus visited Ptolemy II in Egypt and received substantial subsidies. In 243 BC the league absorbed Corinth, Megara, Epidaurus and Troezen, made an alliance with Sparta, and gained the support of Ptolemy III (r. 246-222 BC). 

In 241 BC the Aetolian League encouraged by Gonatas entered the Peloponnese and took possession of the town of Pellene in eastern Achaea, only to be driven off by Aratus and his allies in the Achaean League. In 240 BC Gonatus made peace with the Achaean League. He died the following year and was succeeded by his son.