The Aetolian League (also transliterated as Aitolian League) is a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered on Aetolia in central Greece.
It is established, probably during the early Hellenistic era, in opposition to Macedon and the Achaean League.
Two annual meetings sre held in Thermika and Panaetolika.
It occupies Delphi from 290 BCS and gains territory steadily until, by the end of the 3rd century BCE, it controls the whole of central Greece outside Attica.
At its height, the league's territory includes Locris, Malis, Dolopes, part of Thessaly, Phocis, and Acarnania.
In the latter part of its power, certain Mediterranean city-states, such as Kydonia on Crete, join the Aetolian League.
The Aetolians are not highly regarded by other Greeks, who consider them to be semi-barbaric and reckless.
However, their league haa a complex political and administrative structure, and their armies are easily a match for the other Greek powers.
According to Scholten, the Aetolian League consista of elites at the top, but is fundamentally a society of farmers and herders.
(Joseph B. Scholten (2000) The Politics of Plunder: Aitolians and Their Koinon in the Early Hellenistic Era) The league has a federal structure consisting of a federal council in which the level of representation is proportional to the size of a community's contribution to the league's army, a popular assembly of all citizens that meets twice a year, and an inner council equivalent to a federal government.
It can raise armies and conduct foreign policy on a common basis.
It also implements economic standardization, levying taxes, using a common currency and adopting a uniform system of weights and measures.
