43 
E T O 
man general, they were intimidated by the refolution of 
the Acarnanians, and returned without attempting to pro¬ 
voke a people who had declared their purpofe either to 
conquer or die. Diverted from profecutiiig their firft de- 
fign, they turned their arms againft: Anticyra, a city of the 
Locri, and compelled it to furrender. This fuccefs en¬ 
couraged them to march into Achaia, and to oppofe the 
forces of Philip. The hoftile armies met near Lamia, a 
city of Phthiotis, where the Etolians were twice defeated. 
After this victory Philip was prevailed upon by an em- 
balfy from Ptolemy Philopater, king of Egypt, and by 
deputies from the iflands of Chios and Rhodes, and the 
city of Athens, to grant the Etolians a truce of thirty 
days, and to enter into a negociation for peace. The ne¬ 
gotiation proving unfuccefsful, the war was renewed, and 
during the abfenceof Philip, the Etolians poffeffed them- 
felves of feveral cities: they then entered ThefTaly, where 
they were met by Philip, and, after a confiderable (laugh¬ 
ter, totally routed. Next year they rallied again, and re¬ 
entered ThefTaly, plundering and deftroying wherever 
they came. The Etolians maintained their attachment 
to the Romans during the courfe of the war, and were fa¬ 
voured by the Roman commanders above the other nations 
of Greece ; but after the battle of Cynocephalae, in 
which Philip was entirely defeated, their mutual affection 
abated. The Etolians arrogated to themfelves the glory 
of this victory ; and Flaminius, the Roman general, mor¬ 
tified their vanity and excited their refentment, by grant¬ 
ing a truce to the deputies of Philip without confulting 
them. When a negociation for peace between Philip 
and the Romans commenced, the Etolians obftrudled it ; 
and it was concluded without their concurrence. Diffa- 
tisfied with the conduct of the Romans on this occafion, 
they meditated revenge, and exerted themfelves in railing 
new enemies againft their former allies. They made their 
firft attempt in the affembly of the Amphydtions, but 
failing here they had recourfe to Antiochus king of Syria, 
Nabis tyrant of Lacedaemon, and even to Philip king of 
Macedon, their former enemy. They were immediately 
joined by Nabis; and having concerted a plan for feizing 
on three cities, which were reckoned the bulwarks of 
Greece, viz. Chalcis in Euboea, Demetrias in ThefTaly, 
and Lacedaemon in the centre of Peloponnefus, they pro¬ 
ceeded to the execution of it. Having fucceeded by ftra- 
tagem in gaining poffefiion of Demetrias, Antiochus, who 
had declared in their favour, determined to land in this 
place; and in the year before Chrift 192, he arrived in 
Greece; and ina diet held at Lamia, was honoured with 
the title of generaiiflimo,' or commander in chief of all the 
Greek armies againft Rome. The king of Syria having 
sained poffefiion of Chalcis, was joined by feveral of the 
Greek ftates, who renounced their alliance with Rome: 
but Chalcis in the event proved no lefs fatal to Antiochus 
than Capua had been to Hannibal. During his refidence 
in this city lie formed a connection with the daughter of 
Cleoptolemus, one of the chief citizens, and married her. 
Such was the ardour of his attachment to the new queen, 
that he feemed to forget Rome, Greece, and Syria. The 
king fpent the winter in feaftings and rejoicings; his ex¬ 
ample infeCted the officers of his army ; the (oldiers aban¬ 
doned themfelves to idlenefs and debauchery; and mu¬ 
tiny and difordertoo foon prevailed. The Romans avail¬ 
ed themfelves of thefe circnmftances, difpatched a pow¬ 
erful army into Greece. The Etolians could afford him 
little affiftance ; nor was he able to flay the progrefs of 
the Roman army, till they compelled him to take refuge 
firft in Chalcis, and afterwards to fet fail for Afia and re¬ 
tire to Ephefus. The Etolians were ftrongly fortified 
at Pleraclea; although their number amounted but to 
2000, they held out fojrty days againft the incelfant attacks 
of the whole confular army under the victorious Acilius. 
The tow'n was at length taken by ftratagern, and deliver¬ 
ed up to be pillaged by the foldiers. Lamia, alfo furren- 
dered to the Romans. After the lofs of thefe two cities, 
the Etolians fued fora peace ; but they could merely ob- 
L I A. 
tain a truce of ten days. When this truce was near ex¬ 
piring, the Etolian ambaffadors at Rome were admitted 
tp an audience of the fenate ; and were told, that they 
muft either fubmit to the will of the fenate, or pay the 
republic a thoufand talents, and make neither war nor 
peace with any other power, without the confent and ap¬ 
probation of Rome. The ambaffadors hefitating, were 
ordered to leave Rome that day, and Italy in a fortnight. 
The Etolians upon a fecond application obtained a truce 
of fix months ; and the confular army was withdrawn 
from Greece. But during the interval of negociation 
they invaded the territories of Philip, and reduced feveral 
provinces, which they folicited the permiftion of the Ro¬ 
mans to retain. Their ambaffadors enforced their appli¬ 
cation by a falfe report, that the two Scipios had been 
made prifoners by Antiochus, and that the Roman army 
was entirely defeated. The fenate, incenfed by this arti¬ 
fice, difmiffed the ambaffadors, and forbad their return 
without the exprefs confent of the generals whom the re¬ 
public were about to fend for carrying on the war in their 
country. In the year before Chrift 189, the Romans be¬ 
gan their hoftile operations with the fiege of Ambracia, 
which was feafonably fuccoured by the Etolians, and vi- 
goroufly defended. The contending armies, having formed 
two mines near the wall of the city, fought for fome time 
under ground, firft with pickaxes and fpades, and then 
with fwords and fpears ; and each party fecured itfelf by 
making a kind of rampart with the loofe earth. The 
Etolians on this occafion invented a lingular kind of 
machine, in order to drive the enemy out of the mine ; 
this was a hollow veffel, with an iron bottom, bored with 
holes and armed with l'pikes for preventing the approach 
of the enemy. They filled this veffel with feathers, and 
having brought it to the place where the two mines met, 
they fet the feathers on fire ; and' by driving with bellows 
the fmeke on the befiegers, obliged them to quit the mine ; 
and by this ftratagem they gained time for repairing the 
foundations of the walls. The fiege, however, was conti¬ 
nued, and Ambracia was under a neceffity of capitulating'. 
After this event, the Etolians fent ambaffadors to Rome, 
and peace was concluded on very hard terms. Five hun¬ 
dred and fifty of the chief perfons of the nation were bar- 
baroully affaffihated by the partifans of Rome; and 
though the Etolians appeared in mourning habits before 
Pa ulus 135 niil ins, and complained of this inhuman treat¬ 
ment, they obtained no redrefs. From this time none 
were advanced to Rations of honour or office in Etolia, 
but thofe who were known to prefer the intereft of Rome 
to that of their own country. In this ftate of humiliating 
fubje&ion did the Etolians continue till the deftrudlion. 
of Corinth, and the diffolution of the Achaean league, 
when Etolia, with the other free ftates of Greece, was re¬ 
duced to a Roman province, commonly called the province 
of Achaia. 
Etolia now continued under the emperors, fill the 
reign of Conftantine the Great, who, in his new parti¬ 
tion of the provinces of the empire, divided the weftern 
parts of Greece from the reft, calling them new Epirus, 
and fubjedting the whole country to the pra-feEius pratorii' 
of Illyri'cum. Under the fuccefforsof Conftantine, Greece 
was divided into feveral principalities, efpecially after the 
taking of Conftantinople by the weftern princes. At that 
time, Theodorus Angelus, a noble Grecian, of the impe¬ 
rial family, feized on Etolia and Epirus. The former he 
left to Michael his for., who maintained it againft Michael- 
Palaeologus, the firft emperor of the Greeks, after the ex- 
pulfion of the Latins. Charles, the laft prince of this fa¬ 
mily, dying in 1430, without lawful iffue, bequeathed 
Etolia to his brother’s fon, named alfo Charles, and Acar- 
nania to his natural fons, Memnon, Turnus, and Hercules, 
But greatdifputesarifingabout thisdivifion, Amurath II. 
alter the reduction of Tlieffalonica, feized fo favourable 
an opportunity, and expelled them all in 1432. The 
Mahometans were afterwards difpoffeffed of this country 
by the famous prince of Epirus, George Caftriot, com¬ 
monly 
