- For the English football league, see Aetolian League (football).
The
Aetolian League (also transliterated as
Aitolian League) was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in
ancient Greece centered on
Aetolia in central Greece. It was established, probably during the early Hellenistic era, in opposition to
Macedon and the
Achaean League. Two annual meetings were held in
Thermika and Panaetolika. It occupied
Delphi from 290 BC and gained territory steadily until, by the end of the 3rd century BC, it controlled the whole of central Greece outside
Attica and
Boeotia. At its peak, the league's territory included
Locris,
Malis, Dolopes, part of
Thessaly,
Phocis, and
Acarnania. In the latter part of its power, certain
Greek city-states joined the Aetolian League such as the Ardadian cities of
Mantineia,
Tegea,
Figaleia and
Kydonia on
Crete.