The Defense of Acarnania in 389

Abstract

This chapter assesses the Defense of Acarnania in 389. It demonstrates that not only had the Acarnanians developed a sophisticated defensive strategy that predated the Spartan invasion of 389, but their collective capabilities were rooted in the pre-koinon era of their history. As events leading up to the invasion of 389 show, the Acarnanians were fully capable of attacking coastal settlements beyond their own borders. By the first quarter of the fourth century, the ethnos of the Acarnanians constituted a well-connected, well-organized, and efficient political entity that was thoroughly adapted to the broader geopolitical context of the Greek mainland. Ultimately, the Acarnanians' successful defense of 389 was possible without the structure of a formal federal state and the direction of a central power. The Defense of 389 certainly required leadership, and there is no question that Acarnanian generals were directing the individual contingents of slingers, javelineers, peltasts, and hoplites that attacked the Spartans and their allies. These individuals must have been leading figures within individual Acarnanian communities, and they may have constituted the Acarnanian congress at Stratos. Yet there are no grounds to conclude that they were also federal magistrates constituting or supervised by a standing, central government.