Taking the Acrocorinth In 245 BC, Aratus was elected
strategos of the Achaean League. He went on to hold this position every two years until his death, with only a few interruptions. Aratus' career was marked by the expansion of the League. His first known act as
strategos was to pillage the countryside of
Locris and
Calydon. He also led a 10,000-strong army to help the
Boeotians against the
Aetolian League. stood In his second term, Aratus focused on capturing the
Acrocorinth, the
acropolis of
Corinth. The city of Corinth controlled entry to the
Peloponnese, and was an important trading post. The Acrocorinth was a formidable fortress, built on a hill nearly high. It had a freshwater source, was surrounded by cliffs, and was capped by a massive, walled citadel. Antigonus Gonatas controlled the Acrocorinth with a strong garrison under his commander
Persaeus. In 243 BC, Aratus learned from Syrian mercenaries that there was a less steep access route to the hill, where the wall was also at its lowest point. By midsummer that year, Aratus was ready to attack the Acrocorinth. Aratus assembled his army in Sicyon. The majority waited on the road between Sicyon and the Acrocorinth, while Aratus himself went to the city with a select force of 400 men. Eight were sent forward to overwhelm the guards before 100 soldiers scaled the walls with ladders. Each was barefoot to minimise noise. They encountered a group of guards on entering the city, and killed three. But a fourth escaped and raised the alarm. Aratus and his soldiers got as far as the citadel itself, attempting to scale its walls as defenders hurled projectiles down on them. In the meantime, 300 more soldiers had scaled the outer walls, but then struggled to find Aratus inside the city. The waiting Achaean army below was at risk of being trapped between the citadel's defenders and a group of Macedonian soldiers arriving from the city, but was saved by those 300 soldiers, who were able to attack and rout the Macedonians from behind. The 300 men then went back to support their commander at the citadel. Weather conditions proved favourable for Aratus: Aratus' soldiers scaled the walls of the citadel and the garrison surrendered. By dawn, the Achaeans held both citadel and city, in a victory owing partly to luck but also to good planning and nerve. The storming of the near-impregnable Acrocorinth was another major accomplishment for Aratus, following his taking of Sicyon. Very few achieved the feat; among those who did was
Demetrius I, "the Besieger". Aratus went on to capture
Lechaeum, the harbour of Corinth, and secure the 25 Macedonian warships docked there. He garrisoned the captured citadel with 400 Achaeans and 50 watchdogs. In 241 BC, during Aratus' third term as
strategos, the Aetolian League invaded the Peloponnese. Aratus and the Spartan king,
Agis IV, agreed to defend the
Isthmus of Corinth together, but disagreed on strategy. Agis IV wanted to defeat the Aetolians in a pitched battle. But Aratus wanted to avoid immediate fighting, on the grounds that the Aetolians could only cause limited damage at that time as crops had already been harvested and stored. It is unclear whether this reasoning truly reflected Aratus' thinking, or whether he regretted his alliance with Sparta. It has also been suggested that this was one of the episodes of Aratus' life in which he lost his nerve in military matters. Aratus remained determined to liberate Argos. In 235 BC he made another attempt, and succeeded in entering the city by attacking at night. But the Argives were reluctant to support him. Aratus was wounded in the thigh by a spear. He ordered a retreat, but the timing was unfortunate. The retreat emboldened the tyrant,
Aristippus of Argos, who had been preparing to flee the city. The Battle of the river Xerias went very different on the two wings. The Achaeans routed the enemy left flank, but Aratus, leading the other wing under the walls, retreated to the outrage of his officers, allowing Aristippus to claim victory. The next day, after forming up his army for battle, Aratus noticed that the enemy had gained numerical superiority through reinforcements and ordered withdrawal.
Annexation of Megalopolis The city of
Megalopolis was founded in 368 BC by the members of the
Arcadian League as a stronghold against Sparta. Until 235 BC, its tyrant,
Lydiades, had tried to maintain good relationships with Macedon. That year, on becoming aware of Aratus' expansionist plans in the Peloponnese; the death of Aristippus; and events in Sparta, Lydiades decided to give up his power by joining the Achaean League. This apparently unselfish deed had important consequences, as
Orchomenus and
Mantinea soon followed suit. The Achaean League became a significant power through the efforts of Aratus; a mighty confederation with an organised army financed by tax revenue, controlling all of the northern Peloponnese. After an unsuccessful punitive expedition into Attica by Aratus, the war ended in 229 BC, when the Macedonian king Demetrius was killed in battle against invading
Celtic tribes. For the first time since 294 BC, the city was again self-governing. Nevertheless, Athens refused the invitation to join the Achaean League. Under similar circumstances Aristomachus of Argos also abandoned the Macedonian alliance and joined the Achaean League, as Lydiadas of Megalopolis had done. The following year, 228 BC, Aristomachus was elected
strategos. After Demetrius' death,
Antigonus III Doson became regent for the child-king
Philip V of Macedon. He secured the northern frontier of his kingdom, and concluded a treaty with the Aetolians in about 228 BC. The ephors called Cleomenes back to Sparta, probably seeking to avoid all-out war. The defeat brought scorn on Aratus. An Achaean assembly voted to stop funding him. Aratus resolved to resign the office of general, but rethought and stayed on, again displaying his resilience. He marched with an Achaean army to Orchomenus, there defeating a Spartan army commanded by Cleomenes' father-in-law, who was captured and then quickly ransomed. In 226 BC, Cleomenes conquered Mantinea, Tegea and
Pharae. He succeeded in luring the Achaeans into open battle in the fall of 226 BC. Details of the engagement are not known, but the reformed Spartan army, now armed in the Macedonian style, won a decisive victory. The Achaeans sued for peace, and were rejected. Aratus began negotiating an alliance between Macedon and the Achaean League, but Macedon demanded the return of the Acrocorinth in return for intervening. The Achaeans were not prepared to give up the citadel, and negotiations broke down. In 225 BC, Cleomenes attacked Achaean territory again, aiming to take Aratus' home city, Sicyon. He hoped this would provoke the collapse of the entire Achaean League, as tensions within the League were already running high over Aratus' Macedonian strategy. If Sicyon fell, Aratus would no longer be part of the Achaean League. The plan to take Sicyon failed, but Cleomenes did conquer
Pellene,
Pheneus,
Penteleum, and later Agros. The Argives, never the most enthusiastic members of the Achaean League, decided to ally with Sparta. Many authors see in this the hand of Aristomachus, former tyrant of the city. Aratus was given
plenipotentiary powers to deal with the crisis. He marched to Corinth, arriving to face an angry mob: the population had heard of his intention to surrender the city and its citadel to Antigonus. Aratus only narrowly escaped. The Corinthians offered to surrender the city to Cleomenes, even while the Acrocorinth was still held by an Achaean garrison. Cleomenes marched towards Corinth, taking many other cities in
Argolis on his way. After laying siege to the Acrocorinth, Cleomenes proposed a peace treaty to Aratus, who refused. The Spartan king went on to besiege Sicyon, pillaging the surrounding countryside.
Macedonian intervention Shortly before the start of the siege, the Achaean council members decided to accept Macedon's war conditions after all. Aratus sent his son to Macedon as a hostage. Antigonus was ready with an army of 20,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry. When Cleomenes heard of the Macedonian intervention, he abandoned the siege of Sicyon as fast as possible, moving to the Isthmus of Corinth, a better position from which to meet the northern threat. Aratus went to meet the Macedonian king near
Pagae: Both hard-headed realists, Aratus and Antigonus got along well despite their wariness. Plutarch reports that at one point, during a banquet, they even shared a blanket to keep warm. Cleomenes' defensive front near the Isthmus of Corinth proved very effective. It took Antigonus a long time to overcome it, and he lost men while trying to break through near
Lechaeum. Later, a delegation from Argos asked Aratus to liberate their city from the Spartans, as Cleomenes had failed to deliver on his promises. Aratus sailed to
Epidaurus with 1,500 troops to attack Argos, but found that it had fallen already to an internal uprising with the help of
Timoxenos, then
strategos of the Achaean League. Sparta was left almost undefended. Cleomenes was forced to return to Sparta as a result, and leave his defences near the Isthmus. This allowed Antigonus to enter the Peloponnese, where he occupied the Acrocorinth and put a garrison in the city.
Battle of Sellasia In 224 BC, while Antigonus was liberating the occupied cities in the Peloponnese, Cleomenes was reinforcing his army. The winter of 223 BC saw Cleomenes feign a march to Tegea, but then turn for Megalopolis, where he took the city by surprise. Around a thousand citizens escaped, finding shelter in
Messene. Megalopolis itself was pillaged. Aratus reportedly wept while reporting this news to the Achaean council. Antigonus recalled his troops from winter quarters, but soon realised there was insufficient time. Cleomenes, emboldened, marched on Argos, pillaging the countryside in the hope that the population would be enraged by Antigonus' lack of action. But ultimately, Cleomenes' acts served only to antagonise the inhabitants of the Peloponnese. Antigonus was able to rally his army, now numbering some 27,600 infantry and 1,200 cavalry. Cleomenes occupied the pass near Sellasia, before Sparta, to stop the Macedonian king. But he was defeated at the
Battle of Sellasia in July 222 BC, and fled to Egypt. Antigonus conquered Sparta, but treated the city leniently and left again some days later.
Social War , king of
Macedon and Aratus' ally In 221 BC, the Aetolians began pillaging the territory of
Messenia. In 220 BC, the council of the Achaean League met in
Aegium to discuss the city of
Messene's request for their help. Most council members did not want to attack the Aetolians, but Aratus was able to persuade them. He began to raise an army near Megalopolis, with the aim of trapping the Aetolians as they returned to their ships to sail home. But the Aetolian commander was able to evade the threat. It seemed there would be no decisive confrontation, until the Achaean commanders made a crucial mistake and Aratus sent a cavalry unit against the Aetolians: The cavalry had to fight on rough terrain, where the Aetolians were greatly superior. Aratus then abandoned his favourable position to go to his cavalry's aid. The rest of the Aetolian force seized the advantage, charging from high ground to rout the Achaeans. After the battle, the Aetolians continued pillaging, and also raided Sicyon. They returned to Aetolia via the Isthmus of Corinth, adding insult to the injury of the Achaeans' failure to protect their own. As both sides were then trying to find new allies, the Achaean League turned again to Macedon. But the new Macedonian king,
Philip V, was not keen on war with the Aetolians. Ultimately, the Achaeans did convince Philip, and
Boeotia,
Acarnania, and
Epirus also joined the alliance. The Aetolians allied with Sparta and
Elis, and in 219 BC again invaded Achaean League territory. This invasion attempt was put down near
Aegeira, but it was not a decisive defeat. In the meantime, Philip was preparing his army in Macedon. He won several victories in 218 BC, but his army mutinied and he returned to Macedon for the winter. Philip was assisted by Aratus and several other advisors, of whom Apelles was the most important. Aratus had become very influential, and is considered to have been a true friend of the king. Apelles, in contrast, remained resolutely Macedonian, still wanting to incorporate Achaea into the Kingdom of Macedon. Apelles began to oppose the Achaeans in the allied army, for example by demoting several Achaean officers. He also opposed Aratus by supporting his opponent,
Eperatus, in the election of a new
strategos. He tried, and failed, to impeach Aratus by ruse. The relationship between Apelles and the Macedonian king appears to have worsened as a result, and Aratus became Philip's most important advisor. Aratus quickly gained a reputation for his skill, but this increased the other officers’ envy. They began to insult him openly during their banquets, even throwing stones. The king was furious, and ordered those responsible put to death. After Macedon's intervention in the war, the Aetolians faced more difficulties on all fronts. They continued their pillaging, but were frequently ambushed. Ultimately they sued for peace, concluded in 217 BC. ==Death==