The siege of Medion was a siege carried out by the

Aetolian League The Aetolian (or Aitolian) League ( grc-gre, Κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν) was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered in Aetolia in central Greece. It was probably established during the early Hellen ...

in 231 BC against the Ancient Greek city of

Medion Medion AG is a German consumer electronics company, and a subsidiary of Chinese multinational technology company Lenovo. The company operates in Europe, Turkey, Asia-Pacific, United States and Australia regions. The company's main products are c ...

Acarnania Acarnania ( el, Ἀκαρνανία) is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today i ...

. The siege triggered an invasion by an Illyrian relief force and ended in the Battle of Medion with an Aetolian defeat.

Siege

Earlier in 231 BC, after the dissolution of the

Epirote League The Epirote League (Epirote: , ''Koinòn Āpeirōtân''; Attic: , ''Koinòn Ēpeirōtôn'') was an ancient Greek coalition, or ''koinon'', of Epirote tribes. History The coalition was established between 370 and 320 BC (firstly as the Molossian ...

, the

had requested the city of Medion to join it, but the

ns refused. The Aetolians decided to take Medion by force, beginning the siege in June. The king of

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

Demetrius II Aetolicus Demetrius II Aetolicus (Greek: Δημήτριος ὁ Αἰτωλικός) was the son of Antigonus II Gonatas and Phila who reigned as king of Macedonia from the winter of 239 to 229 BC. Biography Demetrius II belonged to the Antigonid dynasty a ...

, a rival of the Aetolian League, being himself engaged against the

Dardani The Dardani (; grc, Δαρδάνιοι, Δάρδανοι; la, Dardani) or Dardanians were a Paleo-Balkan people, who lived in a region that was named Dardania after their settlement there. They were among the oldest Balkan peoples, and their ...

ans, requested Agron of

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

to intervene and help the Acarnanians. Agron accepted and sent a fleet of 100 '' lembi'' and 5,000 men to Medion. This was the largest force any Illyrian king had ever assembled. The Illyrians and Macedon were not necessarily allied, but the former was instead hired to assault the Aetolians at Medion as mercenaries for the latter. A modern historian,

Erich S. Gruen Erich Stephen Gruen ( , ; born May 7, 1935) is an American classicist and ancient historian. He was the Gladys Rehard Wood Professor of History and Classics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught full-time from 1966 until 2008 ...

, says that the fact that Demetrius of Macedon had to call the Illyrians to relieve Medion shows that he was incapable of doing so himself. This is supported by another historian, Grainger, who says that Demetrius was preoccupied in northern Macedon in a war against Dardania. As the Illyrians were also at war against the Dardanians, Grainger states it made Agron and Demetrius 'allies'. Polybius, on the other hand, who wrote a contemporary report, simply states that Agron was bribed by Macedon to attack the Aetolians. Polybius possibly wrote this to enforce his previous and later statements that the Illyrians were pirates.

Battle

The Illyrians landed on the Acarnanian coast in September and marched to Medion to attack the Aetolian besiegers. The Aetolians reacted by sending their own light infantry and

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

to a higher ground, but a single Illyrian charge, using their close formation and numbers to their advantage, forced the cavalry to retire to the Aetolian

hoplites Hoplites ( ) ( grc, ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The fo ...

. From their higher ground the Illyrians then charged downwards on the combined Aetolian army, quickly routing them. When at last the Acarnanians from inside the city joined the attack, the Aetolians were defeated and lost many fighters.

Aftermath

After taking many prisoners and much booty, the Illyrians left Medion and sailed to Illyria. Upon their arrival, they reported their victory over the Aetolians to King Agron, in late 231 BC. He is said to have died shortly afterwards, due to his excessive victory celebrations. He was succeeded by his wife,

Queen Teuta Teuta ( Illyrian: *''Teutana'', 'mistress of the people, queen'; grc, Τεύτα; lat, Teuta) was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC. Following the death of her spouse Agr ...

, the same year. It is assumed that after the Illyrians defeated the Aetolians at the siege, Medion and the rest of Acarnania allied with Illyria against the Aetolian League to protect the region from future attacks. This is evident as in the naval

battle of Paxos The Battle of Paxos was a naval battle between a coalition of Illyrian federation with their Acarnanian allies, against the allies of Corcyra (modern Corfu), the Achaean League and Aetolian League. The battle took place in the spring of 229& ...

, two years later, the Illyrian navy was enforced by ships from Acarnania.

References

Notes

{{Illyrians 231 BC 230s BC conflicts

Ancient Acarnania