Aratus(2)

Extract

*Sicyonian statesman. He fled to *Argos (1) after the murder of his father Cleinias in 264 and was educated there. In 251 he expelled the tyrant Nicocles from *Sicyon and joined the city to the *Achaean Confederacy. From 245 on he occupied a dominant position amongst the Achaeans, normally holding the generalship of the confederacy in alternate years. His policy was for long based upon opposition to Macedon, especially Macedonian influence in the *Peloponnese, and co-operation with Egypt, where he visited *Ptolemy (1) II Philadelphus and whence he obtained substantial subsidies. He seized the Acrocorinth from a Macedonian garrison in 243 and united Corinth to the Achaean Confederacy. In 241 he defeated *Antigonus (2) Gonatas' Aetolian allies at Pellene and thereafter, in alliance with Aetolia against Macedon (239–229), frequently attacked Athens and Argos; in 229 Argos was brought into the Achaean Confederacy and Athens, with Aratus' help, was freed from Macedonian control. These years also saw the addition of *Megalopolis (235) and *Orchomenus (2) to the confederacy.