Macedon was the smallest and most stable of all Hellenistic kingdoms. There was no foreign upper class, the dynasty had its roots in the land itself, and the army was a permanent and national army, recruited from the farmers. Macedon was not treated as personal property of the king, but there were several royal monopolies like wood and precious metals. The power of Macedon had decreased nevertheless since the era of the diadochs, and its influence in Hellas now only consisted of maintaining garrisons in Thebe, Chalcis and Corinth. It also supported pro-Macedonian governments, but was never really successful at this.

Isopoliteia and sympoliteia.

The decreased power of Macedon was also a result of federal treaties in areas in Hellas which did not play any role in the classical history. The Aetolian League was founded in north-west Hellas, while the Achaean League was formed in the Peloponesse. For a good understanding of the implications of these treaties we should know the two different forms of treaties. The first one was called isopoliteia, and was a treaty between two or more Poleis. By signing this treaty a citizen of one city would automatically become a full citizen of the other city if he would move to this city, there would be no problems when somebody would marry another person from the other city, and citizens could own land in the territory of the other city. However, the sovereignty and autonomy of all cities would be maintained. The second form of treaty was called sympoliteia, and was a closer co-operation. The citizens of participating Poleis not only were a citizen of their own city, but they also had some sort of "league-citizenship" as in the United States of America nowadays. Usually there was also isopoliteia when a sympoliteia-treaty was signed.

A sympoliteia or federal league was different from a symmachia or hegemonial league like the Delian League as the league was not dominated by one single city. Furthermore was the autonomy of the members of a symmachia maintained while the autonomy of the members of a sympoliteia was decreased by installing administrative machinery. There was no intervention in the internal running of the cities as the competence of the league was limited to foreign policy. The political structure of a League was in principal the same as one of a Polis: a primary assembly, a council and elected magistrates formed, in theory, a democratic institution which ensured the equality of the cities. However, the size of the territory and the number of citizens was too big for direct democratic control by assembling all citizens of the participating cities at a regular basis. Federalism implied intense delegation of authority to representative administrative bodies. A government which represented the citizens was seen as oligarchy in those days, so it is not surprising that not every city was enthusiastic about this federalism.

The Aetolian League.

The Aetolian League was formed out of a tribalism of Aetolians. Their first act of importance was stopping the Celtic advance in 279. Since then they dominated almost all of central Hellas, and that is why they had continuous conflicts with Macedon. Because of this they contacted the Romans later on to interfere in Hellas. The Aetolians had a bad name as they were feared pirates.

The council of all Aetolians assembled twice a year, and matters were voted by call. Besides this body the cities were proportional represented in the boule of 1000 people. The real decisions were made by a council of thirty, who were chosen from the boule, and the annually chosen strategos who was president of the League and commander of the army at the same time. The Aetolian League was a tribalism at first so that non-Aetolian cities could only be associated with the League by an isopoliteia-treaty.

The Achaean League.

The Achaean League became important later in the third century. It had its roots in the north of the Peloponesse, and was the arch-enemy of the Aetolian League. There were several differences between the Leagues. The Achaean League was no tribalism so every city could participate in it without problems. The people's council assembled at least four times each year (citizenship depended on wealth), but the real power was just like with the Aetolian League in the hands of a smaller council. The cities were not proportional represented in this council, but each city had one vote. This council consisted of ten demiourgoi and one strategos who had the same functions as the strategos in the Aetolian League. A man could become a strategos every other year. The League reached its peak of power during the leadership of Aratus of Sicyon who was strategos each other year from 245 till his death in 213. In 243 he made himself famous by defeating the Macedonian garrison in Corinth, a large expansion of the League was the result.

Athens and Sparta were so impressed by their own glorious histories as independent and leading cities that they decided not to participate in the federalist tendencies. The desire of two Spartan kings, Agis IV (244-241) and Cleomenes III (235-219), to restore the power of Sparta even lead there to a social revolution. Sparta was ready for such a revolution as the inhabitants consisted of a small group of land-owners, and a large group of helots, perioikos and degraded Spartans. An attempt of Agis IV to peacefully change this situation failed as he was murdered by the upper class. Ten years later Cleomenes started the social revolution by declaring all debts void, and by redistributing all land. The perioikos also got their share of land. The goal of Cleomenes was creating a new group Spartans who would restore the military power of Sparta. The lower classes of the Achaean League, who were in the middle of an economic crisis, were very enthusiastic about the success of this social revolution, but this quickly changed when it appeared that Cleomenes was more interested in restoring Sparta's power than exporting the social revolution.