Policy of the Achaean League
My object in thus going back in point of time was,
first, to show clearly at what epoch the Achaeans entered into
the second league, which exists at this day, and which were the
first members of the original league to do so; and, secondly,
that the continuity of the policy pursued by the Achaeans
might rest, not on my word only, but on the evidence of the
actual facts. It was in virtue of this policy,—by holding
out the bait of equality and freedom, and by invariably
making war upon and crushing those who on their own account, or with the support of the kings, enslaved any of the
states within their borders, that they finally accomplished the
design which they had deliberately adopted, in some cases by
their own unaided efforts, and in others by the help of their
allies. For in fact whatever was effected in this direction, by
the help of these allies in after times, must be put down to
the credit of the deliberately adopted policy of the Achaeans
themselves. They acted indeed jointly with others in many
honourable undertakings, and in none more so than with the
Romans: yet in no instance can they be said to have
aimed at obtaining from their success any advantage for a
particular state. In return for the zealous assistance rendered
by them to their allies, they bargained for nothing but the
freedom of each state and the union of the Peloponnese. But
this will be more clearly seen from the record of their actual
proceedings.
