Alleanza fra Lacedemoni ed Etoli Erxadiei

The peace treaty and alliance between the Lacedaemonians and Aetolians Erxadieis is one of the rare specimens of classical Spartan epigraphy and the oldest primary source on the Spartan hegemonic political system: more than being the expression of a direct relationship between Sparta and the Aetolian koinon, the treaty seems to deal with a smaller, unknown ethnos, most probably Peloponnesian, which recalls the Aetolians in its name and origin. On the grounds of its political-institutional language the inscription, whose date in the scholarship fluctuates between the end of the 6th century and 388 BC, could well be inserted in the Peloponnesian political climate of the years after the Peace of Nicias and reflect the evolution of international relations at that time; in particular, if Mantinea (restored at l. 4) is excluded from the alliance, the dating can be narrowed down to between 420 and 418 BC.