Akhaia

Collective term for the people or groups of peoples inhabiting western
coastal Anatolia,
the islands of Archipelagos, and
eastern Pelasgios. Also, the name
for the sprawling territory they control.

Deliberately vague in
composition, membership, and authority, Akhaia was never a formal league or
alliance comparable to those of Ashuwa
or Arzawa, though the central concept was similar. Organized by powerful Pelasgian
cities like Thebai and monopolizing
trade routes originally established by Kursatta,
Akhaia represented an an early and concerted attempt to emulate the geographic and
economic dominance of empires like Hatti
and Khemia. With its dominance of Anatolia,
Hatti controlled virtually all imports of eastern tin and therefore bronze
production, plus amber and other far-northern goods only available by passage through
the Dardanelles.

Akhaia’s origin is directly tied
to Thebai, which unofficially allied with lesser kingdoms to present a united trade
coalition against Hatti. Thus, in its earliest form, Akhaia proved instrumental
in the conquest of Kursatta and its many island colonies. As it acquired
success and grew in power, Akhaia pushed its holdings to the Anataolian coast,
where Thebai came to dominate Millawanda while Mukanai controlled Apasa. Differences between those two “powers” led to inconsistent application of policy in the region, such that where Millawanda remained content with mere access to Hatti trade resources, Apasa wished to overthrow and seize control.

Toward this end, Akhaia
staged two failed attempts to wrest control of the coast from Hatti. The first,
poorly organized and lacking clear purpose, led Hatti to suppress the so-called
Assuwa League. The second,
orchestrated by Tantalos in Arzawa and Pandareos in Apasa, brought about the Arzawaean War. While virtually all of
the influence established by Mukanai was lost at the end of this conflict,
Millawanda successfully maintained its Akhaian presence by open alliance with
Hatti, including the marriage of war-captive Niobë
to Thebai’s king Amphion.

Taking this as betrayal,
Mukanai thereafter undertook a long-term campaign to humiliate Thebai and gain
control of Akhaia. Toward this end, Pertheos
redoubled his efforts to dominate Pelasgios,
only to be thwarted by Thebai’s promotion of Pelops
in the west. Ultimately however, internal scandal and rampant corruption
brought Thebai down from within, leaving eastern Pertheids and western Pelopids
to struggle for control of Akhaia. This contest lasted well into the life of Alkaios Alkeides, whose unwavering support
of Argolis crippled Pelopid
interests, leaving Mukanai to guide Akhaia in the manner of its choosing.

Akhaia next sought to
increase its wealth and military might by allying with Hatti’s enemies within
Anatolia itself. Toward this end, Iason
determined there was no need to conquer Hatti directly when its vulnerable
peripheries would prove equally lucrative. He therefore re-directed Akhaian
thinking from direct confrontation of empire to conquest of its most valuable
and least protected frontier, Troas.

Several bouts of additional in-fightning
prevent the launch of Iason’s campaign however. Without exception, the greatest
of these distractions was Alkaios Alkeides himself. Following his conquest of Ilion and a great westward voyage that revealed
new sources for tin, all of the original complaints had been addressed. In
truth, there was no legitimate reason for Akhaia’s continued existence at this
stage, though Mukanai had no intention of giving up its hard-won prominence.

Under leadership of Agamedmon, Mukanai continued its program
of domination over Akhaia. Making use of well-established trade and political
connections as well as open warfare, Agamedmon finally succeeded in making
Mukanai undisputed master of Akhaia and proclaimed himself *wanaks*. With the
entire Peloponessos, much of Aeolia,
Kursatta, and nearly all southern Archipelagos
under his thumb, Agamedmon next turned his attention on the north, launching
attacks on Lesbos, Laminë, and Thraikë, all in anticipation of conquering Ilion and seizing
control of the strait.

Following Alkaios Alkeides’
conquest however, Ilion easily returned
to and far exceeded its former glory. He hadn’t destroyed the city after all,
only deposed and executed Laomedon
and his elder heirs, leaving young Podarkes
to succeed his father in time. Kapys therefore
became regent-ruler of Ilion while his nephew withdrew to Hattusha. Under Kapys’ mild-patient rule,
not only was Ilion restored but the whole of Troas unified such that, by the
time Podarkes returned as Priamos and
assumed his place as *wanaks*, a wholly
Troianes society greeted his
arrival. Like Agamedmon himself, Priam then turned his attention outward,
gathering allies and defeating enemies to hold Hatti’s northlands against
Akhaia.

Though it seems certain
Akhaia and Troas would come to blows eventually, this outcome was hastened both
by Agamedmon’s open assault on the *Kabieroi* of Laminë and Thraikë,
compounded by Hektor’s recovery of
Helë and the Ilion hoard. Priam
felt obliged to engage the invaders plaguing his island allies, while Agamedmon
exploited his brother’s claims of theft to gather Akhaia *en masse*. While the war that followed certainly brought doom to Ilion and the Ilidai, it also marked the beginning of the end for Akhaia
itself.

With every chieftain and other
leader of note committed to warfare on foreign soil, Aeloia and the
Peloponessos lay vulnerable to countless enemies. From rebellious islands to
new waves of invasion sweeping down from the north, Akhaia’s central homelands
were further undermined by the women like Hesionë,
Penelopë, and Klytemnestra, each of whom sought to
destroy their husbands’ rules, though for vastly different reasons. While a
partial collapse of Akhaian authority occurred during the course of the war, that
fall was ultimately completed with the open assassination of Agamedmon and sack
of Mukanai. This, coupled with Aineias’
rise to power as the new *wanaks* of Troas and launching raids of allied Sea Peoples, completed Akhaia’s fall.