1

Achaians
BIRGITTA EDER

The name of the Achaians appears to refer to

the population of the region ACHAIA from
Archaic times onwards, when we can trace
the development of a regional identity in the
northwestern Peloponnese (Morgan 2002;
see ACHAIAN LEAGUE). Achaians from Achaia
figure in the settlement of southern Italy in
the late eighth and seventh centuries BCE in
the course of the so-called Greek Colonization
(see COLONIZATION, GREEK). In HOMER, however,
the name is never used to describe a local
ethnic group but is applied to the collective of
Greek forces fighting in the mythical Trojan
War under the leadership of AGAMEMNON (see
TROY). Less frequently, the Achaians are called
alternatively Danaans or Argives, but never
HELLENES (the Greek self-description from
Archaic times onwards). The name of the
Achaians thus carries the weight of (mythical)
history and the sense of being ancient and
indigenous.
These Homeric Achaians have been seen as
related to a land called AHHIYAWA, which figures
in documents of the Hittite Empire of the
fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BCE as
neighbor in a variable relationship. Here the
king of Ahhiyawa is at least once addressed
as co-equal to the Hittite king, and appears as
partner and sometimes as enemy. The identification of this country with the contemporary

Mycenaean (Late Bronze Age) Greek mainland

(or parts of it) is a matter of dispute, but it is
presently favored by the majority of scholars
(Heinhold-Krahmer 2007; Niemeier 2007:
6873). The name of the Homeric Achaians
may hence possibly derive from an ethnic
group of Late Bronze Age Greece.
SEE ALSO: Colonization, Greek; Hittite,
Hittites; Troy.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Heinhold-Krahmer, S. (2007) Zu diplomatischen
Kontakten zwischen dem Hethiterreich und dem
Land Ahhiyawa. In E. Alram-Stern and
G. Nightingale, eds., Keimelion. Elitenbildung und
elitarer Konsum von der mykenischen Palastzeit bis
zur homerischen Epoche, Akten des internationalen
Kongresses vom 3. bis 5. Februar 2005 in Salzburg:
191207. Vienna.
Morgan, C. (2002) Ethnicity: the example of
Achaia. In E. Greco, ed., Gli Achei e l identita`
etnica degli Achei doccidente, Atti del Convegno
Internazionale di Studi, Paestum, 2325 febbraio
2001: 96116. Paestum-Athens.
gais
Niemeier, W.-D. (2007) Westkleinasien und A
von den Anfangen bis zur Ionischen Wanderung:
Topographie, Geschichte und Beziehungen nach
dem archaologischen Befund und den hethitischen
Quellen. In J. Cobet, V. von Graeve,
W. D. Niemeier, and K. Zimmermann, eds.,
Fruhes Ionien: eine Bestandsaufnahme, PanionionSymposion Guzelcamli, 26. September 1.
Oktober 1999: 3796. Mainz am Rhein.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print page 41.
2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah02002