Coercion, Land, and Federal Intervention: a Critical Approach to the Achaean Expansion in Arcadia in the latter Half of the Third Century BC

Summary This article re-examines the Achaean koinon’ s expansion in Arcadia during the latter half of the third century BC, challenging the prevailing historiographical emphasis on consensual and voluntary integration. Its primary objective is to demonstrate that coercion, violence, and federal intervention were crucial instruments of expansion, particularly in Orchomenus and Mantinea, while their limits are revealed in the case of Megalopolis. The working hypothesis is that such interventions entailed the temporary imposition of hierarchical federal structures upon member poleis , especially through land redistribution, the settlement of colonists, and the reorganisation of local political orders. By reassessing literary and epigraphic sources against the legitimising narratives of Polybius and Plutarch, the study reveals the selective exploitation of local resources and the reconfiguration of civic bodies as strategies for strengthening federal control. Its relevance lies in qualifying organic and consensual interpretations of Hellenistic federalism, foregrounding conflict, coercion, and negotiation as integral dynamics of integration.