This paper makes a distinction between different ways of identification and self- identification of the citizens of the Achaian koinon . Citizens of the poleis that joined the federal state in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE are commonly called “Achaians” in the narrative tradition and in epigraphy, but this name reflected rather the participation of their hometowns to the federation than ethnic identification. A number of signs indicate that the “Achaians” considered themselves primarily as citizens of their native poleis . Ethnically, they continued to identify themselves as “Arkadians” or “Dorians”; in the inscriptions the designation “Achaian from a certain city” refers mainly to people from the indigenous Achaia. The Achaian koinon was mainly a military-political community, and the “Achaians” are referred to as such in the sources only insofar as they possessed federal citizenship.
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