Editing Acarnania (section)

==Geography==
Acarnania is composed of three main regions: 1) a rocky coastline, 2) a rugged strip of mountain range that follows the coastline, and 3) plains lying between these mountains and the [[Achelous|Achelous River]].

Anciently, Acarnania was reckoned the most westerly province of Greece, bounded on the north by the [[Ambracian Gulf]], on the northeast by [[Amphilochia]], on the west and southwest by the [[Ionian Sea]], and on the east by [[Aetolia]]. It contained about {{convert|1571|sqmi}}. Under the Romans, or probably a little earlier, the river [[Achelous River|Achelous]] formed the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia; but in the time of the [[Peloponnesian War]], the territory of [[Oeniadae]], which was one of the Acarnanian towns, extended east of this river. The interior of Acarnania was covered with forests and mountains of no great elevation. Between these mountains there are several lakes, and many fertile valleys. The chief river of the country is the Achelous, which in the lower part of its course flows through a vast plain of great natural fertility, called after itself the [[Paracheloitis]]. By the 19th century, the plain was covered with marshes, and the greater part of it appeared to have been formed by the alluvial depositions of the Achelous. Owing to this circumstance, and to the river having frequently altered its channel, the southern part of the coast of Acarnania has undergone numerous changes since antiquity. The chief affluent of the Achelous in Acarnania is the [[Anapus (Acarnania)|Anapus]] (Ἄναπος), which flowed into the main stream 80 stadia south of [[Stratos, Greece|Stratus]]. 

There are several promontories on the coast, but of these only two are especially named by writers in antiquity, the promontory of [[Actium]] and that of [[Cape Skopia|Crithote]] (Κριθωτή), on the west coast, forming one side of the small bay, on which the town of [[Astakos|Astacus]] stood. Of the inland lakes, the only one mentioned by name by the classical writers is that of Melite (Μελίτη; the modern [[Lake Trichonida]]), 30 stadia long and 20 broad, north of the mouth of the Achelous, in the territory of [[Oeniadae]]. There was a lagoon, or salt lake, between [[Lefkada|Leucas]] and the Ambracian gulf, to which [[Strabo]] gives the name of [[Myrtuntium (lake)|Myrtuntium]] (Μυρτούντιον). Although the soil of Acarnania was fertile, it was not much cultivated by the inhabitants. The products of the country are rarely mentioned by the ancient writers. [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] speaks of iron mines,<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|N. H]]'', 36.19.</ref> and also of a pearl-fishery off Actium.<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|N. H]]'', 9.56.</ref> The chief wealth of the inhabitants consisted in their herds and flocks, which pastured in the rich meadows in the lower part of the Achelous. There were numerous islands off the western coast of Acarnania. Of these the most important were the [[Echinades]], extending from the mouth of the Achelous along the shore to the North; the [[Taphiae Insulae]], lying between Leucas and Acarnania, and Leucas itself, which originally formed part of the mainland of Acarnania, but was afterwards separated from the latter by a canal.