Achaea [key], region of ancient Greece, in the northern part of the Peloponnesus on the Gulf of Corinth. It lay between Sicyon and Elis. There the Achaeans supposedly remained when driven from other parts of Greece by the Dorian invasion. The small Achaean cities eventually banded together in the First Achaean League, but exerted little influence. Later, however, the Second Achaean League became an important factor. After the downfall of the league, the name Achaea, or Achaia, was given to a Roman province in the Peloponnesus.
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