The supposed descendants of the demi-god Æakus, whose grandson was Achilles. (See MYRMIDONS.) Miltiades, the hero of Marathon, and Pyrrhus, the warrior King of Epirus, were among those claiming to belong to the royal race of Eakids. ÆDHILING. See ETHEL. ÆDILES, Roman. See ROME: B. C. 494-492. ÆDUI. ARVERNI. ALLOBROGES. "The two most powerful nations in Gallia were the Ædui [or Hædui] and the Arverni. The Ædui occupied that part which lies between the upper valley of the Loire and the Saone, which river was part of the boundary between them and the Sequani. The Loire separated the Ædui from the Bituriges, whose chief town was Avaricum on the site of Bourges. At this time [B. C.121] the Arverni, the rivals of the Ædui, were seeking the supremacy in Gallia. The Arverni occupied the mountainous country of Auvergne in the centre of France and the fertile valley of the Elaver (Allier) nearly as far as the junction of the Allier and the Loire. … They were on friendly terms with the Allobroges, a powerful nation east of the Rhone, who occupied the country between the Rhone and the Isara (Isère). … In order to break the formidable combination of the Arverni and the Allobroges, the Romans made use of the Ædui, who were the enemies both of the Allobroges and the Arverni. … A treaty was made either at this time or somewhat earlier between the Ædui and the Roman senate, who conferred on their new Gallic friends the honourable title of brothers and kinsmen. This fraternizing was a piece of political cant which the Romans practiced when it was useful." _G. Long, Decline of the Roman Republic, volume 1, chapter 21._ See, also, GAULS. Ægæ. See EDESSA (MACEDONIA). ÆGATIAN ISLES, Naval Battle of the (B. C. 241). See PUNIC WAR, THE FIRST. ÆGEAN, The. "The Ægean, or White Sea, … as distinguished from the Euxine." _E. A. Freeman, Historical Geography of Europe, page 413, and foot-note._ ÆGIALEA. ÆGIALEANS. The original name of the northern coast of Peloponnesus, and its inhabitants. See GREECE: THE MIGRATIONS. ÆGIKOREIS. See PHYLÆ. ÆGINA.