Epirus

Ēpīros (Ēpīrus), ī, f.: Epirus, the country on the Adriatic coast, west of Thessaly and Macedon, now Albania, 3.292.

Ēpīrus or -os, i, f., = Ἤπειρος,

• the province of Epirus, in the north of Greece, now part of Albania, Mel. 2, 3, 4 sq.; 2, 7, 10; Plin. 4, 1, 1, § 1 sqq.; Cic. Att. 2, 4, 5; id. Pis. 40, 96; Varr. R. R. 2, praef. 7; Verg. G. 1, 59; id. A. 3, 292; Ov. M. 8, 283; Stat. Ach. 1, 428 et saep.—
• II Derivv.
• • A Ēpīrōtēs, ae, m., = Ἠπειρώτης, an inhabitant of Epirus, an Epirote, Plin. 3, 11, 15, § 98; Aur. Vict. Vir. Ill. 33; scanned Ēpĭrōtēs, Aus. Profess. 15, 13.—Adj., of Epirus: Epirotae equi, Veg. Vet. 6, 6, 3.—
  • B Ēpīrōtĭcus, a, um, adj., = Ἠπειρωτικός, of or from Epirus, Epirotic: familia, Varr. R. R. 1, 17, 5: boves, id. ib. 2, 5, 10: canes, id. ib. 2, 9, 5: res, Cic. Fam. 13, 18 fin.: litterae, id. Att. 5, 20, 9; 12, 53 et saep.—
  • C Ēpīrensis, e, adj., of Epirus: Alexander, Liv. 8, 17, 9.

Ēpīrus (Ēpīros), ī, f. (Ηπειρος), eine Landschaft Griechenlands zwischen Mazedonien, Thessalien und dem Ionischen Meere, der größte Teil des heutigen Albaniens, Cic. Pis. 96 u.a.: berühmt durch Vieh-, bes. Pferdezucht, Varro r. r. 2. praef. 7. Verg. georg. 1, 59. – Dav.: A) Ēpīrēnsis, e, epirensisch, Liv. 8, 24, 17. – B) Ēpīrōtēs, ae, m. (Ἠπειρώτης), aus Epirus (gebürtig usw.), der Epirote, Plin.: Plur. Ēpīrōtae, die Bewohner von Epirus, die Epiroten, Liv. – C) Ēpīrōticus, a, um (Ἠπειρωτικός), epirotisch, Varro, Cic. u.a.

Ēpīrus (11) (-ros), ī, f. (Ἤπειρος), lʼÉpire [province occidentale de la Grèce, auj. lʼAlbanie] : Cic. Att. 2, 4, 5 || -rōtēs, æ, n. , Épirote : Plin. 3, 98 || m. pl. Épirotes, habitants de lʼÉpire || -rēnsis, e, dʼÉpire : Liv. 8, 17, 9 ; ou -ōtĭcus, a, um, Cic. Att. 5, 20, 9.

EPIRUS

EPIRUS[EPEIRUS]

Epīrus

(Ἤπειρος). A country to the west of Thessaly, lying along the Adriatic. The Greek term, which answers to the English word mainland, appears to have been applied at a very early period to that northwestern portion of Greece which is situated between the chain of Pindus and the Ionian Gulf and between the Ceraunian Mountains and the river Acheloüs—this name being probably used to distinguish it from the large, populous, and wealthy island of Corcyra, which lay opposite to the coast. It appears that, in very ancient times, Acarnania was also included in the term, and in that case the name must have been used in opposition to all the islands lying along the coast (Homer Od. xiv. 100).

The inhabitants of Epirus were scarcely considered Hellenic. The population in early times had been Pelasgic. The oracle at Dodona was always called Pelasgic, and many names of places in Epirus were also borne by the Pelasgic cities of the opposite coast of Italy. But irruptions of Illyrians had barbarized the whole nation; and though Herodotus speaks of Thesprotia as a part of Hellas, he refers rather to its old condition, when it was a celebrated seat of the Pelasgians, than to its state at the time when he wrote his history. In their mode of cutting the hair, in their costume, and in their language, the Epirotes resembled the Macedonians, who were an Illyrian race. Theopompus, cited by Strabo, divided the inhabitants of Epirus into fourteen different tribes, of which the most renowned were the Chaonians, Thesprotians, and Molossians. The Molossians claimed descent from Molossus, son of Neoptolemus and Andromaché. Tradition reported that the son of Achilles, Neoptolemus or Pyrrhus, as he is also called, having crossed from Thessaly into Epirus on his return from the siege of Troy, was induced, by the advice of an oracle, to settle in the latter country, where, having subjugated a considerable extent of territory, he transmitted his newly formed kingdom to Molossus, his son by Andromaché, from whom his subjects derived the name of Molossi.

The history of Molossia is involved in great obscurity until the period of the Persian invasion, when the name of Admetus, king of the Molossi, occurs from the circumstance of his having generously afforded shelter to Themistocles when in exile and pursued by his enemies, although the influence of that celebrated statesman had previously been exerted against him in some negotiations which he had carried on at Athens (Thuc.i. 136). Admetus was succeeded by his son Tharybas or Tharymbas, who appears to have been a minor towards the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, when we find his subjects assisting the Ambraciots in their invasion of Acarnania. Tharybas is represented by Plutarch ( Pyrrh.) as a wise and able monarch, and as encouraging science and literature. His successor is not known; but some years after, we hear of a prince called Alcetas, who was dethroned by his subjects but restored by Dionysius of Syracuse (Pausan. i. 11). Neoptolemus, his son, reigned but for a short time and left the crown to his brother Arybas, together with the care of his children. Alexander, the eldest of these, succeeded his uncle, and was the first sovereign of Epirus who raised the character and fame of that country among foreign nations by his talents and valour. His sister Olympias had been married to Philip of Macedon before his accession to the throne of Epirus, and the friendship thus cemented between the two monarchs was still further strengthened by the union of Alexander with Cleopatra , the daughter of Philip. It was during the celebration of their nuptials at Edessa that the king of Macedon was assassinated. Alexander of Epirus seems to have been an ambitious prince, desirous of conquest and renown. There is good reason for believing that he united the Chaonians, Thesprotians, and other Epirotic clans, together with the Molossians, under his sway, as we find the title of king of Epirus first assumed by him (Diod. Sic.xvi. 72). Having been applied to by the Tarentines to aid them against the attacks of the Lucani and Bruttii, he eagerly seized this opportunity of adding to his fame and enlarging his dominions. He therefore crossed over into Italy with a considerable force, and, had he been properly seconded by the Tarentines and the other colonies of Magna Graecia, the barbarians, after being defeated in several engagements, must have been conquered. But Alexander, being left to his own resources and exertions, was at length surrounded by the enemy and slain (B.C. 326) near Pandosia in the Bruttian territory (Livy, viii. 24). On the death of Alexander the crown devolved on his cousin Aeacides, the son of Arybas, the former king, of whom little is known, except that, having raised an army to assist Olympias against Cassander, his soldiers mutinied and deposed him; not long after, however, he appears to have been reinstated. His brother Alcetas, who succeeded him, was engaged in a war with Cassander, which proved disastrous; for, being defeated, his dominions were overrun by the forces of his victorious enemy, and he himself was put to death by his rebellious subjects. The name of Pyrrhus, who now ascended the throne, gives to the history of Epirus an importance it never would otherwise have possessed. (See Pyrrhus.) Alexander, the eldest son of Pyrrhus, succeeded his father, whom he sought to emulate by attempting afresh the conquest of Macedon. On this occasion Antigonus Gonatas was again vanquished and driven from his dominions. But Demetrius, his son, having raised another army, attacked Alexander and presently compelled him to evacuate the Macedonian territory (Just.xxvi. 3). At the expiration of two other insignificant reigns, the royal line of the Aeacidae becoming extinct, the Epirots determined to adopt a republican form of government, which prevailed until the subjugation of Macedon by the Romans. Having been accused of favouring Perseus in the last Macedonian War, they became the objects of the bitterest vengeance of the Romans, who treated them with unusual severity. Aemilius Paullus destroyed seventy of their towns and sold 150,000 of the inhabitants into slavery. Epirus, having lost its independence, was then annexed as a province to the Roman Empire. See Merleker, Darstellung des Landes und der Berwohner von Epeiros (Königsberg, 1841); and Bowen, Athos, Thessaly, and Epirus (London, 1852).

Epirus Physical Description

Epirus is a region of northwest Greece stretching south from Albania to the Ambracian Gulf. Epirus is washed by the Ionian Sea on its western coast, and is separated from Thessaly by the Pindus mountains. Parallel mountain ranges running north to south enclose narrow valleys and plateaus with good pasture and extensive woods. Alluvial plains exist near Buthrotum, Glycys Limen and Ambracia, and are watered by many rivers. The principal rivers are the Arachthos, the Thyamis and the Acheron.

Overall, Epirus has a humid climate, and the winters are cold. These conditions favor the development of agriculture, especially herding: sheep, horses, and goats. Epirus has long been famous for its flocks, pasturage and its breed of Molossian dogs. The richest agricultural area in Epirus adjoins the north shore of the Gulf of Ambracia. Its climate combines heavy rainfall with a mild winter and abounds in rich pasture land, as well as in fish breeding lagoons. It is the natural outlet for the produce of central Epirus, and its ports have always been more active than any other on the west coast of Greece.

Epirus has two harbors, one at Buthrotum and the other at Glycys Limen (at Acheron's mouth). The hinterland of Epirus, shut off from the sea by mountains, is drained by the Aous and Arachthos rivers, which rise in the center of the Pindus range at Mount Lacmon. The center of the hinterland is the plateau of Dodona. Here the main route from Ambracia to Oricum joins the route westward over Mount Lacmon to Thessaly.

History

In ancient times Epirus was considered backward. This is probably due to the fact that the interior of the land was mountainous and this natural obstruction prevented most communication, isolating the people from the rest of Greece. The inhabitants of Epirus were only partly Hellenic, and spoke other dialects than Greek. The Hellenic influence came from the Elean colonies in Kassope and from the Corinthian colonies at Ambracia and Corcyra. Despite this reputation for being uncultured, Epirus boasted not only the oracle of Zeus at Dodona, but the oracle of the dead at Acheron, both of which drew a great number of pilgrims to the area.

Sites

The Sanctuary of Zeus and the noted oracle of Dodona lie at the foot of Mount Tomaros in central Epirus, southwest of the present capital of Ioannina. The ancient oracle was reputedly the oldest in Greece. It developed in a region which was inhabited in the Bronze Age by Thresprotians and after 1200 B.C. by Molossians, and was served by priests believed to be Pelasgic in origin. After 1200 B.C. Naia, the source goddess, was worshiped under the name of Dione and was joined by the weather god Zeus Naios. The god was worshiped as a sacred oak tree whose rustling leaves would express the oracle that was interpreted by the priests. The sanctuary was supported by Pyrrhus of Epirus (297-273 B.C.) and by Philip V of Macedon (219 B.C.), but was destroyed in A.D. 391.

In southern Epirus at the confluence of the Kokytos and Acheron rivers sits the ancient town of Ephyra with its Necromanteion, oracle of the dead and Sanctuary of Persephone and Hades. The Necromanteion is a labyrinthine structure with winding corridors and windowless rooms above and below ground. The polygonal masonry, dated to the Hellenistic period, was ruined by a fire in 168 B.C.

Kassope, southeast of Ephyra, sits on a plateau and faces south. The city, protected by a polygonal wall, was laid out on the Hippodamian system during the fourth century B.C. Within the walls of the city are a stoa and an odeion flanking the agora, and a theater. In 167 B.C. Kassope was burned by the Romans and abandoned when Nikopolis was built.

Actium, famous for the battle of 31 B.C. between Octavian (Augustus) and Antony and Cleopatra for control of the ancient world, sits on the peninsula between the Ionian Sea and the Gulf of Ambrakia in southernmost Epirus. After Octavians decisive victory at Actium, which left him sole ruler of the Empire, he founded a Roman colony on his camp site to commemorate the event. He called it Nikopolis, 'victory city,' and populated it with inhabitants from cities in Aetolia and Acarnania including Kalydon, Ambracia, and Argos. Within the walls of Nikopolis there was an odeion, and outside the walls were a basilica, baths, a theater, and a stadium.

Curtis Runnels

• includes Thesprotia: Paus. 1.6.8
• its history: Paus. 1.11.1-Paus. 1.13.9
• sepulchres of kings of E. Paus. 1.9.7ff.
• Thesprotian Epirus: Paus. 5.22.3
• falls into anarchy: Paus. 4.35.3
• conquered by Illyrians: Paus. 4.35.5
• the sons of Alcmaeon, journey to: Apollod. 3.7.6
• Apollonia in: Apollod. E.6.15
• Ulysses journeys through: Apollod. 3.1.1
• Neoptolemus, king of the islands off: Apollod. 3.1.4

• peninsula from east and from sea
• course of the river in Pindos Mts.
• metsovo and Pindos Mts. from east
• Pindos Mts. from Metsovo
• view north over Pindos Mts. from Metsovo Pass