Olympias of Epirus was born around 375 B.C.E. with the name Myrtale. She was the daughter of the Molossian king Neoptolemus in Epirus, part of the Aeacidae royal house. As for her mother, she is absent from sources, but some scholars have suggested that she was a Chaonian princess, in northwestern Epirus. This match makes sense when considering the Molossians’ […]
Dyrrachium (or Dyrrhachium) refers to the ancient city that flourished on the territory of the current coastal city of Durrës in Albania. The name is formed by the root “Dyrrach” followed either by the typical Latin suffix “ium”. Before appearing in Latin sources it appeared in ancient Greek literature as “Dyrrachion” (“Dyrrach” + the typical ancient Greek suffix “ion”). In […]
The Illyrian city of Dimal (or Dimallum) was apparently founded sometime during the first half of the IV-th century B.C.E. However, Hammond (1968) credits Pyrrhus of Epirus or his successors for the foundation of Dimal. The Epirote ruler may have established a city here sometime in 290 B.C.E. The theory that credits Pyrrhus with the foundation of Dimal deserves attention […]
Apollonia was one of the most powerful Hellenic colonies in the Adriatic. It occupied a strategic position allowing for communication with the Illyrian, Greek, and Roman world. Thus, it led to notable economic prosperity but also put the city, on several occasions, in the midst of inter-state conflicts. Early Development Apollonia was founded in about 620 B.C.E., as a Corinthian […]
Bylis was an Illyrian city inhabited by the Illyrian tribe of the Bylines. The earliest literary source related to the Bylis region belongs to “Periplus” of Pseudo-Scylax (Scyl. XXVII) compiled around 380 B.C.E. In a passage, the author infers the presence of a joint koinon (league) that involved the tribes of the Bylines and the neighboring tribe of the Amantes. […]
Cleopatra of Macedon (also known as Cleopatra of Epirus) was born around 357 B.C.E. as the daughter of Philip II of Macedon and Olympias. She was the only full-sibling of Alexander the Great. Cleopatra was raised under the strong guardianship of her mother and prepared to assume important leading roles. While being raised at the royal palace of Pella, she […]
The period following the rule of Alexander I of Epirus Epirus before Pyrrhus and after the demise of Alexander the Molossian is dominated by periods of social and political turmoils. Alexander the Molossian left a young son known as Neoptolemus II as a legitimate successor. At the time of his father’s fall in southern Italy, he could not have been […]
Despite the intervention of Philip, the reign among the Molossians remained within the same royal family, known as the Aeacides family. However, Alexander, coming from the Macedonian court, would be a natural ally of Macedon. We can link the accession of Alexander in Epirus in about 350 B.C.E., with the establishment of a new constitution among the Molossians and other […]
Epirus was the name of an ancient region in the lands corresponding to current southern Albania and northwestern Greece. The name of Epirus seems to originate from the ancient Greek word “Epeiros” which means “land” or “continent”. It is clear that this term came from an islanders’ perspective, namely the Greek islanders settling in the many islands off Epirus’ coast. […]
