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Epirus (Greek: Ἤπειρος Epeiros) is a geographical and historical region of Greece in southeastern Europe, currently divided between the periphery of Epirus in Greece and the prefectures of Gjirokastër, Vlorë, Berat, and Korçë in southern Albania.
Name & Etymology
The name Epirus, in Greek: Ἤπειρος Epeiros (in Doric Greek and the native Northwestern Greek Ἅπειρος Apeiros), means "mainland".[1] It is thought to come from an Indo-European root *apero- 'coast'.[2] It was originally applied to the mainland opposite Corfu and the Ionian islands.[3] The Albanian name for the region is Epiri, deriving from the Greek.
Boundaries and definitions
The historical region of Epirus is generally regarded as extending from the northern end of the Ceraunian mountains (modern-day Llogara, in present-day Albania), located just south of the Bay of Aulona (modern-day Vlorë), to the Ambracian Gulf (or Gulf of Arta) in Greece. The northern boundary of Classical Epirus is alternatively given as the mouth of the Aoous (or Vjosë) river, immediately to the north of the Bay of Vlorë.[4] Epirus' eastern boundary is defined by the Pindus Mountains that form the spine of mainland Greece and separate Epirus from Macedonia and Thessaly. To the west, Epirus faces the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea. The island of Corfu is situated off the coast but is not regarded as part of Epirus.
The definition of Epirus has changed over time, such that modern administrative boundaries do not correspond to the boundaries of classical Epirus. The Periphery of Epirus in Greece only comprises a fraction of classical Epirus and does not include the easternmost portions of classical Epirus, which lie in the periphery of Thessaly. In Albania, where the concept of Epirus is never used in an official context, the counties of Gjirokastër, Vlorë, Berat, and Korçë extend well beyond the northern and northeastern boundaries of classical Epirus.
Geography and ecology
Epirus is a predominantly rugged and mountainous region. It is largely made up of the Pindus Mountains, a series of parallel limestone ridges that are a continuation of the Dinaric Alps. The Pindus mountains form the spine of mainland Greece and separate Epirus from Macedonia and Thessaly to the east. Altitude increases as one moves away from the coast, reaching a maximum of 2637m at Mount Smolikas, the highest point in Epirus. Other important ranges include, Tymfi (2496 at Mount Gamila), Lygkos (2249m), to the west and east of Smolikas, respectively, Gramos (2523m) in the northeast, Tzoumerka (2356m) in the southeast, Tomaros (1976m) in the southwest, Mitsikeli near Ioannina (1810m), Mourgana (1806m) and Nemercke/Aeoropos (2485) on the border between Greece and Albania, and Llogara (2000m) near Himara in Albania. Most of Epirus lies on the windward side of the Pindus. The winds from the Ionian Sea make the region the rainiest in Greece.
The main river flowing through Epirus is the Aoos, which flows in a northwesterly direction from the Pindus mountains in Greece to its mouth north of the Bay of Vlorë. Other important rivers include the Acheron river, famous for its religious significance in ancient Greece and site of the Necromanteion, the Arachthos river, crossed by the historic Bridge of Arta, the Kalamas river (anc. Thyamis), and the Voidomatis, a tributary of the Aoos flowing through the spectacular Vikos Gorge. The Vikos Gorge forms the centerpiece of the Vikos-Aoos National Park, known for its scenic beauty. The only significant lake in Epirus is Lake Pamvotis, on whose shores lies the city of Ioannina, the largest city in Epirus and the seat of the Periphery of Epirus.
The climate of Epirus is mainly alpine in the interior and mediterranean along the coast. Epirus is heavily forested, mainly by coniferous species. The fauna in Epirus is especially rich and features species such as bears, wolves, foxes, deer and lynxes.
History
Early History
Epirus has been occupied since at least Neolithic times, when hunters and shepherds inhabited the region and constructed large tumuli to bury their leaders.[5] These tumuli bear many similarities to [6] Mycenean tombs,[7] indicating an ancestral link[8][9] between Epirus[10] and the Mycenean civilization.[11][12] A number of Mycenean remains have been found[13][14] in Epirus, especially at the most important ancient religious sites in the region, the Necromanteion (Oracle of the Dead) on the Acheron river, and the Oracle of Zeus at Dodona.[11]
In Middle Bronze Age, Epirus was settled by the same nomadic Hellenic tribes that went on to settle the rest of Greece.[15][16] By the early 1st millennium BC, the population of Epirus consisted of three principal clusters of Greek-speaking tribes[17]. These were the Chaonians in northwestern Epirus, the Molossians in the centre and the Thesprotians in the south.
Epirus in the Classical period
Unlike most other Greeks of this time, who lived in or around city-states such as Athens or Sparta, the Epirotes lived in small villages and their way of life was foreign to that of the polis of southern Greece.[18] Their region lay on the edge of the Greek world and was far from peaceful; for many centuries, it remained a frontier area contested with the Illyrian peoples to the north. However, Epirus had a far greater religious significance than might have been expected given its geographical remoteness, due to the presence of the shrine and oracle at Dodona - regarded as second only to the more famous oracle at Delphi.
The Epirotes, though apparently speakers of a Northwest Greek dialect, different from the Dorian of the Greek colonies on the Ionian islands, and bearers of mostly Greek names, as evidenced by epigraphy, seem to have been regarded with some disdain by some classical writers. The 5th century BC Athenian historian Thucydides describes them as "barbarians",[19] as does Strabo.[20] Other writers, such as Herodotus,[21] Dionysius of Halicarnassus[22] Pausanias[23] and Eutropius,[24] describe them as Greeks. Similarly, Epirote tribes/states are included in the Argive and Epidaurian lists of the Greek Thearodokoi (hosts of sacred envoys).[25] Plutarch mentions an interesting element of Epirote folklore regarding Achilles: In his biography of King Pyrrhus, he claims that Achilles "had a divine status in Epirus and in the local dialect he was called Aspetos" (meaning unspeakable, unspeakably great, in Homeric Greek).[26][27]
Beginning in 370 BC, the Molossian Aeacidae dynasty built a centralized state in Epirus and began expanding their power at the expense of rival tribes. The Molossians allied themselves with the increasingly powerful kingdom of Macedon, and in 359 BC the Molossian princess Olympias, niece of Arybbas of Epirus, married King Philip II of Macedon. She was to become the mother of Alexander the Great.
On the death of Arybbas, Alexander of Epirus succeeded to the throne and the title King of Epirus. Aeacides of Epirus, who succeeded Alexander, espoused the cause of Olympias against Cassander, but was dethroned in 313 BC. His son Pyrrhus came to throne in 295 BC, and for six years fought against the Romans and Carthaginians in southern Italy and Sicily. The high cost of his victories against the Romans gave Epirus a new, but brief, importance, as well as a lasting contribution to the Greek language with the concept of a "Pyrrhic victory".
In the 3rd century BC, Epirus remained a substantial power, unified under the auspices of the Epirote League as a federal state with its own parliament, or synedrion. However, it was faced with the growing threat of the expansionist Roman Republic, which fought a series of wars with Macedonia. The League remained neutral in the first two Macedonian Wars but split in the Third Macedonian War (171 BC-168 BC), with the Molossians siding with the Macedonians and the Chaonians and Thesprotians siding with Rome. The outcome was disastrous for Epirus; Molossia fell to Rome in 167 BC, 150,000 of its inhabitants were enslaved, and the region was so thoroughly plundered that it took 500 years for central Epirus to recover fully.
Roman and Byzantine rule
The Roman invasion permanently ended the political independence of the Epirotes. In 146 BC, Epirus became part of the province of Roman Macedonia, receiving the name Epirus vetus, to distinguish it from Epirus nova to the north. Its coastal regions grew wealthy from the Roman coastal trade routes, and the construction of the Via Egnatia provided a further boost to prosperity.
When the Roman Empire was divided in two in 395 AD, Epirus became part of the Eastern Roman Empire (subsequently the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire), ruled from Constantinople. In the seventh century, much of the region was settled by migrating Slavic tribes; the tribe of the Vaiounitai (mentioned in the Greek Miracles of St. Demetrius) may have settled in and given their name to Vagenetia[28] the coastal part of Epirus roughly from Himara in the north to Margariti in the south. Byzantine control of that part of Epirus began to strengthen only two centuries later. A Vlach presence in Epirus is first mentioned in the Strategikon of Kekaumenos (late 11th century).
When Constantinople fell to the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Michael Angelos Komnenos Ducas seized Aetolia and Epirus and established an independent state known as the Despotate of Epirus. The rulers of the Despotate controlled a substantial area corresponding to a large swathe of northwestern Greece, much of modern Albania and parts of the modern Republic of Macedonia. During this time, the definition of Epirus came to encompass the entire coastal region from the Ambracian Gulf to Dyrrachium (modern-day Durrës, in Albania). Some of the most important cities in Epirus, such as Gjirokastër (Argyrokastron), were founded during this period.