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EPIRUS, or EPEIRUS

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 699 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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EPIRUS, or EPEIRUS , an See also:ancient See also:district of See also:Northern See also:Greece extending along the Ionian See also:Sea from the Acroceraunian promontory on the N. to the Ambracian gulf on the S. It was conterminous on the landward See also:side with "See also:Illyria, See also:Macedonia and See also:Thessaly, and thus corresponds to the See also:southern portion of See also:Albania (q.v.). The name Epirus ("Hireepos) signified " mainland," and was originally applied to the whole See also:coast southward to the Corinthian Gulf, in contradistinction to the neighbouring islands, Corcyra, Leucas, &c. The See also:country is all mountainous, especially towards the See also:east, where the See also:great See also:rivers of See also:north-western Greece —Achelous, Arachthus and Aous—rise in Mt Lacmon, the back-See also:bone of the See also:Pindus See also:chain. In ancient times Epirus did not produce See also:corn sufficient for the wants of its inhabitants; but it was celebrated, as it has been almost to the See also:present See also:day, for its See also:cattle and its horses. According to See also:Theopompus (4th cent. B.C.), the Epirots were divided into fourteen See also:independent tribes, of which the See also:principal were the Chaones, the Thesproti and the Molossi. The Chaones (perhaps akin to the Chones who dwelt in the See also:heel of See also:Italy) inhabited the Acroceraunian See also:shore, the Molossians the inland districts See also:round the See also:lake of Pambotis (mod. Jannina), and the Thesprotians the region to the north of the Ambracian gulf. In spite of its distance from the See also:chief centres of See also:Greek thought and See also:action, and the See also:barbarian repute of its inhabitants, Epirus was believed to have exerted at an See also:early See also:period no small See also:influence on Greece, by means more especially of the See also:oracle of See also:Dodona. See also:Aristotle even placed in Epirus the See also:original See also:home of the Hellenes. But in historic times its See also:part in Greek See also:history is mainly passive.

The states of Greece proper founded a number of colonies on its coast, which formed stepping-stones towards the Adriatic and the See also:

West. Of these one of the earliest and most flourishing was the Corinthian See also:colony of See also:Ambracia, which gives its name to the neighbouring gulf. Elatria, Bucheta and Pandosia, in Thesprotia, originated from See also:Elis. Among the other towns in the country the following were of some importance. In Chaonia: Palaeste and See also:Chimaera, fortified posts to which the dwellers in the open country could retire in See also:time of See also:war; Onchesmus or Anchiasmus, opposite Corcyra (See also:Corfu), now represented by Santi Quarante; Phoenice, still so called, the wealthiest of all the native cities of Epirus, and after the fall of the Molossian See also:kingdom the centre of an Epirotic See also:League; See also:Buthrotum, the See also:modern See also:Butrinto; Phanote, important in the See also:Roman See also:campaigns in Epirus; and Adrianopolis, founded by the See also:emperor whose name it See also:bore. In Thesprotia: Cassope, the chief See also:town of the most powerful of the Thesprotian clans; and Ephyra, afterwards Cichyrus, identified by W. M. See also:Leake with the monastery of St See also:John 3 or 4 M. from Phanari, and by C. See also:Bursian with Kastri at the northern end of the Acherusian Lake. In Molossia: Passaron, where the See also:kings were wont to take the See also:oath of the constitution and receive their See also:people's See also:allegiance; and Tecmon, Phylace and See also:Horreum, all of doubtful See also:identification. The See also:Byzantine town of Rogus is probably the same as the modern Luro, the Greek See also:Oropus. History.—The kings, or rather chieftains, of the Molossians, who ultimately extended their See also:power over all Epirus, claimed to be descended from See also:Pyrrhus, son of See also:Achilles, who, according to See also:legend, settled in the country after the See also:sack of See also:Troy, and transmitted his kingdom to Molossus, his son by See also:Andromache.

The early history of the See also:

dynasty is very obscure; but See also:Admetus, who lived in the 5th See also:century B.C., is remembered for his hospitable reception of the banished See also:Themistocles, in spite of the fact that the great Athenian had persuaded his countrymen to refuse the See also:alliance tardily offered by the Molossians when victory against the Persians was already secured. Admetus was succeeded, about 429 B.C., by his son or See also:grandson, Tharymbas or Arymbas I., who being placed by a See also:decree of the people under the guardianship of Sabylinthus, chief of the Atintanes, was educated at See also:Athens, and at a later date introduced a higher See also:civilization among his subjects. Alcetas, the next See also:king mentioned in history, was restored to his See also:throne by See also:Dionysius of See also:Syracuse about 385 B.C. His son Arymbas II. (who succeeded by the See also:death of his See also:brother See also:Neoptolemus) ruled with prudence and . See also:equity, and gave encouragement to literature and the arts. To him See also:Xenocrates of See also:Chalcedon dedicated his four books on the See also:art of governing; and it is specially mentioned that he bestowed great care on the See also:education of his brother's See also:children. One of them, Troas, he married; See also:Olympias, the other niece, was married to See also:Philip II. of Macedon and became the See also:mother of See also:Alexander the Great. On the death of Arymbas, Alexander the brother of Olympias, was put on the throne by Philip and married his daughter See also:Cleopatra. Alexander assumed the new See also:title of king of Epirus, and raised the reputation of his country abroad. Asked by the Tarentines for aid against the See also:Samnites and Lucanians, he made a descent at See also:Paestum in 332 B.C., and reduced several cities of the Lucani and See also:Bruttii; but in a second attack he was surrounded, defeated and slain near Pandosia in Bruttium. Aeacides, the son of Arymbas II., succeeded Alexander. He espoused the cause of Olympias against See also:Cassander, but was dethroned by his own soldiers, and had hardly regained his position when he See also:fell in See also:battle (313 B.C.) against Philip, brother of Cassander.

He had, by his wife Phthia, a son, the celebrated Pyrrhus, and two daughters, Deidamia and Troas, of whom the former married See also:

Demetrius Poliorcetes. His brother Alcetas, who succeeded him, continued unsuccessfully the war with Cassander; he was put to death by his rebellious subjects in 295 B.C., and was succeeded by Pyrrhus (q.v.), who for six years fought against the See also:Romans in See also:south Italy and See also:Sicily, and gave to Epirus a momentary importance which it never again possessed. Alexander, his son, who succeeded in 272 B.C., attempted to seize Macedonia, and defeated Antigonus Gonatas, but was himself shortly afterwards driven from his kingdom by Demetrius. He recovered it, however, and spent the See also:rest of his days in See also:peace. Two other insignificant reigns brought the See also:family of Pyrrhus to its See also:close, and Epirus was thenceforward governed by a See also:magistrate, elected annually in a See also:general See also:assembly of the nation held at Passaron. Having imprudently espoused the cause of See also:Perseus (q.v.) in his See also:ill-fated war against the Romans, 168 B.C., it was exposed to the fury of the conquerors, who destroyed, it is said, seventy towns, and carried into See also:slavery 150,000 of the inhabitants. From this See also:blow it never recovered. At the See also:dissolution of the Achaean League (q.v.), 146 B.C., it became part of the See also:province of Macedonia, receiving the name Epirus Vetus, to distinguish it from Epirus Nova, which See also:lay to the east. On the See also:division of the See also:empire it fell to the East, and so remained until the taking of See also:Constantinople by the Latins in 1204, when See also:Michel See also:Angelus See also:Comnenus seized See also:Aetolia and Epirus. On the death of Michel in 1216, these countries fell into the hands of his brother See also:Theodore. See also:Thomas, the last of the See also:direct See also:line, was murdered in 1318 by his See also:nephew Thomas, See also:lord of See also:Zante and See also:Cephalonia, and his dominions were dismembered. Not See also:long after, Epirus was overrun by the Samians and Albanians, and the confusion which had been growing since the division of the empire was worse confounded still.

See also:

Charles II. Tocco, lord of Cephalonia and Zante, obtained the recognition of his title of See also:Despot of Epirus from the emperor See also:Manuel Comnenus in the beginning of the 15th century; but his family was deprived of their See also:possession in 1431 by See also:Murad (Amurath) II. In 1443, See also:Scanderbeg, king of Albania, made himself See also:master of a considerable part of Epirus; but on his death it fell into the power of the Venetians. From these it passed again to the See also:Turks, under whose dominion it still remains. For modern history see ALBANIA.

End of Article: EPIRUS, or EPEIRUS

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