The Greek city of Epidamnos (Strabo Geography vi.316), later the Roman Dyrrachium (modern Durrës, Albania, ca. 30 km W of Tirana) was founded in 627 BC in Illyria by a group of colonists from Corinth and Corcyra (modern Corfu). Aristotle's Politics several times draws for examples on the internal government of Epidamnos, which was run as a tight oligarchy that appointed a ruling magistrate; tradesmen and craftsmen were excluded from power, until internal strife produced a more democratic government. Then the elite exiles appealed to the mother-city Corinth, initiating a struggle between Corcyra and Corinth that is described by Thucydides. Individual trading with the local Illyrians was forbidden at Epidamnos: all traffic was through the authorized city agent or poletes. In the 4th century BC the city-state was part of the kingdoms of Cassander and Pyrrhus. Strabo (squinty) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. ... Durrës (Italian: Durazzo; see also alternative names) is the most ancient and one of the most economically important important cities of Albania. ... In classical history, Illyria or Illyricum or Illyrikon was a region in the western part of todays Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the tribes and clans of Illyrians, an ancient people who probably spoke an Indo-European language (the Illyrian languages). ... Temple of Apollo at Corinth Corinth, or Korinth (Κόρινθος) is a Greek city, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the original isthmus, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. ... (This article is about the Greek island known in English as Corfu. ... Aristotle (sculpture) Aristotle (Greek: Αριστοτέλης AristotelÄ“s) (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher. ... Bust of Thucydides ~ Thucydides Thucydides (between 460 and 455 BC–circa 400 BC, Greek Θουκυδίδης, Thoukudídês) was an ancient Greek historian, and the author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens. ... A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city. ... Cassander (c. ... Pyrrhus (318 BC - 272 BC) (Greek Πυρρος - the color of fire, red-blonde, Latin Pyrrhus) - the Molossian king from ca. ...

In 229 BC, when the Romans seized the city the "-damnos" part of the name was inauspicious to Latin ears, and its name became Dyrrhachium. Pausanias (6.x.8) says "the modern [Roman] city is not the ancient one, being at a short distance from it. The modern city is called Dyrrhachium from its founder." The name Dyrrachion is found on coins of the 5th century BC; in the Roman period Dyrrachium was more common. However, the city maintained a semi-autonomy and was turned into a Roman colony. Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC - 220s BC - 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC Years: 234 BC 233 BC 232 BC 231 BC 230 BC - 229 BC - 228 BC 227 BC... Pausanias was Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... (6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) The 5th and 6th centuries BC are a period of philosophical brilliance among advanced civilizations. ...

Dyrrachium was the landing place for Roman passengers crossing the Ionian Sea from Brundisium, which made it a fairly busy way-station. Here commenced the Via Egnatia, the Roman military road to Thessalonica that connected Roman Illyria with Macedonia and Thrace. In 48 BC Pompey was based at Dyrrachium and beat off an attack by Julius Caesar (see Battle of Dyrrhachium). In 345 BC the city was levelled by an earthquake and rebuilt on its old foundations. The Ionian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. ... Brundisium (Gr. ... Via Egnatia Via Egnatia (Greek: Εγνατία Οδός) was a road constructed by the Romans around 146 BC. It was named after Gaius Ignatius, proconsul of Macedonia, who ordered its construction. ... The White Tower The Arch of Galerius Map showing the Thessaloníki prefecture Thessaloníki (Θεσσαλονίκη) is the second-largest city of Greece and is the principal city and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. ... Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe spread over southern Bulgaria, northeastern Greece, and European Turkey. ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC - 40s BC - 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC 0s BC 0s Years: 53 BC 52 BC 51 BC 50 BC 49 BC 48 BC 47 BC 46 BC 45 BC... This article refers to the General of the Roman republic. ... Gaius Julius Caesar (Latin: IMP·C·IVLIVS·CAESAR·DIVVS¹) (b. ... Battle of Dyrrhachium Conflict Roman Republican civil wars Date July 10, 48 BC Place Dyrrhachium Result Victory of Pompey The Battle of Dyrrachium (or Dyrrhachium) on 10 July 48 BC was one of a series of contests between Julius Caesar and Pompey that ended with Pompeys defeat in the...

The modern city is built directly over the ancient site, so it is primarily on the basis of inscriptions and serendipitous finds that some idea of its monuments has been formed. Inscriptions offer evidence on the following Roman monuments: an aqueduct constructed by Hadrian and restored by Alexander Severus bears a dedicatory inscription at Arapaj, a short distance from Durazzo: (CIL III, 1-709); the Roman temple of Minerva; the Temple of Diana (CIL III, 1-602), which is perhaps the one mentioned by Appian (BCiv. 2.60); the equestrian statue of L. Titinius Sulpicianus (CIL III, 1-605); the library (CIL m, 1-67). The last inscription mentions that for the dedication of the library 24 gladiators fought in pairs. The conjecture that there was an amphitheater in the city is confirmed by a passage from the 15th-century Vita di Skanderbeg by Marin Barleti: "amphitheatrum mira arte ingenioque constructum". Emperor Hadrian Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus (January 24, 76 - July 10, 138), known as Hadrian in English, was Roman emperor from 117 - 138, and member of the gens Aelia. ... Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (October 1, 208- March 18?, 235), commonly called Alexander Severus, Roman emperor from AD 222 to 235, was born at Arca Caesarea in Palestine. ... The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. ... The numbers and architecture of Roman temples reflect the citys receptivity to all the religions of the world. ... Scanderbeg sculpture from the Museum in Kruje. ... A page from Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis Marin Barleti (Latin: Marinus Barletius, Italian: Marino Barlezio; ca 1450, Shkodër - 1512 or 1513, probably Rome) was a humanist of Albanian descent, the first and greatest Albanian historian, and a Catholic priest. ...

As a result of occasional discoveries, the following data are available: a 3d century mosaic pavement with a female head surrounded by garlands of vegetables and flowers, which brings to mind those painted on Apulian vases; remains of houses covered by other layers, the lowest of which, of the Greek era, was found at a depth of 5 m.

Columns with Corinthian capitals and sections of finished marble revetment, discovered on the nearby hillside at Stani, belong probably to the Temple of Minerva or to the Capitolium. In the necropolis east of the hills that stand above the city have been found a stele of Lepidia Salvia, a sarcophagus with a scene of the Calydonian Boar hunt (now at Istanbul), and numerous Roman tombs. A necropolis (plural: necropolises or necropoleis) is a cemetery or burying-place, literally a city of the dead. Apart from the occasional application of the word to modern cemeteries outside large towns, the term is chiefly used of burial grounds near the sites of the centers of ancient civilizations. ... The Calydonian Hunt shown on a Roman frieze (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) The Calydonian Boar is one of the many monsters in Greek mythology, which met its end in the Calydonian Hunt, a popular subject in classical art. ...

Classical sources not mentioned in the text: Strabo 5.283; 6.316,323,327; Ptolemy 3.12; Dionysius Cassius. 41.49; Pomponius Mela 2.56; Pliny Natural History 3.145; 4.36; 6.217; 14.30; 19.144; 32.18. CIL refers to the series of published inscriptions Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Strabo (squinty) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. ... Claudius Ptolemaeus, given contemporary German styling, in a 16th century engraved book frontispiece Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος; c. ... Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. ... There are two famous persons named Pliny: Pliny the Elder, a Roman nobleman, scientist and historian who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD The great-nephew of the former, Pliny the Younger, a statesman, orator, and writer who lived between 62 AD and 113 AD. This... The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. ...

External link

• Perseus site: several sources, including William Smith, ed., Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854)