The Epirote League (

Epirote Epirus (; el, Ήπειρος, translit=Ípiros, ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region in northwestern Greece.Π.Δ. 51/87 “Καθορισμός των Περιφερειών της Χώρας για το σχεδι ...

: , ''Koinòn Āpeirōtân'';

Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a ''loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

: , ''Koinòn Ēpeirōtôn'') was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

coalition, or '' koinon'', of

tribes.

History

The coalition was established between 370 and 320 BC (firstly as the Molossian League in 370 BC), which helped unify the three main tribes of

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

(i.e.,

Molossians The Molossians () were a group of ancient Greek tribes which inhabited the region of Epirus in classical antiquity. Together with the Chaonians and the Thesprotians, they formed the main tribal groupings of the northwestern Greek group. On t ...

, Thesprotians, and Chaonians). The oracle of

Dodona Dodona (; Doric Greek: Δωδώνα, ''Dōdṓnā'', Ionic and Attic Greek: Δωδώνη, ''Dōdṓnē'') in Epirus in northwestern Greece was the oldest Hellenic oracle, possibly dating to the second millennium BCE according to Herodotus. T ...

was the religious, political and cultural centre of the Molossian League and later of the Epirote League.

Pyrrhus of Epirus Pyrrhus (; grc-gre, Πύρρος ; 319/318–272 BC) was a Greek king and statesman of the Hellenistic period.Plutarch. ''Parallel Lives'',Pyrrhus... He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house, and later he became ...

became leader of the League in 297 BC. When King Agathocles of Syracuse conquered Corcyra, he offered the island as dowry to his daughter Lanassa on her marriage to

in 295 BC. The island then became a member of the Epirote League. It was then perhaps that the settlement of Cassiope was founded to serve as a base for the king of Epirus' expeditions. The island remained in the Epirote League until 255 BC when it became independent after the death of Alexander II of Epirus. The league was defeated by the

Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, a ...

during the

Battle of Phoenice The Battle of Phoenice was a battle that took place in 230 BC between the forces of the Epirote League and the Ardiaean Kingdom of Illyria. Illyrian Invasion of Epirus and Battle Phoenice had been previously taken by Illyrians acting under Quee ...

, which forced it to enter into an alliance with Teuta to prevent further attacks. This alliance made the Epirotes hostile to the Achaeans and Aetolians, but it presumably ended following the Illyrian defeat in the First Illyrian War. Although the Epirote League remained neutral in the first two Macedonian Wars, it was ultimately dismantled in the

Third Macedonian War The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman ...

(171–168 BC), with the Molossians siding with the Macedonians and the Chaonians and Thesprotians supporting the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingd ...

Decrees of the League

Copies of the decrees ( proxeny and citizenship decrees,

manumission Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that t ...

records) of the Molossian and Epirote League were set up in

. All members had common citizenship. Regarding the dialect of the Epirote League, it was not Corinthian Doric and even the alphabet was not Corinthian; it was probably Northwest Doric, as some recorded inquiries at

appear to indicate. The first epigraphical evidence of the Molossian League goes back to 370 BC under the king (or '' basileus'') Neoptolemus..

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{Ancient Greece topics League Leagues in Greek Antiquity Ancient Corcyra States and territories established in the 4th century BC 370 BC Late Classical Greece 370s BC establishments Greek city-state federations

History

Decrees of the League

See also

References

Citations

Sources