Epirotes

Name and etymology

The name Epirus is the Latin name of the region, derived from the Ancient Greek: Ἤπειρος, romanized: Ḗpeiros (Doric Greek: Ἄπειρος, romanized: Ápeiros), meaning "mainland" or terra firma. It is thought to come from an Indo-European root *apero- 'coast', and was applied by the Ancient Greeks to the territory opposite Corfu and the Ionian islands. The name first appears in the work of Hecataeus of Miletus in the 6th century BC and is one of the few Greek names from the view of an external observer with a maritime-geographical perspective. Although a foreign name, it later came to be adopted by the inhabitants of the area, and it was struck on the coinage of the unified Epirote commonwealth: "ΑΠΕΙΡΩΤΑΝ" (Ancient Greek: Ἀπειρωτᾶν, romanized: Āpeirōtân, Attic Greek: Ἠπειρωτῶν, romanized: Ēpeirōtôn, i.e. "of the Epirotes", see adjacent image).