Epidamnos

Dyrrhachion (Latin: Dyrrhachium; Ancient Greek: Δυρράχιον), originally founded as Epidamnos (Ancient Greek: Ἐπίδαμνος, Albanian: Epidamn), was a prominent city on the Adriatic coast, located in the territory of the Illyrian Taulantii and corresponding to modern Durrës, Albania. Founded around 627 BC by settlers from Corinth and Corcyra (modern Corfu), the city developed into a major political, commercial, and military hub. While established as a Greek colony, Epidamnos stood within Taulantii territory and long remained entangled with Illyrian power, before becoming a key Roman and later Byzantine stronghold.

Epidamnos was established in a strategic coastal location, facilitating maritime trade and interaction with the Illyrians, making it a vital trading hub between the wider Greek world and the Taulantii hinterland. The Taulantii tribe played a key role in the city's development, and evidence suggests a degree of cultural fusion between the Greek settlers and the indigenous Illyrians. The Taulantii exerted territorial control and at times direct overlordship, even as the polis maintained Greek civic institutions.

Politically, Epidamnos was governed as an oligarchy, with power concentrated among the aristocracy. Trade with local Illyrians was tightly regulated through the city agent or poletes.^{[citation needed]}. When exiled oligarchs appealed to Corcyra, while democrats sought Corinth’s support, Epidamnos became the flashpoint of the Corcyra–Corinth conflict that triggered the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), as Thucydides records.

Internal tensions gradually shifted power toward a more democratic system, with Aristotle later citing Epidamnos in Politics, as an example of an oligarchy evolving under pressure by appointing a ruling magistrate.

In the 4th century BC the city-state was part of the kingdoms of Cassander and Pyrrhus. The general vicinity of Epidamnos was called Epidamnia.. Pyrrhus, one of the most formidable opponents of Rome, used Epidamnos as a strategic base in his campaigns.

Epidamnos was seized by the Romans in 229 BC during their first campaign against Illyrian forces, the first Illyrian War, however, the city managed to maintain semi-autonomy and turned into a roman colony. Due to its strategic location along the Adriatic, Rome transformed the city into an important transit point, renaming it Dyrrachium to avoid the negative connotations of "Epidamnos" (which resembled the Latin word damnum, meaning "loss"). Despite this, the name Dyrrachion had already been used on local coins as early as the 5th century BC, due to the fact that in the Roman period, Dyrrachium was more common. 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."

Dyrrachium played a crucial role as the main port for Roman travelers crossing the Ionian Sea from Brundisium (modern Brindisi) in Italy. It served as the starting point of the Via Egnatia, the major military and trade route connecting Roman Illyria with Macedonia and Thrace, leading to key cities such as Thessalonica and Byzantium (later Constantinople).

In 48 BC, Dyrrachium became a battleground during the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey. Pompey successfully defended the city but failed to capitalize on his advantage, leading to his decisive defeat at Pharsalus. Under the Roman Empire, the city remained an important administrative center, and in AD 345, a devastating earthquake led to its reconstruction on its old foundations.