Epirus (Roman province)

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(Redirected from
Epirus Nova
)
Provincia Epiri
Ἐπαρχία Ἠπείρου
Province of the Roman Empire
100s or 110s AD–7th century

The province of Epirus within the Roman Empire, c. 125 AD
CapitalNicopolis
Historical eraAntiquity
• Established
100s or 110s AD
• Balkans invaded by Slavs
7th century
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Epirote League
Aetolian League
Theme of Nicopolis
Early Slavs
Today part ofGreece
Albania

The province of Epirus (

Cephallonia, and Zakynthos.[1]

History

Rome had maintained a military presence in Epirus since the First Macedonian War, when it used Epirus as an entry-point for Roman troops in Greece. Rome would continue to use Epirus as a gateway for its troops in the Second and Third Macedonian Wars. During the third war, the hitherto neutral Epirote League split, with the Molossians siding with the Macedonians and the Chaonians and Thesprotians supporting the Romans.[2] The war ended disastrously for Epirus: 150,000 Molossians were enslaved and the region fell to Rome.

The status of the region between 167 and 146 BC is unclear, but in 146 BC, it was grouped in the larger

Asklepios.[5]

Augustus also separated Epirus and Achaea from Macedonia in 27 BC, but it remained part of the province of Achaia until sometime between 104 and 117 AD, when Trajan made it a province in its own right.[1]

Epirus Vetus and Epirus Nova

The Roman provinces in the Balkans including Epirus Vetus and Epirus Nova, ca. 400 AD.

Sometime during the provincial reorganization by

Latin
: Epirus Vetus).

Late Antiquity

The two Epirote provinces became part of the

Eastern Illyricum from the Eastern Empire.[7]

Buthrotum

From 467 on, the Ionian Islands and the coasts of Epirus became subject to raids by the

Kingdom of the Vandals, centred on Carthage. The Vandals seized Nicopolis in 474 as a bargaining chip in their negotiations with Emperor Zeno, and plundered Zakynthos, killing many of its inhabitants and capturing many others and taking them into slavery.[8] Epirus Nova became a battleground during the power struggles of the Ostrogoths after 479, in which the Byzantines were involved.[8] A Gothic attempt to take Durrës was repulsed by Roman forces during this period.[9]

In 517, a raid of the

Euroea was moved further inland - this has been traditionally identified with the founding of Ioannina. Procopius also claims that no less than 36 smaller fortresses in Epirus Vetus—most of them not identifiable today—were either rebuilt or built anew.[10]

Loss and Byzantine reconquest

Map of Byzantine Greece ca. 900 AD, with the themes and major settlements

In the late 6th century, much of Greece, including Epirus, fell under the control of the

St. Donatus, to Cassiope in Corfu.[11]

The restoration of Byzantine rule seems to have proceeded from the islands, chiefly Cephallonia, which was certainly under firm Imperial control in c. 702, when

Philippicus Bardanes was banished there. The gradual restoration of Imperial rule is evidenced further from the participation of local bishops in councils in Constantinople: whereas only the bishop of Dyrrhachium participated in the Ecumenical Councils of 680–1 and 692, a century later the bishops of Dyrrhachium, Nicopolis, Corfu, Cephallonia, and Zakynthos are attested in the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.[12]

In about the middle of the 8th century, the

Theme of Dyrrhachium, established in the 9th century, covered what was once Epirus Nova, and Byzantine rule in Epirus in the early Middle Ages would continue through these new provinces.[13][14][15][16]

Economy

The province, especially the northern towns, benefitted greatly from the construction of the

chariot races in Rome.[18]

Epirus also had significant populations of Italian settlers with large estates, attracted by the potential for pastoral agriculture. It is possible that these settlers had significant impact on the demographics and commerce of the province.[19]

Cities and settlements

The Synecdemus of Hierocles, composed in ca. 527–8 AD but probably reflecting the situation in the first half of the 5th century, reports eleven cities for Old Epirus:

New Epirus, with its capital at

Dyrrhachium, comprised nine cities.[20]

Gallery

References

  1. ^ a b c d Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 47.
  2. ^ "Epirus". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  3. ^ Walker & Wilkes 2010, p. 212.
  4. ISBN 978-1-84217-158-5
    . Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  5. ISBN 9789602133712
    . "At Bouthrotos, it is enough to compare the theatre, built of grey poros, with all the Roman structures surrounding it: the skene and the neighbouring buildings, the new sanctuary of Asklepios and the areas next to it
  6. ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, pp. 47–48.
  7. ^ a b c d Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 48.
  8. ^ a b c d Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 49.
  9. ^ Wolfram 1988, pp. 271–274.
  10. ^ a b Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 50.
  11. ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 51.
  12. ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 52.
  13. ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 53.
  14. ^ Nesbitt & Oikonomides 1991, p. 40.
  15. ^ ODB, "Dyrrachion", (T. E. Gregory), p. 668.
  16. ^ Pertusi 1952, p. 177.
  17. ^ Walker & Wilkes 2010, p. 204.
  18. ^ Eberle & le Quéré 2017, p. 41.
  19. ^ Eberle & le Quéré 2017, pp. 40–42.
  20. ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, pp. 48–49.

Sources

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