Nelson Cabej Epirus Epiros PDF

Nelson R.
Cabej
EPIROTES -
ALBANIANS OF ANTIQUITY
Albanet Publishing
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First edition 2016
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Cover: Alba Mezini
ISBN 978-1-944788-89-6
Printed in the United States of America

To my hometown Gjirokaster, and all the Albanian
descendants of the ancient Epirotes
PREFACE
In this work I investigate the ethnicity of Epirotes from the

beginning of the historical era, based on the evidence from
ancient written sources, linguistics, archaeology, mythology,
folklore, ethnography, etc. While the work is basically devoted
to the classical Epirus, for linguistic, historical and ethnic
reasons within its scope will be the ‘Illyrian’ territory of the
adjacent Albanian territory, that towards the end of the 3rd
century CE came to be known as Epirus nova, with the new
administrative division of the territory of the diocese of
Macedonia, of the prefecture of Illyricum.
The book is written during the year 2015 and is part of a

comprehensive work on the ancient homeland of Albanians I
hope to publish in the future.
The title of the book Epirotes - the Albanians of antiquity is

borrowed from the Theodor Mommsen’s definition of Epirotes
in Römische Geschichte.
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Chapter I
The ancient Greek sources on the ethnic identity of
Epirotes 11
1. The origin of the place name Epirus 11
2. Epirote tribes 16
3. On the origin of some Epirote tribe names 24
4. The boundaries of Epirus 30
5. Greek colonies refute ethnic affiliation of Epirotes with
Greeks 35
6. Mythical origins of Epirotes 39
7. Ancient Greek myths and the ethnic affiliation of
Epirotes 48
8. Mythical Trojan-Greek origins of the royal
Molossian family and its ethnological implications 56
9. Did the Aeacide royal family and Molossians
speak Greek? 60
10. The barbarianness of ancient Epirotes and its
ethnological meaning 64
11. Epirus and Epirotes as seen by ancient Greeks 69
12. Dodona: Was it a Greek enclave in Epirus? 83
Chapter II
Linguistic clues to the ethnic identity of ancient Epirotes 89
1. Epirote-Albanian lexical correspondences 92
2. Epirote-Macedonian lexical correspondences 104
3. Onomastic evidence of the Epirote-Illyrian-
IV N. R. Cabej || Epirotes - Albanians of antiquity
Albanian relationships 105

a. Double and triple Epirote-Illyrian- Messapian
correspondences in tribe names 106
b. Personal names 118
5. Epirote place names are explained by Albanian and
evolved according to phonetic rules of Albanian 123
6. Epirotes were not Greeks 132
Chapter III
Sociopolitical and ethnic structure of ancient Epirus 137
1. Sociopolitical and ethnic structure of ancient Epirus 137
a. The concept of Hellenization 137
b. Cultural vs. ethnc Hellenization 140
c. On cultural Hellenization of the ancient Epirus 143
2. Ethnic identity of Epirotes at the tribal and supratribal
level 149
a. There is no evidence that Epirotes lost their
language in antiquity 151
b. Epirote social and state structures were tribal rather
than Hellenic 153
c. The social position of women: stark contrast between
Epirus and Greece 162
d. Epirotes preserved their belief system 166
e. Epirote states were different from Hellenic states 172
Chapter IV
Albanian-Epirote linguistic relationship – Going back from the
known to the unknown 175
1. Lexical evidence on the ‘Epirote’ language 177
2. Some personal names and suffixes of Epirote tribe
names preserved in Albanian 180
3. Evolution of ancient city names in Epirus 183
Contents V
4. Albanian Tosk dialect suggests that Epirotes

spoke Illyrian 193
5. Ethnic and place names Albanians/Arbans and
Albania/Arbania in Illyria and Epirus 198
6. Albanians and Albanian place names still
survive in southern Epirus (Greece) 201
7. Albanian place names in southern Epirus 204
a. Albanian village names in southern Epirus 208
b. Albanian village names in Souli municipality 219
c. Albanian mountain names in southern Epirus 223
d. Albanian hydronyms in southern Epirus 225
e. A piece of medieval cadastral evidence on
Albanian population in southern Epirus 226
8. Traces of the ethnic name of Albanians in the medieval
territory of Epirus vetus 227
9. A late medieval reference on the language spoken by
Epirotes 231
Chapter V
Cultural History of Epirus and Illyrian-Albanian Ethnic
Identity of Epirotes 233
1. The Koman-Krujë culture 233
2. Illyrian-Epirote mythological relationships 240
3. An Albanian synonym for the Ionian Sea 241
4. On the origin of the name Dodona 243
5. On the identity of the goddess Dione 245
6. The myth of the origin of Illyrian tribes 251
7. Snake symbols in ancient and modern Epirus 255
8. Traces of the Illyrian-Epirote ritual of human
sacrifices in Albanian mythology 257
9. Fustan/fustanella, the national Albanian costume
and the ethnicity of Epirotes 258
10. Goat horned helmet 258
VI N. R. Cabej || Epirotes - Albanians of antiquity
11. The endonym shqiptarë 261

12. Multi-part singing 262
Chapter VI
Epirus - ancient Albanian homeland 265
1. Historical evidence on the presence of Albanians in
medieval Epirus 265
2. Albanian rulers of Epirus during the 14th and
15th centuries 272
3. Who migrated when to Epirus 276
a. There is no record of anyAlbanian migration to Epirus 276
b. A Greek migration to Epirus is recorded in 1204 282
4. Epirus in medieval and modern historiography 285
Introduction
“The homeland, where the attested history of Albanians
first unfolds, is the mountainous, mainly rugged, torn and
narrow coast belt of one hundred hours long and nowhere
more than thirty hours wide, encompassed south of the
gulf of Ambracia, north of Shkodra lake, west of Ionian-
Adriatic seas and east of Pindus range, with the southern
half known in Antiquity as Epirus and the northern part
as Illyria”1
Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer
In ancient Greek and Roman sources Epirus appears as a

separate geographic entity. Its population was almost
consensually considered barbarian in the meaning that they
spoke a distinct language2 3 4 5 unintelligible to ancient Greeks,
who founded a number of colonies in coastal preexisting
Epirote towns.
1
Fallmerayer, J.P. (1857). Das Albanesische Element in Griechenland I.
Verlag der k. Akademie, München, p. 8 (424): “Heimatland oder
Ursitz, in welchem die beglaubligte Geschichte das Volk der Albanier
zuerst entdeckt, ist der gebirgige, meistens rauhe, etwa einhundert
Stunden lange und nirgend über dreissig Stunden breite, südlich vom
Ambrakischen Golf, nördlich vom Skodra-See, westlich vom jonisch-
adriatischen Meere und östlich vom Pindusgebirg eingekeilte, schmale
und zerrissene Küstenstrich, von welchem die Südhälfte im Alterthum
Epirus, die nördliche aber Illyria hiess”.
2
Homer Odyssey XIX, 175.
3
Thucydides The History of the Peloponnesian War III, 94, 5.
4
Plutarch The Life of Pyrrhus I, 2.
5
Strabo Geography VII. Fragments, 1a.
2 N. R. Cabej || Epirotes - Albanians of antiquity
The founding of Greek colonies in Epirus, even by itself,

makes irrefutable the non-Greek ethnic identity of ancient
Epirotes and makes Epirus a foreign country to Greeks.
Colonies are named so because they are founded in foreign
countries.
Paradoxically, in spite of the fact that Greeks founded colonies
in Epirus, views that ancient Epirotes were Greeks have
always been present. The existence of such views for the
ethnicity of Epirotes is a paradigmatic example of how a
historical fact may be clouded and entangled when history is
used as an instrument of state policy.
Greek colonies in Epirus and Greek ethnicity of Epirotes are
mutually exclusive propositions: if one is true the other is
necessarily false. If we have to admit the consensual
information provided by ancient Greek and Latin authors that
ancient Greeks founded colonies in the coastal settlements of
Epirus, we are logically compelled to also admit that ancient
Epirotes were a distinct people, different from the ancient
Greeks.
Any attempt to prove that ancient Epirotes were Greek
requires proving wrong the ancient Greek authors that ancient
Greeks found colonies in Epirus and wipe out the inerasable
traces of ancient Greek culture in these colonies.
While most historians admit the non-Greek identity of ancient
Epirotes, there is a number of historians6 7 that, in view of the
incompatibility of the Greek colonies in Epirus with the
Greekness of its inhabitants and the consensual view of the
6
Cross, G.N. (2015 reprint of 1932 edition). Epirus. Cambridge University
Press.
7
Hammond, N.G.L. (1967). Epirus: the Geography, the Ancient Remains,
the History and Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas. Clarendon
Press, Oxford.
Introduction 3
ancient Greek and Roman authors of Epirotes as a non-Greek

people, propose that Epirotes went through a process of
Hellenization that supposedly occurred sometime during the
Hellenistic Age. Other historians believe the alleged
Hellenization began from the 6th century CE, after Illyricum
was assigned to the Byzantine Empire8.
The first group of historians believes their view to have found
new support after the discovery of the Greek inscriptions in the
4th century Molossia. The discovery was considered by some
Greek and other authors as a proof that at the time Greek the
language the common people spoke in Molossia. This
speculative Molossian conjecture then is extrapolated to the
entirety of Epirote tribes.
To deduce the language spoken by a people from the language
of inscriptions found in its territories is methodically unsound.
Greek inscriptions are abundant throughout the Mediterranean
countries of Europe, North Africa, Near East and beyond, but
these people didn’t lose their languages to adopt Greek.
Applied to the ancient world in general, the argument that
Greek inscriptions found in a country prove that Greek was the
language of the people of that country would lead to the absurd
conclusion that most of the peoples of the Mediterranean and
even Black sea lost their languages toadopt Greek. Applied to
the medieval Europe, where during the Middle Ages Latin
became not only the language of the church, but practically the
lingua franca of literature, science and culture in general, this
argument would lead to the absurd conclusion that peoples of
Germany, Switzerland, and even England, e.g., spoke Latin,
were Romanized and lost their ethnic identity.
8
Minahan J.B. (2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and
National Groups Around the World A-Z. ABC-CLIO, Westport CT, p.
578.
The history of various peoples of Europe and the world shows

that a people may maintain its ethnic identity even when it
loses his language. A case in point is the Irish and Scotch
peoples that write almost exclusively in English but have
preserved their ethnic Celtic identity. For the language is a
basic, but not the sole, element determining the ethnicity of a
people. The social structure, state organization, common law,
belief system and pantheon, and oral tradition are also essential
components of the ethnicity of a people.
In this regard the recent discovery of Greek inscriptions in
Butrint, Albania (region of the ex-Roman province of Epirus
vetus) has shed new light on the ethnic situation of the ancient
Epirus in the Hellenistic Age and during the Roman rule. From
these inscriptions we learn that even after 10 centuries of the
Greek and Roman colonization, the social organization of the
Chaonian tribe of Prasaibes and their capital city Buthrotus, a
well known Greek and Roman colony, was still strictly tribal9,
in stark contrast to the Greek polis. This discovery was a
serious blow to the hitherto prevailing view of ‘Hellenization’
of Epirus and proves that Epirotes even in the Greek colonies
and the surrounding areas preserved their own social structure.
There is adequate evidence that Epirotes continued to speak
their own language10 11, that until the 6th century CE, at least
some Epirote tribes, continued to worship, not the Greek Zeus,
but Deipatyros, their own distinct Epirote father of gods12,
9
Daubner, F. (2014). Epirotische Identitäten nach der Konigszeit. In Athen
und/oder Alexandreia?: Aspekte von Identität und Ethnizität im
hellenistischen Griechenland. K. Freitag and C. Michels eds., Böhlau
Verlag, Köln Weimar, 99- 24.
10
Thucydides The Peloponnesian War. II, 68, 5.
11
Strabo Geography VII, Fragments, 1a.
12
Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon. p. 380
Introduction 5
perform their distinct burial rituals13 and Epirote women had a

prominent role in family, society and state, what places them
on an incomparably higher social status than Greek women14 15
16 17 18 19
, etc.
The evidence provided in this work logically leads to the
conclusion that the Epirus from the beginning of the historical
era through the Hellenistic period and the Roman rule was
inhabited by a non-Greek population, whose language,
material and spiritual culture relates it to the family of Illyrian
tribes. Its people preserved their Illyrian-Albanian identity
throughout the Dark Ages to the modern time, as is witnessed
13
Anamali, S. (1985). From the Illyrians to the Arbers. In The Albanians
and their Territories. Academy of Sciences of the PSR of Albania, 8
Nëntori, Tiranë, pp. 100-132.
14
Oswald, B. (2007).The Ethnic Composition of Medieval Epirus. In
Borders and Frontiers or State and Power. pp. 125-154 (132).
15
Justin Epitomé Historiarum Philippicarum XXVIII 1/2: (1, 1).
16
Stadtmüller, G. (1941). Forschungen zur albanischen Frühgeschichte.
Archivum Europae centro-orientalis VII. Budapest, pp. 1-196, (66).
17
Cartledge, P. (2002). The Greeks: A Portrait of Self & Others. 2nd ed.
New York, Oxford University Press. p. 12.
18
Drini, F. (2007/2008). Archontes and synarchontes en Epire et en Illyrie
du sud. Iliria XXXIII, pp. 194-197.
19
Mpalaska, E., Oikonomou, A. and Stylios, C. Women in Epirus and their
social status from ancient to modern times. Community Initiative
Programme. Interreg IIIA Greece-Italy 2000-2006.
http://www.womanway.eu/studies/files/social_teiep_en.pdf.
Retrieved: Oct. 9, 2015.
by the ethnographic studies and maps of the middle of the 19th

century.
The Byzantine history of the Early Middle Ages is a
hagiographic historiography almost exclusively devoted to the
Christian Church, saints and clerics; hence it is a poor source
of information about the ethnic affiliation of Balkan peoples,
including Epirotes. Nevertheless, it is important to bear in
mind the fact that from the beginning of the historical era until
our time there is absolutely no authentic or reliable report on
any migration of Illyrians or Albanians to Epirus. The only
documented migration of foreign populations to Epirus is that
of Byzantine Greeks in years 1204-1205, as a result of their
persecution after the founding of the Latin Empire (Imperium
Romaniae) by Franks of 4th crusade20.
20
N. (1394-1395). Pelegrinage a Jerusalem de N. de Martoni: Notaire
italien. Revue de l’Orient latin, vol. 3, Paris, p. 662.
21
Stafford, W.C. (1855). History of the war in Russia and Turkey…
Jackson, London – Liverpool, p. 120.
22
Malte-Brun, C. (1827). Universal Geography, Or, a Description of All
the Parts of the World, on a new Plan VI, London, p. 176.
23
Merleker K.F. (1852). Historisch-geographische Darstellung des Landes
und der Bewohner von Epeiros: Tl. III. Jahresbericht der königlichen
Friedrichskollegium, Königsberg, 1841, f. 4. and p. 17.
24
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Albanesische Studien. Op cit. p. 12
25
Schmitz, L. (1859). A Manual of Ancient Geography. Blanchard and Lea,
Philadelphia, p. 84-85.
26
Mommsen, T. (1854). Römische Geschichte I. Weidmannsche
Buchhandlung, Leipzig, f. 257.
27
Clare, I.S. (1906). Library of universal history III. Union Book Co,
NewYork – Chicago, p. 706.
28
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Etimologjike II, p. 173-174.
29
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Etimologjike II. p. 211.
30
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Gjuhësore I. p. 142.
31
Çabej, E. (2002). S. Etimologjike VI, p. 106-107.
32
Pokorny, J. (1959). Op. cit.
Introduction 7
When the evidence on the non-Greek identity of ancient

Epirotes is considered in the light of the
- Consensual characterization of ancient Epirotes as a
barbarian people and explicit statements by Thucydides and
Strabo that Epirotes spoke a language other than Greek,
- Absence of evidence on any migration of Illyrians or
Albanians to Epirus,
- Designation of Epirus as Albania and Epirotes as Albanians21
22 23 24 25 26 27
from the 14th century on to the modern times,
- Small but significant linguistic affinities between Albanian
and the Epirote language in the fields of the vocabulary and
place names28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 ,
33
Tzitzilis, C.(2007). Greek and Illyrian. In A History of Ancient Greek:
From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity. A.-F. Christidis (ed.).
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge-New York, p. 751 (745-751).
34
Niebuhr, B.G. (1851). Vorträge über alte Länder- und Völkerkunde. p.
305.
35
Çabej, E. (2014). S. Etimologjike V. p. 282.
36
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi iliro-shqiptare në emrat e vëndeve. Fan
Noli, Tiranë.
37
Anamali, S. (1982). Problemi i formimit të popullit shqiptar në dritën e
kërkimeve arkeologjike. Tiranë, p. 19.
38
Nopcsa, F.B. (1925). Albanien – Bauten, Trächten und Geräte
Nordalbaniens, de Gruyter, Berlin, p. 223.
39
Çabej, E. (1996). S. Etimologjike IV. pp. 227-228.
- Evolution according to the rules of the Albanian phonetics

evolution of the ancient Epirote place names36,
- Archaeological evidence37,
- A number of other cultural Albanian-Epirote parallels38 39 40,
it logically leads one to the conclusion that Epirotes are
affiliated with the group of Illyrian tribes, and Albanians are
linear descendants of ancient Epirotes.
As a result of interfering political factors during more than 100
last years, the present ethnic situation in Epirus has changed:
“A sizable Albanian population …was forcibly expelled in the
early twentieeth century and since then, Albanian place names
have been systematically changed to Greek, thereby erasing
from the landscape any evidence of the former Albanian
presence”41.
40
Stockmann, D. (1963). Zur Vokalmusik der südalbanischen Çamen.
Journal of the International Folk Music Council 15, 38-44. Cited in
Koço, E. (2015 ). A Journey of the Vocal Ison. Cambridge Scholars
Studies. pp. XXI-XXII.
41
Silverman, H. (2010). Contested Cultural Heritage: Religion,
Nationalism, Erasure, and Exclusion in a Global World. Springer,
New York-Dordrecht-Heidelberg-London, p. 114.
Introduction 9
The socio-cultural and demographic landscape of modern

Epirus is more complex than it may appear; under the
Hellenized surface lays the thick and solid layer of the non-
Greek sociocutural and anthropological reality.
Chapter I
The Ancient Greek View on the

Ethnic Identity of Epirotes
1. The origin of the place name Epirus
We do not know how old is the name of Epirus as a proper

geographical name, but Homer in the 8th century uses the
grapheme ἤ in epeiros (ἤπειρος) instead of E (Ἤ) in
Ἤπειρος, i.e. he uses the word as a common noun not as a
place name. In the following example, the greatest epic poet
uses epirus in the meanings of land and mainland, as opposed
to the sea or islands: “So much has no lord either on the dark
mainland or in Ithaca itself; nay, not twenty men together
have wealth so great. Lo, I will tell thee the tale
thereof”42.Three centuries later, in the fifth century BC,
Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC) does not mention Epirus at all,
although he names the tribes of Molossi and Thesproti and
peoples like Illyrians, Macedonians, etc.43 Both he and
Thukydides also use the common name ἤπειρος to describe
42
Homer Odyssey, XIV, lines 96-99:
ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων, οὔτ᾽ ἠπείροιο μελαίνης
οὔτ᾽ αὐτῆς Ἰθάκης: οὐδὲ ξυνεείκοσι φωτῶν
ἔστ᾽ ἄφενος τοσσοῦτον: ἐγὼ δέ κέ τοι καταλέξω.
43
Schmidt F.T.H. (1894). Epeirotika: Beiträge zur Geschichte des alten
Epeiros. Epeiros vor König Pyrrhos. O. Ehrhardt, Marburg, pp. 6-7.
the Asiatic mainland44. The same does the latter, when he

writes about the Persian conquests in Asia Minor, showing
that they “made war against them and enslaved the cities on
the mainland” (epiros - ἤπειρος).45 Some time afterwards,
“Darius, strong in the possession of the Phoenician fleet,
conquered the islands also” and “Under King Cyrus, who,
after having dethroned Croesus and overrun everything
between the Halys and the sea, stopped not till he had
44
Pokorny, J. (1959). Although it is generally believed that the word
Epirus derives from the ancient Greek word Ἤπειρος ‘mainland’, in
the Julius Pokorny’s standard we read that this name is derived from
Ilyrian*epiḫu̯eri̯ ō “situated above, highland”, from which derives the
Albanian i (e) épërë. This and the Greek word Ἤπειρος derive from
the same IE root *epi 44.However, the fact that in the case of Epirus
the name was likely given by the inhabitants of the Ionian islands and
these islands at least from the beginning of the 8 th century (734 BC)
were inhabited by Greek-speaking people makes it highly likely that
they gave the country the name Epirus.
45
Thucydides The History of the Peloponnesian War I, 100.
46
Thucydides. Ibid. I, 16.: Κῦρος καὶ ἡ Περσικὴ βασιλεία Κροῖσον
καθελοῦσα καὶ ὅσα ἐντὸς Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ πρὸς θάλασσαν
ἐπεστράτευσε καὶ τὰς ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ πόλεις ἐδούλωσε, Δαρεῖός τε
ὕστερον τῷ Φοινίκων ναυτικῷ κρατῶν καὶ τὰς νήσους.)
47
Valerius Harpocration, Moeris (Lexicographer) Harpocration Et
Moeris. Ed. I. Bekker, Reimer, 1833, p. 93: “ἤπειρος: σύνηϑες ἐστι
τῷ Ίσοκράτει τὴν ὑπὸ τῷ βασιλει τῶν Περσῶν γῆν οὕτω καλεῖν”
(usually, Isocrates called epeiros the country ruled by the king of
Persians); Schmidt, H. (1894). Geschichte des alten Epeiros (Epeiros
vor König Pyrrhos). Marburg, p. 7.
48
Thucydides Op. cit., I, 47: “ἦσαν δὲ καὶ τοῖς Κορινθίοις ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ
πολλοὶ τῶν βαρβάρων παραβεβοηθηκότες: οἱ γὰρ ταύτῃ ἠπειρῶται
αἰεί ποτε αὐτοῖς φίλοι εἰσίν”.
I Ancient Greek sources on ethnicity of Epirotes 13
reduced the cities of the coast; the islands being only left to
be subdued by Darius and the Phoenician navy” 46.
According to the Alexandrian grammarian of the 2nd century
BC, Valerius Harpocration (Βαλέριος Ἁρποκρατίων), the
ancient Greek rhetorician, Isocrates (Ίσοκράτης, 436-338
BC), also called ἤπειρος the Asian mainland ruled by the
king of Persians47.
In the 5th century BC, the term Epirotes (ἠπειρῶται) still
meant ‘inhabitants of mainland or continent”, as it can be
clearly seen in the following Thucydides’ sentence: “Nor
were the Corinthians on the mainland without their allies.
The barbarians flocked in large numbers to their assistance,
the inhabitants of this part of the continent being old allies of
theirs”48.
In Katičić’s interpretation the Thucydides’ sentence implies
that “The mainland and its dwellers are here opposed to
island of Cercyra and retain their original appellative
meaning, but they could be also understood as names: Epirus
and Epirotes.”49 So, it is plausible to believe that ancient
Greeks knew Epirus mainly from their Ionian islands50. It is
also interesting to point out that even ten centuries after
Thucydides, Stephanus of Byzantium, would define Epirus
49
Katičić, R. The Ancient Languages of the Balkans,Mouton, Paris,
p.120.
50
Schmidt F.T.H.H. (1894). Epeirotika: Beiträge zur Geschichte des
alten Epeiros (Epeiros vor König Pyrrhos). Ehrhardt, Marburg, p. 7.0
(Ἤπειρος) as a place in general (ἡ γενικὴ χώρα), not a

geographical name51.
If the name ἤπειρος was given, as it is generally believed, by
the Greek inhabitants of the Ionian islands and the Greek
seafarers, it expresses Greek perception of the Epirus
mainland as a country facing their Ionian islands. This is not
to deny the terrestrial contact of Epirotes with mainland
Greeks, but simply to point out that Greek contacts and
relations with Epirus took place predominantly via their
Ionian islands, especially Kerkyra, a city port founded by
Corinthians in the 8th century BC52.
Pindus range made Epirus less accessible to continental
Hellenes, hence it is not surprising that the people of Attic
(Athens and surrounding area) and even Ionians have known
Epirus and Epirotes mainly from the Greek inhabitants of
Ionian Sea and Dorian colonizers of Kerkyra.
Over time the appellative ἤπειρος ‘continent’ was adopted as
a geographic name for describing Epirus as a particular
country. According to Schmidt, earlier the country’s name
may have been Aisa (Αῑσα), and its inhabitants were known
as Aisioi (Αἴσιοι)53.
The transition from the common name epirus (ἤπειρος) to the
place name Epirus with the specific political and ethnological
connotations of the term seems to have occurred by the 5th
century BC54.
51
Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorvm quae svpersvnt.
52
Strabo Geography VI, 2, 4.
53
Schmidt F.T.H. (1894). Op.cit. p. 7. Schmidt (Ibid.) brings the example
of the evolution of an Arabic common name Waswahili “inhabitant
of the coast”, into a proper noun to describe a whole people of
Swahili (Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania etc.) in the east
coast of Africa.
54
Schmidt F.T.H. (1894). Op. cit., p. 8.
The name Epirus is the Latinized form of the name Ἂπειρος

used by ancient Greeks that colonized the island of Kerkyra
beginning by 734 BC. In Strabo’s narrative, Archias, on his
way to Sicily, left in Kerkyra a part of his expedition under
Chersicrates, ejected its earlier inhabitants of the Illyrian tribe
of Liburni, took possession of the island and made it a
Corinthian colony55
The German geographer of the classical antiquity, Heinrich
Kiepert, articulated his concept on Epirus as follows:
Ἄπειρος “the mainland” (Ionic and Attic Ἤπειρος) was the
name given in their dialect by the Dorians of Kerkyra to the
coast which lay opposite to their island, and to the country
lying behind. Its inhabitants, not of Hellenic race but
belonging to the great Illyrian group of nations, and divided
into many small tribes, they called Άπειρῶται”56.
For the first time in the known sources Epirus is mentioned
as a proper geographic name in the first half of the 5 century
by Pindar57 (c. 522–443 BC), then Xenophon58 (430–354
BC). Thucydides, in his description of the territory west of
Pindus range, between the gulf of Arachthos and
Acrocheraunian Mountains: “Xenocleides, the son of
55
Strabo Geography VI, 2, 5: “While Archias was on his voyage to
Sicily, he left Chersicrates, a chief of the race of the Heracleidæ, with
a part of the expedition to settle the island now called Corcyra.”
(“πλέοντα δὲ τὸν Ἀρχίαν εἰς τὴν ικελίαν καταλιπεῖν μετὰ μέρους τῆς
στρατιᾶς τοῦ τῶν Ἡρακλειδῶν γένους Χερσικράτη συνοικιοῦντα τὴν
νῦν Κέρκυραν καλουμένην, πρότερον δὲ Σχερίαν. ἐκεῖνον μὲν οὖν
ἐκβαλόντα Λιβυρνοὺς κατέχοντας οἰκίσαι τὴν ν-νῆσον”.
56
Kiepert, H. (1881). A Manual of Ancient Geography. p. 175.
57
The Odes of Pindar, Nemean IV, Strophe VII: “Neoptolemus in the
expanses of Epirus” (Νεοπτόλεμος δ᾽ Ἀπείρῳ διαπρυσίᾳ).
58
Xenophon, Hellenica VI, 1: “Alcetas, the ruler in Epirus.” (Ἀλκέτας ὁ
ἐν τῇ Ἠπείρῳ ὕπαρχος).
Euthycles, who, with much difficulty passing through Epirus,

at length arrived”59.
In our time, the territory of Epirus is divided between the
Republic of Albania and Republic of Greece.
2. Epirote tribes
From the ancient Greek and Roman historians and

geographers we know that Epirus was inhabited by three
major tribes: Chaonians, Molossians and Thesprotians. Each
of them consists of a number of small tribes or subtribes.
In 1841 the German historian Karl Friedrich Merleker (1803-
1872) compiled a list comprised of 36 subtribes of the three
main Epirote tribes he found in the ancient sources: “All in
all in the ancient Epirus I found thirty six small tribes and
and four greater: I. Among Chaones are 1) Dexaroi
(Δεξάροι), 2) Encheleii (Ἐγχελεῖς), 3) Syliones (Συλίονες).
II. To Molossians belong: 4) Atintanes (Ατιντάνες), 5)
Athamanes (Άθαμάνες), 6) Aphidantes (Άφείδαντες), 7)
Genoai (Γενοαῖοι), 8) Donettini (Δονεττῖνοι), 9) Orestae
(Όρέσται), 10) Hypaelokhoi (Ὑπαιλχιοι). II. To Thesprotes
belong: 11) Aegestians (Αἰγεσταῖοἰ), 12) Amyntes
(Άμύνται), 13) Autariates (Αὐταριάται), 14) Elines (Ἔλινοι),
15) Kelaethians (Κέλαιϑοι), 16) Parauai (Παραύαιοι), 17)
Prassaebi (Πράσσαιβοι), 18) Tripolissi (Τριπόλισσοι), 19)
Chaunes (Χαῦνοι), 20) Cassopaeans (Κασσοπὶοι). IV.
Epirotes also are: 21) Amymni (Ἄμυμνοι), 22) Argyrini
59
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War III, 114: “Ξενοκλείδαν
τὸν Εὐθυκλέους ἄρχοντα: οἳ κομιζόμενοι χαλεπῶς διὰ τῆς ἠπείρου
ἀφίκοντο”.
(Άργύρινοι), 23) Arktanes (Άρκτᾶνες), 24) Pleraei

(Πλαραῖοι). V. Other tribes inhabiting in the region of
ancient Epirus are: 25) Helopes (Ἕλοπες), 26) Selles
(Σέλλες), 27) Dryopes (Δρύοπες), 28) Aethices (Αἴϑικες), 29)
Tymphaei (Τυμφαῖοι), 30) Amphilochi (Ἀμφίλοχοι), 31)
Talari (Ταλαρες), 32) Paroraei (Παρωραῖοί), 33) Threstes
(Θρέσται), 34) Pelagones (Πελαγόνες), 35) Elimiotes
(Έλιμιῶται), 36) Dolopes (Δόλοπες).”60. Missing in this list
are the tribes of Peukestes (Πευκέστας), in the territory of
Chaonians61 and several smaller subtribes.
Owing to the persisting tribal character of the Epirote society
during the whole Antiquity, the number of small tribes has
been much greater as is revealed by the discovery of new
Prassaib inscriptions. Among these smaller tribes let’s
mention Peiales (Πέιαλες), Omphales (Ομφαλες), Ethnestes
(Εϑνεστες), Onopernes (Ὀνοπέρνες), and Phylatoi
(Φυλατοι)62.
The Dassaretae controversy
Let’s say upfront: All ancient Greek and Roman authors call
Dassareti an Illyrian tribe.
60
Merleker, K.F. (1841). Das Land und die Bewohner von Epeiros.
Jahresbericht über das königliche Friedrichskollegium, Königsberg,
p. 14.
61
Hoffmann, O. (1906). Die Makedonen: ihre Sprache und ihr Volkstum.
Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, p. 178.
62
Giovannini, A. (1971). Untersuchungen über die Natur und die
Anfänge der bundesstaatlichen Sympolitie in Griechenland, vol. 33.
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Gottingen, pp. 94-95; Cabanes, P. (1976).
L'Épire, de la mort de Pyrrhos à la conquête romaine (272-167) av.
J.C. Presses Univ. Franche-Comté, p. 120-122.
However, the British scholar, N.G.L. Hammond (1907-2001)

proposed that Chaones inhabited a region stretching from the
Ionian Sea to the Lake Ochrid63. This, obviously, is a lapsus
that contradicts all the information from the ancient Greek
and Roman sources, and other modern scholars on the tribes
and territory of the ancient Epirus (Epirus vetus). Hammond
made no serious attempt to raise his statement above the level
of pure speculation (see map in the figure 1 later in section
4). Hammond based his conjecture on information by
Stephanus of Byzantium that localizes the Epirote tribe of
Dexaroi adjacent to the tribe of Encheleii: ” Dexarii,
according to Hecataeus, are a Chaonian tribe, neighbor of
Encheleii, inhabiting under mount Amyron”64. Based on the
similarity of the name of Illyrian Dassaretes and Dexaroi and
neighborhood of the latter with the tribe of Enchelei, he
concluded that Dexaroi was a misspelling or synonym of the
Epirote tribe of Dassaretes and that Dassaretes were not an
Illyrian tribe as all the other ancient and later sources say, but
an Epirote tribe. Obviously the neighborhood with Encheleii
had a confounding role in Hammond’s conjecture that
Dassaretes were an Epirote tribe, because he was not aware
63
Boardman, J. and Hammond, N.G.L. (1982).The Cambridge Ancient
History - The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth
Centuries B.C., Volume 3 (Sec. Edition), Cambridge University
Press, p. 265
64
Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorvm quae svpersvnt: “Δέξαροι, ἔθνος
Χαόνων, τοῖς Ἐγχελέαις προσεχεῖς, Ἑκαταῖος Εὐρώπῃ, ὑπὸ Ἄμυρον
ὄρος οἰκοῦν”.
65
Merleker, K.F. (1841). Op. cit. p. 14.
66
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi Iliro-shqiptare në Emrat e Vëndeve. Fan
Noli, Tiranë, pp. 119-122.
that besides the Illyrian tribe of Enchelei, the same name

Encheleii bore a Thesprotian subtribe65.
In support of his conjecture Hammond, also states that the
Mount Amyron at whose foot Dexaroi resided, was the
Mount Tomor in South Albania. Hammond failed to support
his identification of Amyron with Mount Tomor, which in all
likelihood is not correct. There is linguistic, ethnological and
historical evidence that mount Amyron is located not in
Illyria, but within the Chaonian territory, as it is defined by
Stephanus of Byzantium and is argued elsewhere66.
The evolution of the name of mount Amyron to Tomor in
South Albania is impossible based on the phonetic rules of
any of the ancient or new Balkan languages or Latin.
His statement, however, is taken for granted and uncritically
presented as a fact by other authors: “Behind the coast
Illyrians bordered the Chaones, the epirote people of whom
the Dexari or Dassaretae were the most northerly and
bordered the Illyrian Enchelei, the ‘eel-men’, whose name
points to a location near Lake Lychnitis (Λυχνἵτις), now
Ohrid lake” 67. According to Polybius68, the Dassaretae
possessed several towns, including Pelion, Antipatrea
(probably Berat), Chrysondym, Gertous or Gerous…”,
though none has yet been definitely localized. Indeed,
67
Wilkes, J. (1995). The Illyrians. Blackwell, Cambridge, MA, USA, p.
98.
65
Polybius Histories V, 108.
Pseudo-Skylax69 informs us that: “Boulinoi are an Illyric

nation” and “the [Amantians], from Boulinoi as far as they
extend, are Illyrians”. He also adds that “Oricaness inhabit in
the region of Amantia: Amantines are true Illyrians70.
But if the region northwest of Vjosa (Aoos) river to the
Adriatic sea was inhabited by Illyrian Amantines and the
region east of the river was inhabited by Illyrian Bulini and
Epirote Paraueans, as it is firmly established by almost all the
rest of the historians and geographers of Antiquity, it would
be geographically impossible to imagine how an Epirote
Chaonian subtribe tribe would inhabit a well known Illyrian
territory, north of Vjosa (Aoos) river, separated by Illyrians
(Amantini and Bulini) and Epirote Paraueans, bordering in
the north Illyria and Macedonia in the east.
Obviously, his inference is unfortunate and quite likely is a
consequence of him being not aware about the existence of
an Epirote homonymous tribe name, Enchelei.
Nevertheless, his opinion that the Epirote tribe of Dexaroi is
identical with the tribe of Dassaretes is obviously false and
contradicts not only all the authentic ancient Greek-Roman
and latter sources, but even his own concept of Illyria.
Look at the following excerpt by N.G.L. Hammond: “More
than piracy at sea was involved; for a land force under
Scerdilaidas invaded Epirus at short notice that we may infer
that the Illyrians held the area between Berat and the lower
69
Geographica antiqua, hoc est: Scylacis Periplus Maria Mediterranei.
1697. p. 16: “Βουλινοὶ δ᾽ εἰσὶν ἔθνος Ἰλλυρικόν” and “Οἱ δὲ
Ἀμαντιεῖς εἰσὶ μέχρι ἐνταῦθα Ἰλλυριοὶ ἀπὸ Βουλινῶν”.
70
Geographica antiqua, hoc est: Scylacis Periplus Maria Mediterranei.
1697, p. 25: “Oricii inhabitant Amantiae regionem: Amantini vero
sunt Illyrii”.
Aous valley as well as “some parts of Epirus”71. This passage

unequivocally indicates that Hammond himself denies the
Epirotic identity of the region of Berat and north of Aous
(Vjosa) River, which he later assigned to Epirus.
There are also a number of other facts that speak against
Hammond’s the unargued proposal.
Firstly, Stephanus of Byzantium himself unambiguously
speaks of two different tribes, the Illyrian Dassaretes and the
Epirote (Chaonian) Dexaroi72 and makes a clear distinction
between Dassaretae, which he, unlike Hammond, calls
Illyrians: “Dassaretes, a tribe in Illyria, mentioned by
Polybius in the eighth book. The feminine form is
Dassaretidin. They are also known as Dassarenes and speak
Dassarintin.” and Dexaroi, which he calls Epirotans
(Chaonians): “Dexaroi, a tribe in Chaonia, neighbors of
Enchelei. Hecataeus mentions them in Europe. They inhabit
at the foot of the Amyron Mountain”73.
Secondly, he does not explain why the alleged identity makes
Dassaretes an Epirote and not an Illyrian tribe.
Thirdly, if Hammond’s inference is based on the fact that
Dexaroi are not mentioned in latter sources, this can not hold
as an argument because most of the around 70 ancient
Epirote tribes do not appear in latter sources.
Fourthly, his inference goes against the fact that all the
ancient Greek and Roman authors dealing with Dassaretes
consider them to be an Illyrian tribe. Hammond makes no
71
Hammond, N.G.L. (1968). Illyris, Rome and Macedon 229-205 B.C.
Journal of Roman Studies 58, 1-21.
72
Stephani Byzantii, Op. cit. “Δασσαρηται, ἔϑνος Ἰλλυρίας, Πολύβιος
ὀγδόῳ. καὶ τὸ ϑηλυκὸν Δασσαρητις. λέγονται καὶ Δασσαρηνοί καὶ
Δασσαρήτιοι καὶ Δασσαρητινος”.
73
Stephani Byzantii, Op. cit.: “Δέξαροι, ἔϑνος Χαόνων, τοῖς Ἐγχελέαις
πρϐσεχεῖς, Ἑκαταῖος Εὐρώπῃ. ὑπὸ Ἄμυρον ὄρος οἰκοὕν”.
serious attempt to prove that their consensual recognition of

Dassaretes as Illyrians was wrong. His view contravenes the
view of not only the ancient authors, but also the modern
scholars (Kretschmer, von Hahn, Leake, Hobhouse, Malte
Brun, Niebuhr) and geographers (Kiepert, etc.), including the
20th century British historian Toynbee, when he recounts
about ‘Dassaretioi’ as “…an Illyrian people whose territory
extended from the shores of Lake Okhrida (Lykhnidos)
south-south-westwards to the upper valley of the River
Uzúmi, which joins the Devol to form the Semeni…”74.
I am tempted here to emphasize the fact that Illyrian origin of
Dassaretes is also corroborated by a number of the Greek
myths on the origin of Illyrians. So, e.g., one of the Greek
myths narrated by the Alexandrin historian of the second
century, Appiani, says: “Illyrius had six sons, Encheleus,
Autarieus, Dardanus, Mædus, Taulas, and Perrhæbus, also
daughters, Partho, Daortho, Dassaro, and others, from whom
sprang the Taulantii, the Perrhæbi, the Enchelees, the
Autarienses, the Dardani, the Partheni, the Dassaretii, and the
Darsii. Autarieus had a son Pannonius, or Pæon, and the
latter had sons, Scordiscus and Triballus, from whom nations
bearing similar names were derived”75. Moreover, the root of
74
Toynbee, A. (1969). Some Problems of Greek History. Oxford
University Press, London, p. 108.
75
Appiani Alexandrini. Historia romana, ab I. Bekkero. Volumen Prius,
Lipsiae, Sumptibus et Typis B.G. Teubneri, MDCCCLII, p. 423:
“‘Ιλλυρι’ϖ δε παϊδας ‘Εγχέλεα και Αυταριέα και Δάρδανον και
Μαϊδον και Ταύλαντα και Περραιβον γενέσϑαι και ϑυγατέρας
Παρϑω και Δαορϑω και Δασσαρω και έτέρας, όϑεν εισι Ταυλάντιοί
τε και Περραιβοι και ‘Εγχέλεες και Αυταριεϊς και Δάρδανοι και
Παρϑηνοι και Δασσαριτιοι και Δάρσιοι. Αυταριεϊ δε αυτϖ
Παννόνόον ήγουνται παϊδα η Παίονα γενέσϑαι, και Σχορδίασχον
Παίονι και Τριβαλλόν, ών όμοίως τα εϑνη παρώνυμα εϊναι“.
the tribe name doksaroi seems to have been preserved in the

name of the modern Albanian village, Dhoks-at (with the
typical Albanian and illyrian suffix -at), which, in line with
the Stephanus of Byzantium’s indication, is located
Gjirokastër district, in the territory of the ancient Chaonians
in Epirus vetus).
Even the present ethnographical (dress, songs, dances) and
linguistic-dialectal situation of the mountainous south-
western part of South Albania, which may be considered a
miracle of preservation of the ancient ethnogeography,
unequivocally speaks against the presence of Chaonian
subtribes east or north of Vjosa (Aoos) river.
Polybius also makes it clear enough that Dassaretes inhabited
south Illyria, not Epirus. In his description of the
diagreements between Philip and the Illyrian military ruler
Scerdilaidas, Polybius shows that the latter, in autumn of 217
BC “had now plundered a town in Pelagonia called
Pissaeum; had won over by promises some cities of the
Dassaretae, namely, Phibotides, Antipatria, Chrysondym, and
Geston; and had overrun much of the district of Macedonia
bordering on these places. He therefore at once started with
his army in great haste to recover the revolted cities, and
determined to proclaim open war with Scerdilaidas; for he
thought it a matter of the most vital importance to bring
Illyria into a state of good order, with a view to the success
of all his projects, and above all of his passage into Italy.”76.
76
Polybius Histories, 5, 108: “τῆς δὲ Δασσαρήτιδος προσηγμένον πόλεις,
τὰς μὲν φόβῳ, τὰς δ᾽ ἐπαγγελίαις, Ἀντιπάτρειαν, Χρυσονδύωνα,
Γερτοῦντα, πολλὴν δὲ καὶ τῆς συνορούσης τούτοις Μακεδονίας
ἐπιδεδραμηκότα, παραυτίκα μὲν ὥρμησε μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως, ὡς
ἀνακτήσασθαι σπουδάζων τὰς ἀφεστηκυίας πόλεις, καθόλου δ᾽
ἔκρινε πολεμεῖν πρὸς τὸν Σκερδιλαΐδαν, νομίζων ἀναγκαιότατον
In Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) we

read: “Lychnidus, which was the principal town of the
Dassaretae”. The geographic position of Lychnidus, north-
east of the Lychnid lake, makes the Hammond’s speculation
on the Epirote affiliation of Dassaretae even more
impossible.
3. On the origin of some Epirote tribe names

Names of several Epirote tribes come from the names of
animals they worshipped, place names, names of their
leaders, etc.
Boioti - a mountain tribe of east Epirus. The name is related
to the Albanian verb bie ‘beat, strike’, derived from IE
*bhoio ‘beat, struggle’. According to G. Meyer77, the
Albanian word has cognates in Old High German berjan
‘beat, hit’, Old Nordic berja, Latin ferio ‘hit, shoot’ and Old
Church Slavic borjo ‘fight’. Hence, the likely meaning of the
tribe name was “warriors”. The ancient name is inherited in a
medieval Albanian tribe name and the middle name of Gjin
Bua Shpata (Ghin Bua Spata), the Albanian ruler of the
Despotate of Epirus in the second half of the 14th century.
Dexaroi is a subtribe of Chaonians, residing at the foot of the
Mount Amyron78, most likely modern Nemërçka79. The tribe
name may be derived from the Ilyrian-Epirote word daksa
εἶναι παρευτρεπίσασθαι τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰλλυρίδα πρός τε τὰς ἄλλας

ἐπιβολὰς καὶ μάλιστα πρὸς τὴν εἰς Ἰταλίαν διάβασιν”.
77
Meyer, G. (1891). Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanischen
Sprache I, Trübner, Strassburg, p. 35.
78
Stephani Byzantinii. Op cit.
79
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi.... Op cit. pp. 119-122.
(δάξα) ‘sea’80. As pointed out earlier, the name may be

preserved in the name of a modern village, Dhoksat (with the
characteristic Illyrian-Epirote-Albanian suffix -at) in the
Albanian territory of Epirus vetus.
Molossians (Latin Molossis). In early Greek sources the
name of this Epirote tribe appears as Molotti (Μολοττοί), but
later, under the influence of the Attic dialect, its spelling and
pronunciation shifted to Molossi81. However, Aristoteles,
who did not write in that dialect, speaks of them as one of the
three main ethnic groups of the Old Epirus, along Chaonians
in the north and Thesprotes in the south. Stephanus of
Byzantium described Molossia as “a place in Epirus.
Inhabitants are Molossi”82
According to Heinrich Kiepert, the name of the district “was
confined in early times to the inner district of the Drynos (the
seat of Atintanes, who were subdued during the
Peloponnesian war by the Molossian princes) and the
surrounding of the valley. It was then extended by conquests
southwards through the valley of the Arachtthos, and under
Pyrrhos, who, after subduing the coast districts, first called
himself king of Epeiros, included also the plain at the mouth
of that river.”83
Pokorny calls them Illyrian tribe )in the wider meaning) and
explains their name with the Albanian word mal
80
Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon (1867). Sumptibus Hermanni Dufftii
(Libraria Maukiana), p. 372.
81
Niebuhr, B.G. (1848). Historische und philologische Vorträge an der
Universität Bonn gehalten. Reimer, Berlin, p. 271.
82
Stephani Byzantii Op. cit.: “Μολοσσία, ἡ χώρα τῆς Ήπείρου. ὁ
οἰκήτωρ Μολοσσός”.
83
Kiepert, H. (1881). A Manual of Ancient Geography. Transl. from
German. McMillan and Co. London, pp.176-77.
‘mountain’84, which is semantically plausible, when we

remember that the tribe inhabited the most mountainous part
of the ancient Epirus. According to Pokorny85, the Albanian
word mal derives, via a reconstructed Illyrian *mol-no-, from
PIE *mel- ‘hightened place, roof’. From the same root
derives the Albanian word majë ‘cusp, peak, summit’ (in
some peripheral conservative dialects of Albanian is still
malë), derived from a reconstructed *mēlo-. From the same
Illyrian root mal/mala is believed to derive Latin mons,
montis (<*malontina) ‘mountain, large rock’, as well as the
Indian word meru ‘mal’. The pre-Roman word malga
‘economy of Alps’ is also believed to derive from the
reconstructed Illyrian *mal-ikā86. Hans Krahe presented some
Illyrian personal names like Malontum that are related to the
Illyrian-Albanian mal. A river name derived from the Illyrian
root *mal is Mal-ont-īna (now Maltein, Kärnten) in south-
Austrian Alps.
The same root mal has been very productive in formation of
place names all over Albania, but especially in South
Albania, in the territory of the ancient Epirus vetus and E.
nova: (Malinat, Berat county, Malas and Maliçan, Vlorë
county, Mal-shovë and Mal-as, Përmet district, village Mal-
çan, Sarandë district and in Greece Mol-ista village. Notice
the typical Illyrian suffix -ista, which gave -ishta in
Albanian).
Arktanes (Άρκτᾶνες) is an Epirote tribe mentioned by
Stephanus of Byzantium87. It is a Molossian subtribe and its
84
85
86
87
Stephani Bizantinii Op. cit.: “Άρκτᾶνες, ὡς Αἰνιᾶνες, ἔϑνος
Ἠπειρωτικόν”.
name may be related to the Albanian word for bear, ari (<
*ark)88 from the PIE * ṛtkos ‘bear’89.
Chaones - one of the three main Epirote tribes, along
Molossians and Thesprotians. Virgil (Vergilius), loyal to his
mythological Trojan origin of Rome, related the name of
Chaonians with the Troian mythology: “Helenus, who called
his lands Chaonian, and in Trojan Chaon's name his kingdom
is Chaonia”90.
Another hypothesis posits that the name of Chaonians may
derive from the Illyrian root of the name for dog *kan that
may be found not only in the synonymous tribes of choni
(Χῶνας)91 in the ancient Apulia, South Italy, and Chauni
(Χαῦνοι)92 in Epirus (Thesprotia), but also in Illyrian place
names, such as Candavia and Canusia and in the name of the
medieval Albanian town, Kanina.
Another possibility is that the tribe name may be related to
the Proto-Albanian/Illyrian *hanna ‘moon’, reconstructed by
Meyer and inherited in Albanian hënë ‘moon’, which is
88
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Etimologjike II, pp.76-77.
89
90
Vergilius Aeneid III, 334-336:
“pars Heleno, qui Chaonios cognomine campos
Chaoniamque omnem Troiano a Chaone dixit,
Pergamaque Iliacamque iugis hanc addidit arcem”.
91
92
Merleker, K.F. (1852). Historisch-geogr. Op. cit., p. 5.
93
Meyer G. (1891). Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanischen Sprache
I. Trübner, Strassburg, p. 151.
94
Çabej, E. (1996). S. Etimologjike IV. Tiranë, p. 369.
95
Hesychius Lexicon. Op. cit.
96
Stephani Byzantinii, Op. cit: “Δέξαροι, ἔϑνος Χαόνων, τοῖς Ἐγχελέαις
πρϐσεχεῖς, Ἑκαταῖος Εὐρώπῃ. ὑπὸ Ἄμυρον ὄρος οἰκοὕν”.
related to the OInd candrá ‘moon’ and Middle Breton cann

‘full moon’93 94.
Dexaroi, a tribe in Chaonia, neighbors of Enchelei. The name
may be derived from the Epirote word daksa (δάξα) ‘sea’95.
It is mentioned by Stephanus of Byzantium as a subtribe of
Chaonians, Dexaroi (Δέξαροι). They resided in neighborhood
of Encheleii, at the foot of the mountain Amyron (Αμυρον)96,
The Epirote tribe name Encheleii, mentioned by Stephanus of
Byzantium, shoud not be confounded with the well known
Illyrian tribe of Encheleii.
Enchelei (Ἐγκελείς/Ἐγκελᾶνες) are a Thesprotian subtribe97
and a South-Illyrian tribe98. von Hahn was the first to relate
the ancient tribe name with Albanian word ngjalë ‘eel’99,
derived from an ancient Albanian *engélla or *angélla100
from the PIE *angṷ ‘water worm, eel’.
Genoaioi (Γενοαῖοι) Based on Rhianos, Stephanus of
Byzantium says that this small Molossian tribe, was named
after prince Genoas101. But in this case he seems to be not a
reliable source. The tribe name is more likely to be related to
the PIE *ĝenu- ‘knee’, which expresses the hilly nature of the
97
98
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 9.
99
von Hahn J.G. (1854). Albanesische Studien. F. Mauko, Jena, p. 240.
100
Çabej, E. (2002). S. Etimologjike VI, pp. 81-82.
101
Stephani Bizantinii Op. cit.: ”Γενοαῖοι, ἔϑνος Μολοσσίας, ἀπὸ Γενόου
ἄρχοντος αὐτῶν, Ῥίανὸς τετάρτῃ Θεσσαλικῶν“.
region where the tribe lived. The same root is found in the
name of a place, Genusia, in Messapia, Apulia, and in the
name of the Illyrian river name Genusus (now Shkumbin in
the central Albania).
Paraueans (Παραυαῖοι) are an Epirote tribe of the upper
valley of the Aous (Vjosa) river. In the 5th century BC they
were still ruled by kings102. The tribe name is a compound
noun meaning “on the Auas”, i.e. inhabitants of the banks of
the Auas (Vjosa) River103. The preposition “para” of the
compound noun is related to the modern Albanian për/pari
‘about, on, around’, which Franz Bopp (1791-1867)
considered an inherited Albanian word derived from the IE
root *pro, like the Old Indian pári and Old Greek περί/πέρι.
The Proto-Albanian/Illyrian forms are *peri and *pra104.
Perrhaebi, may be derived from Illyrian *barba105 (compare
the place name Metubarbis ‘in the middle of the swamp’ near
Sava river), which is found in the Illyrian river names
Barbanna in north Albania, flowing from the Shkodra Lake
to the Adriatic sea and another homonymous river in modern
Slovenia. The ancient Illyrian word evolved into Albanian
bërrak ‘swamp’< *brak, which is compared to the Gallic
*bracum ‘swamp’ and in Italian braco, brago ‘mud’106.
Thesprotians (Θεσπρωτοί), one of the three main tribes of
Epirus, along Chaonians and Molossians. According to Paul
Kretschmer107 the suffix -otes, -ates are not characteristic of
Greek tribe names, but are frequently used in both Epirote
102
Thucydides The History of the Peloponnesian War II, 80, 6.
103
Kiepert, H. (1881). A Manual of Ancient Geography. McMillan and
Co. London, p. 176.
104
Çabej, E. (2002). S. Etimologjike VI. p. 188-190.
105
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Etimologjike II, pp. 215-217.
106
Çabej, E. (1976). Ibid.
107
Kretschmer, P. (1896). Op. cit. p. 257.
[Apodotes, Boiotes (from Boion oros), Kladiates, Doesstes

and in the city name Βουϑρωτόν] and Illyrian [Autariatae,
Dalmatae, Bathiatae, Oseriates, Sardeates, Labeates,
Andizetes, Dassaretes, Dentheletae, Siculotae] tribe names.
4. The boundaries of Epirus
Owing to the geographic proximity of Epirus to ancient

Greece and Rome, evidence on location of Epirote tribes
provided by ancient Grek and Roman authors is relatively
reliable, especially when compared with the evidence they
provide on more distant areas of the Europe and the world.
Unquestionably the data provided by these authors come to
the foreground and have priority over evidence coming from
the archeological, linguistic, ethnographic, folkloric or
mythological sources, when we have to deal with situations
and processes that took place more than 2 millenia ago.
Hence, a careful critical examination of evidence from the
ancient written sources is necessary in every attempt to create
a realistic picture on the geography of the ancient Epirus.
There are detailled descriptions on Epirote tribes and
considerble data on their location in ancient sources, but the
situation is a little more complicated than it seems at the first
sight. Under Diocletian’s (245–311) administrative division,
by the end of the 3rd century CE, the western part of the
province of Macedonia was divided into two administrative
provinces that came to be known as Epirus nova and Epirus
vetus. The latter name, Epirus vetus comprises precisely the
region that ancient Greek authors from the 5th century BC
began calling Epirus, first as an appellative and then as a
geographical and political entity inhabited by ‘barbarian’

tribes.
Epirus was the territory west of the Ionian Sea that was
separated from Greece to the east by the Pindus range. It
extended from the Gulf of Ambracia in the south to roughly
the lower flow of Vjosa (Aoos) river, following a west to east
line, bordering the ancient Macedonian tribesin the east.
Some eastern Epirote tribes such as Pelagones and Orestes
later were included in Macedonia.
The Roman province of Epirus nova extended from the
northern borders of Epirus vetus [roughly Vjosa (Aoos) river]
to the Shkumbin (Genusus) river, which remarkably presently
coincides north with the border between the two major
Albanian dialects, the Tosk dialect in south Albania and
Gheg in the north. Until most recently, the Tosk dialects
extended south as far as the Gulf of Arta, indicating that
ancient Epirus vetus and Epirus nova constituted a single
linguistic/dialectal unit.
Due to the strong cultural influence of the neighboring
ancient Greece, political factors and the presence of Greek
colonies in some coastal cities, Epirus has been subject to a
gradual process of territorial shrinking, just like the territories
of ancient Thrace and Macedonia. Strabo informs us that
parts of what was Acarnania and Aetolia at his time were
Epirote territories: “indeed most of the country that at the
present time is indisputably Greece was held by the
barbarians - Macedonia and certain parts of Thessaly by the
Thracians, and the parts above Acarnania and Aetolia by the
Thesproti, the Cassopaei, the Amphilochi, the Molossi, and
the Athamanes—Epeirotic tribes” 108.
108
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 1: “ἔτι μέντοι μᾶλλον πρότερον ἢ νῦν, ὅπου
γε καὶ τῆς ἐν τῷ παρόντι Ἑλλάδος ἀναντιλέκτως οὔσης τὴν πολλὴν
Figure 1. Map of Epirus vetus showing its borders with

Illyrian (north), Macedonian (east), and already hellenized
Epirote tribes in the south-east. From: Heinrich Kiepert:
Atlas antiquus. 12. Aufl. Berlin 1902.
Notice that Kiepert left out of the territory of Epirus tribes of
Amphilochii, Dolopes and Perrhabei, based on the evidence from
οἱ βάρβαροι ἔχουσι, Μακεδονίαν μὲν Θρᾷκες καί τινα μέρη τῆς

Θετταλίας, Ἀκαρνανίας δὲ καὶ Αἰτωλίας τὰ ἄνω Θεσπρωτοὶ καὶ
Κασσωπαῖοι καὶ Ἀμφίλοχοι καὶ Μολοττοὶ καὶ Ἀθαμᾶνες,
Ἠπειρωτικὰ ἔθνη”.
ancient Greek sources that they were ‘Hellenized’ by the 4th

century.
According to Plutarch, Pericles (495-429 BC), the greatest
statesman, politician and general of Athens in the 5th century
BC, decided to hold a panhellenic congress in Athens and
sent envoys to invite all the Greeks, of not only the mainland
and Asian Greek cities but also Greek islands and colonies
“all Hellenes wheresoever resident in Europe or in Asia,
small and large cities alike should be invited to send their
deputies in a congress to be held in Athens.”109
And he continues: “To extend this invitation, twenty men, of
such as were above fifty years of age, were sent out, five of
whom invited the Ionians and Dorians in Asia and on the
islands between Lesbos and Rhodes; five visited the regions
on the Hellespont and in Thrace as far as Byzantium; five
others were sent into Boeotia and Phocis and Peloponnesus,
and from here by way of the Ozolian Locrians into the
neighboring continent as far as Acarnania and Ambracia”110.
The Greek colony of Ambracia in south Epirus was the
northernmost point of “Greece”, invited to send deputies to
109
Plutarch, Pericles, 17, 1: “δὲ Λακεδαιμονίων ἄχθεσθαι τῇ αὐξήσει τῶν
Ἀθηναίων, ἐπαίρων ὁ Περικλῆς τὸν δῆμον ἔτι μᾶλλον μέγα φρονεῖν
καὶ μεγάλων αὑτὸν ἀξιοῦν πραγμάτων, γράφει ψήφισμα, πάντας
Ἕλληνας τοὺς ὁπήποτε κατοικοῦντας Εὐρώπης ἢ τῆς Ἀσίας
παρακαλεῖν, καὶ μικρὰν πόλιν καὶ μεγάλην, εἰς σύλλογον πέμπειν
Ἀθήναζε”.
110
Plutarch, Pericles 17, 2): ”ἐπὶ ταῦτα δ᾽ ἄνδρες εἴκοσι τῶν ὑπὲρ
πεντήκοντα ἔτη γεγονότων ἐπέμφθησαν, ὧν πέντε μὲν Ἴωνας καὶ
Δωριεὶς τοὺς ἐν Ἀσίᾳ καὶ νησιώτας ἄχρι Λέσβου καὶ Ῥόδου
παρεκάλουν, πέντε δὲ τοὺς ἐν Ἑλλησπόντῳ καὶ Θρᾴκῃ μέχρι
Βυζαντίου τόπους ἐπῄεσαν, καὶ πέντε ἐπὶ τούτοις εἰς Βοιωτίαν καὶ
Φωκίδα καὶ Πελοπόννησον, ἐκ δὲ ταύτης διὰ Λοκρῶν ἐπὶ τὴν
πρόσοικον ἤπειρον ἕως Ἀκαρνανίας καὶ Ἀμβρακίας ἀπεστάλησαν”.
the congress. This is, according to Plutarch, the Pericles’

view of the Hellenic world stretching to both continents,
Europe and Asia, Greek islands and Greek colonies, “all
Hellenes wheresoever resident in Europe or in Asia, small
and large cities alike”.
By not inviting any representatives of the Epirus to the pan-
Helelnic congress, Pericles, plainly denied Greekness of
Epirotes. Given that the Athenian statesman knew who
‘Hellenes’ were, the denial, unequivocally, shows that
Epirotes were not ‘Hellenes’. For it is impossible, by any
extent of the imagination, to believe that Pericles didn’t know
whether Greece’s immediate north-western neighbors were
Greeks or non-Greeks. So, Pericles’ information that Greek
colonists of Ambracia were the northernmost Greeks helps us
to define the Gulf of Ambracia as the natural southern
boundary of Epirus.
The eastern boundary of Epirus with Macedonian tribes has
been less stable, with the eastern tribes of Orestes and
Elimiotes described sometimes as Epirotes and other time,
especially later, as Macedonians. The south-estern boundary
also changed over time as a result of the loss by some Epirote
tribes of their own language as it is the case with part of the
tribe of Amphilochii and probably with Perhaebes and
Dolopes.
Greek colonization of Kerkyra
Kerkyra is the largest island in the Ionian Sea a few miles

from the ancient Epirote city of Buthrotus. In the ancient
Greek and Roman sources the port city of Kerkyra is defined
as a Greek colony indicating the non-Greek prehistory of the
island. Indeed the ancient Greek sources show that the Greek
colonization of the island began several centuries after the

Trojan war, initially by Ionian colonists from Euboea by the
middle of the 8th century BC, but Strabo says that the
establishment of the Greek colony in Kerkyra started with
Chersicrates campaign of eviction from the island of the
native inhabitants of the north-Illyrian tribe of Liburnians in
the 8th century BC by Dorian colonists111. In support of
Strabo’s report on the change in the ethnic situation of the
island at the time, comes linguistic evidence. The name
Kerkyra itself is believed to derive from the Illyrian *kerk
‘oak’ (compare Latin cognate quercus and Venetian
quarqueni ‘oak’), derived from a PIE *kʷerkʷu-s. The Illyrian
origin of the ancient name Kerkyra seems to be corroborated
by the fact that with the same word, kerkyra is named another
Illyrian island, Black Kerkyra (Kerkyra Melaina) in the
Dalmatian coast.
5. Greek colonies refute ethnic affiliation of

Epirotes with Greeks
The founding of Greek colonies in existing Epirote
settlements beginning from the 7th century BC is an infallible
proof of the non-Greek ethnicity of Epirotes. It is both a
necessary and sufficient premise to prove that Epirus was a
foreign country to ancient Greeks and Epirotes were
ethnically different from Greeks. Even per se, it makes
superfluous search for additional proof. For, by definition,
111
Strabo Geography VI, 4, 2; See also Kiepert, H. (1881). A Manual of
Ancient Geography. McMillan and Co. London, p. 174.
colonies are founded in foreign countries; movements of

people within their country may be anything but colonies.
If we agree that a colony in antiquity was a group of people
of a particular nationality transplanted into a foreign
country/city that retains its ethnic identity, then a simple
syllogism would allow us to logically draw the conclusion
that the founding of Greek colonies identifies Epirus as a
foreign country to ancient Greeks.
As noted earlier, the difficult terrestrial accessibility of
Epirus heartland because of the Pindus range, led to the
ancient Greeks having ‘explored’ Epirus mainly through the
Greek islands of the Ionian Sea, as is indicated by the origin
of the word Epirus (ἤπειρος) ‘mainland’. This may also
explain why there are no Greek colonies in the Epirus’
hinterland.
Almost all the Greek colonies in the Epirus coast were
established on the existing coastal Epirote
th
settlements/towns/cities, beginning from the 7 century BC.
We know of three main Greek (Dorian) colonies founded in
the coast of Epirus. They are: Ambracia, Buthrotos, and
Oricum. We also know of 4 additional, smaller Greek
colonies founded in the territory of Thesprotian tribe of
Cassopaeans: Buchetion, in the gulf of Arta and further in the
mouth of the Acheron river are Elatria, Batiai and Pandosia.
Ambracia (Ἀμπρακία) was founded as a Greek colony by
Corinthians “The Corinthians were the most forward in the
business; the Ambraciots being a colony of theirs” 112:
Corinthian colonists settled there about 630 BC, on an
112
Thucydides The History of the Peloponnesian War II, 80, 3: “ἦσαν δὲ
Κορίνθιοι ξυμπροθυμούμενοι μάλιστα τοῖς Ἀμπρακιώταις ἀποίκοις
οὖσιν”.
Epirote settlement founded in the 9th century BC and known

as Arachthos (Άραχθος).
Buthrotum (Βουθρωτός) was a Late Bronze Epirote
settlement, on the banks of the lake with the same name.
Greek colonists from the Corinthian colony of Kerkyra
settled in the preexisting Epirote settlement around 600 BC.
According to ancent Greek sources, Oricum at the
northernmost end of the Epirote coast was a Greek colony
founded in the 7thth century BC by Euboean or Cholcian113
colonists.Minor colonies in the western part of Epirus Elatria
and Buchetium, around Cassope (Κασσώπη), are still
unlocalized with certainty. Near the mouth of Acheron River
is Pandosia114, founded by Eleans, inhabitants of the Elis
[Ἦλις; Ἆλις (Doric)] region, in the north-western
Peloponnesus.
The colonization of the cities of the Epirote coast and even of
Acarnania (south of the Gulf of Arta and west of Aetolia)
took pace in the historical period. As Paul Kretschmer
(1866– 1956) pointed out: “Later hellenisation of Epirus and
Acarnania occurred from Corinthian colonies in the coast and
in the islands Korkyra, Leukas, Ambrakia, Anactorion and of
113
Pliny the Elder The Natural History III, 26.
114
Demosthenes On the Halonnesus 7, 32: “ἐν Κασσωπίᾳ τρεῖς πόλεις
Πανδοσίαν καὶ Ἐλάτειαν,Ἠλείων ἀποικίας”.
115
Kretschmer, P. (1896). Einleitung in die Geschichte der griechischen
Sprache. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Jena, p. 257: “Die spätere
Hellenisierung von Epirus und Akarnanien ging von den
korinthischen Kolonien an der Küste und auf den Inseln, Korkyra,
Leukas, Ambrakia, Anaktorion aus, die Aitoliens von einem
”nordwestgriechischen” Stamme, von dem sich ein Teil den Doriern
anschloss und Elis besetzte”.
Aetolia from a “northwestern Greek” tribe, which included a

part of Dorians and occupied Elis”115.
The late hellenization of Acarnania and western Aetolia in
the 5th century BC, which implies the earlier non-Greekness
of the region, is confirmed by Thucydides’ report that at his
time the largest of Aetolian tribes, Eurytanians, still spoke an
incomprehensible language (ἀγνωστότατοι δὲ γλῶσσαν)116.
Even via a simple syllogism one may deduce the conclusion
that the founding of the Greek colonies in Epirus, even in
itself, without additional evidence, suffices to prove that
ancient Epirotes were foreign to Greeks. For by definition
Greeks, like any other peoples, founded their colonies in
foreign countries, not in their own country.
So, based on the following premises:
1. Colonies are founded in foreign countries (the major

premise) and
2. Ancient Greeks founded colonies in Epirus (the minor
premise),
It may logically be deduced that to Greeks, Epirus was a

foreign country and Epirotes – a foreign people.
116
Thucydides The History of the Peloponnesian War III, 94, 5: “μετὰ
τούτους Εὐρυτᾶσιν ὅπερ μέγιστον έγιστον μέρος τῶν Αἰτωλῶν,
ἀγνωστότατοι δὲ γλῶσσαν καὶ ὠμοφάγοι εἰσίν”.
6. Mythical origins of Epirotes
The Greek colonization of the coastal cities in Mediterranean

was associated with creation of myths about realtions of
Greeks with indigenous population of these cities. Such
ideological manipulations facilitated the planting of Greek
colonists among indigenous populations of Epirote cities and
assisted them being accepted as people sharing a common
origin with the native population. More often than not
‘barbarian peoples’ enjoyed and were eager to trace back
their origins to the mythologically glorious ancient Trojans
and Greeks.
Myths on the relation of the ancient peoples of Balkans and
ancient Italy with Trojans and ancient Greeks were
widespread and, given the spatial proximity with Greece and
ancient Greek culture, Epirus didn’t make exception. As
pointed out by Konstantin Tomaschek: “Greek colonists
helped to spread out the cycle of Trojan sagas. Everywhere
they wanted to recognize traces of Homeric heroes and
barbarian peoples in turn wanted to trace back their origins to
Homeric heroes. Even Libyan nomad tribe of Maxyer
boasted being of Trojan descent. With more reason
Bithynians of Strymon celebrated Rhesos as their national
hero, and Paiones praised their Asteropaios – they were
likely to hold their ancestor as ally of Trojans.”117
117
Tomaschek, W. (1893). Die alten Thraker I. Eine ethnologische
Untersuchung. Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-historischen
Classe der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. p. 14: “Durch
die griechischen Colonisten hat der troianische Sagenkreis weite
Verbreitung gewonnen; allerorten wollte man Spuren der
homerischen Helden erkennen und selbst barbarische Völker wollten
ihre Ursprünge auf homerische Namen zurückführen. Troianischer
The crucial role of myths for justifying the political power is

a paradigmatic example of the overlapping of myth and
politics in antiquity118 and the political myth is commonplace
even in modern societies119.
By the 5th century BC Athens was already the epicenter of
the Greek world. As mentioned earlier, Greek Dorian islands
of the Ionian Sea and the Corinthian colonies on the
Thesprotian and Chaonian coasts were the main contact
venues of the Greek world with Epirus. Unlike Thesprotia
and Chaonia, due to its geographic position, Molossia had no
sea coast and no Greek colonies on its territory. However, it
was in immediate terrestrial contact with the Greek world.
This determined the fact that Molossia was exposed more to
the Ionian than Dorian influence.
The general tendency of rulers of the ancient non-Greek
rulers to establish and promote spiritual and cultural ties with
the Greek world, with Greek myths and gods and use them as
psychological and ideological instruments to support the
claimed legitimacy of their rule. This tendency was profitably
used by ancient Greeks in inventing, six centuries after the
Abkunft rühmten sich sogar die libyschen Maxyer. Mit besserem

Grunde feierten die strymonischen Bithynen Rhesos als ihren
Nationalhelden, und die Paionen fanden sich in ihrem Asteropaios
gerühmt – sie dürften ihre Ahnen fur Bundesgenossen der Troër
halten” .
118
Castiglioni, M.P. (2007). Genealogical Myth and Political Propaganda
in Antiquity: the Re-Use of Greek Myths from Dionysius to
Augustus. In Religion and Power in Europe: Conflict and
Convergence. Ed. Joaquim Carvalho. Plus-Pisa university press, Pisa,
p. 165.
119
Castiglioni, M.P. (2007). Ibid. p. 167.
Trojan War, the well known myth of the Trojan-Hellenic

origin of the royal Aeacide family of Molossia.
Prolific as they were in myth inventing, ancient Greeks
provided their colonies in Illyria, Italic peninsula, and around
Mediterranean with origin myth stories. Heracles and other
Greek and Trojan heroes became ancestors of native
populations in Greek colonies and the surrounding native
tribes. This facilitated and promoted the Greek penetration
and peace with the indigenous populations. Thus, the
Macedonian royal family traced its divine origin back to
Heracles, while the Trojan warrior Enea went to Latium to
create there his kingdom, becoming the ancestor of Romulus,
the founder of Rome, creating thus a dynastic line that went
down from Iulius Caesar to his great grandchild emperor
Augustus. To establish this mythic genealogy in the Roman
historical memory, Roman emperors needed to erase the
ancient Roman mythology in order to make room for the new
myth of their glorious Trojan origins. The trend continued to
the Middle Ages when even Franks, Spanish, etc. royal
families also claimed Trojan and/or divine origins. The
Trojan origin of the French people was endorsed by the
French historiography at least until the 18th century120. As
late as the beginning of the 19th century in a poem in Greek,
Ali Pasha Tepelena, the Albanian ruler of the vilayet of
Iannina is described as a descendant of the king Pyrrhus of
Epirus121.
It goes beyond saying that the search for ancient mythical
and divine origins has always been claimed by most kings
and royal families as a historical justification of their right to
120
Castiglioni, M.P. (2007). Ibid., p.167.
121
Hart, L. K. (1999). Culture, civilization, and demarcation at the
Northwest of Greece. American Ethnologist 26, 196-220.
rule. The Molossian royal family was a paradigmatic

example in this regard. It began by the 30es of the 5th century
BC, when Tharybas (Θαρύβας), the king of Molossians,
while still minor, was forced to flee the country and settled in
Athens where Athenian citizenship was granted him, owing
to his royal status. In Athens he became acquainted with the
Greek culture.
Although the nascency of the myth of the Molossian royal
family may be dated earlier, in its full form, it appears first in
the 5th century BC in Eurypides’ tragedy Andromache. And it
may be relevant to the question of the creation of the myth to
remember that the tragedy was written in 426 BC, during the
time that the young Molossian king, Tharypas, was still in
Athens as a citizen of the city. Later, as the king of
Molossians, he made a great job in adopting various aspects
of the Greek social life and state organization in Molossia: “it
was Tharrhypas, historians say, who first introduced Greek
customs and letters and regulated his cities by humane laws,
thereby acquiring for himself a name”122.
In Eurypides’ recount the myth sounds as follows (lines
1243-1252):
And that war-captive dame, Andromache.
In the Molossian land must find a home
In lawful wedlock joined to Helenus,
122
Plutarch Pyrrhus 1, 3: Θαρρύπαν πρῶτονἱστοροῦσιν Ἑλληνικοῖς ἔθεσι
καὶ γράμμασι καὶ νόμοις φιλανθρώποις διακοσμήσαντα τὰς πόλεις
ὀνομαστὸν γενέσθαι”.
123
Euripides, Andromache with an English translation by David Kovacs.
Cambridge. Harvard University Press. forthcoming: “γυναῖκα δ᾽
αἰχμάλωτον, Ἀνδρομάχην λέγω, Μολοσσίαν γῆν χρὴ κατοικῆσαι,
γέρον, Ἑλένῳ συναλλαχθεῖσαν εὐναίοις γάμοις, καὶ παῖδα τόνδε, τῶν
ἀπ᾽ Αἰακοῦ μόνον λελειμμένον λελειμμένον δή. βασιλέα ἐκ τοῦδε
χρὴ ἄλλον δι᾽ ἄλλον διαπερᾶν Μολοσσίας εὐδαιμονοῦντας:
With that child, who alone is left alive

Of Aeacus’ line. And king Molossian
From him one after other long shall reign
In bliss; for, ancient, nowise thus thy line
And mine is destined to be brought to naught;
No, neither Troy; the Gods yet hold her dear,
Albeit by Pallas’ eager hate she fell”123.
As J.K. Davies put it, the royal Molossian house tried “to
present themselves as Greek (with Trojan War ancestry) to
take from Greek culture what could be turned to political use,
and to manipulate the Greek political process in their own
interest”124
The myth was mutually beneficial to both Athens and
Molossian royals. It played a role in the siding of Molossians
with Athens during the Pelopennesian war and in later times.
For the Molossian royal family it was a precious propaganda
gift, necessary for expanding the control of the family to the
rest of the Epirote tribes.
The myth bestowed on the royal Molossian family both
Trojan origin from Andromache, the Hector’s ex-wife, and
Achaean origin from Neoptolemus, the only son of Achilles.
Being Achilles son of the king Peleus and the nymph Thetis,
patrilinearly Molossian royal family also acquired divine
origin.
οὐ γὰρ ὧδ᾽ ἀνάστατον γένος γενέσθαι δεῖ τὸ σὸν κἀμόν, γέρον,

Τροίας τε: καὶ γὰρ θεοῖσι κἀκείνης μέλει, καίπερ πεσούσης
Παλλάδος προθυμίᾳ”.
124
Davies, J. K. (2002). A wholly non-Aristotelian Universe: the
Molossia as ethnos, state, and monarchy. In Alternatives to Athens:
Varieties of Political Organization and Community in Ancient
Greece. Eds. R. Brock and S. Hodkinson, p. 234-258.
The inherited mythical glorious ancestry of Molossian

Aeacides was a political asset for Pyrrhus of Epirus too, who
by studying in Athens, was also emotionally tied to the Greek
world and culture.
Generally myths are flexible structures and so is the myth of
the Molossian family. From the glorious era of the Epirote
kingdom under Pyrrhus of Epirus on, the shared Trojan-
Greek ancestry was no longer gratifying to Greeks, who
therefore came up with a new version of “Greek only”
ancestry of the Molossian king, in which Neoptolem’s Trojan
wife, Andromache, was replaced by a Greek woman, Lanassa
(which not by chance happened to be the name of one of the
real wifes of Pyrrhus of Epirus), a divine descendant of
Heracles125.
The revised myth is presented by Plutarch in Pyrrhus, in the
1st century CE, that is 12 centuries after the Trojan War, or 6
centuries after the original version. The myth now proclaims
the “pure Greek” origin of the Molossian royal family: after
the Trojan War, Achilles’ son, Neoptolemus (in ancient
Greek this name means “new war”) founded a new dynasty,
whose most famous ruler was the king Pyrrhus of Epirus.
Neoptolemus possessed the country of the Epirote
Molossians and left a succession of kings of the tribe, that
were known as Pyrrhidae, because in his infancy he was
nicknamed Pyrrhus. Neoptolemus named Pyrrhus one of his
sons with Lanassa, the daughter of the Hyllus’ son, Cleodes.
So, in the Plutarch’s version, four centuries after the glorious
era of the Epirote leader, the myth changed the mixed Trojan-
Greek ancestry into “pure Greek” one: Here is Plutarch’s
narrative: “Historians tell us that the first king of the
Thesprotians and Molossians after the flood was Phaethon,
125
Castiglioni, P. (2007). Op. cit., p. 170.
one of those who came into Epeirus with Pelasgus; but some
say that Deucalion and Pyrrha established the sanctuary at
Dodona and dwelt there among the Molossians. In aftertime,
however, Neoptolemus the son of Achilles, bringing a people
with him, got possession of the country for himself, and left a
line of kings descending from him. These were called after
him Pyrrhidae; for he had the surname of Pyrrhus in his
boyhood, and of his legitimate children by Lanassa, the
daughter of Cleodaeus the son of Hyllus, one was named by
him Pyrrhus. Consequently Achilles also obtained divine
honours in Epeirus, under the native name of Aspetus. But
the kings who followed in this line soon lapsed into
barbarism and became quite obscure, both in their power and
in their lives, and it was Tharrhypas, historians say, who first
introduced Greek customs and letters and regulated his cities
by humane laws, thereby acquiring for himself a name.
Alcetas was a son of Tharrhypas, Arybas of Alcetas, and of
Arybas and Troas, Aeacides.”126
126
Plutarch. Plutarch’s Lives. The Life of Pyrrhus (1, 2, 3) with an
English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA. Harvard
University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1920):
“Θεσπρωτῶν καὶ Μολοσσῶν μετὰ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν ἱστοροῦσι
Φαέθοντα βασιλεῦσαι πρῶτον, ἕνα τῶν μετὰ Πελασγοῦ
παραγενομένων εἰς τὴν Ἤπειρον ἔνιοι δὲ Δευκαλίωνα καὶ Πύρραν
εἱσαμένους τὸ περὶ Δωδώνην ἱερὸν αὐτόθι κατοικεῖν ἐν Μολοσσοῖς.
χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον Νεοπτόλεμος ὁ Ἀχιλλέως λαὸν ἀγαγὼν αὐτός τε
τὴν χώραν κατέσχε καὶ διαδοχὴν βασιλέων ἀφ᾽ αὑτοῦ κατέλιπε,
Πυρρίδας ἐπικαλουμένους: καὶ γὰρ αὐτῷ Πύρρος ἦν παιδικὸν
ἐπωνύμιον. καὶ τῶν γνησίων παίδων ἐκ Λανάσσης τῆς Κλεοδαίου
τοῦ Ὕλλου γενομένων ἕνα Πύρρον ὠνόμασεν. ἐκ τούτου δὲ καὶ
Ἀχιλλεὺς ἐν Ἠπείρῳ τιμὰς ἰσοθέους ἔσχεν, Ἄσπετος ἐπιχωρίῳ φωνῇ
προσαγορευόμενος. μετὰ δὲ τοὺς πρώτους, τῶν διὰ μέσου βασιλέων
ἐκβαρβαρωθέντων καὶ γενομένων τῇ τε δυνάμει καὶ τοῖς βίοις
ἀμαυροτέρων, Θαρρύπαν πρῶτον ἱστοροῦσιν Ἑλληνικοῖς ἔθεσι καὶ
Discussing on the evolution of this myth according to the

new political circumstances Castiglione remarks: “It is
difficult not to perceive the signs of propaganda aiming, on
the one hand to please the mother’s family and, on the other
hand, to establish as ancestors of Pyrrhus, not one but two
Greek heroes (following the example of Alexander the Great,
the descendant of Achilles and Heracles) with the advantage
of creating a more complete ‘hellenization’, without Trojan
“defilement””127.
Controversies aroused regarding interpretations of Plutarch’s
statement that “Achilles had divine honors in Epirus and in
the native language was called Aspetos”128. The statement is
relevant to the question of the language spoken in Epirus at
Plutarch’s time, by the turn of the 2nd century CE. Notice the
biographer says that Achilles was called Aspetus in the native
language (ἐπιχωρίῳ φωνῇ).
Intuitively, one would think that the use of the term native
language by a Greek implies a language different from
Greek. While the translation of the first word, ἐπιχωρίῳ, into
‘native’ may not be problematical, the second, φωνῇ is
tricky. The English meanings of the word phone (φωνῇ) are:
“a sound, noise, voice, language, dialect”. Of course, the
precise meaning of the multivocal word has to be determined
γράμμασι καὶ νόμοις φιλανθρώποις διακοσμήσαντα τὰς πόλεις

ὀνομαστὸν γενέσθαι, Θαρρύπου δὲ Ἀλκέτας υἱὸς ἦν, Ἀλκέτα δὲ
Ἀρύβας, Ἀρύβου δὲ καὶ Τρῳάδος Αἰακίδης”.
127
Castiglioni, M.P. (2010). Genealogical Myth and Political Propaganda
in Antiquity: the Re-Use of Greek Myths from Dionysius to
Augustus. In Religion and Power in Europe: Conflict and
Convergence. Plus-Pisa university press, Pisa, p. 170.
128
Plutarch The Life of Pyrrhus, 1, 2: “ἐκ τούτου δὲ καὶ Ἀχιλλεὺς ἐν
Ἠπείρῳ τιμὰς ἰσοθέους ἔσχεν, Ἄσπετος ἐπιχωρίῳ φωνῇ
προσαγορευόμενος”.
by the context in which it is used. In Lucian (125-180 CE) we

read: “Our Heracles is known among the Gauls under the
local name of Ogmius”129. The word phone (φωνῇ) is
translated into name and the phrase phone te epichorio (φωνῇ
τῇ ἐπιχωρίῳ) into local name. The term “local name”, in this
case, is related to a people that spoke Celtic, a foreign
language to Greeks. Similarly, the term “native name” may
imply linguistic foreignness of native inhabitants of Epirus
and their language.
In the 2nd century CE, the Greek geographer, Pausanias (c.
110-c. 180 CE) wrote that the historical king of Epirotes,
Tharyps, who lived in the 4th century BC, was scion of the
fifteenth generation of Neoptolemus130. The fact that the
mythical Neoptolemus, the founder of the Molossian Aiacide
dynasty, was the only son of Achilles (he had no daughter)
made the narrative entirely plausible for the ancient Greeks,
while providing the much needed prestige and political
capital to the royal family131.
In interpreting this myth it is of crucial importance to keep in
mind:
Firstly, that as a myth with gods, legendary figures and
events, it is not a historical source, hence it may be only with
great caution used in historical analyses.
Secondly, the myth is created in 5-4th centuries BC, i.e., 6-7
centuries after the presumed time when the events did occur,
at a time when Greeks did not yet write their language to
129
Lucian Hercules, 1: “τὸν Ἡρακλέα οἱ Κελτοὶ Ὄγμιον ὀνομάζουσι
φωνῇ τῇ ἐπιχωρίῳ”.
130
Pausanias Description of Greece I, 11, 1: “ἀπὸ δὲ Θαρύπου ἐς Πύρρον
τὸν Ἀχιλλέως πέντε ἀνδρῶν καὶ δέκα εἰσὶ γενεαί”.
131
Funke, S. (2000). Aiakiden Mythos und epeirotisches Konigtum: der
Weg einer hellenischen Monarchie. Steiner, Stuttgart, p. 19.
document the events, thus making it very difficult to seize

any grain of truth the myth may contain.
By dismantling the myth from the supernatural dress and
ahistorical contents, the only valid elements remaining for
our purpose are the following:
1. Achilles might have been worshipped by Molossians.
2. Molossians may have spoken their own, non-Greek
language (ἐπιχωρίῳ φωνῇ).
3. The Molossian royal family was culturally related to the
Greek world.
None of the above assertions can reasonably be used as an
argument for the Greek ethnicity of Molossians, while point
2, clearly implies Epirotes were not Greeks.
7. Ancient Greek myths and the ethnic affiliation

of Epirotes
Ancient Greeks created myths of ethnogenesis not only about
Balkan peoples, including Illyrians, but even for more distant
peoples around the Mediterranean.
Thebes in particular was a source of numerous Greek myths,
including a myth on the origin of Illyrians. Although it has
not been possible to relate it to any known historical event, I
have a reason to include herein the myth on Cadmus and
Harmonia that went to rule Enchelei and gave birth to a baby
boy, Illyrius, from whom the Illyrian tribes originated. And
the reason is because, besides the well known south-Illyrian
tribe of Enchelei and the Liburnian subtribe of Enchelei132,
132
C. Plini Secundi Naturalis historia I. XXXVII. Ed. J. Sillig. F. et A.
Perthes, Hamburg and Gotha, 1851, p. 264.
an Epirote subtribe of Chaonians in Epirus vetus bore the

same name, Enchelei (Ἐγχελεῖς).
According to the Theban myth, Illyrius, the ancestor of all
the Illyrian tribes was son of the Theban couple Cadmus and
Harmonia, who left Thebes and went to the country of
Enchelei (Ἐγχελεῖς). As transmitted by Apollodorus
(Ἀπολλόδωρος, 180-120 BC), the myth says: “But Cadmus
and Harmonia quitted Thebes and went to the Encheleans. As
the Encheleans were being attacked by the Illyrians, the god
declared by an oracle that they would get the better of the
Illyrians if they had Cadmus and Harmonia as their leaders.
They believed him, and made them their leaders against the
Illyrians, and got the better of them. And Cadmus reigned
over the Illyrians, and a son Illyrius was born to him. But
afterwards he was, along with Harmonia, turned into a
serpent and sent away by Zeus to the Elysian Fields”133.
133
Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James
George Frazer, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London,
William Heinemann Ltd. 1921: “ὁ δὲ Κάδμος μετὰ Ἁρμονίας Θήβας
ἐκλιπὼν πρὸς Ἐγχελέας παραγίνεται. τούτοις δὲ ὑπὸ Ἰλλυριῶν
πολεμουμένοις ὁ θεὸς ἔχρησεν Ἰλλυριῶν κρατήσειν, ἐὰν ἡγεμόνας
Κάδμον καὶ Ἁρμονίαν ἔχωσιν. οἱ δὲ πεισθέν τες ποιοῦνται κατὰ
Ἰλλυριῶν ἡγεμόνας τούτους καὶ κρατοῦσι. καὶ βασιλεύει Κάδμος
Ἰλλυριῶν, καὶπαῖς Ἰλλυριὸς αὐτῷ γίνεται. αὖθις δὲ μετὰ Ἁρμονίας
εἰς δράκοντα μεταβαλὼνεἰς Ἠλύσιον πεδίον ὑπὸ Διὸς ἐξεπέμφθη”.
134
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Albanesische Studien I, p. 240.
135
Stier, G. (1862). Die albanesischen thiernamen. Zeitschrift für
vergleichende Sprachforschung 11. pp. 238-239.
136
Çabej, E. (2002). S. Etimologjike VI. pp. 81-82.
137
Strabo Geography VIII, 5, 9: “φησὶ δ᾽ ὁ Θεόπομπος τῶν ὀνομάτων τὸ
μὲνἥκειν ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς ἡγησαμένου τῶν τόπων ἐξ σσης τὸ γένος,
πολεμουμένῳ δ᾽ὑπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν τῷδε τῷ Δυρράχῳ συνεμάχησεν ὁ
Ἡρακλῆς ἐπὶ μέρει τῆς γῆς, ἐξ Ἐρυθείας ἐπανιών: ὅθεν οἱ Δυρράχιοι
τὸν Ἡρακλέα, ὡς μερίτην τῆς γῆς, οἰκιστὴν σφῶν τίθενται, οὐκ
ἀρνούμενοι μὲν οὐδὲ τὸν Δύρραχον, φιλοτιμούμενοιδ᾽ ὑπὲρ σφῶν ἐς
The myth of Cadmus and Harmonia uses the totem animal of

Illyrians, the snake (some people in Antiquity considered eel
to be a snake), as a symbol of Enchelei. J.G. von Hahn was
the first to relate the name of the Illyrian tribe name of
Encheleii to the Albanian word ngjalë ‘eel’134. Later (1862),
G. Stier noticed that, in the ancient Greek sources, the
original Illyrian tribe name over time was hellenized in three
stages (Έγχελεἴς > Έγχελέαι > Έγχέλιοι > Έγχέλανες)135. The
Albanian name ngjalë derives from an Ur-Albanian
*engélla/*angella, which, together with the Greek ἔγχελυς
and Latin anguilla ‘eel’136 originate in a dialectal PIE
*aengu- ‘water worm, eel’.
The presence of the same name Enchelei for designating
tribes in Illyria and Epirus, when considered in the context of
other identical tribe names in Epirus and Illyria (but not in
other ancient Balkan countries) to be reviewed later, strongly
suggests the common descent and ethnic identity of Epirotes
and Illyrians.
Relevant to the ethnicity of Epirotes also is the myth on the
origin of the name of the Ionian Sea. The myth comes in two
versions. In the first version, Strabo (64/63BC-24 CE), based
on Theopompus (378/377-320 BC), wrote that the Ionian Sea
got this name from Ionio, who was the ruler of the Illyrian
τὸν Ἡρακλέα μᾶλλον ὡς ἐς θεόν. φασὶ δ᾽ ἐν τῇ μάχῃ τῇδε Δυρράχου

παῖδα Ἰόνιον ὑφ᾽ Ἡρακλέους ἐξ ἀγνοίας ἀποθανεῖν καὶ τὸν
Ἡρακλέατὸ σῶμα θάψαντα ἐμβαλεῖν ἐς τὸ πέλαγος, ἵνα ἐπώνυμον
αὐτοῦ γένοιτο”.
island, Issa137. Ionio was son of Adrias, who founded the city
of Atria, from which derives the name of the Adriatic Sea.
After Strabo, in the 2nd century CE, Appian of Alexandria
(95-c. AD 165) provided another version of the Ionio’s
myth138. According to his version, the name of the sea
derives from the name of the grandson’s son of the Illyrian
king Epidamnos, her daughter’s (Melissa’s) son. When his
grandson Dyrrachium became king, he built a port and to
honor him Illyrians changed city’s name from Epidamnos to
Dyrrachium. When the brothers of Dyrrhachium began to
fight him, Heracles came to his aid on condition of being
rewarded with a part of Dyrrhachium’s territory. In the battle
against the brothers, Heracles accidentally killed
Dyrrhachium’s son, Ionio. After the funeral ceremony,
Heracles threw his corpse into the sea, so that the sea would
be named Ionio.
138
Appian The Civil Wars II, 6, 39: “A barbarian king of the region,
Epidamnus by name, built a city on the sea-coast and named it after
himself. Dyrrachus, the son of his daughter and of When the brothers
of this Dyrrachus made war against him, Hercules, who was
returning from Erythea, formed an alliance with him for a part of his
territory; wherefore the Dyrrachians claim Hercules as their founder
because he had a share of their land, not that they repudiate
Dyrrachus, but because they pride themselves on Hercules even more
as a god. In the battle which took place it is said that Hercules killed
Ionius, the son of Dyrrachus, by mistake, and that after performing
the funeral rites he threw the body into the sea in order that it might
bear his name.“
139
Šašel Kos, M. (2004). Mythological stories concerning Illyria and its
name. In L’Illyrie meridionale et l’ Épire dans l’antiquite IV. f. 493-
504 (498).
In both myths Ionio is Illyrian139. Based on her own analysis,

as well as studies of R. Katičić and M. Nikolanc, the Slovene
student M. Šašel Kos (2004) came to the conclusion: “Two
different versions refer to two different political situations:
the Issaean probably reflects the Adriatic policy of Dionysius
the Elder, the Epidamnian - the period when Epidamnus
(Dyrrhachium) played an uncontested major role in southern
Illyria. It is interesting that both versions preserved a
fragment of the Adriatic Illyrian mythology; in both Ionius is
Illyrian (it seems less likely that he would have been a
Liburnian), which means that the Greek colonists worshipped
an epichoric hero. Possibly they adopted Ionius as their
mythical ancestor. This is particularly interesting when it is
considered that in terms of relations between the Greek
colonists and the indigenous Illyrian (=Taulantian)
population, the latter were in an inferior position”140.
In relation to the ethnological situation of the ancient Epirus,
these myths recognize the Illyrian origin of names of the
Adriatic and Ionian seas. And it is impossible, by any stretch
of imagination, to believe that, ancient Greeks would for no
reason construct myths attributing the naming of the Ionian
see to Ionio, an epichoric Illyrian mythical hero.
Given the cultural superiority of ancient Greeks over Illyrians
and the universal trend of the Greek mythology to expand the
role of their own mythical heroes over the Mediterranean
world and peoples, the attribution of the origin of the name of
the Ionian sea to a local south-Illyrian hero suggests, if not
indicates, that ancient Epirus on the east of the Ionian sea
was closer related to Illyrians rather than to Greeks despite
the existence of Greek islands in the Ionian sea. Remember,
140
Šašel Kos, M. (2004). Ibid.
the ancient Greek mythology attributed the name of the

Aegean Sea to a mythical Greek hero Aegeus, who drowned
himself in the sea when he thought that his son, Theseus, was
killed in Crete. The myth didn’t relate the naming to a
Thracian hero, although Thracia had a considerable part of
the Aegean Sea.
Strabo explains that the term Adriatic Sea (Adrias) comprises
both the Adriatic and Ionian seas, but he adds that earlier, the
Ionian Sea was ‘the first part of this sea’141.
In corroboration of the Illyrian origin of the name of the
Ionian Sea comes the fact that the name of the first Illyrian
king mentioned in the ancient sources is Hyllus, from which
came the name of the tribe Hyllei142, which the ancient
authors locate alternatively to South Illyria and/or Epirus. So,
according to Pseudo Scylax the Illyrian tribe of Hyllei were
neighbors of Bullini, hence they were located north or east of
Bullini. In Periplus, Pseudoscylax writes: “There dwell the
Lotus-eaters, the barbarian Hierstamnae, Bullini, and their
neighbours Hylli, who tell that Heracles’ son Hyllus was
living among them”. In an elegy of Sextus Propertius,
however, it is localized to the northern end of Ceraunian
range, to Oricum143 in the Gulf of Aulon, which is west of
Bullini.”
Apollonius of Rhodius also recounts:
141
Strabo Geography VII, 5, 10. In New Classical Dictionary of Greek
and Roman Biography, Mythology and Geography we also read: “By
the Greeks the name Adrias was only applied to the northern part of
this (Adriatic – N.R.C.) sea, the southern part being called the Ionian
sea” (Smith, W. (1871). A New Classical Dictionary. Harper and
Brothers, New York, p. 13).
142
Duncker, M. (1886). History of Greece: From the Earliest Times to
the End of the Persian War. R. Bentley & son, London, p. 44.
143
Sextus Propertius, Elegies I, Addressed to Cynthia.
“And he found the heroes watching in full armour

In the haven of Hyllus, near the city”144
Further north in the Dalmatian coast, south of modern

Šibenik, Croatia, is the peninsula Hyllica145.
Let’s also remember that Hylleis was the name of one of the
three main Dorian tribes (along Dymanes and Pamphylians)
and ancient Greek sources inform us that these Hylleis were
of Illyrian origin146 147. Besides there was a bay in Kerkyra
called Hyllaic (Hyllus) harbor (τὸν Ὑλλαϊκὸν λιμένα)148,
mentioned by Thucydides in The History of the
Peloponnesian War: “The Corcyraeans, made aware of the
approach of the Athenian fleet and of the departure of the
enemy, brought the Messenians from outside the walls into
the town, and ordered the fleet which they had manned to sail
round into the Hyllaic harbor”149 and “Night coming on, the
commons took refuge in the Acropolis and the higher parts of
144
Apollonius of Rhodius Argonautica IV, 1124-1125: “τοὺς δ᾽ εὗρεν
παρὰ νηὶ σὺν ἔντεσιν ἐγρήσσοντας Ὑλλικῷ ἐν λιμένι, σχεδὸν
ἄστεος: ἐκ δ᾽ἄρα πᾶσαν”.
145
Kos, M.Š. Op. cit., p. 496.
146
Günther, H.F.K. Lebensgeschichte der Spartaner. Internet:
http://www.thule-seminar.org/herkunft_sparta_guenther.htm;
147
Kiechle, F. (1963). Lakonien und Sparta – Untersuchungen zur
ethnischen Struktur und zur politischen Entwicklung Lakoniens und
Spartas bis zum Ende der archäischen Zeit. München, Berlin 1963,
p. 116.
148
149
Thucydides Ibid. III, 81, 2.
the city, and concentrated themselves there, having also

possession of the Hyllaic harbor, their adversaries occupying
the market-place, where most of them lived, and the harbor
adjoining, looking towards the mainland”150.
The evidence that the Illyrian tribe of Hyllei was located in
the territory of ancient Epirus and this, in the context of the
solid evidence on the non-Greek language Epirotes spoke151
152
, of Strabo’s unequivocal statement on the non-Greek
ethnicity of Epirotes153, the well known fact of the founding
of the Greek colonies in Epirus, represents another argument
in favor of the Illyrian ethnicity of Epirotes.
150
151
Thucydides Ibid. III, 72.
152
153
Thucydides The Peloponnesian War II, 68, 5
154
Pindar Nemean VII, 35-39. Pindar’s narrative is very short: “πόλιν
Νεοπτόλεμος ἐπεὶ πράθεν
Μολοσσίᾳ δ᾽ ἐμβασίλευεν ὀλίγον
χρόνον: ἀτὰρ γένος αἰεὶ φέρεν
τοῦτό οἱ γέρας. ᾤχετο δὲ πρὸς θεόν”.
155
Herodotus The Histories II, 127, 4.
8. The mythical Trojan-Greek origins of the

royal Molossian family and its ethnological
implications
The myth on the hybrid Trojan-Greek origin of the Molossian
royal family is one of the frequently used arguments in
support of the opinion on the Greek origin of Epirotes. In its
embryonic form the myth appeared in the 5th century BC as a
short recountal in Pindar’s Nemean: “Neoptolemus came to
help, to the great navel of the broad-bosomed earth…He
ruled in Molossia for a brief time; and his race always bore
this honor of his” 154.
Herodotus (484-425 BC) also based his belief on the Greek
origin of the Molossian royal family on the myth and tried to
support his view with the story that a Molossian called Alcon
was among the Greek competitors to marry the daughter of
Cleisthenes155, one of the fathers of the Athenian democracy.
But deduction of the ethnic origin of a people by a single
interethnic marriage (granted that the story is real) can hardly
be a reliable one. Let’s remember, no historian has ever been
able to find any historical kernel underneath the mythical
shell of Trojan-Greek origin of Molossians, or support it with
any historical, archaeological or other evidence.
Historical evidence on frequent marriages of Molossian royal
family members with elites of other Illyrian Epirote tribes,
especially Chaonians, might suggest that the royal family felt
‘Epirote’ rather than Greek. Interpreting an inscription on the
marriage of a woman named Andromache, Klotzch (1911)
suggested that two members of the Molossian royal family,
may be Arrybas (the grandfather of Pyrrhus of Epirus) and

Neoptolemus, married women of the Chaonian royal
family156. Olympias’ (Alexander the Great’s mother) mother
was Chaonian157. Pyrrhus spent his life as a polygamous man
and despite the Greek education, the need to strengthen the
‘mythological’ and political relations with Athens and other
Greek city states, none of his five wives was from Greece
proper. His first wife was step daughter of Ptolemy I of
Egypt, while two of his wifes were of Illyrian race, Bircena,
the daughter of the king of Dardanians Bardylis and the
daughter of the Paeonian king Audoleon (his two other wifes
being a daughter of the Macedonian king Philip and a
daughter of ruler of Syracuse). While not impossible,
marrying ‘barbarian’ wives is hardly compatible with
‘Greekness’ of the Molossian royal family.
According to the Greek myth of the Aeacide origins of the
Molossian royal family, the dynasty began with
Neoptolemus, Achilles’ son, who with the Trojan
Andromache (Hector’s ex-wife) gave birth to Molossus
followed by a row of patrilineal succession of kings, to settle
on the historical ground of Molossia with Tharyps (Admetus’
son) down to Pyrrhus of Epirus.
Loyal to his ‘mythoid’ method, Herodotus, uncritically
provides the myth as part of history, just as Plutarch would
echo it four centuries later158. But even Strabo, by the turn of
the 1st century BC, cautioned that myths are appropriate to
156
Carney, E. (2006). Olympias: Mother of Alexander the Great.
Routledge, New York-London, p. 141.
157
158
Plutarch Pyrrhus I, 2.
use in poetry, rather than history159. Indeed, none of latter

historians has been able to support the myth with any
evidence or reveal any possible grain of historical truth, in
order to pull it out of the realm of the mythology.
Later, Eurypides in Andromache accomplishes the
“harmonious appropriation of both the Trojan and Greek
ancestry”160, where they appear as a long time established
and prosperous royal family of Epirus. Their pride of the
Trojan-Greek ancestry is also reflected in the Trojan and
Greek names given to the kings of the dynasty161.
The mythical invention of the Trojan and Greek origin of the
Molossian royal family was mutually profitable both for the
Athenian expansionist ambitions and the hellenization
programme of the Athens educated king Tharyps of
Molossia. As pointed out by Maria Fragoulaki, post-Trojan
wanderings of Trojans and return of Greeks “provided a past
highly exploitable by the Athenians, in claiming and creating
kinship connections with areas that were not Greek in
mainland Greece and outside, and by communities who
sought to relate themselves to the Athenians (e.g. Molossians
or the Egestaians)”162. Similarly, the Macedonian king
Archelaus I towards the end of the 5th century BC won
special honors from Athens for himself and for his sons, in
exchange for economic favors he offered to Athens.
It goes beyond saying that the mythical invention of the
Trojan-Greek origin and deification of the Molossian royal
159
160
Fragoulaki, M. (2013). Kinship in Thucydides: Intercommunal Ties
and Historical Narrative. OUP Oxford, Oxford UK, p. 275.
161
Fragoulaki, M. (2013). Ibid., p. 275.
162
Fragoulaki, M. (2013). Ibid.
family promoted and facilitated its political propaganda about

its legitimacy to rule the rest of Epirote tribes.
Many myths may be based on historical facts, but as long as
we lack any historical, linguistic, archaeological,
ethnographical, or other evidence corroborating the myth of
the Trojan-Greek origin of the Molossian royal family,
neither the myth nor any parts of it can reasonably be
assigned the status of historical facts on which the history is
written.
Speaking of the relationships of Molossians to the
neighboring peoples and tribes, J.K. Davies notes that, from
the cultural and linguistic viewpoint, Molossians were related
more closely with Macedonians to the east and the Illyrians
to the north163. The very low reliability of the Herototus’
opinion and the myth Eurypides recounts in Andromache
made E. Carney to cautiously warn that “The degree of
Hellenization of Molossia outside the royal family (emphasis
added – NRC) is debatable”164.
Based on the existing evidence available so far, the myth of
the Trojan-Greek origin of the Molossian royal family
contains no verified grains of truth that could scientifically
justify its integration into the corpus of historical facts related
to the issue of the ethnicity of ancient Epirotes.
163
Davies, J.K. (2002). A Wholly Non-Aristotelian Universe: The
Molossians as Ethnos, State, and Monarchy. In: Alternatives to Athens
Varieties of Political Organization and Community in Ancient
Greece. Ed. R. Brock and Hodkinson, S. Oxford University Press,
New York, p. 234.
164
Carney, E. (2006). Op. cit., p. 140.
9. Did the Aeacide royal family and Molossians

speak Greek?
The idea of the Trojan-Greek origin of the Aeacide royal
family is based entirely on a myth developed in a full form in
the 5 century BC by Eurypides in the tragedy Andromache
(426 BC), seven centuries after the Trojan war, at a time that,
not surprisingly, coincides with the arrival in Athens and
acquisition of the Athenian citizenship by the child, Tharyps,
the future king of Molossians.
No authentic evidence or reliable hints, let alone indications,
have ever been presented to support the view that the
Molossian royal family spoke Greek. Even the British author
N.G.L. Hammond, who hardly could be accused of
hellenophobia, has admitted that the myth in this regard was
only a “straw in the wind”. However, in his opinion, the
discovery of the inscriptions of 370-368 BC represents “true
evidence”165 in support of the claim.
But the language in which some Molossian and Thesprotian
inscription is written is far from an authentic proof that the
Molossian royal family, let alone the Molossian people, did
speak Greek, especially in view of the fact that these
inscriptions originate in a period when the Greek was the
lingua franca, the only written language privileged to be used
in interethnic, interstate and trade communications in the
Balkan peninsula.
Even if, for the sake of argument, one would take it for
granted that the Molossian royal family did speak Greek, one
cannot, by any stretch of imagination, extrapolate the
language spoken by the people of Molossia from the
165
Hammond, N.G.L. Epirus, Book III. p. 109.
language spoken within the royal family. It would be a gross

oversimplification to deduce the language of a people from
the language spoken by its royal family. There are numerous
examples, not only during the Middle Ages, but even in
modern times of kings and royal families that spoke
languages other than the languages of the peoples they ruled.
French was the language of the king and the court in England
for three centuries (11-14th centuries) althoug the English was
the only language the people spoke. Latin was the language
of church, culture, diplomacy and science all over West
Europe for almost 15 centuries, French was the language of
tsars’ court in Russia and other countries in Europe at
different times; King George I of Great Britain spoke
German. One thing is for sure, by speaking foreign
languages, rulers of Europe didn’t change their own ethnicity
nor that of their respective peoples.And let’s also remember
that in all countries of the Balkans, Greece, Bulgaria,
Albania, Serbia, Macedonia are found inscriptions in Arabic,
although Arabic was never spoken in these countries.
Conjunctures aside, there is no shred of authentic evidence
that the Molossian royal family did ever speak Greek.
Although the ancient Greeks used to play up the philhellene
feelings of barbarian people to make friends with them166 and
Molossians established close relations with Athens, it is
significant to bear in mind that in the ancient Greek sources
Epirotes are ethno-linguistically characterized as
“barbarians”, what, above all, implied their ethnic non-
Greekness.
To the contrary, in the ancient Greek sources evidence
suggesting that Epirotes didn’t speak Greek abounds. Almost
166
Dench, E. (1995). From Barbarians to New Men. Oxford University
Press, New York, p. 44.
all the ancient Greek authors say that Epirotes were

barbarians and even tribes further south of Epirus, such as
Eurytanians in Aetolia, at certain points in time, spoke a
language that was unintelligible to Greeks. Thucydides
makes it unambiguously clear in a passage from The History
of the Peloponnesian War: “The plan which they
recommended was to attack first the Apodotians, next the
Ophionians, and after these the Eurytanians, who are the
largest tribe in Aetolia, and speak, as is said, a language
exceedingly difficult to understand, and eat their flesh raw.
These once subdued, the rest would easily come in”167.
Unfortunately, the English translation “a language
exceedingly difficult to understand” of the above excerpt is
inaccurate. Due to its important ethnological bearing, the
original Thucydides’ statement (ἀγνωστότατοι δὲ γλῶσσαν)
requires a careful examination. In the ancient Greek the
prefix a- ‘without, not, un-‘, gives the word to which is
attached the opposite of the original meaning. Hence
agnostotatoi de glossan (ἀγνωστότατοι δὲ γλῶσσαν) in the
Thucydides’ phrase means “unintelligible, incomprehensible
language”, which is equivalent to a “foreign language”.
It is the prefix dys- (δυσ-) ‘bad, difficult, hard’ that in ancient
Greek gave the word to which was attached the meaning
‘hardly’ or ‘difficult’. Hence, the translation “a language
exceedingly difficult to understand” would only have been
correct if Thucydides used the prefix dys- (δυσ-) ‘bad,
167
Thucydides The History of the Peloponnesian War III, 94, 5:
“ἐπιχειρεῖν δ᾽ ἐκέλευον πρῶτον μὲν Ἀποδωτοῖς, ἔπειτα δὲ Ὀφιονεῦσι
καὶ μετὰ τούτους Εὐρυτᾶσιν, ὅπερ μέγιστον μέρος ἐστὶ τῶν
Αἰτωλῶν, ἀγνωστότατοι δὲ γλῶσσαν καὶ ὠμοφάγοι εἰσίν, ὡς
λέγονται: τούτων γὰρ ληφθέντων ῥᾳδίως καὶ τἆλλα προσχωρήσειν”.
difficult, hard’ and wrote it δυσγνωστότατοι δὲ γλῶσσαν,

which he didn’t.
Obviously, both linguisticaly and contextually the
Thycydides’ expression ἀγνωστότατοι δὲ γλῶσσαν should be
translated into “unintelligible language”. This would match
the German translation “völlig unverständlich” (completely
unintelligible)168 of the expression “ἀγνωστότατοι δὲ
γλῶσσαν” by the well known hellenist, Paul Kretschmer. In
this context, it is elucidating to also remember that in
antiquity “any Greek was intelligible to any other Greek”169.
That Eurytanians in Aetolia, like Thracians and Epirotes,
didn’t speak Greek is not surprising if we remember that
even the ancient Greek geographer, Strabo, clearly states:
“Indeed most of the country that at the present time is
indisputably Greece was held by the barbarians—Macedonia
and certain parts of Thessaly by the Thracians, and the parts
above Acarnania and Aetolia by the Thesproti, the Cassopaei,
the Amphilochi, the Molossi, and the Athamanes—Epeirotic
tribes”170. And finally, let’s remember that in Thucydides
time, Acarnania and Aetolia had a considerable Illyrian
component171 and for this reason in Euripides’ The
168
Sprache. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen, p. 254.
169
Hansen, M.H. (2000). The Hellenic Polis. In A Comparative Study of
Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation vol. 21. Ed. M.H.
Hansen. Kgl Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, pp. 141-187 (143).
170
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 1: ὅπου γε καὶ τῆς ἐν τῷ παρόντι Ἑλλάδος
ἀναντιλέκτως οὔσηςτὴν πολλὴν οἱ βάρβαροι ἔχουσι, Μακεδονίαν
μὲν Θρᾷκες καί τινα μέρη τῆς Θετταλίας, Ἀκαρνανίας δὲ καὶ
Αἰτωλίας τὰ ἄνω Θεσπρωτοὶ καὶ Κασσωπαῖοι καὶ Ἀμφίλοχοι καὶ
Μολοττοὶ καὶ Ἀθαμᾶνες, Ἠπειρωτικὰ ἔθνη”.
171
Kretschmer, P. (1896). Einleitung… Op. cit. p 255.
Phoenissae, Antigone considers Aetolians half-barbarians

(μιξοβάρβαροι)172.
The evidence presented in this section indicates that there are
no reliable sources to prove that the Molossian royal family,
Molossians, or Epirotes in general, did speak Greek, but there
is reliable evidence in ancient Greek sources that not only
Epirotes were barbarians, but they spoke their own non-
Greek language173 174.
10. The barbarianness of ancient Epirotes and its

ethnological meaning
The term barbarian is not found in the thousands of lines of
Homer poems, but he speaks once about ‘barbarophones’
(βαρβαροφώνων), to describe Carians who spoke a foreign
language175. In the surviving Greek literature it appears first
by the beginning of the 5th century BC, i.e. after the Persian
wars176. “The Classical Greeks divided all humankind into
two mutually exclusive and antithetical categories: Us and
Them, or, as they put it, Greeks and barbarians…Thus
172
Euripides The Phoenissae.
173
174
Thucydides The Peloponnesian War II, 68, 5.
175
Homer Iliad II, 867: “Νάστης αὖ Καρῶν ἡγήσατο βαρβαροφώνων”
(And Nastes again led the Carians, uncouth of speech).
176
Cartledge, P. (2002). Op. cit., p. 13.
177
Cartledge, P. (2002). Op. cit., p. 11.
whereas Greeks were ideally seen as not-barbarians,

barbarians were equally envisaged as being precisely what
Greeks were not”177. After the Persian wars the name
barbarian acquired a pejorative connotation, besides the
original meaning of speaking a non-Greek language.The
Greek-barbarian antithesis is also emphasized in Plato’s
Statesman, where the philosopher put in the mouth of the
Stranger the following sentence: “they cut off the Hellenes as
one species, and all the other species of mankind, which are
innumerable, and have no ties or common language, they
include under the single name of ‘barbarians’ and because
they have one name they are supposed to be of one species
also”178 (it is not clear whether this is Plato’s own belief).
However, it was the general opinion in the ancient Greece
that all the peoples that are not Greek are barbarians.
As it is often remarked, beginning with Herodotus, the
tendency to define the border between “us”, the Greeks, and
“them”, non-Greeks, was articulated through the concept of
the “barbarian”: “In its attempt to describe and thus
encapsulate a group of people, ethnography has traditionally
relied on a number of tendencies, including the tendency to
establish a boundary between “Us” the describers and
“Them” (the described). From the time of Herodotus on, such
oppositions in Greek ethnography were articulated primarily
through the concept of the “barbarian”, a term that helped
consolidate various cultural attitudes toward ‘otherness’.
178
Plato Statesman 262d: “διελέσθαι γένος διαιροῖ καθάπερ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν
ἐνθάδε διανέμουσι, τὸμὲν Ἑλληνικὸν ὡς ἓν ἀπὸ πάντων ἀφαιροῦντες
χωρίς, σύμπασι δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοιςγένεσιν, ἀπείροις οὖσι καὶ ἀμείκτοις
καὶ ἀσυμφώνοις πρὸς ἄλληλα, βάρβαρονμιᾷ κλήσει προσειπόντες
αὐτὸ διὰ ταύτην τὴν μίαν κλῆσιν καὶ γένος ἓν αὐτὸεἶναι
προσδοκῶσιν”.
Initially associated with Persians, the term ‘barbarian’

connotes in Herodotus’ ethnography, as in the work of many
Greek writers, a particular inclination for subservience and
tyranny.”179.
To ancient Greeks, the antithesis between them and
barbarians essentially implied differences in ethnicity and
language180.
It is true that in a few cases Athenians used the word
barbarian to disparage some other Greek tribe, but this cannot
be relevant to the particular case of Epirotes, whom, not only
Athenians, but all the ancient Greek authors almost
consistently used to them call barbarians. Moreover, several
ancient Greek authors have clarified what they meant by
‘barbarian Epirotes”. So, e.g. Strabo reveals the ethnic
difference between Epirotes and Greeks when he writes
about the language of Molossians and Thesprotians
(Μολοττῶν καὶ Θεσπρωτῶν γλῶτταν)181 the use their own,
non-Greek, personal names182 and the fact that Epirotes live
“in the flanks of the Greeks”183.
Moreover, the ancient Greeks used the word xenos (ξένος)
typically to denote other Greeks (although it rarely was also
179
McCoskey, D.E. (2005). Gender at the crossroads of the empire:
locating women in Strabo’s Geography. In Strabo’s Cultural
Geography: The Making of a Kolossourgia. Ed. D. Dueck, H.
Lindsay, S. Pothecary, Cambridge University Press, pp. 56-72 (60).
180
Šašel Kos, M. (2004). Op. cit.
181
182
183
Strabo Geography Ibid.
184
Oxford University Press, New York, p. 62.
used for non-Greeks)184, but, generally, for defining non-

Greeks they appplied the word barbarian.
The Greek concept of barbarian was in stark contrast to the
Roman concept of barbarian that implied an underdeveloped
condition of people capable of acculturation in accordance
with the intentions of the Roman imperial expansion. An
ethnically Greek individual, however uncivilized, wouldn’t
be considered a barbarian or even equal to a barbarian.
Greeks used to call barbarians even culturally developed
peoples, which they admired such as Egyptians, Phoenicians,
Persians and Carthagenians. Based on Eratosthenes, Strabo in
the 1st century CE tells us that even when the foreigners were
refined and governed admirably they still remained
barbarians. This unequivocally indicates that for the Greek
prevailing opinion being barbarian was determined by their
language and origin rather than the level of their socio-
cultural development185.
Strabo also made a clear distinction between the mythical
Pyrrhus, and the “rest of Epirote tribes” belonging to the
“native stock”: “the Molossi became subject to Pyrrhus, the
184
Strabo Geography I, 4, 9: “At the close of the book Eratosthenes
blames the system of those who would divide all mankind into
Greeks and Barbarians, and likewise those who recommended
Alexander to treat the Greeks as friends, but the Barbarians as
enemies. He suggests, as a better course, to distinguish them
according to their virtues and their vices, ‘since amongst the Greeks
there are many worthless characters, and many highly civilized are to
be found amongst the Barbarians; witness the Indians and Ariani, or
still better the Romans and Carthaginians, whose political system is
so beautifully perfect”.
185
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 8: “καὶ τῶν Ἠπειρωτῶν δὲ Μολοττοὶ ὑπὸ
Πύρρῳ τῷ Νεοπτολέμου τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως καὶ τοῖς ἀπογόνοις αὐτοῦ
Θετταλοῖς οὖσι γεγονότες οἱ λοιποὶ δὲ ὑπὸ ἰθαγενῶν ἤρχοντο”.
son of Neoptolemus the son of Achilles, and to his

descendants, who were Thessalians. But the rest were ruled
by men of native stock”186. The above Strabo’s statement,
however imprecise, clearly implies the distinction between
the mythical founder of the Molossian dynasty and Greek
Thesalians on the one hand and the “native stock” (ἰθαγενῶν
ἤρχοντο) of Molossians, on the other. Strabo also mentioned
similarities between Epirotic aboriginals and the inhabitant of
Macedonia in their clothing, hair cut and especially in
language187.
Thucydides makes another clear distinction between Hellenes
and barbarian Epirotes while describing the participation of
some Epirote tribes in the Peloponnesian war: “The H e l l e
n i c troops with him consisted of the Ambraciots,
Leucadians, and Anactorians, and the thousand
Peloponnesians with whom he came; the b a r b a r i a n of a
thousand Chaonians, who, belonging to a nation that has no
king…With the Chaonians came also some Thesprotians, like
them without a king”188. Scymnus also denied the Greek
ethnicity of Epirotes by stating that the oracle of Dodona was
Pelasgian189.
Another indication of the ethnic, emotional and political
distinction of Epirotes from Greeks is the historical fact that
186
187
188
Thucydides The Peloponnesian War II, 80, 5: “καὶ αὐτῷ παρῆσαν Ἑλλήνων
μὲν Ἀμπρακιῶται καὶ Λευκάδιοι καὶ Ἀνακτόριοι καὶ οὓς αὐτὸς ἔχων ἦλθε
χίλιοι Πελοποννησίων, βάρβαροι δὲ Χάονες χίλιοι ἀβασίλευτοι, ὧν
ἡγοῦντο ἐπετησίῳ προστατείᾳ ἐκ τοῦ ἀρχικοῦ γένους Φώτιοςκαὶ
Νικάνωρ. ξυνεστρατεύοντο δὲ μετὰ Χαόνων καὶ Θεσπρωτοὶ
ἀβασίλευτοι”.
189
Scymni Chii Periegesis 1846, p. 102, v. 457.
Ambraciots, inhabitants of the Greek colony in Epirus, in the

rivalries and battles between the Epirote League and the
Greek Aetolian League took the side of the latter.
Furthermore, despite his philhellenism, Pyrrhus of Epirus
was hated by the Greek Ambraciotes, who, after his death
broke open his tomb and scattered his bones on the streets of
Ambracia, where the young king of Epirus, Ptolemy was also
killed190. The Latin poet Ovid described the episode in the
poem Ibius (Curses) he wrote in exile:
Or like Achilles’ scion, known by a famous name,
Struck down by a tile hurled from an enemy hand.
Nor let your bones lie more happily than Pyrrhus’191.
11. Epirus and Epirotes as seen by ancient

Greeks
The first of ancient Greek authors to make a straightforward
statement on the non-Greekness ethnicity of Epirotes, and
unambiguously separate Greece from Epirus, is Skylax in the
6-5th centuries BC in Periplus, in a laconic narration: “After
Molossia comes Ambracia, a Greek city. It has a fortress in
the shore and a beautiful port. From here Greece begins and
continues up to the Pineus river and the town of Homolium
Magnesiae that is on that river.”192. Notice, the Greek
190
Cross, G.N. (2015, reprint of 1932 edition). Epirus. Cambridge
University Press, p. 96.
191
Ovid Curses Lines 302-304.
192
Hecataei Milesii fragmenta. Scylacis Caryandensis Periplus. R.H.
Clausen ed. G. Reimer, Berlin, 1831, p. 181: Μετὰ δὲ Μολοτίαν
Άμβρακία πόλις Έλληνίς…Έντεῦϑεν ᾄρχεται ἡ Έλλὰς συνεχἠς εἶναι
μέχρι Πηνειοῦ ποταμοῦ, καὶ Όμολίου Μαγνητκῆς πόλεωϛ, ἥ έστι
παρὰ τὸν ποταμόν”.
historian says “Ambracia, a Greek city”. If he would believe

Epirus was part of Greece, he would not bother to identify as
Greek any city within the Greece’s territory. Moreover, the
statement that Greece begins from the Greek colony of
Ambracia in the southernmost coast of Epirus (Gulf of
Ambracia) unmistakably excludes the Epirus from Greece.
Herodotus’ opinion on the Greekness of the Epirote tribe of
Molossians is based on the myth of the Trojan-Greek origin
of the royal family of Molossia. The only evidence he put
forward in support of the myth origin is the story that a
Molossian person, Alcon (Άλκων) by name, participated in
the Olympic Games and was accepted as a suitor by
Cleisthenes193. However, he does not elaborate on whether
Alcon was simply a Molossian or a member of the royal
Molossian family, which was considered of Greek origin in
the Greece at the time. Besides, we know that, for political
reasons, exceptions were made in accepting non-Greeks in
Olympic Games. Schmidt believed that Herodotus also hints
at the Greek ethnicity of Molossians when he says that other
tribes were mixed with Ionians in twelve of their cities:
“there are mingled with them Minyans of Orchomenus,
Cadmeans, Dryopians, Phocian renegades from their nation,
Molossians, Pelasgian Arcadians, Dorians of Epidaurus, and
many other tribes”194. However, being too general and
unspecific, this statement is far from a reliable hint in favor
of the Molossians’ Greekness.
193
Herodotus The Histories VI, 127, 4.
194
Herodotus The Histories I, 146, 1: “Μινύαι δὲ Ὀρχομένιοί σφι
ἀναμεμίχαται καὶ Καδμεῖοι καὶ Δρύοπες καὶ Φωκέες ἀποδάσμιοι καὶ
Μολοσσοὶ καὶ Ἀρκάδες Πελασγοὶ καὶ Δωριέες Ἐπιδαύριοι, ἄλλα τε
ἔθνεα πολλὰ ἀναμεμίχαται”.
Mingling of Greeks with Molossians, in the history of the

ancient Greek historian, should be considered with caution.
Firstly, because at least two of peripheral eastern Molossian
tribes, Athamanes and Perrhaebes had begun to be hellenized
by Herodotus’ time, and, secondly, that the historian, a
contemporary of the Pericles’ imperial democracy of more
than 20 million people195, could not be out of the influence of
the Athenian imperial Zeitgeist196 of extending political
control over the neighboring regions. Let’s also remember
that Herodotus was neither free of the Greek prejudices and
arrogance nor an exception to the “rule” of ancient Greek
authors to pass the materials they present “through the filter
of Greek historians writing later than the events they
describe, and with Greek prejudices”197.
Later, however, when Herodotus narrates about the Greco-
Persian War in The Histories, he makes a clear cut distinction
between Greeks and Epirotes, between the Greek Ambraciots
(inhabitants of the Greek colony of Ambracia), Leucadians
and even Crotonians in Italy, on the one hand, and Epirotes,
on the other. Says he: “All these people who live this side of
Thesprotia and the Acheron River took part in the war. The
Thesprotians border on the Ampraciots and Leucadians, and
195
Ferguson, W. S. (1913). Greek Imperialism. Houghton Mifflin,
Boston-New York, p. 43.
196
Ferguson, W. S. (1913). Ibid, p. 39. Discussing on the imperialist
feeling of Athenians, Ferguson writes: “Yet they became imperialists
with ardor and conviction and with this much of logical consequence,
that, while they believed in democracy for everybody, they did not
doubt that the Athenians had earned the right to rule both Greeks,
and barbarians”.
197
Small, A. (2004). Some Greek inscriptions on some native vases from
south-east Italy. In Greek Identity in the Western Mediterranean: vol.
246. Brill, Leiden – Netherlands, p. 267.
who were the ones who came from the most distant countries
to take part in the war (emphasis added – N.R.C.). The only
ones living beyond these to help Hellas in its danger were the
Crotonians, with one ship. Its captain was Phayllus, three
times victor in the Pythian Games. The Crotonians are
Achaeans by birth”198.
The above statement by the historian makes it clear that he
considered Thesprotia, the southernmost region of Epirus, to
be outside the borders of Hellas. He says explicitly that the
most distant regions to help Hellas that took part in the war
were the Greek colonists of Ambracia in the south coast of
Epirus and Leucadians, inhabitants of the Ionian island of
Leucadia, but not Epirotes living north of them. Indeed, we
know that in the Greco-Persian War were involved not only
all the Greek states and tribes, but also Macedonians and
Thracians. Why not Epirotes? Were Epirotes Greeks could
not avoid being involved in such a matter of life and death
for the Greek people.
Later in the 5th century BC, Thucydides (c.460-c.400 BC),
while recounting on the participnts in the Peloponnesian War,
he calls Hellenes the Greek colonists of Ambracia in Epirus,
Anactorians and Leucadians, making a clear distinction from
Epirote fighters, which he calls ‘barbarians’199. By singling
198
Herodotus The Histories VIII, 47, 1: “οὗτοι μὲν ἅπαντες ἐντὸς
οἰκημένοι Θεσπρωτῶν καὶ Ἀχέροντος ποταμοῦ ἐστρατεύοντο:
Θεσπρωτοὶ γὰρ εἰσὶ ὁμουρέοντες Ἀμπρακιώτῃσι καὶ Λευκαδίοισι, οἳ
ἐξ ἐσχατέων χωρέων ἐστρατεύοντο. τῶν δὲ ἐκτὸς τούτων οἰκημένων
Κροτωνιῆται μοῦνοι ἦσαν οἳ ἐβοήθησαν τῇ Ἑλλάδι κινδυνευούσῃ
μιῇ νηί, τῆς ἦρχε ἀνὴρ τρὶς πυθιονίκης Φάυλλος: Κροτωνιῆται δὲ
γένος εἰσὶ Ἀχαιοί”.
199
Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War II, 80, 5: “καὶ αὐτῷ
παρῆσαν Ἑλλήνων μὲν Ἀμπρακιῶται καὶ Λευκάδιοι καὶ Ἀνακτόριοι
out Epirotes as ‘barbarians’, the historian makes it clear that

he viewed Epirotes as a people of non-Hellenic ethnicity.
For the sake of the scientific candor I will shortly present the
main argument used by the supporters of the Greek ethnicity
of classical Epirotes. They posit that description of Epirotes
as barbarians (βάρβαροι) in ancient Greek sources may be
dismissive and reflect the arrogance of Athenian writers
toward the backward Epirotes. But, ironically, Strabo was
neither an Athenian, nor from Greece proper and his ethnicity
is doubtful200. He was from Pontus, in the Asian south-
eastern coast of the Black sea, living in the 1st century BC,
when the region, including Greece and Athens, was part of
the Roman republic.
Strabo makes another clear distinction between Greece and
Epirus, when he speaks of the seaboards of Greece and
Epirus as two separate entities: “The voyage from
Brentesium to the opposite mainland is made either to the
Ceraunian Mountains and those parts of the seaboard of
Epeirus and of Greece (emphasis added – N.R.C.), which
come next to them, or else to Epidamnus”. Notice the
distinction he tries to clearly convey on the seaboards of
καὶ οὓς αὐτὸς ἔχων ἦλθε χίλιοι Πελοποννησίων, βάρβαροι δὲ Χάονες

χίλιοι ἀβασίλευτοι”.
200
Strabo’s ethnic background is not exactly known. He was born in a
wealthy family in the city of Amaseia, Pontus, a region that has been
for centuries under the Persian rule or domination, until the Roman
conquest of the province. In Strabo’s time it was still a center of
Persian culture and religion. Almost nothing is known about Strabo’s
father, but his mother’s relatives were of both Greek and Asiatic
origin. As a 21 year youth, in 44 BC he settled in Rome, where he
continued his education and created his Geography.
Epirus and Greece201. He clearly ascribes to Greece the

seacoasts of Acarnania and Peloponnesus, but not the
seacoast of Epirus.
In the following I will focus on the evidence from
Thucydides’ The History of the Peloponnesian War, where
the Greek historian repeatedly exposed his conviction on the
non-Greek ethnological status of Epirotes. So, e.g., in
recounting preparations for the Peloponnesian War,
Thucydides defines Ambraciotes, Leucadians and
Anactorians as Greeks as opposed to Epirote barbarians,
Chaonians, Molossians, Atintanians and Parauaeans, with
most of their military leaders bearing non-Greek names,
despite the long Hellenic influence from the Greek colonies
in the Epirote seacoast:
“He had in his army of Grecians, the Ambraciotes,
Leucadians, Anactorians, and the thousand Peloponnesians
he brought with him; and of barbarians, a thousand
Chaonians, who have no king, but were led by Photius and
Nicanor, which two being of the families eligible had now
the annual government. With the Chaonians came also the
Thesprotians, they also were without a king. The Molossians
and Atintanians were led by Sabylinthus, protector of
Tharyps their king, who was yet in minority. The Parauaeans
were led by their king Oroedus; and under Oroedus served
likewise, by permission of Antiochus their king, a thousand
Orestians”202.
201
Strabo Geography VI, 3, 9: “ὁ δ᾽ εἰς τὴν περαίαν ἐκ τοῦ Βρεντεσίου
πλοῦς ἐστὶν ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ τὰ Κεραύνια καὶ τὴν ἑξῆς παραλίαν τῆς τε
Ἠπείρου καὶ τῆς Ἑλλάδος, ὁ δ᾽ εἰς Ἐπίδαμνον μείζων τοῦ
προτέρου”.
202
Thucydides The History of the Peloponnesian War II, 80: “καὶ αὐτῷ
παρῆσαν Ἑλλήνων μὲν Ἀμπρακιῶται καὶ Λευκάδιοι καὶ Ἀνακτόριοι
καὶ οὓς αὐτὸς ἔχων ἦλθε χίλιοι Πελοποννησίων, βάρβαροι δὲ Χάονες
In describing the preparations for the battle between the

Athenian and Corinthian fleets, Thucydides (c. 460- c.395
BC) points out that the latter were aided by the friendly
barbarian Epirotes, certainly under the political influence of
the Corinthian colonies of the Ionian coast: “The Corinthians
also had in the continent the aids of many barbarians, which
in those quarters have been evermore their friends”203. He
calls again “barbarian” the Epirote allies of Corinthians in
describing the naval battle in the Epirus coast between the
combined Athenian-Kerkyrian navy and the Corinthian navy
aided by land forces of barbarian allies204. And again: “After
the Corinthians had chased the Corcyraeans to the land, they
urned to the wrecks and their dead, most of whom they
succeeded in getting hold of and conveying to Sybota, the
rendezvous of the land forces furnished by their barbarian
allies”205.
In a quite explicit form he defines the language Epirotes
spoke as different from Greek, when he recounts how part of
χίλιοι ἀβασίλευτοι, ὧν ἡγοῦντο ἐπετησίῳ προστατείᾳ ἐκ τοῦ ἀρχικοῦ

γένους Φώτιος καὶ Νικάνωρ. ξυνεστρατεύοντο δὲ μετὰ Χαόνων καὶ
Θεσπρωτοὶ ἀβασίλευτοι. Μολοσσοὺς δὲ ἦγε καὶ Ἀτιντᾶνας
Σαβύλινθος ἐπίτροπος ὢν Θάρυπος τοῦ βασιλέως ἔτι παιδὸς ὄντος,
καὶ Παραυαίους Ὄροιδος βασιλεύων. Ὀρέσται δὲ χίλιοι, ὧν
ἐβασίλευεν Ἀντίοχος, μετὰ Παραυαίων ξυνεστρατεύοντο Ὀροίδῳ
Ἀντιόχου ἐπιτρέψαντος”.
203
Thucydides Ibid. I, 47: “ἦσαν δὲ καὶ τοῖς Κορινθίοις ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ
πολλοὶ τῶν βαρβάρων παραβεβοηθηκότες: οἱ γὰρ ταύτῃ ἠπειρῶται
αἰεί ποτε αὐτοῖς φίλοι εἰσίν.”
204
Thucydides Ibid.I, 47, 3.
205
Thucydides Ibid. I.50.3: “ἐπειδὴ δὲ κατεδίωξαν τοὺς Κερκυραίους οἱ
Κορίνθιοι ἐς τὴν γῆν, πρὸς τὰ ναυάγια καὶ τοὺς νεκροὺς τοὺς
σφετέρους ἐτράποντο, καὶ τῶν πλείστων ἐκράτησαν ὥστε
προσκομίσαι πρὸς τὰ Σύβοτα, οἷ αὐτοῖς ὁ κατὰ γῆν στρατὸς τῶν
βαρβάρων προσεβεβοηθήκει”.
Epirote Amphilochii, who allied with Ambraciotes, learned

Greek, while the rest of the tribe that didn’t remained
barbarian: “Under the pressure of misfortune many
generations afterwards, they called in the Ambraciots, their
neighbors on the Amphilochian border, to join their colony;
and it was by this union with the Ambraciots that they learnt
their present Hellenic speech, the rest of the Amphilochians
being barbarians.”206. Notice how the Greek historian
corroborates the ancient Greek concept of identification of
‘barbarian’ with someone that speaks a language other than
Greek.
It cannot be a mere chance that Strabo, based on Ephorus
(400-330 BC), again and unequivocally leaves Epirus outside
the Greek world, when he calls Acarnania the westernmost
part of Greece: “Ephorus says that, if one begins with the
western parts, Acarnania is the beginning of Greece; for, he
adds, Acarnania is the first to border on the tribes of the
Epeirotes”207.
But this is next to saying Epirus is not Greece and, certainly,
it is not a ‘blunder’ of the greatest geographer of Antiquity.
The notion of Epirus as a different non-Greek country, Strabo
repeats in his geographical definition of ancient Greece as a
country composed of four peninsulas reaching north up to the
Ambracian gulf, south of Epirus, but excluding it:
206
Thucydides Ibid. II, 68, 5: “ὑπὸ ξυμφορῶν δὲ πολλαῖς γενεαῖς ὕστερον
πιεζόμενοι Ἀμπρακιώτας ὁμόρουςὄντας τῇ Ἀμφιλοχικῇ ξυνοίκους
ἐπηγάγοντο, καὶ ἡλληνίσθησαν τὴν νῦνγλῶσσαν τότε πρῶτον ἀπὸ
τῶν Ἀμπρακιωτῶν ξυνοικησάντων: οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι Ἀμφίλοχοι βάρβαροί
εἰσιν”.
207
Strabo Geography VIII, 1, 3: “Ἔφορος μὲν οὖν ἀρχὴν εἶναι τῆς
Ἑλλάδος τὴν Ἀκαρνανίαν φησὶν ἀπὸ τῶν ἑσπερίων μερῶν: ταύτην
γὰρ συνάπτειν πρώτην τοῖς Ἠπειρωτικοῖς ἔθνεσιν”.
“The first of the peninsulas is the Peloponnesus…The second

includes the first; and its isthmus extends in width from
Pagae in Megaris to Nisaea… The third likewise includes the
second; and its isthmus extends in width from the recess of
the Crisaean Gulf as far as Thermopylae…. The fourth is the
peninsula whose isthmus extends from the Ambracian Gulf
through Oeta and Trachinia to the Maliac Gulf and
Thermopylae”208.
The geographer considers Epirotes to be neighbors of
Greeks, but explicitly separates them out from Greeks: “And
even to the present day the Thracians, Illyrians, and Epeirotes
live on the flanks of the Greeks (though this was still more
the case formerly than now); indeed most of the country that
at the present time is indisputably Greece is held by the
barbarians—Macedonia and certain parts of Thessaly by the
Thracians, and the parts above Acarnania and Aetolia by the
Thesproti, the Cassopaei, the Amphilochi, the Molossi, and
the Athamanes - Epeirotic tribes.”209.
One could not simply blame the blind chance or Strabo
wanting to prove wrong the supporters of the Greek ethnicity
of Epirotes, when he plainly and straightforwardly says that
208
Strabo, Geography Ibid.: “ἔστι δὲ πρώτη μὲν τῶν χερρονήσων ἡ
Πελοπόννησος...δευτέρα δὲ ἡ καὶ ταύτην περιέχουσα, ἧς ἰσθμός
ἐστιν ὁ ἐκ Παγῶν τῶν Μεγαρικῶν εἰς Νίσαιαν, ….τρίτη δ᾽ ἡ καὶ
ταύτην περιέχουσα, ἧς ἰσθμὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ μυχοῦ τοῦ Κρισαίου κόλπου
μέχρι Θερμοπυλῶν: …. τετάρτη δὲ ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀμβρακικοῦ κόλπου
διὰ τῆς Οἴτης καὶ τῆς Τραχινίας εἰς τὸν Μαλιακὸν κόλπον
209
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 1: “οἱ δὲ Θρᾷκες καὶ Ἰλλυριοὶ καὶ
Ἠπειρῶται καὶ μέχρι νῦν ἐν πλευραῖς εἰσιν: ἔτι μέντοι μᾶλλον
πρότερον ἢ νῦν, ὅπου γε καὶ τῆς ἐν τῷ παρόντι Ἑλλάδος
ἀναντιλέκτως οὔσης τὴν πολλὴν οἱ βάρβαροι ἔχουσι, Μακεδονίαν
μὲν Θρᾷκες καί τινα μέρη τῆς Θετταλίας, Ἀκαρνανίας δὲ καὶ
Αἰτωλίας τὰ ἄνω Θεσπρωτοὶ καὶ Κασσωπαῖοι καὶ Ἀμφίλοχοι καὶ
Μολοττοὶ καὶ Ἀθαμᾶνες, Ἠπειρωτικὰ ἔθνη”.
Epeirotes, just like Illyrians and Thracians, live “on the

flanks of the Greeks”, for “living on the flanks” is another
way of saying that, just like Illyrians and Thracians,
“Epirotes are not Greeks”.
Once again Strabo explicitly excludes Epirotes from the
community of the ancient Greek tribes by separating Epirotes
and Illyrians as opposed to “the peoples of the Greeks”:
“After the Epeirotes and the Illyrians, then, come the
following peoples of the Greeks: the Acarnanians, the
Aetolians, and the Ozolian Locrians; and, next, the Phocians
and Boeotians; and opposite these, across the arm of the sea,
is the Peloponnesus”210.
Relevant to the ethnic composition of ancient Epirus is the
following report by Strabo, by the beginning of the 1st
century CE: “But some go so far as to call the whole of the
country Macedonia, as far as Corcyra, at the same time
stating as their reason that in tonsure, language, short cloak,
and other things of the kind, the usages of the inhabitants are
similar, although, they add, some speak both languages.”211.
Special attention in this report deserves the information on
‘some’ people being bilinguals in Epirus acknowledging that
at Strabo’s time Macedonians and Epirotes spoke two
distinct, but similar languages. We need to identify which
these languages have been. Greek doesn’t come into account
because if one of the languages was Greek, Strabo had no
210
Strabo Geography VIII, 1, 1: “μετὰ μὲν οὖν τοὺς Ἠπειρώτας καὶ τοὺς
Ἰλλυριοὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων Ἀκαρνᾶνές εἰσι καὶ Αἰτωλοὶ καὶ Λοκροὶ οἱ
Ὀζόλαι: πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Φωκεῖς τε καὶ Βοιωτοί: τούτοις δ᾽
ἀντίπορθμός ἐστιν ἡ Πελοπόννησος”.
211
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 8: “ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ σύμπασαν τὴν μέχρι
Κορκύρας Μακεδονίαν προσαγορεύουσιν, αἰτιολογοῦντες ἅμα ὅτι
καὶ κουρᾷ καὶ διαλέκτῳ καὶ χλαμύδι καὶ ἄλλοις τοιούτοις χρῶνται
παραπλησίως: ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ δίγλωττοί εἰσι”.
reason or motivation to hide it. But, even if, for the sake of
argument, we’ll suppose one of the two languages was
Greek, the question then would arise: what was the second
language? We have to ‘choose’ between the Epirote and
Macedonian languages.
At Strabo’s time, by the end of the 1st century BC, the
neighboring Macedonia was ethnically Hellenized but
Macedonian tribes, deep in the hinterland, around the Pindus
range, may be were still speaking their native language. At
any rate, spoke neighboring Macedonian tribes their own
language or Greek, then the logical question is: What
language did the rest of bilingual population in Epirus speak
in the 1st century CE? There is no alternative answer but
admit that Epirotes spoke their own language, a non-Greek
language.
Plutarch (46-120 CE) also exposes the ethnically different
character of Greeks and Epirotes when he says that the king
Tharrhypas (Θαρύπας, 430-392 BC) was the first to introduce
in Molossia Greek customs: “…and it was Tharrhypas,
historians say, who first introduced Greek customs and letters
(writing- NRC) and regulated his cities by humane laws,
thereby acquiring for himself a name.”212. Since Greek
customs can only be introduced in a non-Greek people the
Plutarch’s excerpt confirms that Molossians, the Epirote tribe
that had the most intense ties with Athens, still in the 1-2nd
century EC were a non-Greek tribe.
I don’t think it would be necessary to resort to other authentic
evidences that Epirotes were barbarians that spoke a non-
Greek language. Let’s only remember that there is no known
212
Plutarch Pyrrhus 1, 3: “Θαρρύπαν πρῶτον ἱστοροῦσιν Ἑλληνικοῖς
ἔθεσι καὶ γράμμασι καὶ νόμοις φιλανθρώποις διακοσμήσαντα τὰς
πόλεις ὀνομαστὸν γενέσθαι”.
ancient Greek or Roman source stating or reliably hinting

that Greek was spoken by Epirotes. All the ancient sources
reject the ambiguous, vague and contradictory statements of
Herodotus on the ethnicity of Dodona and his mythically
founded view of the Trojan-Greek origin of the Molossian
royal family has found no supporting evidence. Even the
British author of the well known book on Epirus, Nicholas G.
L. Hammond (1907-2001), that certainly couldn’t fairly
accused of hellenophobia, admitted that of all the conjectures
that the Molossian royal family spoke mainly Greek was no
more than “straw in the wind”.
Not only ancient authors like Thucydides and Strabo and
latter historians and scholars like Malte Brun213, Niebuhr214,
Fallmerayer215, Mommsen216, Merleker217, Clark218
219
Kretschmer , etc., but also modern scholars like
Oberhummer220, Çabej221, Toynbee222, Ducellier223,
213
Conrad Malte Brun (1929). Universal Geography: or A Description of
All the Parts of the World on a new Plan IV. Laval and Bradford,
Philadelphia, 1829, p. 10.3
214
Niebuhr, B.G. (1851). Vorträge über alte Länder- und Völkerkunde.
pp. 65-66 and 305.
215
Fallmerayer, J.P. (1857). Das Albanesische Element in Griechenland I.
Verlag der k. Akademie, München, p. 8 (424).
216
Buchhandlung, Leipzig, f. 257.
217
Merleker, K.F. (1852). Historisch-geographische Darstellung des
Landes und der Bewohner von Epeiros: Tl. III. Jahresbericht der
königlichen Friedrichskollegium, Königsberg, 1841, f. 4.
218
Clark, E.L. (1878). The Races of European Turkey. Dodd, Mead and
Co., New York, p. 167-168.
219
Kretschmer, P. Einleitung in die Geschichte der griechischen Sprache.
Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Jena, p. 257.
220
Oberhummer, E. (1917). Die Balkanvölker. Verein nat. Kenntn. LVII.
Bd. pp. 263-279.
221
Demiraj224, Shipley225, etc. considered Epirus to be a non-

Greek territory.
Let’s only quote the British student of the ancient historical
geography, N.J.G. Pounds. Describing the ethnological
situation in the middle of the 5th century BC, he writes:
“Epirus formed no part of Greece, and in the fifth century
Greek commerce and culture had made little impression upon
its tribes”, then adding that “It is doubtful whether the tribes
of Aetolia and Acarnania should be considered Greek”226
222
Toynbee, A. (1969). Some Problems of Greek History. Oxford
University Press, London, p. 108.
223
Ducellier, A. (1999). Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria. In The New
Cambridge Medieval History V – c.1198-c.1300. Ed. D. Abulafia,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge – New York, p. 780.
224
Demiraj, S. (2008). Epiri, Pellazgët, Etruskët dhe Shqiptarët.
Infbotues, Tiranë. See also Demiraj, S. 2006). The Origin of the
Albanians. Acad. Sci. of Albania, Tiranë, pp. 49-54.
225
Shipley, G. (2000). The Greek World after Alexander 323–30 BC.
Routledge, p. 111.
226
Pounds, N.J.G. (1973). Op. cit., p. 30.
Figure 2. Political map of Greece in the mid-5th century BC by

Pounds227(coloring of regions of Epirus and Macedonia for clarity
is mine – N.R.C.). Notice, the author left Epirus out of the Greek
territories, with exception of the Epirote tribe of Amphilochians,
who by the 4th century BC lost their native language to adopt
Greek, as was shown earlier in thissection. Black dots denote
Greek cities and colonies, including the Greek colony of Ambracia
in Epirus.
227
Pounds, N.J.G. (1973). An Historical Geography of Europe: 450 B.C.-
A.D. to 1330. Cambridge University Press, London – New York, p.
26.
12. Dodona: Was it a Greek enclave in Epirus?
Attempts have been made to argue that the oracle of Dodona

was a Greek oracle. We must always remember that the most
reliable sources of information to examine the validity of this
view are ancient Greek sources, despite their biased “Greek
perspective” in describing the peoples and events of the time.
Fortunately, Dodona is mentioned in the first Greek literary
document known to us, in Homer’s Iliad, written around the
9-8th century BC. The poet explicitly defines it as a
Pelasgian, not Greek oracle: “Zeus, thou king, Dodonaean,
Pelasgian, thou that dwellest afar, ruling over wintry
Dodona”228. Homer leaves no doubt that for him Pelasgians
were foreigners, speakers of a foreign language: “Diverse
their language is”229
Homer’s identification of Dodona as ‘Pelasgian’ is
recognition of non-Greekness of the Dodonean territory at his
time.
One century after Homer, the Greek poet of the 8th century
BC, Hesiod, also wrote that the oracle was the place where
Pelasgians used to stay and the historian Ephorus (Ἔφορος
400-330 BC) confirms that the oracle of Dodona was
228
Homer, Iliad XVI, lines 233-235: “Δία δ᾽ οὐ λάθε τερπικέραυνον:/
Ζεῦ ἄνα Δωδωναῖε Πελασγικὲ τηλόθι ναίων Δωδώνης μεδέων
δυσχειμέρου, ἀμφὶ δὲ Σελλοὶ”.
229
Homer Odyssey XIX, 175:
“ἄλλη δ᾽ ἄλλων γλῶσσα μεμιγμένη: ἐν μὲν Ἀχαιοί, ἐν δ᾽
Ἐτεόκρητες μεγαλήτορες, ἐν δὲ Κύδωνες, Δωριέες τε τριχάϊκες δῖοί
τε Πελασγοί”.
230
founded by Pelasgians230. However, in the 5th century,

Herodotus (c. 484-425 BC) provides a short and
controversial report on Dodona. In his description of the
route Hyperboreans followed to bring their gifts to the Delphi
oracle in Delos, we encounter the phrase: “the people of
Dodona being the first Greeks to receive them”231.
First, we need to determine what Herodotus had in his mind
when he wrote “the people of Dodona being the first Greeks
to receive them”: did he think of the population of the city in
general or the people serving in the oracle. From the
protocolar view of this type of religious procedures chances
are the people receiving northern Hyperborean pilgrims to
have been priests of the oracle rather than the people of the
town in general. If so, then, it is necessary to determine
whether there were Greek priests in Dodona. Ancient sources
say that there were priests and priestesses at Dodona, the
latter being women that spoke a foreign language, which, in
all likelihood, in this case would be the language of the
nhabitants of Epirus, whose territory Dodona belonged to. At
any rate, Herodotus himself makes it pretty clear that the
people of Dodona, as well, were barbarians (βάρβαροι
231
Herodotus The Histories IV, 33, 2: “προπεμπόμενα πρώτους
Δωδωναίους Ἑλλήνων δέκεσθαι”.
232
Herodotus The Histories II, 57, 1: “πελειάδες δέ μοι δοκέουσι
κληθῆναι πρὸς Δωδωναίων ἐπὶ τοῦδε αἱ γυναῖκες, διότι βάρβαροι
ἦσαν”.
ἦσαν)232 and the priestess of the oracle “spoke in a foreign

tongue” (ἐβαρβάριζε)233.
Thus, in Herodotus’ own words, Dodonaeans were not
Greeks and the oracle’s priestesses as well were non-Greek
women. His conviction on the non-Greekness of the
Dodonaeans and of the oracle, Herodotus repeated in another
passage in The Histories: “When the Pelasgians, then, asked
at Dodona whether they should adopt the names that had
come from foreign parts, the oracle told them to use the
names. From that time onwards they used the names of the
gods in their sacrifices; and the Greeks received these later
from the Pelasgians”234. Certainly, ancient Greeks visited the
oracle but archaeological excavations seems to indicate that
the earliest objects and dedications of the 7th century BC
found in Dodona belong to Illyrians235.236.
233
Herodotus Ibid. II, 57, 2: “ἕως δὲ ἐβαρβάριζε, ὄρνιθος τρόπον ἐδόκεέ
σφιφθέγγεσθαι, ἐπεὶ τέῳ ἂν τρόπῳ πελειάς γε ἀνθρωπηίῃ φωνῇ
φθέγξαιτο”.
234
Herodotus The Histories II, 52, 3: “ἐπεὶ ὦν ἐχρηστηριάζοντο ἐν τῇ
Δωδώνῃ οἱ Πελασγοὶ εἰ ἀνέλωνται τὰ οὐνόματα τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν
βαρβάρων ἥκοντα, ἀνεῖλε τὸ μαντήιον χρᾶσθαι. ἀπὸ μὲν δὴ τούτου
τοῦ χρόνου ἔθυον τοῖσι οὐνόμασι τῶν θεῶν χρεώμενοι: παρὰ δὲ
Πελασγῶν Ἕλληνες ἐξεδέξαντο ὕστερον”.
235
Boardman, J. (1982). The Prehistory of the Balkans and the Middle
East and the Aegean World. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, p. 653.
236
Hammond, N.G.L. (1976). Migrations and Invasions in Greece and
Adjacent Areas. Noyes, Park Ridge NJ, p.156.
In the light of all the above one can reasonably say that
Herodotus’ statement about “the people of Dodona being the
first Greeks to receive them” is a lapsus of the father of
history.
Alternatively, the Herodotus’s ambiguous expression at the
most would imply a possible presence (temporary or
permanent) of Greek priests in Dodona, but patently not the
inhabitants of the city, of whom he unequivocally says that
spoke a non-Greek language.
Later Strabo in the 1st century CE assures us that “many have
called also the tribes of Epirus “Pelasgian”, because in their
opinion the Pelasgi extended their rule even as far as that”237.
Strabo also informs us that not only Homer in the 8th century,
but also the Greek poet Hesiod, a century later, described
Dodona as “seat of Pelasgians”238.
Be that as it may, Herodotus is a discordant voice in the
chorus of the ancient Greek authors that unanimously
considered Epirotes to be a barbarian, non-Greek people that
spoke a barbarian language.
Note that Dinarchus (c. 361- c. 291 BC) in the 4th century
also speaks of another Dodonian Dios (Διὸς τοῦ
Δωδωναίου)239 as opposed to the Greek Zeus (Ζεύς). Even as
237
Strabo Geography V, 2, 4: “πολλοί καί τὰ Ἠπειρωτικὰ ἔϑνη
Πελασγικὰ εἰρήκασιν, ὡς καί μέχρι δεῦρο ἐπαρξάντων”.
238
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 10: “ὁ δ᾽ Ἡσίοδος “Δωδώνην φηγόν τε,
Πελασγῶν ἕδρανον ᾖεν” (He came to Dodona and the oak-tree, seat
of the Pelasgi”).
239
Dinarchus Against Demosthenes I, 78.
late as the 2nd century BC Scymnus also spoke of Dodona as

an oracle donated by Pelasgians240.
In the Catalogue of Ships241, in the second book of Iliad,
Homer describes the formation of the Greek naval force that
would attack Troy. It consisted of about 1,200 ships242 from
about 160 different settlements and tribes of the continental
Greece, but no Epirote settlement or tribe is mentioned in the
Catalogue. In view of the pan-Greek character of the war
Greeks waged against Troy, the absence of contingents from
any Epirote tribe can be taken as the oldest written hint that
prehistoric Epirus was not part of Greece. Although Homer’s
poems may not be reliable as historical sources, they provide
us “the most comprehensive and complete survey of what the
Greek world of the Iliad looked like”243.
Based on extensive archaeological evidence, it has often been
concluded by authorities in the field that Epirus in the Bronze
Age was a non-Greek country: “Neither Macedonia nor
Epirus to the west were part of the Mycenaean Greece” 244.
240
Scymni Chii Periegesis 1846, p. 102, v. 457: “Διος μαντειον ἵδρυμ
ἐστἰ δ’ ουν Πελασγικν”.
241
Homer Iliad II, lines 494-759.
242
Thucydides The Peloponnesian War I, 10, 4.
243
Borges, C.J. (2011). The Geography of the Iliad in Ancient
Scholarship. PhD Dissertation, The University of Michigan, p. 137.
244
Borza, E.N. (1999). Before Alexander: Constructing Early Macedonia.
Regina Books, Claremont, Ca. USA, p. 29: “Heurtley’s basic
conclusions have remained little changed. In the words of two of the
most recent comprehensive surveys of Bronze Age Macedonia:
neither Macedonia nor Epirus to the west were ever part of
Mycenaean Greece”.
245
Cross, G.N. (2015). Epirus (reissue). Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, p. 5.
Echoing the general opinion of the ancient and latter authors,

the British historian G.N. Cross speaks only about a hardly
provable “little pocket” of early Greek migrants in Dodona
adding that, even as visitors, Greeks approached Epirus from
the sea: “the mountain range of Pindus formed such a barrier
against the traveller from the east that the Greek visiting
Epirus would generally approach it from the south and the
sea”245.
Chapter II
Linguistic clues to the ethnic identity of

ancient Epirotes
From ancient Greek authors, Strabo speaks explicitely about a
language of Molossians and Thesprotians (Μολοττῶν καὶ
Θεσπρωτῶν γλῶτταν) 246, and Plutarch about a native language
(ἐπιχωρίῳ φωνῇ) of Molossians247 and Thucydides recounted
how part of the Epirote tribe of Amphilochians by joining the
Greek colony of Ambracia lost its own language and learned
Greek248. Thucydides also wrote that even an Etolian tribe
such as Eurytanians spoke a language that was unintelligible
(ἀγνωστότατοι δὲ γλῶσσαν) to Greeks249. Almost all the
ancient Greek authors, by describing Epirotes as a barbarian
people, implicitly have admitted that Epirotes spoke a
language other than Greek.
However, the issue of the language spoken by Epirotes
remains controversiol because the ancient authors, while
showing the Epirotes spoke a language that was not Greek,
never did explicitly say what language they spoke.
Nervertheless, there is a relatively large volume of historical,
linguistic, archaeological and ethnographic evidence that can
be profitably used to reach at a reasonable and reliable
conclusion about the language they spoke. In the following I
246
Strabo Geography, VII, Fragments 1a.
247
Plutarch Pyrrhus I, 2.
248
249
will briefly present some linguistic evidence that may possibly

contribute to the identification of their language and ethnicity.
The most important among them are:
- A few Epirote words provided in the universal dictionary of
the ancient Greek, compiled by Hesychius in the 5-6th century
CE, and in a few other ancient sources,
- Some particularities of the evolution of the ancient Epirote
place names that can indicate the language they spoke,
- Lexical concordances of the Epirote language with the
ancient and, when possible, with modern languages of
Balkans,
- The present-day language(s) and language dialects spoken in
the ex-Roman provinces of Epirus vetus and Epirus nova and
- Some ancient Greek reports on the existence of a different or
“native language” in Epirus.
The present status of knowledge on the pre-Roman Balkans
suggests that the languages spoken in the antiquity in the
peninsula were Illyrian, Greek, Thracian, Daco-Moesian and
Macedonian. There is no evidence, whatsoever, to suggest that
any other language, except the above, was ever spoken in
Epirus and Balkans in general. Almost by consensus it is
admitted that no separate Epirote language has ever existed.
Since Epirus in the ancient Greek sources often appears as a
separate geographical and political entity, the issue of the
language spoken by its inhabitants has been raised early in the
historical and linguistic studies of the ancient Balkans.
Certainly, the absence of evidence on a distinct “Epirote
language” is not evidence that it didn’t exist. The absence of
evidence represents rather an argumentum ex silentio that, not
per se, but only when corroborated by evidence from other
fields, such as linguistics, archaeology, history, etc. may
II Linguistic clues to the ethnic identity 91
enable us to reach a reasonable conclusion whether a separate

Epirote language ever existed.
The hypothesis that “there is no separate Epirote language” is
very unlikely to be proven because negative hypotheses in
general are inherently reluctant to verification and falsification.
For this reason, it may be more productive in our inquiry to
proceed by attempting first to restrict the field of our research
via exclusion, by sequentially eliminating ancient Balkan
languages that for some convincing reasons may be excluded
as the language(s) spoken in ancient Epirus. This way, we can
reasonably exclude the languages of the ancient Thracians and
Daco-Moesians, for geographical reasons, i.e. because of
spatial discontinuity of Epirus with Thracia and Daco-Moesia.
Hence in consideration come only Illyrian, ancient
Macedonian and Greek.
It is believed that Macedonians, as a result of the intensive
process of Hellenization they were subjected to, gradually lost
their own language and adopted Greek beginning from the 5-
4th century BC. However, some regions of the Macedonia’s
hinterland may have preserved their native language longer.
In the preceding chapter we presented extensive historical
evidence that in ancient sources there is no hint that Epirotes
spoke Greek. To the contrary, the ancient Greek authors,
almost consensually, considered them to be a barbarian people.
Given that the Greek concept of ‘barbarian’ above all implies
the foreign language the person or the people spoke,the
‘barbarianness’ of Epirotes indicates that they didn’t speak
Greek.
Just to refresh the reader’s memory, below I will present a few
explicit statements by ancient Greek authors to the question of
the language spoken in ancient Epirus. Thucydides recounts
about the part of Epirote Amphilokians who, by allying with
the neighboring Greek Ambraciotes, learned their “present

Hellenic language”, while the rest of the tribe that didn’t,
remained barbarian250. Echoing the general Greek mentality of
the time, he explicitely related the barbarianness of Epirotes
with their non-Greek language. He also made a clear
distinction between Greek tribes and barbarian tribes (Epirote
Chaonians, Molossians, Atintanians and Parauaeans)251.
Another explicit statement on the non-Greekness of Epirotes
made Strabo, who defined Epirotes as neighbors of ancient
Greeks, just like Illyrians and Thracians 252. In corroboration of
his statement, Strabo comes with a straightforward statement
on the existence of an “Epirote“ language: “It is further said
that in the language of the Molossians and the Thesprotians old
women are called "peliai" and old men "pelioi"”253. Plutarch
also reports on a native language (ἐπιχωρίῳ φωνῇ) spoken in
Epirus254.
1. Epirote-Albanian lexical
correspondences
More than two centuries ago Johann Thunmann, based on the
ancient sources, came to the conclusion that Epirotes were not
Greeks and didn’t speak Greek: “In Epirus lived conspicuously
250
Thucydides The History of the Peloponnesian War II, 68.
251
252
253
Strabo Geography, VII, Fragments 1a: ““φασὶ δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὴν τῶν
Μολοττῶν καὶ Θεσπρωτῶν γλῶτταν τὰς γραίας πελίας καλεῖσθαι καὶ
τοὺς γέροντας πελίους”.
254
Plutarch Pyrhus I, 2.
non-Greek people, who, as already remarked, spoke

Macedonian or related to it, Illyrian”255.
Most of the attested Epirote words have been plausibly related
to Albanian. It is noteworthy that in the modern times
Albanian was/is spoken throughout the territory of the ex-
Roman province of Epirus vetus and Epirus nova. Besides, the
geography of the Tosk dialect matches exactly the historical
territories of Epirus vetus and Epirus nova.
Equally relevant is to point out that the Tosk dialect spoken in
the present territories of Epirus vetus (classical Epirus) and
Epirus nova, in both the Republic of Albania and the Republic
of Greece, developed not later than the 6th century CE, when
the linguistic phenomenon of the rhotacism ceased to exist256
257
. This fact implies that the 6th century CE is the terminus
ante quem the dialects developed in the present territories of
Epirus vetus and Epirus nova.
In the following I will briefly discuss the origin of a number of
Epirote words, hoping to shed some light on the nature of the
language ancient Epirotes spoke.
barden (βαρδἥν), βαρδἥν τὸ βιάζεσϑαι γυναίκας Ἀμπρακιώται
‘pregnant woman in Ambraciotes’ appears in Hesychius’
Lexicon258. The ancient Greek for pregnant is ἐγκῡμων and
Hesychius translates the Epirote word into Greek biazesthai
255
Thunmann, J. (1774). Untersuchungen über die Geschichte östlichen
europäischen Völker. Crusius, Leipzig, pp. 250-251: “In Epirus
wohnten lauter ungriechische Völker, welche, wie schon bemerkt
worden, die Macedonische, oder welches wohl auf eins hinaus gehet,
die Illyrische Sprache redeten”.
256
Çabej, E. (2012). Fonetikë historike e gjuhës shqipe. Çabej, Tiranë, pp.
76-80 (78).
257
Demiraj, S. (2006). The Origin of the Albanians. Tiranë , p. 102.
258
(βιάζεσϑαι). Latins borrowed the word from Illyrian as attested

in the term equa bardia ‘pregnant mare’. The word is inherited
in Albanian words bratë, mbratë ‘pregnant’, which, according
to Vittorio Pisani (1899-1990), derives from the Illyrian
*bhordịō ‘impregnate, make pregnant, fecund’259.
brokalietai (μπροκαλιέται) ‘animal or child roar’ is a word of
the new Greek in Epirus, provided by Aravantinos. It has
almost the same meaning as Albanian bryleket/bërleket ‘to
bellow’ (compare English bellow < O.Eng. bylgan ‘to roar’
<PIE root *bhel- ‘to sound, roar’ and German brüllen ‘roar’).
The possibility that the Epirote word derives from the ancient
Greek blehaomai (βληχάομαι) seems to be excluded, among
other reasons, because the initial b- (β-) would have changed
to v- in medieval and new Greek. The presence of b- in the
modern Epirote word indicates it might be derived from the
same root like Albanian bryleket260, via metathesis.
daksa (δάξα, Ἠπειρωται ϑάλασα) is defined in Hesychius’
Lexikon as an Epirote word, which he translates into Greek
thalassa (ϑάλασα) ‘sea’261. The Epirote word is inherited in
Albanian det ‘sea’262. Francesco Ribezzo (1875-1852)
compares it to the Illyrian *dakti263. It may have been
synonymous to another Illyrian word for sea, since Norbert
Jokl believes the word for sea in Albanian derives from the
Illyrian *deub-eto > Alb. dēt > deët > det, [common Albanian
attribute nouns suffixed in -t formant ‘sea’]264. dei (Plural
259
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Etimologjike II, p. 173-174.
260
Çabej, E. (1976). Ibid. p. 211.
261
Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon (1867). Op. cit., p. 372.
262
von Xylander J. R. (1835). Die Sprache der Albanesen oder
Schkipetaren. Andreáische Buchhandlung, Frankfurt am Main, p. 277.
263
Orel, V. (1998). Op. cit. p. 61
264
Pokorny, J. (1959). Op. cit., See also Çabej, E. (1976). S. Gjuhësore I,
p.118.
genetive of *deiwa? from PIE *deiwo-) is the Epirote word for

‘god’ attested in the compound name Deipatyros in Hesychius’
Lexicon. The Greek lexicographer says this is the name of the
god of the Epirote tribe of Tymphaei (Tymbaei) “Zeus of
Tymphei” (Δειπάτυρος - ϑεὺς παρὰ Τυμφαίοις)265, or the
analogue of the Greek Zeus. The epirote *deiwa is cognate
with the Vedic Dyaus Pita, Greek Zeus (Zεύς), Latin
Deus/Juve, Germanic Tiwaz, etc. The word is inherited in the
Albanian zot (PIE *die̅u > *dźie̅u > zot) ‘god’. According to
Henrik Barić, the Albanian zot ‘god’ derives from the IE diēu-t
‘sky’266, and from the same root derives the Epirote word Dei.
As reconstructed by Demiraj, the ProtoAlbanian form of the
noun is *dźie̅u267. Curiously enough, by the beginning of the
19th century, the British traveller and topographer W.M. Leake
reported that the native Albanians of Epirus (Chams) call their
country Dai268, suggesting a relation to the ancient father of
Epirote gods Dei-patyros. dramis (δράμιξ) ‘bread’. Related to
the Albanian dromcë ‘crumbs’269 and to the ancient
Macedonian dramis (δράμις) ‘slice of bread’.
gnosco (γνώσκω) is the Epirote word for know. This form
lacks the g- duplication that is characteristic of the ancient
Greek [γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō) and γινώσκω (ginṓskō)], as is
also attested in ancient Greek sources even for names of some
Epirote tribes, such as Μολλοσσὤν/Μολοσσοί. It is identical
265
Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon. Ibid. p. 380.
266
Orel, V. (1998). Albanian Etym. Op. cit. p. 526.
267
Demiraj, B. Op. cit.
268
Leake, W.M. (1814). Researches in Greece. J. Booth, London, p. 257.
269
270
Çabej, E. (2002). S. Etimologjike VI, p. 106-107.
to the Illyrian verb *gnēskō270, inherited in the Albanian verb

njoh ‘I know’, via the regular Albanian change gn>nj and the
Uralbanian change sk>h. Cognates are the Attic gignôskô (and
gnôsis ‘knowledge’), and Latin notio ‘knowledge’.
grabātus Latin ‘bed, cot’ and Old Greek krabatos
(κράβατος)271, and new Greek krevati (κρεβάτι) ‘bed’. Derive
from Illyrian*grabātus ‘oakwood’, from PIE *grōb(h)o-s
‘hornbeam’, from which derives Albanian krevat < *krabat
‘bed’. Grabos was a personal Illyrian name that bore one of
the most powerful kings of Illyria. It is possible that the root
grab- is preserved in the names of numerous villages
especially in south Albania (Grabovë, Grapsh, Grevë, Gravë,
etc.).
kaston (κάστον) was the word for wood (ξύλον) in the Epirote
tribe of Athamanians (Attic xylon from xyô ‘scrape’, hence
xyston). Compare Old Ind. kasta ‘wood’ (dialectal kalon
‘wood’ from kaiô ‘burn’ kauston ‘something that can be
burnt’, kausimon ‘fuel’). May be related to Albanian kashtë
‘straw’< reconstructed Protoalbanian *kalś-ta̅272, or *kalstā273,
which is semantically plausible, for the straw denotes the stem
as opposed to the root, leaves and fruits of the plant.
mal ‘mountain’. This word is attested as the second component
of the compound name Di-male (Διμάλης) and Dimallum, the
name of an ancient Illyrian town in south Albania, ex-Roman
province of Epirus nova. The second component is inherited
271
Pokorny, J. (1959). Op. cit.; Tzitzilis, C.(2007). Greek and Illyrian. In A
History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity. A.-
F. Christidis (ed.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge-New York,
p. 751 (745-751).
272
Demiraj, B. (1999-2000). The Albanian inherited lexicon. Internet:
https://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/natlang/ie/alb.html
273
Orel, V. (1998). Op. cit. p. 173.
unchanged in the Albanian mal ‘mountain’. The city name is

mentioned as Dimale (Διμάλη) by Polybius: “While this was
taking place Demetrius, getting wind of the Romans’ purpose,
at once sent a considerable garrison to Dimale with the
supplies requisite for such a force”274. Livy writes the name of
the city Dimallum: “the Parthini and neighbouring tribes had
risen and were besieging Dimallum”275. The Danish-German
historian B.G. Niebuhr (1776-1831) was the first to notice in
the name of the town a compound Illyrian name Di-male that
he explained by Albanian words di/dy ‘two’ and mal
‘mountain, hill’: “The name of the city Dimalon, which is
firmly connected by a wall a double castle on a double hill
described by Polybius”276. His identification makes sense
semantically and archaeological evidence corroborated his
hypothesis. The city was localized at Krotinë, Berat, in South
Albania277.
Another place name Dimale is in the neighborhood of Filat in
Çamëria, Republic of Greece278 279.
274
Polybius Histories III. 18:” κατὰ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς καιροὺς Δημήτριος ἅμα
τῷ συνεῖναι τὴν ἐπιβολὴν τῶν Ῥωμαίων παραυτίκα μὲν εἰς τὴν
Διμάλην ἀξιόχρεων φρουρὰν εἰσέπεμψε”.
275
Livy The History of Rome XXIX, 121, 3: “Parthinosque et propinquas
gentes alias motas esse ad spem novandi res, Dimallumque
oppugnari”.
276
Niebuhr, B.G. (1851). Vorträge über alte Länder- und Völkerkunde. p.
305: “Der Name der Stadt Dimalon der festesten unter den dortigen
mit einer zweifachen Burg auf einem Doppelberge durch eine Mauer
verbunden, welche Polybios beschreibt”.
277
Dautaj, B. (1965). La découverte de la cité illyrienne di Dimale. Studia
Albanica 2, 65-71.
278
Çabej, E. (2014). S. Etimologjike V. Çabej, Tiranë, p. 275.
279
Çabej, E. (2008). Hyrje në Historine e Gjuhës Shqipe - Pjesa e parë.
Çabej, Tiranë, p. 53.
manu (μάνυ) ‘small’ μάνυ πικρόν ᾽Αθαμᾶνες280. As first

noticed by Çabej, the ancient word attributed to the Epirote
tribe of Athamanes, which is inherited in Albanian words
mang ‘young of a bird or an animal’ and manun ‘suckling,
unweaned lamb’. It represents an Epirote-Albanian
concordance281. The Albanian word derives from an earlier
*mank (with the diminutive suffix -ko}, and this, in turn, from
the PIE root *men ‘little, small’. Hesychius translated it into
Greek as picron (πικρόν), which Boisacq corrected to
micron282. In the Attic dialect manu corresponds to micron
(μικρόν) and brachus (βραχύς)283. Hesychius translates it into
Greek pikron (πικρόν).
peliai/pelioi (πέλιος/πελία) ‘old women/old men’.. This
Epirote word appears to Strabo284. In Geography, Strabo again
reminds us of the distinction between the Epirote (and
Macedonian) and Greek languages, when he compares the
Epirote words peliai/pelioi ‘old women/old men’, on the one
hand, and the Greek gerontes ‘old men’, on the other. He
believes that the myth on the doves flying from Africa to
Epirus has its origin in the Epirote word peliaia ‘old women’:
“Among the Thesprotians and the Molossians old women are
called “peliai” and old men ‘pelioi’, as is also the case among
the Macedonians; at any rate, those people call their dignitaries
‘peligones’ (compare the ‘gerontes’ among the Laconians and
the Massaliotes). And this, it is said, is the origin of the myth
about the pigeons in the Dodonaean oak-tree”285.
280
Hesychii Alexandrini. Op. cit., p. 372.
281
Çabej, E. (2014). S. Etimologjike V. p.282.
282
283
Çabej, E. (2014). S. Etimologjike V. f. 281.
284
Strabo Geography VII. Fragments, 1a and 1b.
285
The Epirote word peliaia is inherited in Albanian word plakë <

*p(e)laka 286 ‘old woman’ (pela + the Albanian suffix -ak).
In describing the women foretellers of the Dodona oracle,
Strabo explicitly speaks about a language of the Molossians
and Thesprotians, in which the name of these foretellers,
‘peliai’, meant old women, and ‘pelioi’ – old men. These
words had no meaning in Greek, but Herodotes apparently
using a kind of Volksetymologie related them to the similarly
sounding Greek word peleias ‘dove’ (from a PIE *pel-‘grey’),
based on the myth of the founding of the oracle by a
mythological dove (Greek πελειας, Pl. πελειάδες), which flew
to found the oracle in Dodona287. Alternatively, the
development of the Greek myth itself may have been triggered
by similarly sounding of the Epirote word peliai ‘old women’
and the Greek word pelaias ‘doves’.
The association of the word for foreteller with birds is attested
in Albanian where ysht ‘to cast spells, bewitch’ derives from
Illyrian*awi-sta, a compound word derived from PIE *aṷei
‘bird’ and *stā ‘to stand’, initially in the meaning ‘foretell
according to birds, to augur’288.
There is sufficient reason to believe that Strabo (or earlier
sources, which he relied on) also used a kind of
Volksetymologie, to relate these old women ‘peliai’ to the
similarly sounding Greek noun peleias (Pl. peleiades) ‘dove’,
the mythological dove that flew from Thebes to Dodona
(Δωδώνη) to establish the oracle. He explains that “Perhaps
286
Orel, V. (1998). Albanian Etymological.Dictionary. Brill, Leiden-
Boston-Köln, p. 332.
287
Herodotus The Histories II, 57, 1: “πελειάδες δέ μοι δοκέουσι κληθῆναι
πρὸς Δωδωναίων ἐπὶ τοῦδε αἱ γυναῖκες, διότι βάρβαροι ἦσαν, ἐδόκεον
δέ σφι ὁμοίως ὄρνισι φθέγγεσθαι”.
288
Orel, V. (1998). Op. cit.
there was something exceptional about the flight of the three

pigeons from which the priestesses were wont to make
observations and to prophesy. It is further said that in the
language of the Molossians and the Thesprotians old women
are called “peliai” and old men “pelioi.” And perhaps the
much talked of Peleiades were not birds, but three old women
who busied themselves about the temple” 289. Notice, again
Strabo speaks not of Greek but of a different Epirote -
Molossian and Thesprotian language (Μολοττῶν καὶ
Θεσπρωτῶν γλῶτταν).
Peligones were the elders (magistrates) of a high civil position
in Epirus. Johann Georg von Hahn related the Epirote word
with the Albanian plak ‘old man’ (and the derived words
pleqëri ‘old age’ and pleqësi ‘council of elders’)290, which is
identical to the reconstructed Illyrian *pelak291 and may be
derived from an earlier form *pelag. As an ancient Epirote
institution, it is preserved to the present-day Albanian
institution of pleqësia “the Elders of the village”.
The word peligones (πελιγόνες) was used by Epirotes and
peliganes (πελιγᾶνες) by Macedonians to designate senators,
meet no match in Greek, which has the word gerontes ‘old
men’ (γέρων ‘old man’) and differ also from the Latin senator
‘senator’ (from the Latin senex ‘old, aged’). So, e.g., in Sparta
and other Dorian city-states, the Greek word for magistrates
289
Strabo Geography VII, Fragments, 1a: “ἴσως δέ τινα πτῆσιν αἱ τρεῖς
περιστεραὶἐπέτοντο ἐξαίρετον, πέτοντο ἐξ ὧν αἱ ἱέρειαι
παρατηρούμεναι προεθέσπιζον. φασὶ δὲ καὶκατὰ τὴν τῶν Μολοττῶν
καὶ Θεσπρωτῶν γλῶτταν τὰς γραίας πελίας καλεῖσθαικαὶ τοὺς
γέροντας πελίους:καὶ ἴσως οὐκ ὄρνεα ἦσαν αἱ θρυλούμεναι πελειάδες,
ἀλλὰ γυναῖκες γραῖαι τρεῖς περὶτὸ ἱερὸν σχολάζουσαι”.
290
von Hahn, J.G. (1854).Albanesische Studien. pp. 241-242.
291
Demiraj, B. (1997). Albanische Etymologien. Amsterdam-Atlanta.
was gerontes ‘the elders’ and Gerusia (Γερουσία) was the

Supreme Council of the senate.
von Hahn believed that to Albanian is related the following
Hesych explanation: “Pelagones are gerontes and paliaioi are
natives. Peliganes are the representatives. Peleius Epirotes
called their old men and women. Peletus – old man“”292.
Both Epirotic and Macedonian have the same words πέλιος
“old man” and πελία “old woman”293. The resemblance
between the Macedonian, Epirote and Albanian (plak < pelak),
on the one hand, and the distinction from the Greek gerontes is
conspicuous.
our-/ur-. Attested as the second component of the word
tomaruri (tomarouroi) ‘guardians of Tomarus’. Strabo informs
us that Dodona priests were known as tomaruri or short tomuri
(τομοῦροι), after the mountain’s name Tmarus/Tomarus294. He
translated the Epirote word tomaruroi into Greek
tomarophylakes (τομαροφύλακας), a compound ancient Greek
noun, where the second component phylakes (φύλακες) is the
plural of phylakos (φύλακος) ‘guard’. The second component -
our(ur) of the word tomaruri (tomarouroi) seems to be
preserved in the Albanian noun ro-je ‘guardian’ and verb ru-aj
derived from a reconstructed Proto-Albanian*uronio ‘I guard,
watch’295. There is obviously no genetic relation between the
292
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Albanesische Studien. p. 241-242: “Πηλαγόνες
γέροντες (singular γέρων) παλαιοὶ, γηγενεῖς. Πελιγάνες οί βουλευταὶ.
Πελείους Κῶοι καὶ υἱ Ήπειρῶται τοὺς γέροντας καὶ τὰς πρεσβύτιδας.
Πελητὺς, γέρων”.
293
Blažek, V. (2005). Paleobalkanian Languages: Hellenic languages.
Sborník Prací Filozofické Fakulty Brnĕnské Univerzity. 10, 15-33.
294
295
Çabej, E. (2002). S. Etimologjike VI, pp. 303-304.
Epirote word our-oi (was read ury: in Greek Koine of Strabo’s

time) and the Greek name phylakes ‘guards’.
None of the ancient Greek verbs for to guard or closely related
words, such as ἐπῐμελητής ‘curator’, κηδεμών ‘custodian’,
ἐπιστᾰτης ‘warden, custodian’, ἐπίσκοπος, ‘overseer’, σκοπός
‘watcher, guardian’, Φῠλαξ ‘guard’, φύλαξις ‘guarding’ can be
related to the Epirote root *-ur- for guard.
The root of the Proto-Albanian *uro is preserved in Albanian
noun roje ‘guard’ and the dhe verb ruaj (< ruanj < *roniō <
*ṷroniō < *ṷrāniō ‘guard’ and the verbs ve-roe/ve-rej ‘watch,
look after, observe’). The loss of the initial u-.occurred
conform the rule of the loss of the unstressed wovels in
Albanian296. Barić related the Albanian word to the Latin
vereor ‘to have respect for, to be afraid of’ and Old High
German biwarōn ‘guard against, be wary’297.
In Homer’s Ilias is found the noun οὖρος: “only Nestor of
Gerenia abode, the warder of the Achaeans”298, which the
ancient Greek authors used to translate into Greek φύλακος
(gen. φύλαξ) ‘guard’. The recent translation into “the one who
drives” or ‘driver’ (of animals or a column of prisoners) fits
for Nestor, who encourages Achaians to enter the battle. While
this translation makes sense in Ilias, it doesn’t in Odyssey: “οὐ
γὰρ ὄπισθεν οὖρον ἰὼν κατέλειπον ἐπὶ κτεάτεσσιν ἐμοῖσιν:”
(for when I departed I left behind me no one to watch over my
possessions)299. There is a clear discrepancy between the two
interpretations of the word οὖρος and the fact that ancient
Greeks had “to translate” it indicates that it has been a foreign
296
Çabej, E. (2012). Fonetikë Historike e Shqipes. Çabej, Tiranë. p. 34.
297
298
Homer Ilias VIII, 80: ”Νέστωρ οἶος ἔμιμνε Γερήνιος οὖρος Ἀχαιῶν”.
299
Homer Odyssey XV, 48.
word, which existed in the language spoken by Epirotes, but

not in Greek.
It is likely that in the Albanian noun ro-je ‘guardian’ and verb
ru-aj < (*uronio) ‘guard, watch’ is preserved the root of the
Epirote word. The root of the Albanian noun is *uro (Barić,
Çabej), which is preserved in Albanian roje ‘guard’ and ve-
roe/ve-rej ‘watch, look after, observe’300.
Achilles. The name of the Trojan War hero has not been
explained convincingly. A hypothesis posits that it may be
derived from the Greek word achos (αχος) ‘pain’. A more
convincing explanation of the origin of the name provides
Julius Pokorny, who believes that the name Achilles Achilleus
(Αχιλλευς) may be derived from Illyrian:
“Probably illyr. *āk̂ú-pedios, *āk̂ú-(pe)-lios > Achilles `swift
footed'….Illyrian Albanian frequently abbreviated long IE root
words. Hence the abbreviation of proto gr. *āk̂ú-(pe)-lios >
Achilles `swift footed' could have taken place only in Illyrian.
The shift -d- > -l- is characteristic of Italic Illyrian. That means
Greeks translated the Illyrian myth and the name of Achilles
`swift footed'. Clearly Greeks translated wrongly the
compound as Root/lemma: ōk̂ú-s meaning: quick +
Root/lemma: pē̆d-2, pō̆d- : `foot'. While the true meaning was
the compound of Root/lemma: ak̂-, ok̂- (*hekʷ-) meaning:
`sharp; stone, edge, painful' + Root/lemma: pē̆d-2, pō̆d- : `foot'.
Hence the name of Achilles meant actually painful foot since
his foot was vulnerable to a mortal wound”301.
300
301
2. Epirote-Macedonian lexical correspondences
According to Starbo, Epirotes were ethnically related to

Macedonians and he hinted at some linguistic affinities
between the language(s) spoken by Epirotes and Macedonians.
In his Geography we read: “But some go so far as to call the
whole of the country Macedonia, as far as Corcyra, at the same
time stating as their reason that in tonsure, language, short
cloak, and other things of the kind, the usages of the
inhabitants are similar, although, they add, some speak both
languages.”302.
Indeed, besides the Illyrian, Macedonian is the only ancient
Balkan language in which are observed confirmed lexical
correspondences. For example, Epirotic vatara (βατάρα)
“bathing tub” corresponds to the Macedonian vatara (βατάρα)
“vapour bath”, which may be preserved in Albanian vatha
‘sheep pen’.
As shown earlier, the Epirote word dramis (δράμιξ) ‘bread’
has its identical correspondent inMacedonian dramis (δράμις)
‘a kind of a loaf’ and seems to be inherited in Albanian word
dromcë ‘crumb’, derived from the Proto-Indo-European root
*dhreu ‘to crush, grind’303. Both Epirote and Macedonian have
the same words pelios (πέλιος) “old man” and pelia (πελία)
302
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 8. “ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ σύμπασαν τὴν μέχρι
Κορκύρας Μακεδονίαν προσαγορεύουσιν, αἰτιολογοῦντες ἅμα ὅτι καὶ
κουρᾷ καὶ διαλέκτῳ καὶ χλαμύδι καὶ ἄλλοις τοιούτοις χρῶνται
παραπλησίως: ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ δίγλωττοί εἰσι. καταλυθείσης δὲ τῆς
Μακεδόνων ἀρχῆς ὑπὸ”.
303
“old woman”304, which obviously are related to the Proto-

Abanian/Illyrian *p(e)lak ‘old man’305
3. Onomastic evidence of the Epirote-Illyrian-

Albanian relationships
Almost consensually, the students of the Messapian history,
archaeology, mythology and especially linguistics, admit that
Messapian tribes are descendants of Illyrian tribes that crossed
the sea to settle in South and Central Italy by the beginning of
the 1st millenium BC, i.e. about 3 thousand years ago, from the
east coast of Balkan peninsula [with the north-Illyrian tribe of
Iapodes (Ιάποδες), the ancestors of the Messapian Yapiges
(Ἰάπυγες), probably migrating from the north of the Apennine
peninsula].
From ancient sources and from more than 2 hundred
Messapian inscriptions, found mainly during the 19th century
in Apulia, now we know a small number of Messapian words,
which have been mostly explained by Albanian.
Of all the ancient languages of the region, including the Greek
and Latin, only Albanian has been demonstrated to be closely
related to Messapian. Therefore, towards the end of the 19th
century the German linguist Paul Kretschmer would point out:
“So far there is no difficulty; everything indicates that
Albanian, Illyrian and Messapian are very closely related
together”306.
304
Blažek, V. (2005). Op. cit.
305
Orel, V. (1998).Op. cit.
306
Kretschmer, P. (1896). Einleitung…Op. cit., p. 266: “Bis hierher hat
sich uns keine ernstliche Schwierigkeit ergeben: alles wiest darauf hin
das Albanesisch, Illyrisch, Messapisch aufs engste
zusammengehören.”
Of special interest for our purpose are a considerable number

of surprizing concordances existing between Illyrian, Epirote
and/or Messapian tribe names, place (town and river) names
and names personal.
a. Double and triple Epirote-Illyrian-Messapian

correspondences in tribe names
Unnoticed or neglected evidence relevant to the ethnic identity

of ancient Epirotes is the significant number of Epirote tribe
names that appear in the same/similar forms Illyria proper
and/or Messpia.
As pointed out earlier, historical-mythological, archaeological,
and linguistic evidence, as well as the ancient oral tradition,
suggests that Messapian tribes sailed from the eastern coasts of
the Ionian and Adriatic seas to settle in south Italy around the
11th century BC. In view of the fact that linguists and
historians almost consensually, consider the Messapian to be
an Illyrian dialect, it could be predicted that linguistic
similarities must also exist in tribe names of Epirus, Illyria and
Messapia. Indeed, in ancient sources, names of several ancient
Epirote tribes appear in almost the same form as in various
regions south and north Illyria. Even a glimpse at the list of
tribe names of these ancient countries reveals astounding
similarities, leading to a considerable number of double and/or
triple Epirote-Illyrian-Messapian correspondences, not shaerd
with other ancient peoples of Balkans. Being Messapian an
Illyrian language/dialect, the onomastic Epirote-Messapian
concordances represent a strong argument in favor of the view
of the Illyrian affiliation of Epirote language.
What follows is a list of some tribe names common for Illyria,
Epirus and/or Messapia.
Amantiani – According to Julius Caesar, this tribe is neighbor

of the Ilyrian tribe of Bullini in south Illyria: “Bullidenses,
Amantiani, with the rest of the neighbouring countries, and all
Epirus” 307. Amantiani and Amantini (Ἄμαντες) in north Illyria
(Pannonia) correspond to Amyntes (Άμύνται), a subtribe of the
Thesprotians, in Epirus.
Atintanians/Atintanes (Ἀτιντάνες) is an Illyrian tribe dwelling
east of Epidamnus308 309. The same name bears the Epirote
tribe of Atintanes inhabiting the lower-middle valley of Vjosa
and Drino river valley (Gjirokastër)310. Neighbors of the
Epirote Atintanians were Paraueans in the east, Chaonians in
the west and in the north they bordered Bullines311. Aristoteles
also reports a place named Atitania in south Illyria: “They say
also that at Atitania, near the borders of the district of
Apollonia, there is a certain rock, and fire rising from it is not
visible, but whenever oil is poured thereon blazes up”312.
Another relevant Illyrian place name is Attienites (now Senia)
in Dalmatia313. In South Italy (Apulia) the same word atitaian
is found as a family name in Messapian inscriptions.
307
C. J. Caesar, De Bello Civili III,12: “hos sequuntur Byllidenses Amantini
Amantini et reliquae finitimae civitates totaque Epirus”.
308
Polyaenus Stratagem IV, 11, 4.
309
Appian Illyrian Wars III, 2.
310
Kiepert, H. (1881). A Manual of Ancient Geography. Macmillan and Co,
London, p. 176.
311
Müller, K.O. (1839). The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race. I. J.
Murray, London, p. 457.
312
Aristotelous peri thaumasion akousmaton: Liber de mirabilibus
auscultationibus. Vandenhoek, 1786, Ch. XXXVI, p. 76: “Aiunt, circa
Atitaniam, juxta colles Apolloniatidis, petram esse, in qua latens ignis
non appareat quidem, sed superinfuso oleo exardeseat”.
313
Skylax, Hecataei Milesii Fragmenta – Scylacis Cariandensis Periplus
(1831), Ed. R.H. Clausen. Reimer, Berlin, p. 172.
Athamanes (Ἀθαμάνες) are an Illyrian tribe has not been

localized yet. It is believed that they might have inhabited a
southeast region of Illyria, bordering Macedoanian tribes. A.
Evans mentions them in the following context: “An
Amynandros is mentioned in 198 p.e.s., as a prince of the
Athamanes, an Illyrian tribe”314. K. O. Müller also calls them
Illyrians 315. The same name Athamanes bore a Molossian
subtribe316, living in the south-eastern region of Epirus.
Autariates are known to be an Illyrian tribe317 inhabiting north
of the tribe of Ardiaei and west of Dardanians, in the region of
modern Bosnia.318. According to Strabo: “The Autariatæ were
the most populous and the bravest tribe of the Illyrians”319. In
south-east, far from the great north-Illyrian tribe of Autariatae,
was another tribe named Autariati (Αὐταριᾶται), which Arrian
says that has been almost neglected by Alexander the Great,
who characterized them as “the least warlike of the tribes of
that district”320. In Epirus, the same name, Autariates
(Αὐταριᾶται), bears a subtribe of Thesprotians321
Boioi - a north Illyrian tribe that later was probably celticized,
while in the rugged north-eastern region of Epirus resided the
tribe of Boioti. Both tribe names are related to the Albanian
314
Evans, A. (2006, reprint). Ancient Illyria: An Archeological Exploration.
I.B. Tauris, p. 292.
315
Müller, K.O. The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race I. J. Murray,
London, 1839, p. 49. According to Orchomenos, p. 253.
316
317
Strabo Geography VII, 5, 6; VII, 5,7; VII,5, 11.
318
Merleker, K.F. (1852). Op cit.: “Αὐταριᾶται ἔϑνος Θεσπρωτικόν. Χάραξ
ἐν ζ Χρονικῶ καὶ Φαβωρῖνος ἐν Παντοδαπαῖς καὶ Έρατοσϑένης”.
319
Strabo Geography VII, 5, 12: “Αὐταριᾶται μὲν οὖν τὸ μέγιστον ἄριστον
τῶν Ἰλλυριῶν μὲν ὑπῆρξεν”.
320
The Anabasis of Alexander. Hodder and Stoughton, London, p. 19.
321
Stephani Byzantii. Op. cit.
verb bie ‘strike, hit’, derived from PIE *bhoio ‘strike, beat’.
The Albanian word has cognates in Old High German berjan
‘strike, hit’, Old Nordic berja, Latin ferio ‘hit, shoot’ and Old
Church Slavic borjo ‘fight’322. Thus, the meaning of the tribe
name may be “warriors”. The ancient Epirote tribe name Boi-
oti may be inherited in a mediaeval Albanian tribe in Epirus,
which is also traced in the middle name of the Albanian ruler
of the Despotate of Epirus in the 14th century, Gjon Bua Spata
(the change o > ua/ue is common in Albanian). Later in the
14th century it appears in Albanian migrants in Peloponnesus
in the name of the clan Bua (Boua), consisting of four katunds
(katouns)323.
Buthrotoi324 is the name of the Epirote tribe inhabiting the
region of Buthrotos. It matches the name of the Butrorus river
in Calabria (Bruttium), South Italy325, inhabited by Illyrian-
Messapian tribes.
322
Meyer, G. (1891). Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanischen Sprache
I. Trübner, Strassburg, p. 35.
323
Osswald, B. (2007). Op cit., p. 136.
324
Guilielmi Bellendeni.(1633). De Tribus luminibus Romanorum
[Cicerone, Seneca, Plinio natu majore], libri sex-decim. Apud
Tussanum du Bray, Parisis, p. 719.
325
Fligier, Dr. (1881). Die Urzeit von Hellas und Italien… p. 467.
326
327
328
Pliny the Elder The Natural History II, 26.
329
The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 10: The Augustan Empire, 43 BC-
AD . Ed. A. Bowman, E. Champlin and A. Lintott, 1996, p. 578.
Calabri (Καλαβροι) is a Messapian tribe in Apulia326. The

name of Calabri is identical with the name of the Illyrian tribe
Galabri (Γαλάβριοι)327, residing in the antiquity in eastern
Dardania.
Ceraunii (Κεραύνιοι) is an Illyrian subtribe328 of the Illyrian
tribe of Pirusts (Pirustae), believed to have inhabited the
territory of modern Montenegro329. The same root we find in
the mountain range Ceraunia (Κεραύνια) in north-western
Epirus (now Labëria region, south Albania), as well as in the
last name of the pretender of the Macedonian throne, Ptolemy
Keraunos, in the third century.
Chaonians (Χάονες) - one of the three major tribes of ancient
Epirus, along Molossians and Thesprotians, populating a vast
region between the Aoos (Vjosa) river east, Ionian sea west,
gulf of Aulon north and Bouthrotos south. The same name,
Chauni (Χαῦνοι)330 331, bears a Thesprotian subtribe in Epirus
and Choni (Χῶνας), a subtribe of Illyro-Messapian Oenotrians
in Calabria, South Italy. According to the Danish historian B.
G. Niebuhr (1776-1831), Epirotes and Oenotrier of south Italy
belonged to the same nation332.
330
331
Niebuhr, B.G. (1828). Römische Geschichte. Dritte Aufl., Reimer,
Berlin, pp. 64-66.
332
Niebuhr, B.G. (1828). Op. cit. p. 65: “Dass Epiroten und Oenotreer zu
einer nation gehörten, dafür finden sich in den geographischen Namen
noch andre Anzeigen, und sichere als diese Argumente gewöhnlich
gewähren”.
Dassareti/Dassaretae appears in Roman sources as a south-

Illyrian tribe bordering Macedonia. The tribe is mentioned by
Pliny the Elder: “Epirus, properly so called, advances towards
Magnesia and Macedonia, having at its back the Dassaretæ”333
and by Titus Livius: “came the news from Macedonia that one
Aëropus by bribing the commander of the citadel and garrison
had captured Lychnidus, was holding some villages of the
Dassaretii and also stirring up the Dardani”334. Stephanus of
Byzantium, based on Polybius, also defines them as an Illyrian
tribe335. In Epirus this corresponds to the name of the tribe of
Dexaroi (Δέξαροι), a Chaonian subtribe. Based on Hecataeus,
Stephan of Byzantium locates the tribe at the foot of the Mount
Amyron336, which is tentatively identified with Mount
Nemërçka in South Albania337.
333
Pliny the Elder The Natural History IV. 2: “epiros ipsa, ad magnesiam
macedoniamque tendens, a tergo suo dassaretas supra dictos”.
334
Titus Livius The History of Rome XXVII, 32, 9: “nuntius ex Macedonia
venit Aeropum quendam corrupto arcis praesidiique praefecto
praefecto Lychnidum cepisse, tenere et Dassaretiorum quosdam vicos
et Dardanos etiam concire”.
335
Stephani Byzantii. Op. cit.: “Δασσαρηται, ἔϑνος Ἰλλυρίας, Πολύβιος
ὀγδόῳ. καὶ τὸ ϑηλυκὸν Δασσαρητις. λέγονται καὶ Δασσαρηνοί καὶ
Δασσαρήτιοι καὶ Δασσαρητινος”.
336
Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt I, Red A. Meineke,
Reimer, Berlin, 1849: “Δέξαροι, ἔϑνος Χαόνων, τοῖς Έγχελέαις
προσεχεῖς, Έκαταῖος Εὐρώπῃ. ὑπὸ ᾌμυρον ὄρος οἰκοῦν”. The fact that
Stephan calls them neighbors of Encheleii confused Hammond
(apparently being not aware that there was another Epirote tribe with
the same name Encheleii), and after him Wilkes, who attempted to
identify the Epirote Dexaroi with the Illyrian tribe of Dassaretae. His
flawed inference comes against all the known ancient and modern
historians that have considered Dassaretae to be an Illyrian tribe.
337
Dolopes The name of this Epirote tribe and Dolopia, the

region inhabited by them, has been related to the Albanian
word lopë ‘cow’ and Illyrian-Epirote *do ‘earth’ (Albanian
dhe), hence ‘country of cows’. Jokl reconstructed an Illyrian
*dhō derived from an earlier PIE *ĝhdōm *dhom338. The same
word, lopë, is found in the northern Illyrian tribe of Lopsi.
Encheleii (Ἐγχέλειοι) was one of the greatest Illyrian tribes
situated around the Lychnitis (Λυχνἵτις) Lake, bordering
Dassaretes, with its northern borders still undetermined. The
tribe is believed to have been in possession of the silver mines
in Damastion339. A subtribe of Chaonians in Epirus bears the
same name Encheleii340.
Genoeres (Γενοαῖο) was a Molossian subtribe, whose name
seem to be related to the PIE *ĝenu- ‘knee’, which expresses
the rugged nature of the region, where the tribe was located.
The same root *ĝenu- we find in the name of a place, Genusia,
in Messapia and in the name of the river Genusus in South
Illyria (now Shkumbin in central Albania).
Hellopes. Stier related the name of this tribe with the Albanian
word lopë ‘cow’341 and he mentions a place name Lopës in
Çamëria (Greece), to which can be added Lopës, a village in
Tepelenë district, South Albania. The second component of the
tribe name (lop) we encounter in the north-Illyrian tribe, Lopsi.
Hylleis is an Illyrian tribe located in the region of Dalmatia,
but in ancient Epirus also was a homonymous tribe, Hylleis.
As for the location of the tribe of Hylleis in Epirus, Propertius’
338
Çabej, E. (1996). S. Etimologjike IV, p. 17.
339
340
Merleker, K.F.(1852). Historisch-geographische Darstellung des
Landes und der Bewohner von Epeiros. Jahresbericht, p.14.
341
Stier, G. (1862). Die albanesischen Tiernamen. Zeitschrift für
vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete des deutschen,
griechischen und lateinischen, vol. 11, p. 206.
recount implies that Hyllei resided around Ceraunian range and

Oricum:
“May you sail past Ceraunia easily
And reach Oricos on placid seas.
No woman will be able to corrupt me.
Indeed, love, on your doorstep
I will mourn your absence.
I'll grab the sailors, saying, “Tell me,
In which port is my girl detained?”
And I'll say, “Whether she camps on Atrax' shores
Or with the Hyllei, she is my future.” 342
Iapodes (Ίάποδες), neighbors of Liburnians in northern Illyria,

have their counterpart Iapiges (Ίάπυγες) in Messapia343. Based
on Hecataeus, Stephanus of Byzantium reports that there are
two cities named Iapygia: “Iapygia, two cities, one in Italy and
the other in Illyria, according to Hecataeus. The tribe is known
as Iapyge and Iapyger and the feminine is Iapygia”344. The one
in Italy is likely to be located in the Messapian inhabited
Apulia. However, none of the cities has been identified and
localized with certainty.
342
Sextus Propertius, Elegies, I, 8a, To Cynthia. Ed. L. Mueller. Teubner,
Leipzig, 1898 : “ut te felici post victa Ceraunia remo accipiat placidis
Oricos aequoribus. nam me non ullae poterunt corrumpere, de te quin
ego, vita, tuo limine verba querar; nec me deficiet nautas rogitare
citatos 'dicite, quo portu clausa puella meast?', et dicam 'licet Artaciis
considat in oris, et licet Hylaeis, illa futura meast”.
343
Kretschmer, P. (1896). Op. cit., p. 260.
344
Stephani Byzantii. Op. cit.: “Ἰαπυγία, δύο πόλεις, μία ἐν τᾔ Ἰταλία καὶ
ἑτέρα ἐν τἥ Ἰλλυρίδι, ὡς Ἑκαταἵος. τὸ ἐϑνικὸν Ἰᾄπυξ καὶ Ἰαπύγιος καὶ
Ἰαπυγία”.
Lopsi is the name of an Illyrian tribe in Liburnia, with Lopsica

as their capital city345. In Epirus it is matched by the names of
Epirote tribes Dolopes and Hellopes.
Messapii. The name of this tribe is used as a common name
for all the Illyrian tribes believed to have immigrated in South
Italy by the turn of the second millennium BC. According to
Pokorny346, it is a compound word consisting of two PIE roots:
*medhyo- ‘middle’ and *apia ‘water’, meaning “amid waters”,
what semantically seems correct, in view of the geographic
position of the land of Messapii, lying between the Adriatic
and Ionian seas. The evolution of the PIE *akwa into apa-
involved the kw>p change. This change is known to occur in
Illyrian, but not in Greek347 or Latin. This is another argument
that Messapians spoke Illyrian.The same root, Messap, is
preserved in the place name, Mesaplik, in South Albania (ex-
Roman province of Epirus vetus). It is noteworthy that the
place is “amid waters”, two small rivers348.
Pleraei (Πληραῖοι; Plēraîoi) were an Illyrian tribe in
Dalmatia349, residing from the left bank of the mouth of the
river Narenta/Naron (Naro), now Neretva in Herzegovina, and
the island of Black Kerkyra (Melaina Korkyra), to Rizon
(Risinium), south of the tribe of Daorsi and north of Ardiaei.
The name is similar to the name of the Thesprotian subtribe of
345
346
347
Kretschmer, P. (1896). Op. cit., p. 248. Kretschmer argued that in the
case of the Greek word ἵππος ‘horse’, the change of the PIE -kw- into -
ππ- could not happen in Greek, hence: “Gr. ἳππος, ἲκκος is a loanword
from the Paeonian or a closely related dialect, in which the word
sounded *ἲκπος and represented the regular continuation of *ekvos.”.
Let’s remember that Kretschmer considered Paeonians to be Illyrians.
348
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi Iliro-shqiptare ...., p. 112-114.
349
Strabo, Geography VII, 5, 7 and VII, 5, 8.
Plaraei (Πλαραῖοι). Acording to Stephanus of Byzantium

“Plaraei, ethnos in Epirus, are also called plarioi”350 351.
Perrhaebi According to the Appian’s myth on the origin of the
Illyrian tribes, the tribe of Perrhaebi descended from
Perrhaebus, one of the six sons of Illyrius352. The name
corresponds to that of the tribe of Perrhæbi353 in the south-
eastern part of Epirus.
Pelagones. This is the name of a tribe that in some ancient
sources is defined as Epirote354. An Illyrian tribe in the north-
Adriatic coast, neighbors of Liburnians, bore the same name,
Pelagones. Even if the Epirote ethnicity of Pelagones is
doubtful and it belongs to Macedonia355, Norbert Jokl believed
that ancient Pelagonia had a mixed Macedonian-Illyrian
population356.
Penestae of Thessaly are defined as Epirotes by Appian, but
Livius writes about an Illyrian tribe of Penestae357 358.
Peuceti (Πευκέτιοι) were a Messapian tribe in Apulia359. They
were of Illyrian origin360 and, according to Niebuhr, may have
350
Stephani Byzantii. Op. cit.: “Πλαραῖοι, ἔϑνος Ἠπείρου. λέγένται δὲ καὶ
Πλάριοι”.
351
Merleker, K.F. (1841). Op. cit., p. 14.
352
Appian History of Rome. Illyrian Wars III, 1, 2: “ὅθεν εἰσὶ Ταυλάντιοί
τε καὶ Περραιβοὶ καὶ Ἐγχέλεες καὶ Αὐταριεῖς καὶ καὶ Δάρδανοι καὶ
Παρθηνοὶ καὶ Δασσαρήτιοι καὶ Δάρσιοι”.
353
Merleker, K.F. (1841). Op. cit. p.
354
355
Livius The History of Rome XLV.
356
Jokl, N. Die Sprache der Albaner. Eberts Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte
I, Berlin, f. 84-94.
357
Livius Op. cit., XLIII, 19 and 20.
358
Thunmann, J. (1774). Untersuchungen …Op. cit., p. 251.
359
360
Scullard, H.H. (2012). A History of the Roman World: 753 to 146 BC,
Routledge, f. 15-16.
been a colony of Liburnians361 in south Italy. The name is

similar to that of the Epirote tribe Peukestes (Πευκέστας), in
the territory of Chaonians362.
The number of the Epirote tribe names that appear in the
same/similar form in Illyria, Epirus and Messapia is such that
cannot be accidental, while such similarities are not observed
with the names of the ancient Greek or Thracian tribes.
As corroboration of the view that these concordances are not
accidental, or irrelevant lexical coincidences, below I present a
randomly created list of ancient tribe names of the continental
Greece:
Acamantis (Ἀκαμαντίς).
Achaeans/Achaioi (Ἀχαιοί,).
Aegialians (Αιγιάλεια).
Agraioi (Άγραῖοι).
Ambraciotes/Ambracians (Ἀμβρακιώτης).
Antiochis (Ἀντιοχίς).
Apodotoi (Ἀποδωτοί)
Argives/Argeioi (inhabitants of Argolis) (Ἀργεῖοι ).
Boeotians (Βωιωτοι)
Bottiaeans (Βοττιαῖοι).
Cadmeans (Καδμεΐως).
Caucones (Καύκωνες).
Corinthians (Κορίνθιος).
Curetes (Κουρῆτες).
Cynurians (ἡ Κυνουρία).
Dymanes (Δυμᾶνες).
Erechtheis(Ἐρεχθηΐς),
361
Niebuhr, B.G. (1828). Römische Geschichte I. 3rd ed. G. Reimer, Berlin,
p. 164-166.
362
Hoffmann, O. (1906). Die Makedonen: ihre Sprache und ihr Volkstum.
Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, f. 178.
Eurytanians (Ευρυτανοι).
Hellenes (Έλληνες)
Hylleis* (Ὑλλῆς).
Lapiths (Λαπίθαι).
Locrians (Λοκροί).
Megareans (Μεγαρεῖς).
Messenians (Μεσσηνίοι).
Minyans (Μινύες).
Pamphylians (Πάμφῡλοι).
Phthia (Φθία).
In the above list there is one ancient Greek tribe, the Dorian
tribe of Hylleis that corresponds to a homonymous tribe in
Epirus363 and another in north Illyria364. According to the
Greek myth, the tribe owes its name to Hylleis (Ὑλλῆς), son of
Heracles and the nymph Melite: “Yet they found not King
Hyllus still alive in the land, whom fair Melite bare to
Heracles”365.
Even this single case may not be relevant since the Dorian
tribe of Hylleis is considered to be of Illyrian origin366 367.
363
Sextus Propertius Elegies, I, 8a, To Cynthia (Ed. L. Mueller. Teubner,
Leipzig, 1898).
364
Ehrenberg, V. (2013). The Greek State. Routledge, Methuen and Co.,
London, p. 12.
365
Apollonius Rhodius Argonautica IV, 537-538:
“οὐ μὲν ἔτι ζώοντα καταυτόθι τέτμον ἄνακτα
Ὕλλον, ὃν εὐειδὴς Μελίτη τέκενἩρακλῆι”.
366
Günther, H.F.K. Lebensgeschichte der Spartaner. Internet:
http://www.thule-seminar.org/herkunft_sparta_guenther.htm
367
Kiechle, F. (1963). Lakonien und Sparta – Untersuchungen zur
ethnischen Struktur und zur politischen Entwicklung Lakoniens und
Spartas bis zum Ende der archäischen Zeit. München, Berlin, p. 116.
Martin Huld and R.S.P. Beekes reconstructed the Proto-

Albanian/Illyrian form of the Illyrian tribe name *huslo >
*huli , which through the regular loss of s- before -l-368 gave
the Albanian hyll/yll ‘star’ and south-Albanian dialectal ill, il
(pl. yje ‘stars’). The Proto-Albanian/Illyrian *huslo derives
from PIE *eusli < *eus ‘burn’369. Cognates are Old Nordic usli
“glowing ash”, Old English ysle, Middle High German. ũsel(e)
and Old Nordic ysja “fire”.
b. Personal names
The use of ancient Greek and Trojan names from The Trojan
War cycle by Epirotes, living “on the flanks of Greeks”370, is
neither unexpected nor unpredictable. Borrowing personal
names from peoples that are culturally more advanced is a
universal phenomenon observed throughout the centuries,
from antiquity to the present-day. Indeed, more curious is the
fact that being under the immediate influence of the most
advanced civilization of the world, both via the direct contact
with the continental Greece and with Greek colonies in the
368
Çabej, E. (2012). Fonetikë historike e gjuhës shqipe. Çabej, Tiranë, p.
91.
369
Pokorny, J. (1959). Op. cit. 371 Orel, V. Op. cit.
370
coast, Epirotes, even during the Hellenistic Age and beyond,

continued to use their native personal names.
Strabo is the first ancient author to point out the non-Greek
nature of some personal names of Epirotes and other northern
neighbors of ancient Greeks, Illyrians and Thracians, and
interpret it as an indication of their barbarianness: “Moreover,
the barbarian origin of some is indicated by their names—
Cecrops, Godrus, Aïclus, Cothus, Drymas, and Crinacus”371.
Noteworthy is the discovery of Illyrian personal names in
ancient inscriptions not only in Epirus nova but in Epirus vetus
as well, including Greek colonies such as Apollonia (Nikaia,
Agron, Plator, Tritos, Getos, etc.)372. Among the typical
Illyrian names found in inscriptions in Epirus vetus, including
Greek colonies of the Epirote coast are Genthius, Dazus,
Epicadus, and Plator. To this category belong, according to E.
Lhȏte, the personal names Mregas (Μρεγας), Medios (Μεδιος)
and Modikkas (Μοδίκας), found in Dodona. Some of these
personal names in Epirus appear in a slightly grecized form:
Mregas (Μρεγας) derived from Illyrian Mrogos (Μρογος),
whereas Gontha (Γονθα) and Gentheas (Γενθεας) from Illyrian
Genthios (Γενθιος)373. To the above may be added names of
the Molossian kings Tharyps and Arybbas.
From the Illyrian names attested in Epirus, the name
Genthios>Gontha may be inherited in Albanian in the personal
name Goxho. Some of the above ancient personal names may
have been preserved mainly as patronymics in South Albania
371
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 1: “καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀνομάτων δὲ ἐνίων τὸ
βάρβαρον ἐμφαίνεται, Κέκροψ καὶ Κόδρος καὶ Ἄικλος καὶ Κόθος καὶ
Δρύμας καὶ Κρίνακος”.
372
Franke, P.R. (1983). Albanien im Altertum. Antike Welt. 14, 11-64.
373
Spahiu, A. (2010). Gjuha e Epirotëve të Vjetër. Botimet Princi, Tiranë,
pp.132-133.
(mainly in the territories of ancient Chaonia): Godrus - Godo

(personal name and patronymic) and, Drimas – Dhrim(o), a
name that also appears in 1305 as patronymic of a famous
Albanian priest of Epirus, Joan Drim who, according to
George Pachymeres, was involved in a conspiracy against the
emperor Andronicus II, and later as patronymic of two
Albanian stratiots, Rali and Andrea Drimi374. As a patronymic,
Dhrimo is still preserved in south Albania (ex-Roman province
of Epirus vetus).
The root pyr is found in the name of the south-Illyrian tribe
Pyraei, mentioned by Pliny the Elder, along the Taulanti, as
belonging to the Illyrii proprie dicti375 and Fligier says that
names Pyrros (Πύρρος), Pyrra (Πύρρα) and Pyrras (Πύρρας)
appear very often in Epirus: “The red headed Thracian sclaves
often were called Pyrrias (Πυρρίας), i. e. redhead or blond”376.
“Pyrias was the epithet for slaves, especially rude blonde
Thracian slaves”377. The root Pyr- in the name of the king
Pyrrhus of Epirus may be related to both the PIE *paəwr-
‘fire’ (hence the Greek pyr, Umbrian pir, Hittite pahhur ‘fire’
and German Feuer ‘fire’, etc.) and the PIE root *preus- ‘to
burn’378, from which derives Albanian prush (< *prus)
374
Xhufi, P. (2009). Nga Paleologët te Muzakajt: Berati dhe Vlora në shek.
XII-XV. “55”, Tiranë, pp. 98-99.
375
Pliny the Elder Naturalis historiae III, 144: “proprieque dicti Illyri et
Taulanti et Pyraei retinent nomen. in ora Nymphaeum promunturium”.
376
Fligier, Dr. (1881). Die Urzeit von Hellas und Italien: Ethnologische
Studien. In Archiv für Anthropologie, vol. 13. Deutsche Gesellschaft
für Anthropologie pp. 433-482 (442): “Die rothköpfigen thrakischen
Sclaven führten sehr oft den Namen Πυρρίας, d.h. Rothkopf oder
Blondkopf”.
377
Pott, A.F. (1857). Etymologische spähne. KZ VI, 95-142, (120-121]:
“Πυῤῥίας heissen oft sklaven, vorzugsweise die rothköpfigen,
verschmizten aus Thrakien”.
378
‘burning coal’379 380. Linguistically both explanations are

plausible, but the predominance of the name Pyrrha in Epirus,
the repeated assurances from ancient Greek authors that
Epirotes were a non-Greek barbarian people and the arguments
presented so far on the Illyrian affiliation of the language
Epirotes spoke, may swing the balance in favor of the second
explanation.
From Thucydides we learn that both the leader of the
Molossian and Atintanian troops, as well as the leader of the
Parauean force that participated in the Peloponnesian war had
Epirote names381: “Some Molossians and Atintanians led by
Sabylinthus, the guardian of king Tharyps who was still a
minor, and some Parauaeans, under their King Oroedus,
accompanied by a thousand Orestians”382. This fact has been
noticed and underlined by historians: “Only two of
Thucydides’ northern chieftains have Greek names and many
Epirote tribes did not speak Greek”383 384. The Epirote names
of these military leaders of Molossians, Atintanians and
Paraueans clearly point to their different, non-Greek ethnic
identity.
Needless to say, the presence of Illyrian personal names in the
Greek colonies of Epirus corroborates the idea that the
population even in the coastal Greek colonies was ethnically
379
380
Demiraj, B. (1999-2000). Op. cit.
381
Thucydides The Peleponnesian War II, 80, 6.
382
Thucydides The History of the Peloponnesian War II, 80, 6:
“Μολοσσοὺς δὲ ἦγε καὶ Ἀτιντᾶνας Σαβύλινθος ἐπίτροπος ὢν Θάρυπος
τοῦ βασιλέως ἔτι παιδὸς ὄντος, καὶ Παραυαίους Ὄροιδος βασιλεύων.
Ὀρέσται δὲ χίλιοι”.
383
384
Grant, M. (1988). Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean, vol. 1
Scribner’s.
mixed Greek and Epirote. Given the cultural superiority of the

ancient Greeks, the presence of Illyrian names in Epirus and
even in Greek colonies of Epirus, cannot be explained by any
Illyrian cultural influence. It points to the Illyrian identity of
Epirotes.
Besides the differences in personal names, Kretschmer also
observed that the suffixes of ethnic names of several Epirote
tribes sound non-Greek: “Ethnica formed with the suffix -to-
are generally unknown (unfamiliar) for the Greek language:
Thesprotes, Apodotes, Boiotes (from Boion oros), Kladiates,
Doesstes as well as Crithote (compare Messapian Crithonas
and Creithonios in Grumentum), Buthrotum (compare Illyrian
Pleuratos and Audata)”385. To the same group belong also
Illyrian tribe names Siculotae, Autariatae, Dalmatae, Bathiatae,
Oseriates, Sardeates, Labeates, Andizetes, Dassaretes, and
Dentheletae.
This suffix is preserved in modern Albanian where it is used in
formation of more than forty place (village) names, from
personal or tribe names, especially in South Albanian regions
of Labëria and Çamëria.
5. Epirote place names are explained by Albanian

and evolved according to phonetic rules of
Albanian
In my review of the Epirote place names I will mainly rely on
Paul Kretschmer’s research on ancient Greek place names,
especially in his Einleitung in die Geschichte der griechischen
Sprache, which still constitutes the fundament of the
historical-linguistic research of the area386. What follows is a

list of the ancient Epirote toponyms whose evolution to the
present forms can be explained with the phonetic rules of
Albanian or are related to Illyrian or Messapian place names.
Acheron is the name of a river and a lake in Epirus. The name
corresponds to that of the river Acheron and the city
Acherontia in the Messapian-inhabited Apulia, South Italy387.
It also corresponds to the name of the Illyrian tribe of Osser-
iates, in Pannonia, whose name suggests the satem character of
the Illyrian language. The root of the above place names
derives from the PIE *eĝhero-‘internal sea’.
Aous (Ἄωος) now Vjosa as well as Vovousa (Βοβούσα) –river
in Southern Albania. The river originates in the Pindus range
in the territory of the modern Greece and flows through South
Albania to empty into the Adriatic sea. In ancient Greek
sources it appears as Ἀώῳ (genitiv)388 389, Ἄωος390 and in the
Latin sources - Aous391. According to Pokorny, the prothetic v-
added to bare initial vowels is an Albanian-Illyrian phonetic
mutation392, hence V in the Albanian Vjosë developed
according to the laws of Albanian historical phonetics, clearly
excluding any Slavic (suggested by some because of the
existence of the form Vojusa in mediaeval sources) or Greek
386
Bengtson, H. (1977). Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in
die römische Kaiserzeit vol.3-4 of Handbuch der
Altertumswissenschaft. C.H. Beck, München, p. 24.
387
Fligier, Dr. (1881). Die Urzeit von Hellas und Italien… Op. cit. p. 467.
388
Pausanias Description of Greece IV, 34.
389
Polybius Histories V, 110.
390
Strabo Geography VII, 5.
391
Titus Livius The History of Rome XXIV, 40.
392
Pokorny, J (1959). Op. cit.
mediation as argued by Demiraj393. The same addition of an

initaial v- occurred in the Latin loanwords of Albanian, such as
vepër from the Latin opera ose varfër/vorfën from the Latin
orphanus < Greek *orphanos (*ὀρφανός).
The initial V- and addition of the sylable -si (-ση in Byzantine
Greek) in the name of the river is attested towards the 11th
century. This is related to the gender change from the
masculine to feminine that is observed in the modern Albanian
name Vjosë. The general evolution of the river name, after the
regular loss of the nominative ending -s and the reduction of
the initial unstressed A-, may be imagined as follows:
*Woo>*Voó > *Vëó > *Vë-j-ó > Vi-j-ó >Vijosë/Vjosë394
Another noteworthy possibility is that an original initial v- in
the name of the river may have been lost in ancient sources
based on the Attic dialect of Greek, where the initial v- before
vowels is lost (e.g. Attic oikos < woikos ‘house’).
Aphas is the name of another river in Epirus that empties in
the Ambracian Gulf. It is mentioned by Pliny395. The name is
compared to the Latin aqua ‘water’, hence it derives from the
PIE *akwa-. The change kw > ph that occurred in the name of
the river is impossible in Greek396, Latin or Slavic, hence the
393
Demiraj, S. (2006). The Origin of the Albanians. Ilar, Tiranë, pp. 153-
159.
394
Demiraj, S. (2006). Ibid. pp. 158-159.
395
C. Plini Naturalis historiae IV, 4: “Molossorum flumina Aphas,
Aratthus”.
396
Sprache. f. 248 “Wir müssen ohne Frage als griechischen Reflex eines
lat. equus, skr. áçvas *ἔκκος erwarten….Ich habe aus diesen Tatsachen
früher geschlossen dass das gr. *ἵππος ἵκκκος Lehnwort aus dem
paionischen oder einem verwandten Dialekt, in welchem das Wort
ἵκπος lautete und die regelrechte Fortsetzung von *ekvos darstellte”.
399
Kretschmer, P. (1896). Ibid.
name evolved according to the phonetic rules of Albanian. The

change also occurred in the place name Apulia, the ‘boot’ of
the Apennine peninsula (see below – Apulia), but also in
Mesaplik, Vlora district, Albania (the territory of the ancient
Epirus vetus) and in the name of the river Apsus (Ἄψος), now
Osum, in the territory of Epirus nova, South Albania. The
change kw > ph is also attested in Illyrian/Messapian, where
the root messap- of the region Messapia itself means ‘between
waters’.
Apulia is the name of “the boot of the Apennine peninsula”
(now Puglia) inhabited by Messapians until the 2nd century
BC. The name is believed to be related to the IE root *aqwa.
As pointed out earlier397, the change qw > p that occurred in
the place name Apulia is not possible in Greek, Latin or any
other language of the ancient Balkans, except for the Albanian
and Illyrian.
Arachthos (Ἂραχθος), now Arta, is the name of one of the
most ancient Illyrian-Epirote cities. It was founded about the
9th century BC. The city lies on the banks of the river
Arachthos. The name may be derived from the PIE *h₂ŕ̥tḱos
‘bear’. In the 7th century BC Greek colonists from Corinth
settled in the city398. In the 10th century the city appears in the
written sources under the name Arta. Kretschmer argued that
the observed kt>t change (Arachthos>Arta) is characteristic
for Illyrian399 and the evolution of Arachthos to Arta, could
398
Hammond, N.G.L. (1996). Ambracia. In Oxford Classical Dictionary
(3rd edition). Oxford University Press, Oxford.
399
Kretschmer, P. (1896). Op. cit. p. 258: “Von den Illyriern rührt
vermutlich auch die Assimilation in dem Flussnamen Arachthos. Denn
dass der Wandel von kt über ht zu tt illyrisch war, dürfen wir
schliessen 1) aus dem Albanesischen: natë, lit. naktis, pesë, skr.
pankti”.
only occur in Albanian (Illyrian), but not Greek or any other

Balkan language.
In favor of Kretschmer’s argumentation also speak other
examples of the preservation of the PIE -kt in Greek words ,
such as árktos (ἄρκτος) ‘bear’ and okto (ὀκτώ) ‘eight’ from the
PIE *oḱtṓw, and the loss of the PIE -kt- in Albanian in the
same words: árktos > arí ‘bear’ and *oḱtṓw > tetë ‘eight’.
Bouneima (Βούνειμα) According to Stephan of Byzantium:
“Bounema is a city in Epirus, belonging to Odyssey, located
near the city of Trampyas”400: For Kretschmer, the place name
Bounomos was an Illyrian-Epirote name that is related to the
name of an Illyrian-Epirote city, Bunnos (Βοῠννος) of the
Illyrian tribe of Bunios, mentioned by Stephanus of Byzantium
based on Artemidorus401. Bounomos (Βούνομος) also was the
earlier name of Pella (Πέλλα), the capital city of Macedonia.
Kretschmer notes that Pella (related to the PIE *pels- ‘rock’) is
an imprecise translation of the place name βουνός that in
Illyrian might mean ‘hill’402. The evolution of the place name
occurred in conformity with the phonetic rules of Albanian: as
noted earlier Albanian has eliminated he kt- group, which is
preserved in Greek. See item Arachthos above.
Drino River, flows through the Gjirokastra valley. The name is
only attested in ancient sources as component of the city name
Adrianopolis, that laid on its bank. According to Pokorny, the
name derives from the PIE root *dra-, *drṷent ‘rapid stream,
river’, with the typical Albanian change nt>n 403 404. The same
400
401
Stephani Byzantii. Op. cit.: “Βούνειμα πόλις Ήπείρου, οὐδετέρως,
κτισμα Ὀδυσσέως, ἣν ἔκτισε πλησίον Τραμπύας”.
402
403
Pokorny, J. (1959). Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch.
Francke, Bern, 1959-1969.
404
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi…. Op. cit. pp. 83-84.
root is found in other Illyrian territories in Balkans and

southern Italy. In the Republic of Albania flows the Albania’s
greatest river, Drin, and both its tributaries, Drini i Zi (Black
Drin), Drini i Bardhë (White Drin), the latter also flowing
through the Republic of Kosova. The same root drin- is also
found outside the Republic of Albania, in territories inhabited
by Illyrians in antiquity, in the Drina river in Bosnia, a
tributary of the Sava river, and its tributary, Drina (Bistrica).
In ancient sources is also mentioned the river Truentus (now
Tronto) in the Messapian territories of South Italy, believed to
derive from the same root.
Kerkyra (Κέρκυρα) (now Corfu) is the largest island in the
Ionian Sea. The ancient name Korkyra is related to the PIE
root *kʷerkʷu-s, from which also derive the Latin name
quercus ‘oak’, names for the thunder god in Old Prussian
percunis - and Latvian pę̄̀ rkuôns as well as Albanian
perëndi405. In the prehistory the island was inhabited by
Illyrians of the tribe of Liburni406. According to ancient Greek
sources, the Greek colonization of the island began by the
middle of the 8th century BC, in 733 BC by Dorian colonists
of the city state of Corinth407, led by Archias or Chersikrates,
both members of the Bacchiadai family408. Colonists from
Euboea reached the island probably a little earlier, by the
middle of the 8th century409. In Strabo’s narrative: “When
Archias, the story continues, was on his voyage to Sicily, he
405
Çabej, N. (2014). Në gjurmët e perëndive dhe mitologjemave ilire. Fan
Noli, Tiranë, p. 37-38.
406
Kiepert H.(1881). A Manual of Ancient Geography. Macmillan and Co.,
London, p. 174.
407
Kiepert H.(1881). Ibid. p. 174.
408
Greek & Roman Geography. (Ed. W. Smith). The Princeton
Encyclopedia of Ancient Sites.
409
Kiepert, H. (1881). Op. cit. p. 174.
left Chersicrates, of the race of the Heracleidae, with a part of

the expedition to help colonize what is now called Kerkyra,
but was formerly called Scheria; Chersicrates, however,
ejected the Liburnians, who held possession of the island, and
colonized it with new settlers”410.
The same name, Kerkyra, bears another Illyrian island in
Dalmatia. In the island inhabited by Illyrians, ancient Greeks
established their colony, known as Black Kerkyra (Μέλαινα
Κόρκυρα), now Korčula, Croatia.
Mursia is a village in the south of Albania, the territory of the
Roman province of Epirus vetus. It is not attested in the
ancient sources as an Epirote place name. However, this same
name, Mursia (Μουρσία), bore at least two Illyrian
settlements, Mursa maior and Mursia minor (Mursella) in
Pannonia411. The name derives from the PIE *mori/*mers
‘marsh, swamp’412 The preservation of the Illyrian -s- in the
name of the modern Albanian village Mursia is a characteristic
of the Tosk dialect (compare also Sazan, Vjosë, Mesaplik,
etc.).
Passaron (Πασσάρων) – city in Epirus, in the territory of
Molossians, north of Dodona, but not localized yet. Initially it
was the capital city of Molossian kings, until Pyrrhus removed
the seat of the government to Ambracia. Paul Kretschmer
believes that the ending –aros of the city name points to its
Illyrian origin413.
410
Strabo Geography VI, 2, 4: “πλέοντα δὲ τὸν Ἀρχίαν εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν
καταλιπεῖν μετὰ μέρους τῆς στρατιᾶς τοῦ τῶν Ἡρακλειδῶν γένους
Χερσικράτη συνοικιοῦντα τὴν νῦν Κέρκυραν καλουμένην, πρότερον
δὲ Σχερίαν. ἐκεῖνον μὲν οὖν ἐκβαλόντα Λιβυρνοὺς κατέχοντας οἰκίσαι
τὴν νῆσον”.
411
Ptolemy Geographia II, 16, 8.
412
Pokorny, J. (1959). Op cit.
413
Kretschmer, P. (1996). Einleitung…p. 257.
Pindus – a mountain range stretching from eastern Albania to

the south of Epirus. The initial P that appears in the name of
the Pindus in ancient Greek sources may represent the
characteristic of the ancient Greek to reflect as ph the Indo-
European bh- and to reflect as p- the b- of borrowings from
ancient languages. The change might have been favored by the
existence in ancient Greece of a river Pindos (Πίνδος) and this
may be the reason why M. Malte-Brun considered it an
Albanian (Illyrian) name and related it to the Sanskrit
Bhindia414. It may be even more likely that the mountain got
its name from the Illyrian god of water Bindus415. This
etymology is plausible not only morphologically, but also from
the semantic point of view. The use of the name of the god of
the water is justified for a mountain range like Pindus, which is
well known for huge water resources and here is what Pliny
the Elder wrote about the mountain Tomarus of the Pindus
range: “Mount Tomarus, so highly praised by Theopompus,
with its hundred springs gushing from its foot”416. Indeed,
Pindus is the main source of water for at least four important
rivers Acheron, Vjosa, Pinios and Acheloos.
Sason – island in the south-eastern extreme of the Adriatic
sea417. The name is believed to be related to the Albanian word
i thatë ‘dry, land as opposed to water’, from a Proto-Albanian
*saus/*saukn ‘dry’418.
Thyamis (Θύαμις) - name of a river in Epirus that empties into
the Ionian Sea. As noticed for the first time in 1814 by the
414
Malte-Brun, C. (1829). Universal Geography IV…, p. 109.
415
Çabej, N. (2014). Në gjurmët e perëndive dhe mitologjemave ilire. Fan
416
Pliny the Elder The Natural History 4, 1.
417
418
Çabej, E. (1976). SE II. pp. 199-200. See also from the same author
(1969) Ilirishtja dhe shqipja.
English topographer, William M. Leake (1777-1860), the

ancient Illyrian name of the river is preserved in the Albanian
tribe name çam (tzami) and Çamëria, one of the three main
ethnographic divisions of South Albania: “The Tzámi occupy
all the region of the river Kalamá, anciently called Thyamis,
and it may perhaps be conjectured, that it is from a corruption
of the latter name, that Tzámi have derived their
appellation”419. From the ethnic name çam derives the name of
the region Çamëria, which over time spread to the wider
ethnographical region in modern Greece and Albania. The
phonetic evolution from Thyam-is to çam took place in
accordance with the phonetic laws of Albanian. Today the
native chams call Kalama (the Albanian word is a homonym
that means both cane and child) the ancient river Thyamis. In
modern Greek the name of the ancient river appears in two
forms, Glycis and Kalamas. From the same root, çam, seem to
derive the name of the village Çamanda and Çamanda
Mountain south of Albania, in Çamëria (modern Greece)420.
Vladimir Orel failed in his attempt to explain the ethnic name
çam as a borrowing from Old Slavic words *čamь or *čama
from an unattested Old Slavic *tjama421.
Tomor (Τόμαρος/Τμάρος). There are two mountains that bear
this name:
1. The ancient mountain Tomarus/Tmarus (Τόμαρος/Τμάρος)
(1,974 m above the sea level) in Epirus at whose foot laid the
oracle of Dodona. The mountain’s name is not preserved by
419
420
Kiepert H. Carte de l’Épire et de la Thessalie. Nouvelle éd. corrigée en
1880. Internet:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/collections/maps/kiepert/.
421
the present local population, which now call it Olitsika

(Ολύτσικας).
2. Mount Tomor, the highest mountain of the south Albania
(2416 m). Only the first of them appears in the ancient sources.
Stephanus of Byzantium says that Tomarus/Tmarus is the
mountain of Dodona422.
Most linguists believe Tomarus/Tmarus to be an Illyrian name,
derived from the PIE root *temh2- ‘dark’423. This is plausible
from the semantic viewpoint because the peak of the mountain
is usually cloud-covered. Like Duridanov, Pokorny considers
it to be an Illyrian name424.
The root exists in the Albanian word tym/tim ‘smoke’.
Cognates include Old Indian tamas ‘darkness’ and tamsrah
‘dark’, Avestan temah ‘darkness’, Latin tenebrae ‘darkness’,
Old High German demar ‘darkness’, dinstar ‘dark’, Old Irish
temel ‘darkness’, Middle Irish teimen ‘dark grey’, Lithuanian
tamsa ‘darkness’ and tamsus ‘dark’, Lithuanian tamsus ‘dark’,
Old Church Slavic tǐmǐnǔ ‘dark’ and tima ‘darkness’. Albanian
Tomor would regularly evolve from the Illyrian/Epirote
attested name Tmaros, from the PIE *tem(ǝ)- ‘dark’, with the
typical Illyrian sufix -aros425.
Semantically are unplausible etymologies from the Old Greek
temno ‘cut’ dhe oros ‘mal’ and fantastic are alternative
explanations with Old Greek temno (τέμνω) dhe ura (ουρα),
422
Stephani Byzantii. Op. cit.: “Τόμαρος, ὄρος Δωδώνης, ὅ τίνες Τομοῦρον
καὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Τομούρους. οἱ δὲ Τμάρος, οὑ τὸ ἐθνικὸν
Τμάριος”.
423
Duridanov, I. Illyrisch. p. 951-953. Internet: http://wwwg.uni-
klu.ac.at/eeo/Illyrisch.pdf. Retrieved on Jan. 2, 2015.
424
Pokorny J. (1959). Op. cit. “Illyrian mountain-name Τόμαρος by
Dodona”.
425
meaning ‘with cut tail’426 or from the diminutive form of the

Od Greek τόμος ,τομ-άριον (τό), meaning ‘small volume’427.
6. Epirotes were not Greeks

Almost all the ancient authors considered Epirotes to be a
barbarian people, just like their Thracian, Macedonian and
Illyrian neighbors, or Phenicians, Persians, Egyptians and
Trojans. Thus, they categorized as barbarians any ethnically
non-Greek group that spoke another language, no matter what
the cultural level and the degree of their social organization
might have been.
The term ‘barbarian’ is not found in Homer’s poems, who used
the term barbarophon (βαρβαροφών) only for Carians, the
allies of Trojans, who spoke a Luwian language of the west
Anatolian group.
The Greek concept of ‘barbarian’ was introduced by the end of
the 6th and the beginning of the 5th century BC, after the
Greco-Persian Wars, which by stimulating the unity of the
Greek tribes, made Greeks to unite behind idea of the common
ethnic origin and emphasize the difference between themselves
and foreign, non-Greek, ‘barbarians’, an onomatopoieic term
that emphasized the fact that they spoke a language that was
unintelligible to Greeks.
As Myres observed “as soon as the Hellenic peoples began to
feel the need of a common denomination for themselves, the
426
Larcher’s Notes on Herodotus I. (1844). Ed. W.D. Cooley, London, p.
273.
427
Liddell, H.G. and Scott, R. (1882). A Greek-English Lexicon. American
Book Co.,.
need arose also for a common word for ‘non-Hellenic”428,

which was barbarian.
In general, an ethnic Greek that was rude and uncivilized was
considered, xenos (ξένος), i.e., foreigner, not barbarian, by his
compatriots. At any rate he always stood higher than a
barbarian: “While xenos can refer to either a Greek or a non-
Greek, it typically applies only to other Greeks”429.
Thucydides in the 5th century wrote that in his time, even south
of Epirus, the biggest of Aetolia’s tribes, Eurytanians spoke a
language that was totally incomprehensible to him
(ἀγνωστότατοι δὲ γλῶσσαν)430. In regard to the peripheral
Epirote tribe of Amphilochians he recounts that the part of the
tribe that bordered Ambraciotes and allied with them learned
Greek, but the rest of them remained barbarians431, making it
clear that Epirotes didn’t speak Greek and corroborating the
idea that for ancient Greeks who didn’t speak Greek was a
barbarian.
In support of the Thucydides’ statement comes a report from
the ancient Greek geographer, Scymnus of Chios (Σκύμνος ὁ
Xῖος) in the 2nd century BC, when the Epirote Amphilochians
428
Myres, J.L. (1907). A History of the Pelasgian Theory. pp. 170-225.
429
New York, Oxford University Press, p. 62.
430
431
Thucydides Ibid. II, 68, 5: “ὑπὸ ξυμφορῶν δὲ πολλαῖς γενεαῖς ὕστερον
πιεζόμενοι Ἀμπρακιώτας ὁμόρους ὄντας τῇ Ἀμφιλοχικῇ ξυνοίκους
ἐπηγάγοντο, καὶ ἡλληνίσθησαν τὴν νῦν γλῶσσαν τότε πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῶν
Ἀμπρακιωτῶν ξυνοικησάντων: οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι Ἀμφίλοχοι βάρβαροί
εἰσιν”.
were already hellenized. He writes that in his time they spoke

Greek and above them lived barbarian Epirotes432.
Later in the 1st century BC, Diodor Siculus (Διόδωρος
Σικελιώτης) also states that in the Greek world Epirotes were
not considered to be Greek433. Here is an excerpt from his
recount on how Themistocles fled to Molossia asking
protection of the Molossian king Admetus:
“But when Lacedaemonians dispatched some of the most
distinguished Spartans as ambassadors to Admetus and
demanded the person of Themistocles for punishment,
stigmatizing him as the betrayer and destroyer of the whole
Greek world, and when they went further and declared that, if
Admetus would not turn him over to them, they together with
all the Greeks would make war on him, then indeed the king,
fearing on the one hand the threats and yet pitying the
suppliant and seeking to avoid the disgrace of handing him
over, persuaded Themistocles to make his escape with all
speed without the knowledge of the Lacedaemonians and gave
him a large sum of gold to meet his expenses on the flight”434.
The Siculus’ report on Themistocles’ as “the betrayer and
destroyer of the whole Greek world” and the threat that “all the
432
Scymni Chii Periegesis et Dionysii Descriptio Graeciae. Meineke,
Berlin, 1846, p. 102, v. 457: “Ἀμφίλοχος, υἱὸς Ἀμφιαράου μάντεως.
εἰσὶ δ’ ἐπάνω τούτων ἔποικοι βάρβροι”.
433
Diodorus Siculus Library XI, 56, 2.
434
Diodorus Siculus, Library 11.56, 2: “ἐπεὶ δὲ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τοὺς
ἐπιφανεστάτους Σπαρτιατῶν πρέσβεις ἀποστείλαντες πρὸς τὸν
Ἄδμητον ἐξῄτουν αὐτὸν πρὸς τιμωρίαν, ἀποκαλοῦντες προδότην καὶ
λυμεῶνα τῆς ὅλης Ἑλλάδος, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις μὴ παραδιδόντος αὐτὸν
πολεμήσειν ἔφασαν μετὰ πάντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων, τὸ τηνικαῦθ᾽ ὁ
βασιλεὺς φοβηθεὶς μὲν τὰς ἀπειλάς, ἐλεῶν δὲ τὸν ἱκέτην καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς
παραδόσεως αἰσχύνην ἐκκλίνων, ἔπειθε τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα τὴν ταχίστην
ἀπιέναι λάθρᾳ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων, καὶ χρυσοῦ πλῆθος ἐδωρήσατο
αὐτῷ ἐφόδιον τῆς φυγῆς”.
Greeks would make war” on the king of Molossia also

indicates that for Siculus, like Greeks in general, Epirotes
didn’t belong to the Greek world.
Strabo as well leaves no doubt that, for him, Epirotes, just like
Illyrians and Thracians were neighbors of Greeks, but not
Greeks when he says: “And even to the present day the
Thracians, Illyrians, and Epeirotes live on the flanks of the
Greeks”435.
435
StraboGeography VII, 7, 1: “οἱ δὲ Θρᾷκες καὶ Ἰλλυριοὶ καὶ Ἠπειρῶται
καὶ μέχρι νῦν ἐν πλευραῖς εἰσιν: ἔτι μέντοι μᾶλλον πρότερον ἢ νῦν,
ὅπου γε καὶ τῆς ἐν τῷ παρόντι Ἑλλάδος”.
Chapter III
Sociopolitical structure of Epirus
1. Sociopolitical and ethnic structure of ancient

Epirus
The fact that Epirotes were barbarians and didn’t speak Greek,
per se, does not exclude the possibility that they might have
lost their ethnic identity and been ‘hellenized’ sometime in the
course of their history. Indeed, many historians have
developed views and opinions that Epirotes have been
‘hellenized’ during the Hellenistic Age, between the 4th and 1st
century BC or later during the Byzantine era. Given the
present confusion on the meaning of the term, it is necessary
for our discussion to clearly define what will be meant by the
term ‘hellenization’ in this work.
a. The concept of Hellenization
Hellenization is a fluid and ill-defined concept introduced for

defining the ancient Greek influence in the culture and the life
of other peoples. By thnis term different authors understand
different things or different degrees of the same process of the
Greek cultural influence. In this regard, Hellenization
represents a continuum of concepts. At one extreme of the
continuum are the views of those that by Hellenization
understand influence of Greek culture, customs, art, cults, etc.
on other peoples, on the other, those that under ‘hellenization’,

additionally, understand adoption of the Greek language,
Greek social and state organization, loss of the native belief
system up to the loss of people’s own ethnic identity.
If under the term Hellenization will be understand any Greek
cultural influence, irrespective of the degree, that is a
continuum of degrees of cultural influence, this would deprive
the concept of Hellenization of specificity of identification,
and hence it is only of little use, if at all, as an investigative
instrument.
At various degrees all the peoples, that have experienced
Hellenization, especially neighbors of Greece have, in turn,
influenced the Greek culture. Many Greek deities436and more
than half of the Greek words437 are borrowed from ‘barbarian’
peoples, but it would be inaccurate to speak of any
‘barbarization’ of Greeks and Greece. Similarly, not any
influence of Greek culture may be considered Hellenization.
A single concept cannot fit all the degrees of a continuum of
states of the Greek influence on other cultures. Historical
judgment requires strictly definable, discrete concepts to which
the loose concepts of Hellenization and Romanization clearly
do not belong.
But since establishing a true metrics for quantifying these
degrees of cultural influence is both impossible and not
necessary for the purpose of our inquiry, herein I will only
436
Herodotus The Histories II, 50, 1 and 2.
437
Mallory, J.P. and Adams, D. Q. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European
Culture. Fitzroy Dearborn, Chicago-London, p. 243: “…there is a
substantial portion, estimated by some at greater than 50%, of the
Greek vocabulary that cannot be compared with that of other IE
stocks”.
III Sociopolitical and ethnic structure of Epirus 139
conditionally use two general terms for describing the totality

of the states of the Greek influence:
1. Cultural ‘hellenization’, and
2. Ethnological ‘hellenization’.
I will only use these terms under two conditions. Firstly, that
Hellenization doesn’t imply simply one-sided influence of the
Greek culture on other peoples, rather than complex mutual
cultural interactions, in which the ‘borrower’ culture is at the
same time ‘lender’ and the determining factor in selection,
adoption, assimilation and adaptation of the particular
elements of the Greek (customs, conduct, clothing, language,
etc.)438. Thus, when we speak of Hellenization, it is important
to never ignore or neglect the influence of the ‘barbarian’
culture on the Hellenic culture.
Secondly, that the processes of hellenization: “are not
necessarily to do with an individual or group’s transition from
belonging to one cultural group to belonging to another. One
may deliberately, unconsciously, or through compulsion, adopt
aspects of the material culture or behavior of another group,
without the intention or opportunity of ever oneself becoming
a member of that group.”439.
Thus, the modern concept of Hellenization doesn’t imply one-
sided influence of the ancient Greek culture into the culture of
438
Mairs, R. (2015). Hellenization. In The Encyclopedia of Ancient History.
R.S.Bagnall, K. Brodersen, C.B. Champion, A. Erskine and S.R.
Huebner eds. Malden, MA; Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 1-4.
Internet. Retrieved on June, 3, 2015. Internet available:
http://www.academia.edu/595207/_Hellenization_in_Roger_S._Bagnall_K
ai_Brodersen_Craig_B._Champion_Andrew_Erskine_and_Sabine_R._
Huebner_eds._The_Encyclopedia_of_Ancient_History_Malden_MA_
Oxford_W iley-Blackwell.
439
Mairs, R. (2015). Hellenization. Ibid.
other peoples, rather than an interplay between the Greek

culture and the native cultures.
Indeed, it is impossible even to imagine that in cultural
interactions between two peoples that have been in immediate
contact with each other for millenia, the ‘lending’ culture
would not be also borrower in certain respects. As we are
going to see later, ancient Greeks themselves borrowed from
their ‘barbarian’ neighbors not only most of their words, many
gods, but also myths and even their alphabet.
Besides, in our particular case of Epirotes, J.G. von Hahn by
the middle of the 19th century, noticed that many cultural
similarities between Epirotes, Greeks and Latins are explained
not only with immediate contacts and interactions these
peoples had for millenia, but with their ethnic affinities as
well: “So then, ancient Albanians were not only
contemporaries and neighbors, but also relatives of ancient
Romans and Hellenes, or to put it another way, what is
common in customs and manners of the three peoples, comes
from the same source”440.
b. Cultural vs. ethnological Hellenization
In order to avoid the existing confusion in the concept of

‘hellenization’, we already made a distinction between two
forms of the so-called Hellenization we encounter in relevant
440
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Albanesische Studien I, p. 214: “Dann also war
der Uralbanese nicht bloss ein Altersgenosse und Nachbar, sondern
auch ein Verwandter des Urrömers und Urhellenen, oder mit andern
Worten, was in den Sitten der drei Völker gleich ist, das wurde von ein
und demselben Elemente in sie hinein getragen”.
literature, between the cultural Hellenization and ethnological

Hellenization.
The cultural Hellenization that ensued mutual relations (trade,
Greek colonies in Europe, Near East and North Africa and
Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Near and Middle East),
affected most of the Mediterranean and Near Eastern peoples
in antiquity. It consisted of introduction to various degrees of
Greek words, manners, writing, art, customs, dress, personal
and place names, material culture, etc. in the life of other
peoples. The well known cultural superiority of ancient Greeks
enabled influence of the Greek culture, social organization and
institutions and urbanization of these countries.
Due to the immediate vicinity and neighborhood of Epirus
with ancient Greece and the presence of Greek colonies in the
coast of Epirus, Epirotes were exposed early to this form of
cultural Hellenization to a degree that is not easy to precisely
assess because of the long coexistence and their common Indo-
European origin with ancient Greeks and Latins.
The second form of ‘hellenization’, the ethnological
Hellenization, additionally entails loss of the native language,
appropriation of the Greek social structure and institutions, the
Greek state structures, adoption of the Greek belief and gods at
the expense of the native belief and pantheon and, above all,
the loss of the ethnic identity and ethnic consciousness of the
people.
The adoption of the Greek socio-cultural elements by a people
doesn’t automatically imply its ethnic “conversion’ into ethnic
Greeks or make the people feel “Greek”. However, such
‘conversions’ of ‘barbarians’ into ‘Hellenes’ are not unknown.
There is adequate and reliable information in ancient Greek
sources that such a type of ethnic Hellenization did occur not
only in the original Greek territories, with assimilation of the
pre-Greek Mediterranean and Pelasgian population of

Thessaly, Attica and Peloponnesus. Ancient Greek authors
inform us that such ethnic Hellenization a number of
populations of what we now consider Greece ‘proper’, such as
Acarnania and Aetolia, but even further north, the originally
non-Greek populations of Thessaly and Macedonia.
What about Epirotes? Strabo emphasizes the fact that, unlike
Macedonians, that at his time were for the most part ethnically
Hellenized, Epirotes, Illyrians and Thracians were still
barbarians living on the flanks of the Greeks441. However,
from ancient Greek authors we also learn that some peripheral
Epirote tribes such as Amphilochii were, at least partially,
ethnically ‘hellenized’ by losing their own language during the
Hellenistic Age442. The same fates seem to have had two other
Epirote tribes, Perrhabei and Dolopes, living in, or bordering,
Thessaly.
Such ethnological conversions of peoples have been preceded
by complex processes of the loss of various elements of their
own ethnic identity to respective elements of the assimilating
ethnos. Ethnological changes of this order have been
associated above all with the loss of the language, the belief
system, the original social and state structure and often with
massive immigration of the assimilating population.
441
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 1: “And even to the present day the Thracians,
Illyrians, and Epeirotes live on the flanks of the Greeks (though this
was still more the case formerly than now); indeed most of the country
that at the present time is indisputably Greece is held by the
barbarians—Macedonia and certain parts of Thessaly by the Thracians,
and the parts above Acarnania and Aetolia by the Thesproti, the
Cassopaei, the Amphilochi, the Molossi, and the Athamanes—
Epeirotic tribes”.
442
Did such an ethnological conversion ever take place in Epirus?

What we can with certainty say is that no authentic or reliable
evidence exists, or at least presented so far, to indicate that
something of the sort has occurred in the ancient Epirus.
c. On cultural Hellenization of the ancient Epirus
If cultural Hellenization would be understood, according to the

modern trend, as an interaction of the native culture with the
‘lending’ culture, then one has to admit that, as a result of the
immediate neighborhood with the ancient Greek world, the
Epirote material and spiritual culture was influenced at a
considerable degree by the ancient Greek culture, in a process
where the Epirotes determined the elements of the culture they
adopted and assimilated, but the process was in no way one-
sided.
Ancient sources suggest that even after the Alexander the
Great’s era, Epirotes did speak their own language and their
state structures were different from the typical Greek city
states (poleis). The recent inscriptional evidence shows that
Epirotes preserved their social organization at an astounding
level443, despite the immediate contacts with Greece and the
presence of Greek colonies in their seacoast.
Many authors, including the well known British historians
Geoffrey N. Cross444 and N.G.L. Hammond445, or linguists like
443
Daubner, F. (2014). Epirotische Identitäten nach der Konigszeit. In
Athen und/oder Alexandreia?: Aspekte von Identität und Ethnizität im
hellenistischen Griechenland. K. Freitag and C. Michels eds., Böhlau
Verlag, Köln - Weimar, 99- 24.
444
Cross, G.N. (2015 reprint of 1932 edition). Epirus. Cambridge
University Press, pp. 2-4. Cross believes that Epirus “was not a part of
Václav Blažek446, by endorsing the view that Epirotes were

hellenized, actually have admitted that ancient Epirotes in
antiquity were a non-Greek people. Some of them believe the
process of their Hellenizationto to have been completed during
the Hellenistic Age by the 3-2nd century, before the Roman
conquest of Epirus, while others believe hellenization of
Epirus to have begun by the 6th century CE, after the country
was assigned to the Byzantine Empire447. Hammond
acknowledged that all the previous attempts to prove
Hellenization of Epirus had failed or have been, in his own
expression, “straw in the wind”. Only the discovery of the 4th
century BC Epirote inscriptions in Greek, in his opinion,
represents the real proof of the Hellenization of Epirotes. But
the Hammond’s argument succumbs under the weight of the
numerous facts that such inscriptions in Greek are found all
Greece at all until the fourth century” and Cross, G.N. (2015). Ibid. p.
14.
445
Hammond, N.G.L. (1967). Epirus: the Geography, the Ancient Remains,
the History and Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas. Clarendon
446
Blažek, V. (2005). Paleo-Balkanian Languages I: Hellenic Languages,
Sbornik praci filozoficke fakulty Brnenske Univerzity 10, 15-33.
447
Minahan, J.B. (2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and
National Groups Around the World A-Z. ABC-CLIO, Westport CT, p.
578.
448
Fraser P. M. (1970). Greek-Phoenician Bilingual Inscriptions from
Rhodes. The Annual of the British School at Athens 65, 31-36 (31).
449
Bubenik V. (1989). Hellenistic and Roman Greece as a Sociolinguistic
Area. John Benjamins, Amsterdam-Philadelphia, pp. 266-267.
450
Noegel, S.B. (2006). Greek Religion and the Ancient Near East. The
Blackwell Companion to Greek Religion. D. Ogden, ed., Blackwell,
London, 21-37.
around the Mediterranean and Black sea countries, from Spain

to Russia, and even Asia. And yet none of these peoples lost its
ethnic identity and cosciousness to feel Greek. Even in Greece
itself, ancient inscriptions sometimes are written not in Greek
but in foreign languages such as bilingual Semitic-Greek448,
Phoenician449 and Aramaic450, indicating even the presence of
the Semitic inhabitants in Greece, but nevertheless Greeks
didn’t cease being Greeks.
Although the proposition that Greek was used by Epirote elites
(especially the Molossian royal family) has not been reliably
validated, there is no visible reason to exclude the possibility
that it did, if we remember that Roman elites and educated
people also learned Greek and used it in interethnic and other
communications.
The alleged introduction of the Greek as language of the
Molossian royal family, however undocumented and probably
unprovable, cannot be excluded or unexpected in view of the
expansive project of the Aeacide dynasty. The Molossian royal
family could have been tempted to use it, along the myth of its
divine and Trojan-Greek origin as a political instrument not
only for extending its influence and power on the rest of the
Epirote tribes but also for promoting its political ties and
affiliation with Athens.
However, one should beware of confounding the written
language with its ethnic identity of a people. Just like Greek in
antiquity, Latin became lingua franca in Western Europe since
the Late Antiquity, and served as a bridge over the language
barriers, for facilitating communication in the fields of trade,
diplomacy, administration, science, etc. As late as the 16-18th
centuries Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), Johannes Kepler

(1571-1630) and Isaac Newton (1642-1726) wrote their works
in Latin and Gottfried W. Leibniz (1646-1716) wrote also in
French, but this didn’t affect their and their peoples’ ethnicity
(respectively Polish/German, English and German).
Being within the orbit of Greek culture doesn’t automatically
imply ethnic assimilation of a people. One cannot deduce
ethnological Hellenization of a country simply from its close
proximity to the Hellenic world. Had such Hellenization
indeed occurred in Epirus, it would have been reflected above
all in the loss of the language, social organization, belief
system and ethnic consciousness of its people. But there is no
shred of evidence in the ancient Greek and Roman sources to
show that Epirotes lost their language and switched to Greek
or Latin or that they lost their forms of social organization and
belief system. In the absence of such evidence, it is impossible
to reasonably doubt that Epirotes preserved their ethnicity
throughout the Classical Antiquity.
The view that introduction and use of the Greek language in
inscriptions during the 4th century (370/368) B.C. suggests that
Epirotes lost their heritage language to adopt Greek is hardly
defensible. Arguably, the use of Greek in Molossian/Epirote
kingdom’s official documents is not unexpected and it is
related not only to the fact that Greek was the only written
language in ancient Balkans and the lingua franca, exclusively
used in interethnic communications and trade by Balkan and
most of the Mediterranean and Near-Eastern peoples during
the Hellenistic Age; its use was also a matter of prestige for the
Molossian kings and elites who were profitably claiming
special relationship to Greece.
As noted earlier, using Greek might have been an important
ritual for the Aeacide dynasty to maintain and promote its
relations with Athens and propagate the mythical divine origin

of the dynasty - a vital element of their claim to be legitimate
rulers of Epirus.
Even the loss of the native language and adoption of another
language, in itself, does not necessarily imply loss of its ethnic
identity. Cases in points are Irish, Scotch and other peoples
that practically lost their respective heritage languages, but
preserved their ethnic/national identity.
The process of Hellenization, in the meaning of the
assimilation of particular elements of the Greek culture
affected Epirus like other Mediterrranian countries, including
the ancient Rome. In this meaning of the assimilation of the
Greek elements from native cultures, Georg Stadtmüller spoke
of a radiating influence of the Greek art from coastal colonies
of Epirus on the local “Hallstattstyle”, from which a higher
mixed ‘Greek-barbarian’ art evolved: “A richer mixed Greek-
barbarian style emerged from the contact of the Ilyrian-Celtic
Hallstatt style with the radiating influence of the Greek coastal
colonies. In the Chaonian plains excavations in the great cities
Buthrotus and Phoinike made us possible to create a vivid
picture of how the process actually took place in these cities on
the border between the two cultures”451.
Strong foreign ‘barbarian’ influences are observed in the
Greek culture itself. As pointed out earlier, more than half of
451
Archivum Europae centro-orientalis VII. Budapest, pp. 1-196, p. 72.
“Aus der Begegnung des illyrisch-keltischen Hallstattstiles mit dem
von den Küstenkolonien ausstrahlenden griechischen Einfluß bildete
sich ein reicher griechisch-barbarischer Mischstil heraus… In der
chaonischen Doppelebene hat die Ausgrabung der beiden mächtigen
Städte Buthroton und Phoinike uns ein lebendiges Bild gewährt, eine
Vorstellung, wie es in diesen Städten an der Grenze zweier
Kulturwelten eigentlich ausgesehen hat”.
the ancient Greek words are borrowed from other often

unknown sources, and Greeks adopted a number of gods from
Egyptians452, from Thracians (Dionysius and Ares) and from
Near East (Aphrodites). But neither these facts on the foreign
influences on the Greek vocabulary and the pantheon, nor the
attested assimilation of foreign peoples and tribes (Pelasgians,
Thracians, Macedonians, and Illyrians) into ancient Greek
people, did affect their Greek ethnic identity.
In a clear historical parallel von Hahn showed that this cultural
influence of one culture on others is a general feature of the
cultural development of European peoples, related to their
common origins: “The similarities between the Albanian,
Roman and Hellenic may rather be understood in the same
way as between the German and Scandinavian, or between
siblings that come from the same paternal house, than to admit
that what in their customs and manners resembles the Roman
or Hellenic is borrowed from them; the same way that we
Germans have adopted some manners or customs from the
French”453.
452
Herodotus The Histories. II, 50, 1 and 2. Herodotus assures us that “In
fact, the names of nearly all the gods came to Hellas from Egypt. For I
am convinced by inquiry that they have come from foreign parts, and I
believe that they came chiefly from Egypt. Except the names of
Poseidon and the Dioscuri, as I have already said, and Hera, and
Hestia, and Themis, and the Graces, and the Nereids, the names of all
the gods have always existed in Egypt” .
453
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Albanesische Studien. Op. cit. p 214: “die
Uebereinstimmung zwischen Albanesischem, Römischem und
Hellenischem eher in der Art zu erklären, wie sie zwischen Deutschem
und Skandinavischem, oder zwischen Geschwistern besteht, welche
demselben väterlichen Hause entstammen, als anzunehmen, der
Albanese habe das, was in seiner Sitte der römischen und hellenischen
gleicht, von dem Römer oder Hellenen entlehnt, so wie wir Deutsche
etwa die eine oder andere Sitte von den Franzosen angenommen”.
2. Ethnic identity of Epirotes at the tribal and

supratribal level
Ancient Greek authors used to identify Epirote individuals and

communities with one of the three major tribes, Chaonians,
Thesprotians and Molossians, but Epirote inscriptions show
that inhabitants of the country identify themselves with
particular subtribes or, less frequently, with one of the three
major Epirote tribes.
The identification of the individuals and rulers of Epirotes at
the level of the major tribes was based on the Greek authors’
awareness on the existence of these major Epirote tribes as
communities of subtribes related to each other by common
origin, history and belief. There is explicit evidence, at least
since Thucydides by the 5th century BC, that Chaonians,
Thesprotians and Molossians sent troops to fight on a tribal
basis, which indicates the existence of a political and military
organization at the level of the major tribes. Unlike ancient
Greeks that identified themselves with their home city,
inscriptions found in Epirus show that officials in the Epirote
federation identified themselves by their tribal affiliation.
Based on ancient sources and inscriptions, as well as on the
general ethnological knowledge of the country, we know that
members of various Epirote subtribes and tribes were aware of
their ethnic identity at their respective levels. However, it is
difficult to determine whether/when inhabitants of Epirus
began to consider themselves as members of a supratribal
Epirote society, becoming aware of their Epirote identity.
It is reasonable to think that the process of the centralization of
the political power, and the establishment of the royal rule
over the whole territory of Epirus under Pyrrhus implied and
facilitated formation of a pan-Epirotic consciousness. The
Epirote army under Pyrrhus fought wars in Macedonia,

Greece, Italy and Sicily, conquering vast territories in Balkans
and achieving some rare victories against the Roman army.
Although during his great military campaigns Pyrrhus
incorporated in its army mercenaries from different ethnic
groups, such as Macedonians and Celts, the core of his army,
especially during intercampaign periods was ethnically an
Epirote army with participation of all the Epirote tribes. Was
this ethnically Epirote core of his army to which, in response
the epithet ‘eagle’ given by his soldiers, Pyrrhus replied
“Through you, am I an eagle; why, pray, should I not be? It is
by your arms that I am borne aloft as by swift pinions.”454.
Certainly, during the king Pyrrhus’ rule, the citizens of Epirus
knew that they were part of the same political unit and the
formation of the pan-Epirotic state. The Epirote army both
necessitated and promoted the development of the Epirote
ethnic consciousness.
However, there is a competing opinion that even under
Pyrrhus, until the end of the 3rd century BC, only a Molossian
koinon and a Molossian identity existed. Accordingly, only at
this time, i.e., by the end of the rule of the Molossian royal
family, with the death of the last ruler of the Aeacide family
and the founding of the Epirote Confederacy, one may speak
of an Epirote koinon455. The process of the rise of the tribal
consciousness to the level of an “Epirote consciousness” may
have been completed by the end of the 3rd century BC, under
the confederacy, where all members of all the Epirote tribes
454
Plutarch Pyrrhus 10, 1: “καὶ Ἀετὸς ὑπὸ τῶν Ἠπειρωτῶν ὑμετέροις
ὅπλοις προσαγορευόμενος, δι᾽ ὑμᾶς,’ἔλεγεν, ἀετὸς εἰμι: πῶς γὰρ οὐ
μέλλω, τοῖς ὑμετέροις ὅπλοις ὥσπερ ὠκυπτέροις ἐπαιρόμενος”.
455
Meyer, E.A. (2013). The Inscriptions of Dodona and a new history of
Molossia. F. Steiner, Stuttgart.
and subtribes had a common citizenship456 and began to be

collectively known as “Epirotes” in ancient Greek and Roman
sources457 and in many inscriptions458.
It is true that even in documents after the Roman conquest,
Epirote individuals continued to attach to their name their
tribal affiliation. But this is exactly what should be expected,
for in internal Epirotic affairs it would not make sense to
identify themselves as Epirotes which was evidently implied.
a. There is no evidence that Epirotes lost their language in

antiquity
Ancient Greek authors assure us that even in Dodona, a centre

of ancient Greek peregrins (by some even considered to be a
Greek enclave) the interpreting priest(esses) continued to
speak in their barbarian language459.
One can reasonably imagine that Greek words penetrated into
the vocabulary of Epirotes, as normally occurs with
neighboring peoples. Let’s remember that Greek itself
borrowed half of its vocabulary460, from both non-Indo-
European and Indo-European sources.
There is no adequate evidence that the cultural Hellenization in
Epirus advanced to the point that would bring about any
ethnological upheaval or assimilation of Epirotes. For such a
‘Greecimilation’ to occur would require Hellenization of their
456
Sherk, R.K. (1990). Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 84 231–
295 (235).
457
Polybius Histories XX, 3.
458
Sherk, R.K. (1990). Op. cit. p. 235.
459
460
Mallory, J.P. and Adams, D. Q. (1997). Op. cit., p. 243.
social and family structure, of their belief system, loss of their

own language and adoption of the Greek language by Epirotes,
loss of their ethnic consciousness, and possibly a significant
influx of Greek populations to Epirus. Ancient Greek and
Roman sources provide no evidence that such processes ever
took place in Epirus. Moreover, let’s remember once again that
even the loss of a fundamental component of the ethnic
identity of a people, such as the language, doesn’t necessarily
marks the loss of its ethnic identity.
In a historical parallel, the fact that the material and spiritual

culture of the Irish people is deeply influenced by the centuries
of long and multifaceted cultural English/British influence,
even the loss of their Celtic language and switching to English,
didn’t make them lose their Irish identity and feel
British/English. As we are going to see later, the language of
ancient Epirotes survived the Greek cultural assimilation to
appear now in the form of Albanian.In the following
paragraphs I will examine whether the ancient Epirotes did
lose their language to adopt Greek and whether any
Hellenization of their social organization and belief system
occurred as a result of the immediate neighborhood with the
Greek world and the presence of Greek colonies in some
Epirote cities in the Ionian coast.
Epirote inscriptions in the Greek language discovered during

the last century are often interpreted as a genuine proof that
Epirotes spoke Greek, but one must beware this
oversimplification. The use of the Greek language in
inscriptions and other documents found in a country as a
criterion for determining the langue the people spoke and its
ethnic affiliation is misguiding and would lead to the absurd
conclusion that most of the countries of the Mediterranean and
the Black sea, where Greek inscriptions are also found, spoke
Greek.
Most of the Epirote words we know come from Hesychius
Lexikon. He designates these words as Epirote. The fact that
Lexicon was written in the 5-6th century CE suggests that, at
the time, the ‘Epirote’ language might have been still spoken
in Epirus. The small number of inherited Epirote words
available in the Lexikon and other ancient sources are
explained by Albanian (see section Epirote-Albanian lexical
correspondences, in chapter II).
All the above in the context, the following facts:
1. The ancient Epirotes spoke a ‘barbarian’ language,
2. The Albanian population in Epirus is uninterruptedly
attested in written sources, at least from the 14th century,
3. The lack of evidence on any migrations of Albanians in
Epirus,
logically lead us to the conclusion that the language the ancient
Epirotes spoke is ancestral to modern Albanian.
b. Epirote social and state structures were tribal rather

than Hellenic
The main form of social organization in classical Greece was

polis, or city state. As early as the 5th century BC, the process
of transition from the tribal organization to the polis structure
was progressing even in Peloponnesus. By contrast, the social
organization in ancient Epirus was tribal and polis-like
communities remained limited to the Greek colonies of the
coast of Epirus.
By the middle of the 19th century Christian Keferstein (1784-
1866) remarked that the process of Hellenization in Epirus
“had little influence on the people itself”461. To the same

conclusion led the analysis and interpretation of the
inscriptions found in Buthrotos during the last decades462.
The bulk of the Epirote society continued to be tribal during
the whole Hellenistic Age and even 2-3 centuries after the
Roman conquest, in the 1st century CE, Strabo described it as a
tribal society463.
Moreover, there are some linguistic indications that even the
Greek-Roman colonies in Epirote coastal cities not only failed
to become centers of the Hellenization/Romanization of the
surrounding areas and Epirus hinterland, but these cities
themselves were ethnically “re-Epirotized” over time. So, e.g.,
the Epirote city Arachthos, after the arrival of Greek
(Corinthian) colonists in the 7th century (625) BC, was
renamed as Ambracia. But by the 12-13th century, the Greek
name of the city disappeared and in the Byzantine sources it is
spelled Arta, the evolved form of the original Epirote name
Arachthos. More than a century ago Paul Kretschmer proved
that evolution of the city name followed the phonetic rules of
Albanian. Neither Greek nor Latin or Slavic would lead to the
change Arachthos>Arta464 465 466. Similarly, the name of the
461
Keferstein, C. (1849). Ansichten über die keltischen Alterthümer.
Schwetschke, Halle, p. 409: “auf das Volk selbst wenig Einfluss hatte”.
462
Daubner, F. (2014). Epirotische Identitäten nach der Konigszeit. In
hellenistischen Griechenland. Ed. K. Freitag and C. Michels, Böhlau
Verlag Köln Weimar, 99-124.
463
464
Kretschmer, P. (1896). Op.cit. p. 258.
465
Çabej, E. (1958). Problemi i autoktonisë së shqiptarëvet në dritën e
emravet të vënedeve. Buletin i Universitetit Shtetëror të Tiranës. Seria
Shk. shoq. 2, pp. 54-62. The same article can be found in Çabej, E.
(1976). SGJ IV, p. 143-151.
Epirote port city Bouthrotos, planted first with Greek and later
with Roman colonists, evolved into Butrint, according to the
rules of the Albanian, excluding any Greek, or Latin or Italian
mediation467.
The evolution of the names of these early Greek and Roman
colonies in Epirus into their modern forms, according to the
rules of Albanian, unambiguously indicates that even in the
coastal colonies of Epirus the ethnically native element
prevailed (per se or due to latter migrations from the hinterland
of Epirus) over the Greek and Roman stock. The inferred
preponderance of the native language and of the native element
in the Greek-Roman colonies in Epirus, despite foreign origins
of many members of higher class, rulers, traders and the elite
in general, speaks against any hypothesis of ethnic
Hellenization/Romanization of Epirus.
The British author Cross, while admitting the non-Greekness
of Epirotes at the Thucydides’ time, argues that afterwards
they were somehow ‘hellenized’ and became part of the Greek
world: “The time at which Epirus became recognised as a part
of Greece cannot be exactly defined, but we can confine it
within the fairly narrow limits… To Thucydides the Epirotes
are barbarians, but in the third century they are everywhere
recognized as Greeks”468, adding that this occurred “not until
the age of Alexander”469.
The geographical vicinity of Epirus to the Hellenic world
would naturally facilitate the Greek influence in the material
and spiritual life of Epirotes. But being within the sphere of the
466
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi Iliro-Shqiptare në Emrat e Vëndeve. Fan
467
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi...Ibid., pp. 62-64.
468
Cross, G.N. (2015). Op. cit., p. 3.
469
Cross, G.N. (2015). Op. cit., p. 4.
ancient Greek influence, just like the later centuries of long

Roman influence, does not imply ethnic assimilation of
Epirotes. An ethnic assimilation would have been reflected
above all in the loss of the language and the social structure of
their society. But in the ancient sources, both Greek and
Roman, there is no evidence or even any hint that Epirotes lost
their native language and learned Greek or Latin or that they
lost their tribal and state organization. Both these essential
elements of the Epirote ethnicity seem to have been preserved
throughout the Classical Antiquity.
The preservation of the tribal social structure not only during
the Hellenistic Age, but during the Roman rule as well, is
proven by the existence of numerous tribes and subtribes in
Epirus (their number amounting to more than 40 at certain
times). Thucydides shows that at the time of the Peloponnesian
War Chaonians and Thesprotioans, who participated in the
war, had a typical tribal social organization. At the time they
had no kings, but were led by rulers elected annually among
members of the ruler clans of these countries tribes470.
Even later, the Epirote Confederation didn’t recognize any
independence or relative independence of the cities, as was the
case in Greece. Tribes, not cities or geographic units,
continued to be the basic units of the Epirote state throughout
its ancient history471. This is confirmed by the solid
information on the social organization of Epirotes extracted
from Butrint inscriptions, which comprise decrees of the
Chaonian and Prasaibe Leagues, as well as inscriptions of
slave release.
The smallest unit of social organization of Prasaibe Epirotes
seems to have been the clan or subethnicon, a community of
470
Thucydides The Peloponnesian War II, 80, 5.
471
Sherk, R.K. (1990). Op. cit. p. 35.
200-500 people, comparable to the Vlach paréa or stáni472.

The Koinon of Prasaibes, as late as the 4th century CE, had still
a clan structure, comprising more than 90 ethnica and
subethnica. The discovery of the clan structure plainly
contradicts the hitherto prevailing opinion on the
‘hellenization’ related to the urbanization of Epirus.
During the Hellenistic Age, Epirus was urbanized at a
relatively high degree as it is attested by historical and
archaeological evidence and corroborated by the fact that, after
the victory on Macedonians in Pydna, the Roman consul,
Paulus Aemilius, punished Epirotes, as supporters of
Macedonia, by sacking and destroying 70 Epirote towns and
sending to Rome as slaves about 150 thousand Epirotes473.
Elaborating on the implications of the contents of the Prasaibe
inscriptions in Epirus, Frank Daubner pointed out: “These
structures contradict the theory that the urbanization of the 4th
and 3rd centuries was associated with some kind of
Hellenization of habits, customs and traditions. This seems in
no way to have been the case”474. All this reminds us of the
fact that often the study of ancient societies focuses on the
general aspects of these societies, on elites and their political
and military interactions, which are easier to investigate, rather
than on the basic level of the life of these societies. Historians
sometimes extrapolate to the people of a country in general,
the evidence on the way of life, manners, customs or even the
language spoken by elites: “What students of antiquity
472
Daubner, F. (2014). Epirotische Identitäten nach der Königszeit. In
hellenistischen Griechenland. Ed. K. Freitag and C. Michels, Böhlau
Verlag Köln Weimar, pp. 99- 124 (102).
473
Plutarch Aemilius 29, 3: “ὥστε ὥρᾳ μιᾷπεν τεκαίδεκα ἀνθρώπων
ἐξανδραποδισθῆναι μυριάδας, ἑβδομήκοντα δὲ πόλεις πορθηθῆναι”.
474
Daubner, F. (2014). Ibid., p. 114.
investigate as local is something different that is another aspect

of the culture of elites”475.
Differences also existed between the Molossian society
governed by the king and those of the kingless (abasileutoi)
Chaonians and Thesprotians. The smaller units of the social
organization bind together into bigger leagues as it appears in
an inscription from Passaron on the friendship treaty between
two Molossian subtribes476.
The ethnological status of a people or country cannot be
deduced from the culture, names, manners, protocols and even
the language of the royal families or the aristocracy of a
country; they may not necessarily represent its ethnicity, just
like the egg shell does not represents its contents.
Based on the evidence from the Buthrotus inscriptions,
Daubner has shown that Epirus maintained its own social and
family structures, which were “completely different from those
in the south, in the classical Greece”, although some
inscriptions suggest that the political elite of the country was
more receptive to the Greek family structure, probably as a
result of extraethnic marriages477.
Let’s also remember that Prasaibes, a Chaonian subtribe, with
Buthrotos their capital city, were more closely exposed to the
processes of Hellenization (and later Romanization). It is,
therefore, reasonable to imagine that the Hellenization and/or
Romanization in the interior and generally in the Epirus
countryside, which had no direct contact with the Greek
civilization, have been even weaker.
475
Daubner, F. (2014). Op.cit. p. 102: “Das, was die
Altertumswissenschaftler als das Lokale untersuchen, ist etwas
anderes, nämlich ein weiterer Aspekt der Elitenkultur”.
476
Daubner, F. (2014). Ibid. p. 104.
477
Daubner, F. (2014). Ibid. p. 116.
Contrary to the widespread but simplistic view that northern

tribes left the tribal organization to adopt progressive forms of
political organizations “from tribe to federation”, Daubner
shows that still at the height of the federalization of the Epirote
state even the federal officials were generally denoted by the
name, father’s name and the name of the subtribe to which
they belonged, strongly contradicting the idea of the
Hellenization of the social structure in Epirus. Notwithstanding
the cultural Hellenization that affected in various degrees
different parts of the country, during the whole antiquity,
Epirus maintained its inherited forms of the social
organization. It resisted the Greek urbanization of the type that
took place in South Italy and preserved the ancient tribal
structure of the social organization.
Dealing with Cabanes’ interpretation of the recurrence of the
local small tribes (clans) in the course of the history of the
ancient Epirus, as a result of the demand of the federalist
movement in Epirus for their revival, Daubner argues
convincingly that tribal organization never disappeared and the
‘recurrence’ is rather a reflection of the fact that these small
tribes survived during the antiquity, clearly witnessing against
ethnic Hellenization of the ancientEpirus.
With Daubner we have to agree that the recurrence of local
ethnica in the history of ancient Epirus indicates that the local
institutions didn’t disappear: “The smaller tribes or clans have
been and remain the elementary units, which the Epirote state
was composed of. In times of danger they united into larger
units and these in turn in even larger units. This explains the
increase of the number of ethnica with Epirote names in
ancient sources. Nevertheless, these smaller units retained their
freedom to choose their allies. And this sometimes might have
gone too far as is the case with Orestians that sometimes are
called Macedonian and other times Epirotes, or with

Athamanians that later were called Thessalians.”478
That the process of cultural Hellenization within the Greek
colonies of the Epirus’ coast was neither complete nor
irreversible may also be suggested by the already mentioned
fact that the Greek name of Ambracia, the most important
Greek colony in Epirus, disappeared in the Late Antiquity or
Early Dark Ages to be substituted by the earlier native name of
the town, Arachthos. As shown earlier, both the disappearance
of the Greek name of the city, Ambracia, the recurrence of the
original Epirote name, Arachthos, and its evolution to Arta in
the Early Middle Age, according to the rules of the Albanian
phonetics479 480, demonstrate how shallow the process of the
Hellenization has been even within the Greek colonies of
Epirus.
The Butrint inscriptions have made it clear “how little we care
to know about things that were off the interest of Polybius and
Livius” and “how cautious we must always be, when it comes
to attribute ancient players an identity”481.
478
Daubner, F. (2014). Ibid. p. 109: “Die kleinen Clans bzw Stämme waren
und blieben die elementaren Einheiten, aus denen sich der epirotische
“Staat” zusammensetzte. Diese verbanden sich in Zeiten der Gefahr zu
größeren Einheiten, diese wiederum zu noch größeren. Das erklärt die
Ballung von Ethnika bei epirotischen Namen. Jedoch behielten diese
kleinsten Einheiten ihre Wahlfreiheit, was Allianzen anging. Das
könnte so weit gehen wie etwa bei den Orestiern, die man bisweilen als
Makedonen, bisweilen als Epiroten antrifft oder bei den Athamanen,
die späterhin als Thessaler gelten können”.
479
Kretschmer, P. (1896). Op. cit. p. 258. Çabej, E. (1958). Buletin i
Universitetit Shtetëror të Tiranës. Seria Shk. shoq., 2, pp. 54-62.
480
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi Iliro-Shqiptare në Emrat e Vëndeve. Fan
481
Daubner, F. (2014). Ibid. p. 119: “wie wenig wir im allgemeinen über
Dinge zu wissen pflegen die ausserhalb des Interesses von Polybios
During the Hellenistic Age, the predominant form of political

organization of Greek poleis was sympolity (συμπολιτεία ‘joint
citizenship’), federations or leagues of a number of poleis.
Notwithstanding the immediate proximity to Greece and the
presence of Greek colonies in the Ionian coast of Epirus,
unlike Macedonians, Epirote tribes never joined any of the
earlier or later major (Hellenic, Delian, Corinthian and
Peloponnesian), or minor (Achaean, Aetolian, Arcadian,
Italiote) Greek leagues. By the 4th century BC Epirote tribes
founded their own federation, known as The Epirote League
(Κοινὸν Ἀπειρωτᾶν).
While beginning from the 7th century BC the city state became
the general form of social organization in the ancient Greece,
in Epirus, even during the Molossian monarchy until the
Roman conquest, Epirote tribes maintained the status of the
constitutional hereditary or non-hereditary monarchies, where
the royal power was restrained by the annually elected
counsels and general assemblies, which is “almost unexampled
in the Greek world”482.
Even in the Molossian federation, the part of Epirus most
closely related to the Greek world, owing to the immediate
contacts to the ‘hellenization’ and the efforts of the Aeacide
royal family, the designation of officials in the 4th century BC
Molossian inscriptions of Dodona is based not on the name of
the place, as it is common for officials (damiurgoi and
synarchontes) in inscriptions found in Greece, but on the name
of the tribe which they belong to, reflecting the preservation of
the ancient Epirote tribal society. From these inscriptions we
und Livius liegen” and “wie vorsichtig wir immer wieder müssen sein,
wenn es darum geht, den antiken Akteuren eine Identität
zuzuschrieben”.
482
Cross, G.N. (2015, reprint of 1932edition). Op. cit. p. 17.
learn about some less known and even unknown Molossian

subtribes, such as Arktanes (Άρκτᾶνες), Kelaithes (Κέλαιϑες),
Peiales (Πέιαλες), Omphales (Ομφαλες), Amymnes (Ἄμυμνοι),
Genoaioi (Γενοαιοι), Ethnestes (Εϑνεστες), Onopernes
(Ὀνοπέρνες), Phylatoi (Φυλατοι), etc.483.
As P. Cabanes remarks, neither the founding of kingdoms,
including the Pyrrhus kingdom, nor the indirect influence of
the Greek world and direct contact with the Greek colonies did
affect the tribal system in Epirus, which survived and thrived
throughout the republican era until the 1st cetury BC: “What
seems to be certain is the royal authority didn’t lead to
disappearance of the tribal system, or if you prefer of this
organization in small ethnic communities”484.
c. The social position of women: stark contrast between

Epirus and Greece
In city-states of ancient Greece, in general, the woman was in

an inferior social position485, destined to take care of
household and deprived of participation in the social, public
and political life. She had to live under the protection of her
husband or father or another related male individual. In Athens
483
Giovannini, A. (1971). Untersuchungen über die Natur und die Anfänge
der bundesstaatlichen Sympolitie in Griechenland, vol. 33.
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Gottingen, pp. 94-95.
484
Cabanes, P. (1976). L'Épire, de la mort de Pyrrhos à la conquête
romaine (272-167) av. J.C. Presses Univ. Franche-Comté, p. 134: “Ce
qui parâit assuré, c’est que l’autorité royale n’a pas fait disparâitre le
système tribal, ou si l’on préfère cette organisation en petites
communautés ethniques”.
485
New York, Oxford University Press. p. 12.
women had to endure an oppressing social environment and

had no right of inheritance; even when it was necessary to
witness in court, they had to be represented by other men.
By contrast, women enjoyed a higher social status in the
Epirote society. They could own land, receive citizenship,
represent themselves (without a guardian) in the court once
they came of age; they could own, buy, sell or free their slaves.
In addition, women in Epirus could make decisions on their
own and become the head of the family, without having men
as their guard. Epirite women owned slaves and had the right
to free them. This status is revealed in the Molossi voting
(370-368 B.C.) engraved in Dodona, with which a woman
named Philista, wife of Antimachos from Arronos, and her
children are granted “politeia” (i.e. full citizenship)486,
similarly to Illyria and Macedonia. Greek students themselves
admit the social status of women in Epirus has been “more
prominent than in central and southern Greece”487.
486
Mpalaska, E., Oikonomou, A. and Stylios, C. Women in Epirus and
their social status from ancient to modern times. Community Initiative
Programme. Interreg IIIA Greece-Italy 2000-2006.
http://www.womanway.eu/studies/files/social_teiep_en.pdf.
Retrieved: Oct. 9, 2015.
487
Mpalaska, E., Oikonomou, A. and Stylios, C. Ibid.
488
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 9: “τούτου δ᾽ ἦν θυγατριδῆ ἡ Φιλίππου μήτηρ
τοῦ Ἀμύντου Εὐρυδίκη, Σίρρα δὲ θυγάτηρ”.
489
Plutarch, Moralia 14 b-c.
490
491
Justin Epitomé Historiarum Philippicarum XXVIII 1/2: (1, 1):
“Olympias, Pyrri Epirotae regis filia, amisso marito eo demque
germano fratre Alexandro cum tutelam filiorum ex eo susceptorum,
Pyrri et Ptolomei, regnique administrationem in se recepisset”.
Eurydice was the daughter’s daughter of the Illyrian king

Sirras488. She married the king of Macedonia Amyntas II and
played an unprecedented political role in the history of
Macedonia. Her son Philip II, the king of Macedonia was
father of Alexander the Great. Because of her Illyrian origin,
Plutarch489 calls Eurydice “thrice barbarian”, meaning very
barbarian.
Alexander the Great’s mother, Olympias, as well, represents
an outstanding example of the exceptional social role women
played and the rights they enjoyed in Epirus. She was daughter
of the Molossian king Neoptolemus I and her mother was an
Epirote from Chaonia490. Olympias was a highly educated
woman for the time, with interests in religion, cults, art,
politics, etc. As queen consort, she played an active role in the
politics of the Macedonian kingdom under her husband Philip
II and under Alexander the Great. She also served as regent of
her nephew Neoptolemus II in Epirus but, competing with
Cassander, she failed in her attempt to become the queen of
Macedonia.
Similarly, the daughter of Pyrrhus of Epirus, Olympias, after
the death of her husband took over the rule of the Epirote
kingdom as regent. Marcus Junianus Justinus, a Roman
historian of the 2nd century CE, recounts: “When Olympias,
daughter of Pyrrhus king of Epirus, had lost her husband
Alexander, who was also her brother, she took upon herself the
guardianship of her sons Pyrrhus and Ptolemy, whom she had

by him, and the administration of the kingdom”491.
It is proposed that an inscription for slave release found in
Phoinike shows that Epirote women were not only entitled to
witness in the court, but they might have also been employed
in the Chaonian administration492. Such level of emancipation
of the women was inconceivable and strange to ancient Greek
mentality.
The stark contrast between the roles of women in Epirus and
ancient Greece reminds us of the prominent role of women in
the Illyrian society. “Illyrian women had an extremely high
position. Illyrian women enjoyed full rights”493 and
Liburnians, according to Pseudo-Skylax, were ruled by
women494. Another outstanding example of the high degree of
emancipation of Illyrian women is the rise to power of Teuta,
the queen of the kingdom of Ardiaei, after the death of her
husband, Agron, in the 3rd century BC.
492
Drini, F. (2007/2008). Archontes and synarchontes en Epire et en Illyrie
du sud. Iliria XXXIII, pp. 194-197.
493
Stadtmüller, G. (1941). Forschungen… p. 66: ”Bei den Illyriern
dagegen nahm die Frau eine außerordentlich hohe Stellung ein. Die
illyrische Frau genoß völlige Gleichberechtigung”.
494
Pseudo-Skylax: Volume 1 of Geographi graeci minores. Ed. K. Müller.
Firmin-Didot, Paris, 1882, p. 27: “These are ruled by women and the
women are free from men, and they mingle with their own slaves and
with the men of the nearby territory” (Οὗτοι γυναικοκρατοῦνται καὶ
εἰσὶν αἱ γυναῖκες ἀνδρῶν ἐλευθέρων· μίσγονται δὲ τοῖς ἑαυτῶν
δούλοις καὶ τοῖς πλησιοχώροις ἀνδράσι).
d. Epirotes preserved their belief system
While the elites of the Epirote society and Epirote inhabitants

of the Greek colonies have adopted various aspects of the
Greek system of beliefs and gods of the Greek pantheon, we
lack the information necessary to assess the extent to which the
influence of the Greek culture and life affected the bulk of the
Epirote population in countryside.
In regard to the names of Greek gods in Epirote inscriptions, it
is necessary to bear in mind that those inscriptions are not
representative of the Epirote populations. The geography of
these inscriptions shows that they belong to the elite of Greek
colonies and Epirote elites, royals, officials, businesmen, etc.,
while certainly the overwhelming majority of Epirotes left no
funerary inscriptions.
The appearance of names of Greek deities in Epirote
inscriptions is not unexpected, in view of the presence of
Greek colonies in the Epirus coast, the presence of the Dodona
oracle regularly visited by Greeks, the intensive trade with
Greece and other cultural-religious contacts between the two
countries.
Let’s remember that Greeks themselves adopted a number of
gods from other peoples, but this didn’t mark the end of their
belief system. According to Herodotus, names of almost all the
gods of the Greek pantheon were borrowed from Egyptians495.
Ancient inscriptions discovered in Greece also show that they
also worshipped foreign, Phoenician, Egyptian and even
Mesopotamian gods. Thus, Adonis was borrowed from
Phoenicians, Aphrodite from Phoenicians and other Semitic
495
Herodotus The Histories II, 50, 1 and 2.
peoples496, Apollo - from Anatolian (Hittite/Lydian/Trojan)

sources497. From neighboring ancient Balkan peoples they
borrowed Dionysius and Ares from Thracians498 499 and Dione,
probably, from Epirotes500.
Does this entire means that the Greek pantheon was
egyptianized or barbarized? Absolutely not.
For explaining the appearance of Greek gods in Epirus
inscriptions, it may be useful to draw a historical parallel with
the practice of the interpretatio graeca of foreign Near-Eastern
deities. Ancient Greeks were accustomed to worship foreign
near-Eastern and Egyptian gods that they identified them with
their own gods. Thus, they identified Zeus with Amun,
Aphrodite with Ichtar, Demeter with Isis, etc. It is not unlikely
that a similar interpretatio epirotica developed among
Epirotes, which enabled them to worship their own deities
under the Greek names.
This inference seems to be corroborated by laconic
information provided by the Greece’s greatest lexicographer,
Hesychius, towards the 5-6th century CE. In his Lexikon
Hesychius of Alexandria (Ἡσύχιος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς) provides a
496
Pausanias, Description of Greece I, 14, 7: “the first men to establish her
cult were the Assyrians, after the Assyrians the Paphians of Cyprus and
the Phoenicians who live at Ascalon in Palestine”.
497
van der Toorn, K., Becking, B. and van der Horst, P.W. (1999).
Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Brill, Leiden-Boston-
Köln, p. 74. Authors think that none of the hypotheses on the origin of
the cult and name of Apollo is validated but add: “there is no doubt
that he was of non-Greek origin.”.
498
Homer Iliad XIII, 301: “ἕσπετο, ὅς τ᾽ ἐφόβησε ταλάφρονά περ
πολεμιστήν:
τὼμὲν ἄρ᾽ ἐκ Θρῄκης Ἐφύρους μέτα θωρήσσεσθον”.
499
Homer Odyssey
500
Çabej, N. (2014). Në gjurmët e …Op. cit. pp. 237-238.
short note about the Epirote god Dei patyros (Δειπάτυρος)501

worshipped by the north-eastern Epirote tribe of
Tymphaei（Τυμφαῖοι). In Hesychius’ interpretation Dei
patyros, is the Epirote homologue/analogue of Zeus, the king
of the Greek gods. The name Dei patyros is directly derived
from the PIE *Dyeus patēr “Sky Father”, just like sovereign
gods of other Indo-European pantheons (Old Indian Dyaus
Pita, Greek Zeus, Latin Iupiter (< Ioupater<*Dyēu-pəter),
Proto-Germanic *Tîwaz, etc.
The information is relevant not only to the issue of the ethnic
affiliation of Epirotes. It indicates the resilience of belief
system of Epirotes, not only to the Greek and Roman religions
but also to Christianity (let’s emphasize, the information on the
native Epirote god Dei patyros comes at least 4-5 centuries
after the spread of the Christianity and 1-2 centuries after the
emperor Constantine the Great recognized it as the official
religion of the Roman Empire).
The Epirote tribe of Tymphaei that worshipped Dei patyros
(“father of Gods”) inhabited the north-eastern rugged region of
the Pindus range502. The fact that the tribe in the 5-6th century
CE was still adhering to the ‘pagan’ Dei patyros, their own
king of gods, clearly distinct from the Greek and Roman
homologues, after 10 centuries of ‘Hellenizing’ influence of
Greek colonies in the Epirus coast and 5 centuries of
Romanization influence under the Roman rule, allows us to
confidently say that in the 5-6th century CE the Epirote
pantheon was still alive to a certain degree, in at least a part of
Epirus. This conclusion seems to be corroborated by the
evidence on the survival of the Dodona oracle at least until the
501
Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon. p. 380.
502
Strabo Geography VII, 7. 8.
end of the 4th century (393 CE)503. Philostratus the Elder says
that the oracle was still in service in the 3rd century CE504 and,
according to J.H. Philpot, the oracle was intact until the middle
of the 4th century505. The holy oak seems to have been cut
sometime by the beginning of the 5th century, after the emperor
Theodosius issued the new edict banning all pagan religion,
rituals and celebrations and closed pagan temples and the
Christianity became the exclusive religion of the Roman
Empire.
The oak oracle in Dodona was a preHellenic oracle, founded
about 3 thousnad years ago. It goes without saying that
Dodona oracle was founded not by Greeks but by Pelasgians
Homer and other Greek authors explicitly admitted it 506 507 508.
For many centuries since its founding, the oak oracle of
Dodona was left intact as a natural barbarian oracle. However,
among spiritually oriented Greeks it gained popularity from
the 6th century BC, as an exotic conveyor of the divine wisdom
and advice.
503
Brockman, N. (2011). Encyclopedia of Sacred Places I. Sec. ed. ABC-
CLIO, p. 143.
504
Philostratus the Elder Imagines, II, 33.
505
Philpot, J.H. (1988). The Sacred Tree: The Tree in Religion and Myth.
MacMillan and Co. London, p. 97.
506
Homer, Iliad XVI, lines 233-235.
507
508
Herodotus The Histories II, 52, 3.
509
Nagy, G. (1992). Greek Mythology and Poetics. Cornell University
Press, p. 196.
According to N.G.L. Hammond, initially the oak oracle of

Dodona was worshipped and visited from Epirotes and other
northern tribes (Illyrians), but southern tribes (Greeks) began
to visit the oracle only from the 7th century, as it is
demonstrated by the discovery of Greek dedications and
objects at Dodona.
The oak oracle was in existence since about 2000 BC509, i.e. at
least 13 centuries before becoming a destination for Greek
religious pilgrims. In the Indo-European mythology the oak
has been identified with the thunderbolt god or with the tree
where he dwelt. This relation may be derived from an old
human observation on the thunderbolts selectively striking
oaks. According to a statistics, oaks representing 11 percent of
mountain trees of a region attracted 56 percent of the total
lightning strikes510. It is believed that this knowledge led to the
association of the thunderbolt god with the oak511.
In contrast to Greek oracles, such as those of Delphi and
Boeotian Trophonius, the priests of the Dodona oracle used to
sleep on the ground with unwashed feet. The holy oak used the
language of its rustling leaves to give its prophetic divine
utterances, which were interpreted by priestesses in a non-
Greek, foreign language, again in contrast with the Greek
oracles. Architecture entered Dodona only in the 4th century
BC, when a wall was built there to encircle the oak and a small
510
Nagy, G. (1992). Greek Mythology and Poetics. Cornell University
Press, p. 196.
511
The Albanian god of thunderbolt, Perëndi, a homologue of the Baltic-
Old Prussian god Perkunas (Pērkons, Perkūns) and Slavic Perun, is
still surviving in their popular belief of some regions of Albania. The
spheric flint rocks found frequently in rocky places are considered to
be projectiles fired by Perendi during the rain storms.
temple was built at the site and Pyrrhus of Epirus by the

beginning of the 3rd century BC built there a theater.
The ancient Greeks had mixed feelings about Dodona. On the
one hand, they respected it as a prestigious divine oracle and,
on the other, they considered it a barbarian oracle. Ancient
Greeks have shown more respect and veneration for their own
authentic temples and oracles. Despite centuries of revering it
as a holy site, they used to associate Dodona with the
barbarianness of its owners, as proven by the destruction of the
Dodona by Etolian Greeks in the 3rd century BC.
In 219 BC Dorimachus, the Strategus of Aetolians, summoned
his forces and attacked Epirus. During this invasion “having
come to Dodona he burnt the colonnades, destroyed the sacred
offerings, and even demolished the sacred building”512.
Soon thereafter, Philip V, the king of Macedonia, with an army
of about 7 thousand soldiers, supported by Scerdilaidas’
Illyrians, Epirots and Acarnanians513, avenged for the
destruction of the Macedonian city of Dium and demolition of
the temples at Dodona, by razing to the ground Thermium, the
most important city in Aetolia and wrote on the walls of the
city: “Seest thou how far the bolt divine hath sped?”514.
The Epirote League, helped by the Macedonian king Philip V,
by using Aetolian booty and loot, immediately reconstructed
the Dodona temples. But, unfortunately, only 51 years later, in
168 BC Dodona had to undergo another ferocious destruction,
this time by conquering Romans during the devastating
campaign of Paulus Aemilius.
512
Polybius The Histories IV, 67, 4: “παραγενόμενος δὲ πρὸς τὸ περὶ
Δωδώνην ἱερὸν τάς τε στοὰς ἐνέπρησε καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ἀναθημάτων
διέφθειρε, κατέσκαψε δὲ καὶ τὴν ἱερὰν οἰκίαν”.
513
Polybius Ibid. V, 3, 3, and V, 7, 11.
514
Polybius Ibid. V, 9, 5.
Destruction of Dodona temples by Greeks is in stark contrast

not only with care, reverance and love they showed toward
Delphi and other Greek oracles, but also with the will of
Epirotes and Macedonians to immediately rebuild the temples
of Dodona. The destruction of Dodona by Greeks seems to be
an expression of the hatred and malice the view of the
successful barbarian rival oracle stimulated.
e. Epirote states were different from Hellenic states
Despite the immediate neighborhood to the Greek world, the

organization of the Epirote state(s) remained essentially
different from city states of the ancient Greece. Chaonians and
Thesprotians most of the time had no kings and were governed
by prostatae elected biannually among the leading clans. Even
during the Molossian monarchy, the rest of the Epirote tribes,
until the Roman conquest, remained in the status of the
constitutional hereditary or non-hereditary monarchy, where
the royal power was limited by the annually elected counsels
and general assemblies, a situation which is “almost
unexampled in the Greek world”515.
The power of the Epirote kings was limited and on the
inauguration day they had to swear to obey the common laws
of the country and the people swore to abide by the laws516.
Davies has pointed out that “the ways in which the
Molossoi/Epeirotes ran their koinon were so far removed from
the centralized polis systems on which Aristotle concentrated
515
Cross, G.N. (1932; 2014 edition). Epirus. Cambridge University Press,
p. 17.
516
Plutarch Pyrrhus 5, 2: “τὴν βασιλείαν διαφυλάξειν κατὰ τοὺς νόμους”.
overwhelmingly in his Politics”517. And further he adds “the

Molossians were nowhere near being a participatory
democracy on an Athenian or an Argive model”518.
Minting of coins with the legend ΑΠΕΙΡΩΤΑΝ around 330 BC
up to 232 BC, instead of the earlier ΜΟΛΟΣΣΩΝ coins minted
by the Molossian koinon, indicates that during this time
interval the state of Epirus was organized as a federation of the
constituent tribes. However, even before, as well as after 232
BC, under the republican government, the country maintained
its structure with the tribe being “probably the definitive
organization unit” with a governing body of tribal
representatives along the king and the royal family. Even
Pyrrhus, the most powerful king in the country’s history
“adhered strictly to the political ‘rules of game’ established for
a monarch of a federal state”519 and was compelled to make
concessions to the federal structure520.
The strong restriction of the king’s power in Epirus is reflected
in the following Plutarch’s passage: “It was customary for the
kings, after sacrificing to Zeus Areius at Passaro, a place in the
Molossian land, to exchange solemn oaths with the Epeirots,
517
Davies, J.K. (2002). A Wholly Non-Aristotelian Universe: The Molossians
as Ethnos, State, and Monarchy. In Alternatives to Athens.... p. 237.
518
Davies, J.K. (2002). Ibid. p. 255.
519
Funke, S. (2000). Ἄπειρος 317-272 BC: The Struggle of the Diadochi
and the Political Structure of the Federation. In Güterbegriff und
Handlungstheorie, part 36 of Studia Hellenistica. Ed L. Mooren.
Peeters Publishers, p. 119.
520
Funke, S. (2000). Ibid., p. 117.
the kings swearing to rule according to the laws, and the

people to maintain the kingdom according to the laws.”521.
All the above evidence on the language, social organization,
belief system and the role of women in society, set ancient
Epirotes apart from the Greek and supports their ethnic
affiliation with Illyrians. By rewording the famous Mommsen
expression about Epirotes one might say “Epirotes are
Albanian Tosks of our time”.
521
Plutarch l Pyrhus, 5,2: ”εἰώθεισαν οἱ βασιλεῖς ἐν Πασσαρῶνι, χωρίῳ τῆς
Μολοττίδος, Ἀρείῳ Διί: θύσαντες ὁρκωμοτεῖν τοῖς Ἠπειρώταις καὶ
ὁρκίζειν, αὐτοὶ μὲν ἄρξειν κατὰ τοὺς νόμους, ἐκείνους δὲ τὴν
βασιλείαν διαφυλάξειν κατὰ τοὺς νόμους”.
Chapter IV
Albanian-Epirote linguistic
relationship
Going back from the Known to the Unknown
Ample historical, linguistic and other evidence presented in the

previous chapters indicates that Epirus was a non-Greek
territory; Epirotes were foreigners or “barbarians” as defined
by ancient Greek authors, and remained such during the whole
period of Classical Antiquity. However, the evidence that
Epirotes were not Greeks and that they were not ‘hellenized’,
doesn’t says anything about their ethnic identity.
Now the question arises: Were Epirotes “the Albanians of
antiquity”522, as Theodor Mommsen defined them?
Based on the known ancient sources, the languages spoken in
the ancient historical Balkans have been Greek, Illyrian,
Macedonian, Thracian/Dacian (linguists are divided on
whether Thracian and Dacian are two separate languages or
whether the Dacian is a Thracian dialect) and, in the
Hellenistic Age also Pelasgian, still spoken in geographical
pockets.
There is no evidence or even hint on the existence of a separate
“Epirote language”, and generally linguists do not claim such a
language did ever exist. Examination of ancient Greek sources
excludes the possibility of Greek having been the language of
the Epirote people and Greek lexicographer, Hesychius, in his
522
Buchhandlung, Leipzig, p. 257.
Lexicon of ancient Greek, provides a considerable Macedonian

words but a very small number of Epirote words that are not
related to ancient Greek, indicating that the ‘Epirote’ language
was a separate and different from Greek.
Having excluded Greek as language spoken in Epirus, now we
may further restrict our search for the language ancient
Epirotes spoke. On geographical grounds, or spatial
discontinuity, we may exclude the Thracian or the Dacian.
Some historical evidence and some minimal lexical
correspondences523 point to a relationship of the Epirote
language with the ancient Macedonian. As mentioned earlier,
Strabo informs us of some important similarities between
Epirotes and Macedonians in “the mode of cutting their hair,
their language, the use of the chlamys, and similar things in
which they resemble the Macedonians; some of them,
however, speak two languages.”524.
Hesychius in his Lexicon, in the 5-6th century CE, provides a
relatively large number of Macedonian words and a very small
number of Epirote words, clearly implying that Epirote and
Macedonian were two different languages. This makes
possible for us to further restrict the scope of our search to the
language of Ilyrians.
In this chapter I will present further geographical, historical,
linguistic, archaeological, ethnographical and cultural
evidence, both from the past and present, indicating the that
Epirotes were Illyrians or ancestors of Albanians.
523
Blažek, V. (2005). Paleobalkanian Languages: Hellenic languages.
Sborník Prací Filozofické Fakulty Brnĕnské Univerzity. 10, 15-33.
524
Strabo, Geography VII, 7, 8: “ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ σύμπασαν τὴν μέχρι
Κορκύρας Μακεδονίαν προσαγορεύουσιν, αἰτιολογοῦντες ἅμα ὅτι καὶ
κουρᾷ καὶ διαλέκτῳ καὶ χλαμύδικαὶ ἄλλοις τοιούτοις χρῶνται
παραπλησίως: ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ δίγλωττοί εἰσι”.
IV Albanian-Epirote linguistic relationship 177
1. Lexical evidence on the ‘Epirote’ language
A reliable criterion for determining the affiliation of the

language spoken by Epirotes would be to see which of the
ancient/modern languages of Balkans can best explain or has
the highest potential of explaining the small number of Epirote
words attested in the ancient sources. Owing to the work of a
large number of scholars, now we know that Illyrian/Albanian
has been by far the most helpful in this regard.
Below I am listing a number of the Epirote words attested in
the Hesychius’ Lexicon and some other ancient sources and
the proposed explanations. For an extended discussion see in
the section Epirote-Albanian lexical correspondences, chapter
II.
barden (βαρδἥν), βαρδἥν τὸ βιάζεσϑαι γυναίκας Ἀμπρακιώται

‘pregnant woman in Ambraciotes’ appears in Hesychius’
Lexicon525. The word is inherited in Albanian words bratë,
mbratë ‘pregnant’, which derives from the Illyrian *bhordịō
‘impregnate, make pregnant, fecund’526.
brokalietai (μπροκαλιέται) ‘animal or child roar’ is a word of
the new Greek in Epirus. It is inherited in Albanian and has
almost the same meaning as Albanian bryleket/bërleket ‘to
bellow’527
daksa (δάξα, Ἠπειρωται ϑάλασα) is defined in Hesychius’
Lexikon as an Epirote word, which he translated into Greek
525
526
Çabej, E. (1976). SE II, p. 173-174.
527
Çabej, E. (1976). SE II. p. 211.
thalassa (ϑάλασα) ‘sea’528. The Epirote word is inherited in

Albanian det ‘sea’529.
dei is the Epirote word for ‘god’530 The word is inherited in the
Albanian zot (PIE *die̅u > *dźie̅u > zot) ‘god’, which,
according to Henrik Barić, derives from the IE diēu-t ‘sky’531.
dramis (δράμιξ) ‘bread’ Related to the Albanian dromcë
‘crumbs’532.
gnosco (γνώσκω) is the Epirote word for to know. It is
identical to the inherited Illyrian word *gnēskō 533 and the
Albanian njoh ‘I know’, via the regular ancient transitions
sk>h and gn>nj534.
manu (μάνυ) ‘small’535. The word is an Epirote-Albanian
concordance536.
pelio/pelia (πέλιος/πελία) ‘old man/old woman’. This Epirote
word appears to Strabo537. It is inherited in Albanian
plak/plakë, which derives from the Illyrian*pelak 538 539. The
Epirote/Albanian word existed in the same form pelia ‘old
man’in the ancient Macedonian540.
Peligones were the elders (magistrates). Johann Georg von
Hahn related the Epirote word with the Albanian plak ‘old
528
Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon (1867). Op. cit., p. 372.
529
von Xylander J. R. (1835). Die Sprache der Albanesen oder
Schkipetaren. Andreáische Buchhandlung, Frankfurt am Main, p. 277.
530
Hesychii Alexandrini. Op. cit., p. 380.
531
Orel, V. (1998). Albanian Etym. Op. cit. p. 526.
532
533
534
535
Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon. (1867). Op. cit. p. 1012.
536
Çabej, E. (2014). S. Etimologjike V. f. 281.
537
Strabo Geography VII. Fragments, 1a and 1b.
538
Demiraj, B (1999-2000). Inherited ...Op. cit.
539
Orel, V. (1998). Op. cit. p. 332.
540
Blažek, V. (2005). Op. cit.
man’541. The word is inherited in the Albanian institution of

pleqësia “Elders of the village”.
ur – ‘guard’. Attested in Strabo’s Geography542 in the form of
the compound word tomarouroi. The Epirote word is inherited
in Albanian noun ro-je derived from the verb ru-aj (< ruonio <
*uronio) ‘guard, watch, observe’543.
*aspetos.This word appears in Plutarch’s Pyrrhus, when he
says that in the native language (ἐπιχωρίῳ φωνῇ) of
Molossians, Achilles was called aspetos544.
The origin of the Epirote word became a bone of contention.
Most linguists attempted to prove that this epithet is more
plausibly explained by the Greek word ἄσπετος unspeakable,
541
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Albanesische Studien. pp. 241-242.
542
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 12: ““tomarouroi,” the equivalent of
“tomarophylakes.” (τομούρους δ᾽ εἰρῆσθαι ἐπιτετμημένως8 οἷον
τομαροφύλακας.). “And it is after the Tomarus, people say, that those
whom the poet calls interpreters of Zeus - whom he also calls “men
with feet unwashen, men who sleep upon the ground” - were called
“tomouroi …”For it is better, they argue, to write “tomouroi” than
“themistes”; at any rate, nowhere in the poet are the oracles called
“themistes…and the people have been called “tomouroi” because
“tomouroi” is a contraction of “tomarouroi,” the equivalent of
543
544
Plutarch Pyrhus 1, 2: “Ἀχιλλεὺς ἐν Ἠπείρῳ τιμὰς ἰσοθέους ἔσχεν,
Ἄσπετος ἐπιχωρίῳ φωνῇ προσαγορευόμενος” (Achilles also obtained
divine honours in Epeirus, under the native name of Aspetus).
545
Pape, W. (1914). Handwörterbuch der griechischen Sprache. 3.
Auflage, Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig, p. 373.
unspeakably great, endless’545. But some scholar’s related

aspetos to the Albanian word i shpejtë ‘swift, speedy, rapid,
quick’. In support of the latter come two arguments. Firstly,
that Homer uses twice the same epithet “swift-footed” “πόδας
ὠκὺς “for Achilles, in the line 84 of the first song of Iliad: “In
answer to him spoke swift-footed Achilles”546 and line 58
“among them arose and spoke swift-footed Achilles”547, which
corresponds to his Molossian nickname aspetos. Secondly,
because Plutarch unequivocally says that Achilles was called
aspetos in the native language (ἐπιχωρίῳ φωνῇ), which seems
to exclude Greek, for otherwise the Greek author would not
bother to emphasize the ‘native language’. The Albanian
adjective i shpejtë may be derived from the IE *spe- just like
its cognates in Lithuanian spėti fast, to be able’, Old High
German spuoten ‘to haste’ and the English speedy548.
2. Some personal names and suffixes of Epirote

tribe names preserved in Albanian
Despite the centuries of Greek cultural influence, in Epirote

inscriptions and in ancient sources often appear personal
names that clearly sound non-Greek, but Illyrian such as Anna,
Annyla, Derdas, Amyntas, Appoitas, Dazus, Menoitas,
546
Homer Iliad, 1.84: “Τὸν δ΄ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς
Ἀχιλλεύς”.
547
Homer Iliad, 1.58: “τοῖσι δ᾽ ἀνιστάμενος μετέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς:
548
548
Admatos, Sabyrtios, Sabylinthus (Σαβύλινθος), including

names of the Epirote kings Tharyps, Arrybas and Pyrrhus.
Even in our time, Albanians living on both sides of the ancient
Epirus (Republic of Albania and Republic of Greece) use a
number of ancient Epirote-Illyrian personal names such as
Balil < Bardyl, Bato < Bato, Toto < Teuto, Hodo < Audat, Dilo
(patronymic) < Dailo, Tana < Teutana, etc. The Illyrian female
personal name Bikerna (the name of the Illyrian- Epirote
goddess of beauty)549 is the name of the village Pikernes (now
Piqeras) in the coast of the South Albania550.
In Albanesische Studien (1854) von Hahn noticed that Illyrians
used the suffix -at to form tribe names, sucha as Delmatae
from dalm/delm551 Labeates552, Autariatae553, which is still
used in Albanian as a ‘patronymic ending’ or even to indicate
the town of origin of a person, Ulciniates (from Ulcin). Katičić
added more to the list of such word-formations in Illyrian:
Apsortes from Apsoros; Alutae from Albona; Curictae from
Curicum; Flanates from Flanona; Neditae from Nedinum;
Tariotae from Tariona554. P. Kretschmer observed that the
suffix -otes/-ates is characteristic for Epirote tribe names and
personal names (Thesprotoi, Apodotoi, Boiotoi, Labeat,
Phoinatos, Kladiatos, Doesstos, Pleuratus, Audata, etc.), but
not for the Greek555.
549
Çabej, N. (2014). Në Gjurmët e Perëndive dhe Mitologjemave Ilire. Fan
550
Leake, W.M. (1835). Travels in Northern Greece I. Rodwell, London, p.
79.
551
von Hahn, J. G. (1854). Albanaesische Studien I. F. Mauke, Jena, p. 232.
552
von Hahn, J. G. (1854). Ibid., p. 235.
553
von Hahn, J. G. (1854). Ibid., p. 266.
554
Katičić R. (1976). Ancient Languages of the Balkans. Ed. W. Winter,
Mouton & Co., The Hague, p. 176.
555
Kretschmer, P. (1896). Einleitung…Op. cit. p. 257.
This suffix is still preserved in Albanian and it is very

productive in formation of village names from personal or
family names, especially in the southwestern part of Albania,
Labëria and Çamëria, territories of the ancient Epirus vetus. At
least 40 village names are formed by personal or other names
with the suffix -at in this region of Albania556. In North
Albania in this group of village names belong Perlat and
Rromanat (Durrës County), Mullet, Sauqet (Tiranë county),
Qerret, Kodovjat (Elbasan county), Brret (Krujë county),
Kashnjet, Kallmet (Lezhë county), Kastrat and Qerret
(Shkodër County), etc.
The suffix -at is common in formation of the names of
inhabitants of various villages/towns, such as konispolat (from
Konispol), vlonjat (from Vlonë/Vlorë), kardhiqot (from
Kardhiq), Artjot (from Arta), etc
Norbert Jokl observed a concordance between the Illyrian and
Albanian in the formation with the suffix -as of the names of
the inhabitants of particular places, such as e.g. beratas
(inhabitant of Berat), bushatas (inhabitant of Bushat),
tepelenas (inhabitant of Tepelene) as well as in the formation
of the so-called agent nouns, nomina agentis, like mullis
556
Brailat, Dishat, Gormat, Janicat, Llupsat, Kalcat, Komat, Llazat,
Markat, Ninat, Qesarat, Sirakat, Tatzat, Vagalat, Vllahat (Sarandë
district), Bularat, Dhoksat, Gjat, Gjergucat, Lazarat, Linat, Plesat,
Qestorat, Radat, Terihat, Zervat, Zhulat, (Gjirokastër district), Luzat,
Progonat (in Tepelenë district), Fushë Brrat, Kallarat, Dukat, Mekat,
Ceprat (in Vlorë county), Markat (in Përmet district) and, beyond
Albania’s boundaries, in Greece Deskat (grecized Deskati in Grevena
prefecture, Greece), Filat (grecized form Filiates), Pilkat, Radat,
Sharat.
(miller), gjakës (killer for revenge), etc. in which he thinks is

used the IE suffix -t- expanded with -io- , which in other
languages, such as the Slavic and Greek may be only found as
traces. This suffix is very comon in the region of Çamëria:
Dermishas, Pllakas, Dhivras, Janicatas, Ninatas, etc. (in the
territory of the Republic of Albania), Furkas, Arvenicas,
Dardhas, Dushkas, Karbunaras, Shëmrizas, Vilas, Vreshtas,
etc. (in the territory of the Republic of Greece).
3. Evolution of ancient city names in Epirus

Place names evolve over time and the place names of ancient
Epirus make no exception. The evolution of Epirote place
names is determined by the inhabitants of Epirus following the
phonetic rules of the language they spoke. The present
morphology of these names shows the unmistakable earmarks
of the language that carved their present forms of the names of
the Epirote cities and settlements. Below is shown list of
names of ancient Epirote cities and their evolution to their
present forms.
Amonicë is a village in Vlorë County, Albania. The name

derives from ancient Amantia, the capital city of the
Illyrian/Epirote tribe of Amantini. Evolution of the name
followed rules of Albanian557.
Arta is a city in Epirus, Republic of Greece. The ancient name
was Arachthos. The evolution of the city name followed the
phonetic rules of Albanian558 559 560.
557
Noli, Tiranë. p. 5-8.
558
Kretschmer, P. (1896). Einleitung… Op. cit., p. 258.
Baikaj (village in Saranda district, Albania). The ancient name

was Baiake . The name of the settlement is related to the well
known form Phaiake (Φαίακες). Its localization in the island
of Corfou is rejected not only by the fact that Homer in
Odyssey says it was in scheria (Σχερία)561 ‘mainland,
continent’, but because there are no traces of the ancient name
in the island. Let’s remember that the ancient Greek used to
reflect Indo-European bh- into ph- and in Hecataeus and
Stephanus of Byzantium the name of the town appears in the
form Baiake (Βαιάκη)562, whose root remained unchanged ever
since in name of the village Baikaj. Location of Baiake in the
modern village Baikaj (Delvinë district) not only that is in the
Epirote mainland, but it is linguistically continuation of the
ancient name Baiake (with the typical Albanian suffix -aj) and
is corroborated by the discovery of a prehistorical settlement in
the village563.
Bargullas - a village in the Skrapar district. Its ancient name is
Bargullon, an Illyrian fortified settlement in the territory of
Parthins In 211, Romans won back from Philip of Macedon
both Dimale (Krotinë) and Bargullon fortresses564. Ruins of
the fortress are still seen in the hill west of village Bargullas.
559
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Gjuhësore IV. pp. 143- 152 (149). From the
original: Çabej, E. (1958). Problemi i autoktonisë së shqiptarëvet në
dritën e emravet të vëndeve. BUSHT Tiranë, 1958, 2, 54-62.
560
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi Iliro-shqiptare në emrat e vëndeve. Fan
561
Homer Odyssey V, 34-35: “ἤματί κ’ εἰκοστῷ Σχερίην ὲρίβωλον ἵκοιτο,
Φαιήκων ὲς γαῖαν”.
562
563
Çabej, N. (2014). Op. cit. pp. 39-43.
564
Errington, R.M. (1990). A History of Macedonia. University of
California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, Ca, p. 195.
Bual (village in Përmet district, Albania) tentatively localized

as Ombalion. Its evolution followed rules of Albanian
phonetics565.
çam (cham) Albanian inhabitant of Thesprotia. The name
derives from the name of the river: Thyamis566. Hence Çamëri,
the region inhabited by çams (Greece and Albania).
Delvinë - a town in south Albania in the territory of the ex-
Roman province of Epirus vetus. The same name Delvinë bear
a village in Përmet district, Albania, and two villages (Delvin-
aq, Delvin-aqopulos) in north Epirus, close to the Albanian
border. In north Albania the same root is found in the name of
the village Delbn-isht, Kurbin district. The change m>b and
b>v are common in Albanian. All the above place names
derive from the same Illyrian root *delm ‘sheep’567 568, like the
name of the ancent Illyrian city *Delminium, in Dalmatia569.
Dropull is the name of the valley of the upper flow of the river
Drino in Gjirokastër district, South Albania. On the banks of
Drino River lays the ancient Epirote city Drinopolis
(Hadrianopolis). In the known sources, it is mentioned for the
first time by Procopius in the 6th century CE and by the
emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus in the 10th century under
the name Hadrianopolis (Άδριανούπολις). In 1018 the name of
the city appears in the form Dryinoupolis570. The name of the
city comes from the name of the river Drino571, on whose
banks it laid. The present name of the valley of Dropull
565
Çabej, N. (2014). Op. cit., pp. 57-59.
566
567
Çabej, N. (2014). Op. cit., pp. 69-71.
568
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Albanesische Studien. F. Mauke, Jena, p. 232.
569
570
Demiraj, S. (2008). Epiri, Pellazgët, Etruskët dhe Shqiptarët. Infbotues,
Tiranë, p. 170-171.
571
Çabej, E. (1987). S. Etimologjike III. p. 319.
(lugina e Dropullit) evolved regularly from Drinopolis,

according to the rules of the Albanian historical phonetics572
573
. The name Drin-o is a typical Illyrian name found in four
other river names within the Illyrian territories574 in Balkans.
Ergenik a mountain in south Albania (on its foot the city of
Gjirokastër is situated) and goes southward within the territory
of the Republic of Greece. The name Ergenik is recorded in a
map of the region by the German geographer H. Kiepert 575 in
the 19rth century. It clearly derives from the name of the
ancient Chaonian subtribe tribe of Argyrinoi, mentioned by
Stephanus of Byzantium576. Archaeologist and philologist
Conrad Bursian localized the tribe of Argyrinoi in the valley of
Gjirokastër577. Presently the mountain is known as Mali i
Gjerë (litterally: The Wide Mountain), derived from *Mali i
Ergjër578, via Volksetymology (i gjerë in Albanian means
wide), after the memory of the ancient tribe Argyrinoi
disappeared.
Ergjëri (Gjirokastër) is the archaic form of the name of the
city of Gjirokastër. In the known written sources it appears for
the first time in the Ottoman registration of 1431, under the
name Erghiri. The original reconstructed name is
572
Çabej, E. (1987). Ibid.
573
Demiraj (2008). Op. cit., p. 169-176.
574
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi...Op. cit. pp. 83-84.
575
Kiepert, H. (1853). General-Karte von der europäischen Türkei : nach
allen vorhandenen Originalkarten und itinerarischen Hülfsmitteln –
bearbeitet und gezeichnet von Heinrich Kiepert.
576
577
Bursian, C. (1862). Geographie der Griechenland. Teubner, Leipzig, p.
19.
578
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi…. Op. cit. pp. 102-106.
*Argyrion579. The archaic name is still preserved in the

folklore of local population and in folk poems:
“Kurvelesh e Gegëri,
U mblodhë në Ergjëri”
(Kurvelesh and Gegëri, Assembled in Ergjëri).
Gjashtë (<Gjashmë < Ngjashmë) is a village in immediate
vicinity of Sarandë. The village name derives from the ancient
Epirote port city Onchesmos mentioned several times in
Roman end Greek sources from the 1st century BC to the 6th
century CE580 581 582. The evolution of the name Onchesmos
(Ankhiasm-us> *Ankiasm-a> *Nqashma > Gjashma >) into
Gjashta (the last form via Volksetymologie) satisfies
requirements of the Albanian historical phonetics583.
Kanina is an ancient settlement, now the village of Kanina. It
is identified with Illyricon (Ίλλυρικὸν τὰ νῦν Κάνινα)584.
Earlier a similar name, Illyrin (Ἲλλυριν), mentions Procopius
of Caesarea in his list of the castles renovated by the emperor
Justinian I in the 6th century585. The name of this town may be
derived from the name of the local Epirote tribe Chaones, with
the regular Albanian change au > a and the addition of the
Illyrian-Albanian suffix -ina (Chaonina > Kanina). This was
first proposed by Philipp Clüver586 in 1686. The fact that the
579
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi… Op. cit. 102-106.
580
Cicero, M.T. Letters to Atticus 7.2.
581
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae I, 51, 2.
582
583
Çabej, N. (2014). Op. cit., pp. 96-101.
584
Hieroclis Synecdemvs: accedvnt fragmenta apvd Constantinvm
Porphyrogennetvm servata et nomina vrbivm mvtat. Red. A.
Burckhardt, Teubner, Leipzig, 1893 p. 61.
585
Procopius De Aedificis IV, 4.
586
Philippi Cluverii Introductio in universam geographiam, tam veterem
quam novam. J. Wolters, 1686, p. 330.
intervocalic -n- in Kanina didn’t ondergo rhotacism, suggests

that the supposed name change from Illyrin to Kanina occurred
after the 7-8th centuries, when the process of rhotacism ceased
being effective in Albanian.
Nemërçka is a mountain in southeastern Albania and
northeastern Greece. Stephanus of Byzantium mentions it as
mountain Amyron (Ἄμυρον ὄρος) at whose foot lived the
Chaonian subtribe of Dexaroi587. The present name Nemërçka
is a compound noun formed of the ancient name Amyron and
the Albanian çika ‘peak, sumit, tip’. Its evolution to the present
form conforms to rules of Albanian historical phonetics: the
loss of the -on ending, dhe change of the unstressed -a- into -e-
and addition of the initial N- , like in other Albanain words
ep>nep, ama>nama, Arta>Narta588.
Palokastër is a village in Gjirokastër district. The ancient name
of the town was Phanote, mentioned by Livy in his description
of the siege of the city by Romans, which they were forced to
abandon because of the advancement of the Macedonian
army589. The city was localized in Kardhiq by the English
traveller W.M. Leake590 and after him the German
archaeologist C. Bursian made the precise localization in the
ruins of the ancient city in the village Palokastër. It was a town
of the Illyrian-Epirote tribe of Atintanians in the valley of the
Drino River. That the original name was Phanote is proven by
the fact that the castle (from which the second component of
Palo-kastër derives) in the town was erected 7 centuries after
587
Stephani Byzantii Op. cit.
588
Çabej, N. (2014). Op. cit. pp. 119-122.
589
Livy The History of Rome 43, 21.
590
Leake W.M. (1835). Travels in Northern Greece I. J. Rodwell, London,
pp. 72-73.
the founding of Phanote. Evolution of the name from Phanote

to Palokastër followed rules of the historical Albanian
phonetics (Panot + Latin castrum)> *Phanotcastron >
*Panotkaster > Palokastër) with the characteristic dialectal
Albanian dissimilation n>l, like in the word nerënxë > lerënxë,
place name Panormos>Palermo or personal name
Nevzat>Levzat, etc591.
Peqin is a town in Central Albania, on the northern bank of the
Shkumbin River, at the site where the ancient station,
Clodiana on via Egnatia was situated592. Evolution of Clodiana
to Peqin followed rules of the Albanian phonetics (Peqin<Be-
kleien< Kleien< Clodiana)593.
Tomor is the name of the tallest mountain in South Albanian
(Epirus nova). The same name, Tomarus, bore the mountain at
whose foot in antiquity stood the oracle of Dodona594. Some
linguists have argued that the modern form Tomor in Albanian
couldn’t evolve from Tomarus (Τόμαρος) according to the
phonetic rules of Albanian595 596 597. Unfortunately, all of them
considered in their analysis the form Tomaros as the only form
of the ancient name of the mountain. In reality the name
Tomaros, which all of them dealt with, is neither the only nor
591
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi… Op. cit. pp. 125-127.
592
von Hahn, J, (1854). Albanesische Studien. p.79.
593
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi… Op. cit. pp. 128-130.
594
Stephani Byzantii. Op. cit.: ”Τόμαρος ὄρος Δωδώνης”.
595
Weigand, G. (1927) . Sind die Albaner die Nachkommen der Illyrer or
der Thraker? Balkan Archiv 3, 227-251.
596
Georgiev, V. (1966). The genesis of the Balkan peoples. The Slavonic
and East European Review 44, 285-297.
597
Matzinger, J. (2009). Die Albaner als Nachkommen der Illyrer aus der
Sicht der historischen Sprachwissenschaft. In Albanische Geschichte:
Stand und Perspektiven der Forschung. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munchen,
p. 23.
the earliest or the most frequent form of the mountain’s name

found in the ancient sources. In the known written sources, the
earliest form is Tmaros (Τμάρος), which appears in
Vergilius598 in the 1st century BC. Then Pliny the Elder in the
1st century CE, wrote is the most famous of mountains,
Tomarus of Dodona (“montes clari in dodone tomarus,”599).
Strabo says that both forms of the name were in use at his
time: “Mount Tomarus, or Tmarus (for it is called both
ways)”600.
Had those linguists dealt with the other attested form of the
mountain, Tmaros (Τμάρος), it would be easy to see how from
it, regularly, through the change -a->-o-, would evolve the
modern Albanian form Tomor601 602.
It is generally thought that the name derives from the Indo-
European root *temǝ ‘dark’. Pokorny also calls the mountain
“illyrian mountain-name Τόμαρος”603 and Duridanov also says
that this is an Illyrian name604.
Shkumbin This river marks the natural geographical division
of the Tosk and Gheg dialects of Albanian and also the
598
P. Vergilius Maro Eclogia VIII Damon, Alphesiboeus (lines 43-45):
Nunc scio, quid sit Amor: duris in cotibusillum
aut Tmaros, aut Rhodope, aut extremm Garamantes,
nec generis nostri puerum nec sanguinis edunt.
(Now know I what Love is: 'mid savage rocks
tmaros or Rhodope brought forth the boy,
or Garamantes in earth's utmost bounds).
599
Pliny the Elder Naturalis Historia IV, 4:
600
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 12: “ὄρος ὁ Τόμαρος ἢ Τμάρος (ἀμφοτέρως
γὰρ λέγεται)”.
601
Stephani Byzantii. Op. cit., p. 628.
602
Çabej, N. (2014). Vazhdimësi…Op. cit. pp. 151-152.
603
604
Duridanov, I. (1999). Illyrisch. Available internet : http://wwwg.uni-
klu.ac.at/eeo/Illyrisch.pdf . Retrieved Oct 13, 2015.
northern boundary of the Roman province Epirus nova. It is

admittted to be derived from the name of the ancient Illyrian
city Scampa. In antiquity it appears in the form Genusus605, but
in 1308 it is mentioned under the new name Scumpino606. In
1927 Gustav Weigand607 and now Joachim Matzinger608
argued that the evolution of the river name Shkumbin from
Scampa cannot be explained by Albanian, but required
mediation of an unattested Slavic form reconstructed by
Weigand as *skompin and by Matzinger – Skopinь. They
reconstruct this word because they believe that the ancient
Scampa in Albanian would give Shkëmbë, like Latin camba
that gave këmbë ’foot’.
Their argument is flawed. It is surprising that Matzinger was
not aware of E. Çabej’s explanation that “labialization of ë to
u, in pre-accented position, is normal for the southern Gheg
dialect of Albanian”609. Examples corroborating his remark
abound not only in the Gheg dialect, but in the Tosk dialect as
well: Latin evangelium > vëngjill> ungjill; lakinia (λακινιά) >
lukëni> lukuni ‘pack of wolves’; Latin campana > kambana>
kembana> kumbona/kumona; maraj > mërak> murak ‘fennel’;
zambak>zëmbak> zumbak ‘lily’; laroj > lërtoj>lurtoj ‘caress,
flater, praise’, këlysh> kulish ‘cub, pup’. Labialization of ë to u
is also observed in some place names, such as Skëterë>Skuterë
(Tiranë), Kërcullë> Kurcullë (Gjirokastër), etc.
605
Vibius Sequester De fluminibus, fontibus, lacubus, nemoribus,
paludibus, montibus, gentibus quorum apud poetas mentio fit. A.
König, 1778, p. 10.
606
Anonymi descriptio Europae Orientalis. Ed. O. Gorka. Sumptibus
Academiae Litterarum, 1916.
607
Weigand, G. (1927). Op cit. pp. 227-251 (238).
608
Matzinger, J. (2009). Op. cit. p. 27.
609
Çabej, E. (2006). S. Etimologjike VII. p. 253.
Vjosë (see for this river name in section Epirote place names
are explained by Albanian and evolved according to phonetic
rules of Albanian, chapter II) Vlorë - port city in South
Albania. Mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE as Aulon
(Αύλών) and Aulon polis (Αύλών πολις)610. In the same
unchanged form mentions it the emperor Constantine
Porphyrogenitus611 in the 10th century.
In the evolution of Aulon to modern Albanian Vlorë/Vlonë
occurred apheresis of A-, rhotacism of the intervocalic -n612
and the change of -u- into v-, via -ë-. All changes followed
phonetic rules of Albanian613 614. Any claimed mediation of the
610
Ptolemy, Geographia III, 12, 2.
611
Hieroclis Synecdemus: accedunt fragmenta apud Constantinum
Porphyrogennetum servata et nomina urbim mutat.B.G. Teubner,
Leipzig, 1893, p. 13.
612
Çabej, E. (1985). The ancient habitat of the Albanians in the Balkan
Peninsula in the light of the Albanian language and place names. In
The Albanians and their Territories. The Academy of Sciences of the
PSR of Albania. 8 Nëntori, Tirane, pp. 49-62 (56).
613
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Gjuhësore V, p. 21.
614
Demiraj, S. (2006). The Origin…pp. 144-145.
615
Weigand, G. (1927). Op. cit.
Slavic is excluded because a Slavic mediation would lead to

the unattested form Valinь615. Besides, the rhotacism that
affected the name of this city ceased being effective before
Slavic people settled Balkans.
4. Albanian Tosk dialect suggests that Epirotes

spoke Illyrian
Almost two millenia ago Strabo noticed that via Egnatia runs
west-east and separates Illyrians from Epirotes: “In travelling
this road from the neighbourhood of Epidamnus and
Apollonia, on the right hand are the Epirotic nations situated
on the coast of the Sicilian Sea, and extending as far as the
Gulf of Ambracia; on the left are the Illyrian mountains, which
we have before described, and the nations that live near them,
extending as far as Macedonia and the Pæones. From the Gulf
of Ambracia the places next in order, inclining to the east, and
extending opposite to Peloponnesus, belong to Greece”616.
616
Strabo Geography VII, 7, 4: ”ταύτην δὴ τὴν ὁδὸν ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὴν
Ἐπίδαμνον καὶ τὴν Ἀπολλωνίαν τόπων ἰοῦσιν ἐν δεξιᾷ μέν ἐστι τὰ
Ἠπειρωτικὰ ἔθνη κλυζόμενα τῷ Σικελικῷ πελάγει μέχρι τοῦ
Ἀμβρακικοῦ κόλπου, ἐν ἀριστερᾷ δὲ τὰ ὄρη τὰ τῶν Ἰλλυριῶν ἃ
προδιήλθομεν, καὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὰπαροικοῦντα μέχρι Μακεδονίας καὶ
Παιόνων. εἶτ᾽ ἀπὸ μὲν Ἀμβρακικοῦ κόλπουτὰ νεύοντα ἐφεξῆς
πρὸς ἕω, τὰ ἀντιπαρήκοντα τῇ Πελοποννήσῳ, τῆς Ἑλλάδοςἐστίν”.
This excerpt from Geography contains two important

informations. First, Strabo, in the 1st century CE, confirms
once again that Greece begins south of the Gulf of Ambracia,
leaving Epirus outside of Greece. Second, he includes in
Epirus, a region that, according to almost all the ancient Greek
and Roman sources, was populated by Illyrian tribes
(Taulantians, Bylliones, Dassaretes, Abroi, Parthini, etc.).
Strabo’s definiton of this “expanded Epirus” seem to be
applied almost three centuries later by the Roman
administration during the rule of the Illyrian emperor
Diocletian, with the establishment of the new Roman province
Epirus nova, along the traditional Epirus, which was renamed
Epirus vetus.
How can we explain the creation of the new province, Epirus
nova, in a territory known to have been inhabited by Illyrian
tribes, bordering classical Epirus, or Vjosa (Aoos) River, south
and Genusus River (now Shkumbin) in north. While
contradicting the pre-Strabonian concept of the Illyrian
ethnicity of tribes inhabiting the region between the Aoos
(Vjosa) and Genusus (Shkumbin) river, the creation of the
province of Epirus nova, however, is in agreement with
Strabo’s view that this territory was inhabited by Epirotes. The
only plausible explanation of this apparent contradiction is to
admit that Epirotes and southern Illyrians inhabiting the region
ethnically were one and the same people.
The Tosk dialect of Albanian spoken in the territories of ex-
Roman provinces of Epirus vetus and Epirus nova, seem to
confirm this view. The credit for using the present dialects of
Albanian as an argument for Illyrian sameness of Epirotes and
Illyrians goes to J. G. von Hahn, who in Albanesische Studien
pointed out that the boundary between the Albanian Tosk and
Gheg dialects coincides exactly with the one that existed two
millennia ago between the Roman province Epirus nova and

Illyria. Dealing with the two main dialects of Albanian, he
wrote: “The linguistic boundary of both dialects…according to
the general opinion, which in this issue doesn’t take into
consideration small differences, but prefers obvious features, is
river Shkumbin, which forms the boundary between regions of
Toskëri and Gegëri”617 and “The river Shkumbin separates
now Ghegs from Tosks, just as in antiquity it separated their
ancestors, Illyrians and Epirotes”618.
von Hahn also posited that these dialects represent a linguistic
proof that Epirotes and Illyrians spoke the same language,
which later Gustav Meyer considered a dialect of South Illyria
from which the Albanian lamguage derives619.
Fligier also believed that the border between Epirus and Illyria
was the same with the one separating now two main Albanian
dialects, Tosk and Gheg; he believed that Epirotes are Illyrians
just as Dorians are Greeks, despite the fact that they are
different from Ionians and were involved in bloody wars
between them. He considered Tosks and Ghegs to be
respectively descendants of Epirote and Illyrian tribes. von
Hahn’s thesis on the coincidence of the boundaries of ancient
617
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Albanesische Studien. Op cit. p. 12: “Die
Sprachgränze beider Dialekte …nach der gemeinen Meinung, welche
sich bei derlei Fragen nicht mit kleinen Abweichungen befasst,
sondern augenfällige Merkzeichen liebt, soll der Fluss Schkumb die
Gränze zwischen der Toskerei und Gegerei bilden”.
618
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Ibid., p. 219: ”Schkumb trennt heute die Gegen
und Tosken, wie er vor Alters deren, verwandte Vorväter, die Illyrier
und Epiroten, trennte”.
619
Meyer, G. (1888). Die lateinischen Elemente im Albanischen. In
Grundriss der romanischen Philologie I, Trubner, Strassburg, p 804-
821: “Es ist keine Grund vorhanden, dieselbe für etwas anderes zu
halten, als für die jüngere Phase des alten Illyrisch oder richtiger einer
der alten illyrischen Mundarten”.
Epirus with Illyria with those of the present-day Tosk and

Gheg dialects seems to be validated by evidence from ancient
sources.
The Tosk dialect of Albanian is/was spoken throughout the
south Albania and the Greek part of the ancient Epirus, from
Shkumbin River (or the road via Egnatia mentioned by Strabo)
down to the Gulf of Ambracia, exactly coinciding with regions
of Epirus vetus and Epirus nova. The Tosk dialect now
consists of three subdialects, Tosk proper, Lab, and Çam
(pronounced cham) spoken in the respective north-south order
(see figure 3); the proper Tosk dialect from Shkumbin to
Vjosa; the Lab dialect - from Vjosa to Delvina; and the Cham
dialect - from Delvina to the Gulf of Ambracia.
Figure 3. Map of the Tosk dialect and its subdialects, North Tosk,
Lab and Cham. From: ArnoldPlaton. Internet:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albanian_dialects.svg.
Retrieved on Aug. 12, 2015.
Not only the present-day Tosk dialect spoken in the territories

of Epirus vetus and Epirus nova points to the ethnic sameness
of the inhabitants of these ancient regions, but the fact that

tribes of Epirus nova are considered Illyrians by both Greek
and Roman authors620 621 622 623 also shows how ethnically
indistinct South Illyrians and Epirotes have been.
A question may arise regarding the time of the development of
the Tosk dialect. There is a conspicuous feature of the Tosk
dialect that comes to our aid in answering this question. This is
the phenomenon of rhotacism, i.e. the change of the
intevocalic -n- to -r- in this dialect. As a rule, rhotacism in the
Tosk dialect affected all the inherited Albanian words, as well
as the ancient Greek words [mokër < makhana (μαχανά), lakër
< lakhanon (λάχανον)] and Latin borrowings (frër < frenum,
frashër < fraxinus, kurorë < corona, etc.), but not the later
borrowings from the South Slavic, new Greek and Turkish.
Since Slavs in Balkans came first towards the end of the 6th
century CE, the Swiss philologist, Wilhelm Meyer Lübke,
concluded that rhotacism ceased being active after the 6th
century CE, i.e. in the pre-Slavic period of Albanian624 625 ,
620
Gaius Plinius Secundus Naturalis Historia III, 144.
621
622
Thucydides The Peloponnesian War I, 24, 1.
623
Stephanus of Byzantium Here is how he defines the Illyrian tribe of
Abroi: “Abroi a tribe of Taulanti in the Adriatic, near Helidoni,
according to Hecataeus (Ἄβροι, ἔθνος τῷ Άδρίᾳ Ταυλαντίνων,
προσεχὲς τοῖς Χελιδονίοις, ὡς Ἑκαταῖος“.
624
Çabej, E. (2012, first publication 1962). Fonetikë historike e gjuhës
shqipe. Çabej, Tiranë, p. 78.
625
Demiraj, S. (2006). Op. cit., p. 101.
626
Çabej, E. (2012). Op. cit. p. 78.
implying that the Tosk dialect developed not later than the
Late Antiquity. Some exceptions, however, are observed, but
they “cannot shake the foundation of the chronology
determined by Meyer Lubke”626.
Formation of the Tosk dialect occurred at a time that cannot be
determined precisely but, as we showed above, at any rate it
took place not later than the Late Antiquity in the present
territories and not anywhere else, because it impossible, by any
stretch of imagination, to believe that a migrating population
speaking a particular dialect would take care and even know
how to migrate and settle exactly where the ancient inhabitants
of Epirus vetus and Epirus nova lived. To believe this would
take (require) switching from the realm of the historical
science to that of mythos or unrestrained phantasy.
5. Ethnic and place names Albanians/Arbans and

Albania/Arbania in Illyria and Epirus
The root *arb/alb of the ethnic name Albanians/Arbans and
the country name Albania/Arbania is explained in different
ways by different authors, but we will restrict our scope here to
the spread of the place name in ancient Illyria and Epirus nova.
In northern region of Illyria Polybius in the 2nd century BC
mentions the name of the Illyrian town Arbona
(Ἄρβωνα)/Arbo627. At the turn of the new era Strabo tells
about a mountain Albion (Ἀλβίῳ): “the Albion Mountain,
which is the last mountain of the Alps, is very lofty, and
reaches down to the country of the Pannonians on one side and
627
Polybius Histories II, 11.
to the Adrias on the other” 628. He also tells about a mountain

Albion (Ἀλβίῳ) in the land of Iapodes (“where the mountains
rise again, and are called Albii)”629.
Pliny the Elder in the 1st century AD mentions the Dalmatian
island and city Arba, now Rab in Croatia (later, in medieval
documents also as Arbe and Arbiana), along other Illyrian-
Liburnian cities of the Dalmatian coast Absortium, Gissa, and
Portunata630. He also mentions the name of the Illyrian city
Alvona/Albona (now Labin in Istria, Croatia) and its
inhabitants Olbonenses631. Then in the 2nd century CE Ptolemy
also mentions the island Arba (Ἄρβα)632, but appears in the
10th century as Arbe (Ἄρβη)633. In this group also belongs the
name of the river Arba/Arva in modern Slovenia (now
Arbeč/Rbeč, a tributary of Nadiža). The same root Arb/Lab is
found in the Illyrian name lacus Labeatis (Lake Shkodër) and
in the name of the Illyrian tribe of Labeati that inhabited the
region. In an Angevin document of the 14th century it appears
as Albi634.
To the same group belongs the name of the ancient Illyrian
tribe Abroi (Ἄβροι), probably a subtribe of Taulantians. This
628
Strabo Geography 7, 5, 4: “τῷ Ἀλβίῳ ὄρει τελευταίῳ τῶν Ἄλπεων ὄντι
ὑψηλῷ σφόδρα, τῇ μὲν ἐπὶ τοὺς Παννονίους καὶ τὸν Ἴστρον
καθήκοντες τῇ δ᾽ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀδρίαν”.
629
Strabo Geography VII, 5, 2: “ἐντεῦθεν δ᾽ ἐξαίρεται τὰ ὄρη πάλιν ἐν τοῖς
Ἰάποσι καὶ καλεῖται Ἄλβια”.
630
631
Pliny the Elder Ibid., III, 25, 21.
632
Ptolemy Geography 3, 16 (Illyris).
633
Constantine Porphyrogenitus De thematibus et de administrando
imperio: accedit Hieroclis Synecdemus. Corpus scriptorum historiae
byzantinae, vol. 18. Red. I. Bekker, Weber, Bonn, 1840. p. 140, 147.
634
Hamp, E.P. (1966). The position of Albanian. In Ancient Indo-European
Dialects: Proceedings… Ed. H. Birnbaum and J. Puhvel. California
University Press, pp. 97-122 (p. 98).
information provides us Stephanus of Byzantium, based on

Hecataeus: “Abroi a tribe of Taulanti in the Adriatic, near
Helidoni”635. The name Abroi has been related to the name of
the Illyrian tribe of Albanoi (Άλβανοὶ)636, mentioned by
Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE. It is also related to the name of
the city Arpi, the capital city of the Illyrian-Messapian tribe of
Dauni in Apulia, South Italy.
The name of the tribe of Albanoi reappaers in the 10th century
as the name of the Albanian people in De thematibus et de
administrando Imperio of the Byzantine emperor Constantine
Porphyrogenitus637. Later in the 11th century, Michael
Attaleiates (c.1022-1080) speaks of the Albanoi people638 and
in the 12th century Anna Comnena (1083-1153) speaks of the
country of Arbanon (Άρβανῶν)639 and of Albanians as
arbanitai ἀρβανιτῶν. Beginning from the 14th century Albania
appears often as an alternative name Epirus640.
635
Stephani Byzantii. Op. cit: “Ἄβροι, ἔθνος τῷ Άδρίᾳ Ταυλαντίνων,
προσεχὲς τοῖς Χελιδονίοις, ὡς Ἑκαταῖος”.
636
Claudii Ptolemaei, Geographia I, Red. C.F.A. Nobbe, Tauchnitz,
Leipzig, 1843, Libri 3, 13, 23.
637
Constantine Porphyrogenitus De thematibus
638
Michael Attaliota Historia. Corpus Scriptorum Historiae
Byzantinae.Weber, Bonn, 1853, p. 10.
639
Anna Comnena Alexiadis I, IV 8, p 221. In Corpus scriptorum historiae
byzantinae., Band 2, Weber, Bonn, Ed. B. Niebuhr, 1839.
640
de Martoni, N. (1394-1395). Pelegrinage a Jerusalem de N. de Martoni:
Notaire italien. Revue de l’Orient latin, vol. 3, Paris, p. 662.
641
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Albanesische Studien. F. Mauko, Jena, f. 230:
“Arbëria, im engsten Sinne, heisst im tosk. Dialekte das hinter Awlona
gelegene Bergland, welches vermütlich den Kern des alten Chaonien
bildete, bekanntes als Κουρβελjέσ, oder unter dem Spitznamen der
λjάβερία, n. gr. λιαπουργιὰ. Im weiteren Sinne begreift der Name auch
die Chimara (Akrokeraunia) und selbst die Landschaft Delvino, mithin
wohl ganz Chaonien”.
In the 19th century von Hahn noticed that the name Arbëria
(Albania) is used by Tosks of southern Albania for defining a
region south of Vlora down to Delvinë, a territory of the
classical Epirus, or the ex-Roman province of Epirus vetus:
“Arbëria in the narrow meaning, in the Tosk dialect, is called
the mountainous country situated behind Avlona, which likely
formed the nucleus of the ancient Chaonia, known as
Kurvelesh, or under the nickname name of Labëria. In the
broader meaning this name also comprises Chimara
(Akrokeraunia) and the region of Delvina itself”641.
6. Albanians and Albanian place names still

survive in southern Epirus (Greece)
The process of the cultural Hellenization of the ancient Epirus,

that is the adoption to a certain degree of the Greek manners,
customs etc., was a relatively slow process. After the Roman
conquest of Balkans, it was followed by a similar process of
Roman cultural influence in Epirus mainly through the Roman
colonies that were founded on the earlier Greek colonies, such
as Butrint, and new Roman colonies, such as Nicopolis.
Romanization was a process of cultural influence that affected
the art, architecture, administration not only in Epirus, but in
Greece itself.When we speak of Romanization we always must
remember that Roman culture that evolved through a complex
process of integration and assimilation of rious, especially
Latin, Etruscan and Greek642. This process of Romanization
642
Madsen, J.M. (2006).The Romanization of the Greek elite in Achaia,
Asia and Bithynia: Greek Resistance or Regional Discrepancies? p.1-
took place in Greece itself to such a degree that they for a long
time called, until the present day continued to call themselves
Romioi. The Hellenization of Epirote tribes has been slow and
it seems to have probably succeeded in only three peripheral
south-eastern Epirote tribes in Thessaly (Dolopes,
Amphilochians and Hellopes). It remained latent during 5
centuries of Roman rule, or even contravened, by the ensuing
process of Romanization. After the 6th century Greek became
lingua franca of the Byzantine Empire, to which Albanian
territories belonged, although at the time emperor Justinian the
Great still spoke Latin. Despite the ten centuries-long period of
Byzantine rule, Greek contributed to the Albanian vocabulary
less than Latin, Slavic and Turkish.
By the beginning of the 4th century, the Illyrian emperor
Constantine the Great recognized the Christianity in the
Byzantine Empire, but he did not raise it to the status of an
exclusive religion of the empire. For almost one century after
him the Empire was a place of the religious tolerance and
diversity, in which significant segments of general populations
continued to pursue their pre-Christian religions. The final
triumph of the Christianity came by the beginning of the 5th
century, after the emperor Theodosius I banned pagan rituals
and temples, and began the persecution of non-Christian
people, from now on to be considered ‘infidels’. This struck a
tremendous blow to the religious tradition of Epirotes and
Illyrians, like other ancient peoples of Balkans.
Greek became lingua franca of the Balkan countries south of
the Jirecek line. For 10 centuries under the Byzantine rule
Greek continued to be the language of church (with a probable
33. Available:http://www.pontos.dk/publications/papers-presented-
orally/oral-files/Mad_romanisationelite.pdf. Retrieved on Jan. 13,
2016.
intermittent interruption under the Bulgarian rule during the 9-

11th centuries) and education in most of Balkans, including
Epirus. After the fall of the Byzantine empire in the 15th
century, the Ottoman empire found in the Patriarchate of
Constantinople an ally in its rivalries with the Pope. Part of
their alliance was an agreement providing the Patriarchate the
right to open Greek schools while banning for almost 5
centuries teaching of Albanian in Albanian-speaking territories
of Epirus.
However, a comparison of a map on the ethnic situation of
Epirus in the 5th century BC with those of the 19th century
shows clearly (see maps in figures 4, 5 and 6) how flimsy the
processes of the so-called processes of Hellenization and
Romanization of this region have been and how little the
ethnic borders of Epirotes changed after more than 2 millenia
of foreign cultural influences.
The division of the Christian Albanian population between the
Western Catholicism in the north and the Eastern Orthodoxy in
the south, impeded the establishment of an independent
Albanian national Church. Needless to say, the absence of a
national Albanian Orthodox Church, the Greek monopoly of
the Albanian religious life during the centuries of the Ottoman
rule and the prohibition of Albanian schools was the main
driving force behind the process of the cultural hellenization of
Albanians of Epirus during the last 5 centuries.
After the incorporation of the southern part of the Epirus
(Epirus vetus) into the Greece state, by the beginning of the
20th century, the official change of Albanian place names in
Albanian-speaking regions of Epirus, became a state policy in
Greece643 644 (a number of cases will be presented below). In
643
Liakos, A. (2008). Hellenism and the making of modern Greece: time,
language, space. In Hellenisms: Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity from
view of the centuries-long process of cultural Hellenization,

the ethnocultural resilience of the Albanian population in
Epirus is astounding. There are still ‘hidden’ Albanian-
speaking people in Epirus and the Albanian past of the country
is still firmly preserved in the names of villages, mountains,
rivers, streams and springs, not only in regions of Epirus that
until recently had compact Albanian population, but
throughout the modern Epirus.
7. Albanian place names in southern Epirus

(Greece)
In this section we’ll only discuss about the Albanian place
names in the ‘Greek’ part of Epirus vetus.
Despite the 25 centuries of contacts with the Greek
civilization, the presence of the Greek colonies in the Ionian
seacoast of Epirus, the use of the Greek alone in church and
schools (for 5 centuries under Turkish rule opening of
Albanian schools was forbidden), and the social and
administrative pressure against the use of the Albanian
Antiquity to Modernity. Ed. K. Zacharia, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., p.

232.
644
Greece has never recognized Albanians in Epirus not only as an ethnic
minority, but even as a cultural minority. Learning Albanian in schools
was forbidden, speaking Albanian and even singing Albanian songs
often led to threats of violence, discrimination in state employment,
etc. Forced or administratively stimulated emigration Albanians of
Epirus to Albania or other countries was widely applied. The forced
hellenization of Albanians in Epirus reached its highest point with the
campaign of ethnic cleansing by deportation and expropriation of tens
of thousands of çam Albanians from Epirus in 1945.
Figure 4. Ethnic situation in the south-western Balkans in the 7th

century CE, after the Illyrian-Epirote territories fell under the rule of
the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire. With the exception of the colony of
Ambrakia in south, the rest of Epirus is still unhellenized.
language during the last two centuries since the founding of

the Greek state, the Albanian place names in the Greek part of
the Epirus are preserved at a surprising extent. What follows is
a brief list of such place names in the Greek part of Epirus,
based on Max Vasmer’s Die Slaven in Griechenland645 and a
list of Albanian place names in the region Çamëria
645
Vasmer, M. (1941). Die Slaven in Griechenland. de Gruyter u. Co.,
Berlin, pp. 20-56.
(Thesprotia), on the Greek side of Epirus, based on N.

Merxhushi646.
Figure 5. German map of 1847 by Ami Boue divides south-

Albanians in Moslems (brown) and Eastern orthodox (green). At the
time, Albanians populated Epirus and territories of Acarnania and
western part of Thessaly and south-western region of Aetolia as far
646
Merxhushi, N. (2014). Autoktonia Shqiptare e Çamërisë. Gazeta Shqip
Online Dec. 23, 2014. Internet: http://www.gazeta-
shqip.com/lajme/2012/06/24/autoktonia-sqiptare-e-camerise/.
south as the Gulf of Corinth. The only sizable non-Albanian enclave

is that of Vlachs in the Pindus range.
Figure 6. Ethnographic map of Slavic nations on the Balkans,

1967 by M. F. Mirkovich (Etnograficeskaia karta sllavjanskih
narodnostjej 1867). The territory of ethnic Albanians in this
map extends beyond Epirus (including Acarnania and south-
western region of Aetolia), up to the Gulf of Corinth.
From:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/E
thnic_map_of_Balkans_-_russian_1867.jpg
Figure 7. Ethnic map of Balkans showing Albanian speaking

territories down to the Gulf of Ambracia and Thessaly with the
Vlach enclave in the Pindus range with enclaves of Turk
population in Greece and Bulgaria. From G. Lejean (1861).
Internet
http://albanian.com/information/history/ethnicma/.Retrieved
on Sept 2 /2015.
a. Albanian village names in southern Epirus (Greece)
Arilë is a village in Çamëria, Greece. [the name of the village

was changed to Kefalari (Κεφαλάρι) in 1927]. The etymology
of the name is unknown. A village named Rrilë is in Lezhë
district, Albania.
Arpicë (now the name of the village oficially grecized to

Perdika). The name contains the typical Albanian root arb-
(> arp-), also found in the ethnic name of Albanains, Arbër, in
the modern name Arbëria of the ancient Chaonia, in the ethnic
name of Albanians living in Greece (Arvaniti), Italy
(Arbëresh) and Crotaia (Arbnesh), as well as in the village
name, Arbana, Tirana district. Compare also the ancient
Illyrian-Messapian city Arpi in Apulia.
Arvenicë (Arvenitsa), village in Çamëria (Thesprotia). The
name is now officially changed to Argyrotopos. It derives from
the Albanian ethnic name Arban/Arbër, with the characteristic
çam dialectal b>v change.
Baltista (Βάλτιστα) (Albanian Baltishta), place name in
Epirus, derives from the inherited Albanian baltë with the
suffix -ishta. There are in Albania several similar village
names: Beltojë e Bulticë (a>ë>u)647 (Shkodër district), place
names such as Baltë e Bardhë ‘White Mud’ (Gjirokastër
district) and the village Baltëz in Fier district. M. Vasmer,
however, relates it to the reconstructed Old Slavic *boltšče648.
Baltos - place in Konitsa, Epirus. The name derives from
Albanian baltë. A village Baltëz is in Fier, south Albania.
Vasmer remains undecided between the reconstructed Slavic
*bloto and Albanian word baltë649.
Baltsista (Βάλτσιστα) - from Albanian baltë ‘mud’ >
Baltësishte> Baltsishtë with the Albanian suffix -ishte. Vasmer
derives it from a reconstructed OSlav. *boltьčišče,
from*boltьce: *bolto.
Baltsora (Βαλτσώρα) in Pogon, Epirus (Greece), from
Albanian baltë ‚mud’ and adj. baltësor/baltsor ‘muddy’
647
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Gjuhësore I. 51-53.
648
Vasmer, M. (1941). Op. cit.
649
Vasmer, M. (1941). Ibid.
(Baltës> Baltësore> Baltsore/Baltsora). Compare Albanian

village Baltës (Fier district). Vasmer compares it with the
Serbian Blaca, Blata650.
Bursina (Βουρςίνα) is a village in Paramythia. The name is
similar to the name of the village Mursia, Delvinë district in
South Albania (the alternation b:m is a known phenomenon in
Albanian) and to the earlier form Mursina651 provided by
Pouqueville for Muzina in Delvinë district. Here belong the
names of Murqinë, Kruja district, and two villages Muriqan, in
Elbasan and Shkodër districts. Myrsini is another name of the
same root that bears village in south Epirus municipality of
Zalongo, Preveza, Greece. The place name Bursina may be
related to the ancient Illyrian settlements Mursa652, now Osijek
(Slavic for low tide), the Illyrian city names Mursa maior and
Mursa minor in Pannonia and the name of the Illyrian lake
Lacus Mursianus (Stagnus Morsianus), now Neusiedler See,
mostly in the Austrian side of the frontier with Hungary. It also
reminds us of the name of the plateau Murge in south Italy
region of Puglia, inhabited by Illyrian Messapians in
Antiquity. The name is related to the PIE *mers and *mori
‘marsh, sea’653
Currilë The name derives from Albanian curril ‘waterjet’.
Compare the place name Currila in Durrës municipality.
Dardhë From the inherited Albanian dardhë (<PIE *dhorgh)
‘pear’654. Numerous are place names and village names
Dardhë in South- and North-Albania (Korçë, Librazhd, Pukë,
650
Vasmer, M. (1941). Ibid.
651
Pouqueville, F. C. H. L. (1838). Istoria della Grecia dal 1740 al 1824 II.
dai torchi dell'Osservatore medico, Napoli, p. 77.
652
Ptolemy Geographia II, 16, 8.
653
654
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Gjuhësore I, p. 107.
Kukës districts). From the same Illyrian root *dard derives the
name of the ancient Illyrian tribe of Dardans.
Delvinaki (Albanian Delvinaqi), village in the municipality of
Pogoni. The root delv (<delb <delm) is found in a number of
etymologically related place names in the South Albania
(Delvinë, Delvinë district and Delvinë, Përmet district) and
North Albania (Delbnisht, Kurbin district). The original root
delm/dalm is attested in the name of the ancient Illyrian city
Delminium and the tribe of Delmatae, with both names
deriving from the Illyrian word *delm ‘sheep’, inherited in
Albanian delme/dele ‘sheep’655 656.
Delvinakopoulo village (See above on Delvinaki).
Demati, village municipality of Zagorion. Albanian formation
from the family name Demi with the typical Albanian suffix -
at-.
Drizë From the inherited Albanian drizë657 ‘thorny shrubs of
Paliurus genus’. Many villages and other place names in
Albania bear this name. Let’s mention just the village Drizë,
Berat district, and Drizar, Mallakastër district.
Dushk The name of this village comes from the inherited
Albanian dushk (<drushk)658 ‘oak’. Compare the villages
Dushk in Elbasan and Lushnjë municipalities in Albania.
Furka (Fourka) Joannina district, inhabited by Aromanians.
Derived from Albanian furkë, a loanword from Latin furca
“two-pronged fork”659.
Gardikon Mega (Γαρδίκον Μέγα) (Albanian Kardhiq i Madh
‚The Great Kardhiq’). Two other villages with the same name
655
von Hahn, J. G. (1854). Op. cit., p. 232.
656
Çabej. E. (1976). S. Gjuhësore I. p. 111.
657
658
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Gjuhësore I. pp. 148-149.
659
Çabej, E. (1996). S. Etimologjike IV. p. 226.
are Kardhiq in Gjirokastër district and Kardhikaq in Delvina

district, in south Albania. The origin of the name is
convincingly explained with the Albanian gardh<*gard
‚fence’, derived from a PIE *ghorto ‘enclosure’. Cognates are
Gothic gards ‚enclosure, haus’, Old Church Slavic гордъсь
‚castle’, German Garten, etc. A Slavic origin is implausible
phonetically because of the change d>dh, the metathesis
ra>ar660 and because of the lack of the name in other South
Slavic countries, while there are five place names with the
same root in the Epirote territory (three in the Republic of
Greece and two in Republic of Albania) alone, besides
Karditsa (Καρδίτσα) in Thessaly.
Gola in Philates (Albanian Filat) municipality. From Albanian
archaic gola ‘mouth’.
Grabitsa (Γραβίτσα) is the name of a mountain in Zagorion.
The name may be derived from Illyrian or Macedonian words
*grabos or grabion (γράβιον) and these, in turn, from PIE
*grōb(h)o- ‘hornbeam/oak’. Compare villages Grapsh in
Devoll and Gjirokastër districts, Albania. Vasmer’s attempt to
relate it to the OCS gradьcь ‚castle’661 is less plausible.
Grabos (Γράβος) are two places, one in Kostitsi and two in
Konitsa, Epirus, Greece. In all likelihood derived from
Macedonian/Illyrian *grabos or grabion (γράβιον), as in
Grabitsa.
Grabovo (Γκράμποβο) in Vuno, Zagorion. It is possible to be
derived from both the Slavic grabъ or Illyrian grabos, derived
from the PIE *ghrebh-os ‘hornbeam’ or Macedonian/Illyrian
*grabion ‚torch’, from PIE *grōb(h)o- ‘oak’662. The place
name is found often both in Serbia and south Albania
660
661
662
(Grabovë, Grapsh, Gramsh, Grabian, etc.). Gravë The name of

the village comes from the Albanian and dialectal çam grab
‘hollow, cave, depression, ditch’663. Compare the village
Gravë, Sarandë district, Albania.
Greveniti is a village municipality of Zagorion. Greece. The
name may be derived from Albanian krep ‘rock’.
Grika is a village in Souli municipality. Its name comes from
Albanian grikë/grykë ‘1. throat, 2. pass’. Compare Grykë-Çajë,
Kukës district, north Albania.
Grikëhuar The name comes from Albanian grikë/grykë
’throat’ and the Albanized huar of the Greek hora (χώρα)
‘country’.
Gumenicë - from Albanian gumén “head of a monastery of the
orthodox rite” and the Albanian suffix -icë. There is another
village Gumenicë in Vlorë district.
Gurëmadhi (grecized Kouremadi) is village in Çamëria
(Thesprotia), Greece. A compound place name formed of
Albanian gurë - ‘stones, rocks’ (or gurrë ‘spring, gush’) and
adj. (i, e) madh ‘big, large’, meaning “big stones, big rocks”.
Gurrëz The name of the village comes from the Albanian word
gurrë (of uncertain etymology) ‘spring’. The same root is
preserved in names of Albanian villages, such as Gurëz in
Kurbin district, Gurëz and Ngurëz in Lushnjë district, etc.
Karbunarë corresponds to the village Karbunarë in Lushnjë
municipality. The name evolved from the Italian carbone
‘charcoal, coal’, following the phonetic rules of Albanian, with
the Albanian suffix -ar.
Kardiki (Καρδίκι) village name (earlier Albanian Kardhiqi) in
Paramythia, Souli municipality. It is an Albanian formation
like Kardhiq and Kardhikaq, respectively in Gjirokastër and
Delvinë districts. Vasmer denies the possibility of the origin of
663
Çabej, E. (1996). S. Etimologjike IV, p. 279.
the place name from south-Slavic *Gardići and relates it to the

reconstructed Old Church Slavic *Gordьcь664, which is not
more plausible that the one he rejected.
Konispol (Κονίσπολις) in Ioannina district, Greece. Another
identical name Konispol bears a town in the southernmost part
of Albania. Compare also the name of the village Konisbaltë in
Berat district, Albania. Vasmer rejects the derivation from any
Slavic Koniec pole ‘end of the field’. Vasmer’s opinion is
convincing not only because the name is not found in any
south-Slavic country, but because semantically it is
unplausible. At least the second village name Konispol (in
south Albania) can be sensibly related to a historical-linguistic
fact: the territory where this town lies in Antiquity was part of
Chaonians. The second component -pol derives from the
Greek polis ‘city’. It is likely that the name of another Epirote
early medieval city, Kanina, in Vlora district, derives from the
name of Chaonia with the Illyrian/Albanian suffix -ina.
Krapsi is a village near Ioannina. Derived from Albanian krep
‘rock, cliff’, related to shkrep and zgrip ‘rock’665 and the
Albanian suffix -as. Norbert Jokl relates it to karpë ‘rock’666.
Kuç village name from Albanian kuç/kudh ‘cooking pot’667.
The same name bears the villages Kuç in Vlorë and Shkodër
counties, as well as Kuç i Zi (Black Kuç) in Korçë district. The
name is found even in Albanian enclaves of Sicily and in the
name of the Albanian village Kuçi, in Montenegro.
664
665
Meyer, G. (1891). Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanischen
Sprache. Trübner, Strassburg, p. 205.
666
Çabej, E. (2014). S. Etimologjike V. pp. 139-140.
667
Çabej, E. (2014). S. Etimologjike V, pp. 156-157.
Kurtës The name is likely derived from Albanian kurt,

borowed from late Latin curtes ‘court, yard’668. The same
origin may have the name of the village Kurtës, Kolonjë
district, Albania.
Lapsista (Ano-) is a village in the municipality of Zitsa
(Ζίτσα). The name may be derived from the ethnic name Lab,
inhabitant of Labëria, south Albania (the territory of the
ancient Epirus vetus). The change b>p is common in Greek
and even in Albanian.
Lavdani is a village in the municipality of Pogoni, Greece. The
name derives from Albanian lavd ‘glory’ with the suffix -an.
The word lavd itself may be an inherited Albanian or a
loanword from the Latin laudare ‘praise’669.
Lëkurës From the Albanian lëkurë ‘skin’. The same name
bears the abandoned village of Lëkurës in vicinity of Sarandë,
Albania.
Lopës From the inherited Albanian lopë ‘cow’670. The village
was ruined after the WWII, and rebuilt under the changed
name Asprokklisíon (Ασπροκκλησίου). There is a village and a
municipality, with the same name, Lopës in Tepelenë district,
Albania.
Luarat (Λιγοράτι/Liyorát). In 1927 the name was officially
changed to Katavothra (Καταβόθρα). The name derives from
the Albanian luar ‘cattleman, cattle herder’671. There is a
village Luaras in Kolonjë district, Albania. Two other Luar
villages are in Përmet and Mallakastër districts. From the same
root, luar, derive the village names Luarzi and Luhar in
Shkodër County, north Albania.
668
669
Çabej, E. (2014). S. Etimologjike V., p. 205.
670
671
Maluni (Malouni) - village in Çamëria (Thesprotia). From

Albanian mal ‘mountain’ with the suffix -un.
Margëlliç (now the name is officially changed to Margaritis).
The same name, Margëlliç, bears a village in the Fier County,
Albania. The castle in the latter village and the linguistic
circumstances suggest that the name derives from the ancient
Illyrian city of Bargullon672. The change b>m is known in
Albanian.
Matsouki is a village in the municipality of North Tzoumerka.
May be related to Albanian mat ‘river bank’673, just like
Macukull in Mati district, Albania.
Mur – From 1. the Albanian mur ‘wall’.or 2. (i, e) murrmë
‘brown’.
Murto (now changed to Syvota, Σύβοτα). From the Albanian
personal name Murto.
Myrsini/Mursini is a village in the municipality of Zalongo, in
Preveza, south-western corner of Epirus. As noted earlier, in
the Albanian part of Epirus, close to the Greek border, is the
village of Mursia. Ptolemy mentions the city Mursia
(Μουρσία)674, in northern Illyria, which Stephanus of
Byzantium calls Mursa (Μοῦρσα)675. As pointed out earlier,
the name is related to the PIE *mers and *mori ‘marsh, sea’676.
These roots are unknown in the ancient Greek; for marsh the
ancient Greek had, at least, three words, limne (λίμνη), telma
(τέλμἄ), and elos (ἕλος), none of which is related to
Mursa/Mursia.
672
Errington, R.M. (1990). A History of Macedonia. University of
California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, Ca, p. 195.
673
Çabej, E. (2014). S. Etimologjike V. p .291.
674
Ptolemy Geography II, 16, 8.
675
Stephani Byzantii, Op. cit.
676
Neshat From the Albanian word shat>fshat ‘village, arable

land, farmland’677 and the prefix në- ‘in, at’. See also Nuneshat
below.
Nikolicaj. From the Albanian personal name Nikol plus the
typical Albanian family suffix -aj.
Nuneshat. From Albanian nën ‘below, beneath’ and shat/fshat
‘village, arable land’. Compare the name of the village
Nënshat, Bushat and Shat in Shkodër district and Fshat in Mati
district678, etc.
Plakoti, village, municipality of Souli. From Albanian plak
‘old man’. There was another village name Plakoni (now
Starovë), in Pogradec district, Albania.
Preveza From the old Albanian word prevëzë-za, that means
transportation (according to P. Fourikis and K. Amantos) or
from the Latin word prevesione679. The town is near the 600 m
narrow strait, on a strip of land, between the Gulf of Arta and
the Ionian Sea680. According to the Greek author N. D.
Karabelas, the most likely explanation is the one given by
Melek Delibaşi: “The narrow strait was used for centuries as a
passage from the coast of Epirus to the opposite coast of
Acarnania. The word passage in the Albanian language is
prevezë or prevëza. This is what Preveza means, passage, and
it is in that place where the town of Preveza stands today.”681.
E. Çabej thinks it is more likely that the place name Prevezë
derives from the Albanian brez ‘belt, waist, strip of land,
677
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Etimologjike II. p. 393.
678
679
Vasmer M. (1970 reprint): Die Slaven in Griechenland. Op. cit., p. 64.
680
Karabelas, N.D. (2015). The Ottoman conquest of Preveza and its first
castle. In XVI. Türk Tarih Kongresi, Ankara: 20-24 Eylül 2010. pp.
967-998 (p. 968).
681
Karabelas, N.D. (2015). Ibid.
loop’682. The initial P- was originally B- and evolved

according to the rules of the Albanian with the addition of the -
v- for eliminating the hiatus between the two -e- wovels (Bren
> Breezë >Preezë> Prevezë). There is a village name Prezë, in
Tiranë district, Albania.
Repetista derives from Albanian repe/repe (sing. rap)
‘platanes’ with the Albanian suffix -ishta.
Sharat. The name of the village derives from Albanian sharrë
(dialectal çam sharë) ‘saw’ + the typical çam-lab suffix -at.
Compare the village Sharrë, Tirana district and Sharaj, Vlorë
district in Albania.
Shëmrizë From Albanian Shëmri ‘Saint Mary’ and the
Albanian diminutive suffix -zë. There are several homonymous
village names Shëmri throughout Albania in Tiranë, Krujë and
Kukës districts.
Shkljave (Σκλιάβη) in Philiates (Filat) district. Vasmer sees
this as an older form of the modern north-Albanian shka
‘Slav’, derived from the Latin sclavus. In the south Albanian
çam (to be pronounced cham) dialect spoken in the Greek part
of modern Epirus, shkliave means schismatic Greek and in
Istria the Albanian shkē meant “Hungarian Serb” 683. Compare
village names Shkjazë e Shkjezë, Shkodër district.
Souli (Albanian Suli) is the name of a region, inhabited by the
Albanian tribe Souliotes. Another village Suli is near the
Kalama (ancient Thyamis) River. The same name Suli, bears a
village in Devoll district and Sulovë, Elbasan county.
Soulopoulo – The same as Souli with the Greek suffix -
opoulos.
Varfanj a village name (now officially grecized to
Parapotamos, Παραπόταμος). Derived from the Albanian
682
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Etimologjike II. pp. 317-320.
683
Vasmer, M. (1941). Op., cit.
personal name and patronymic Varf with the characteristic

Albanian suffix -anj.
Vilë From Albanian vilë, considered to be an ancient
borrowing from Latin villa ‘home, village’684. Compare
villages Vilë in Kukës, Vilëz in Tirana district, Vilë in
Dukagjin, Vilë in Bregu i Detit, in the Ionian coast of South
Albania (near Piqeras), and other homonymous place names in
the counties of Korçë, Elbasan, as well as Mirditë and Përmet
districts.
Vranista (Βράνιστα) in Konitsa region. The etymology is
debatable. There is a village Vranište in Bulgaria and 3
villages Vranisht in Albania (Vlorë, Korçë and Has districts).
Vasmer sees as probable both the Slavic origin of the name
and origin from an Albanian personal name, like Gjanishta
(Γιάννιστα), advocated by Stadtmüller685.
Vresta (Βρέστα) in Philiaton (Albanian Filat) is identical with
the Albanian word vreshta ‘vineyard’ (grecized to vresta
because of the lack of -sh- (š ) in Greek). The word vreshta is
frequently used in formation of place names in Albania:
Vreshtaj (Elbasan district), Vreshtas (Korçë, Fier and Gramsh
districts). Unconvincing attempts to trace the origin of the
name to Slavic reconstructed *berstъ, Slovenian place name
Brest, or Bulgarian Brěst.
b. Albanian village names in Souli municipality
Significant from the viewpoint of the ethnic affiliation of

modern Epirotes are names of villages in the mountainous
region of Suli, inhabited by the glorious warriors of the War
684
Çabej, E. (2006). S. Etimologjike VII. pp. 255-256.
685
Archivum Europae centro-orientalis VII. Budapest, pp. 1-196.
for the Greek Independence. Suli is the name of a warlike

Albanian tribe living in a dozen villages in a mountainous
region in central Epirus. The exclusive Albanian origin of the
village names in Souli (Suli) is plausibly explained with the
rugged nature of the region, which thwartet to a high degree
the Greek cultural influence.
The etymology of the name is not completely settled.
Pouqueville hypothesized that the place name Souli (Albanian
Suli) derives from the ancient Epirote tribe of Selloi: “I believe
that the name of Souli comes from Selleide, or the country of
Selles, priestesses of the Dodonean Jupiter”686. His hypothesis
may be accepted only if he accepted the Epirote origin of
Albanians; otherwise his hypothesis is rejected by his own
designation of Souliotes as “Schkiptars of Souli”687.
Stephanus of Byzantium writes of an Epirote tribe Syliones
(Συλίονες), but the Greek grammarian explicitly states that
Syliones were a Chaonian subtribe688, whereas Dodona and the
ancient tribe of Selloi were Thesprotians that later fell under
the rule of Molossians. A village named Suli is near the
Kalamas river (ancient Thyamis) in the vicinity of Zitza and
another in Devoll, Korçë county, Albania.
The following list of place names in Souli is based mainly on
data provided almost a century ago by the Greek scholar P.
Fourikis689. The village names are also written in the original
686
Pouqueville, F.C.H.L. (1826). Voyage de la Grèce II. Deuxième edition,
Firmin Didot, père et fils, Paris, p. 209: “The canton of Souli…me
paraît être de la Selléide, ou pays des Selles, ministres de Jupiter
Dodoneen”
687
Pouqueville, F.C.H.L. (1826). Ibid., pp. 210-212: “Schypetars de Souli”.
688
Stephani Byzantii. Op. cit.: “Συλίονες, ἔϑνος Χαονίας”.
689
Fourikis, P. (1922).Πόθεν το όνομά σου Σούλι, Ημερολόγιον της
Μεγάλης Ελλάδος.
Albanian çam dialect, since the Greek lack a number of the

cham dialect sounds.
.Arvanita – From arvanites (αρβανίτες), grecized form of
Albanians/Arbans, with the change b>v that is characteristic of
the new Greek.
Bardhi 690The name of the village comes from the Albanian (i,
e) bardhë ‘white’.
Berishat (Perichatès691, grecized form of Berishat). Typical
Albanian formation of a tribe/village name with the suffix -at.
Bira, Vëra (Βίρα, Μπίρα) 692 693 . The name comes from the
Albanian. vëra/bira – ‘hole’. Fourikis translated it into Greek
tripa (τρύπα) ‘hole’.
Bregu i Vetëtimësë (Βρέκου - η – Βετετίμεσε)694. (The Hill of
Lightning). From Albanian breg ‘hill’ and vetëtimë ‘lightning’.
Translated into Greek: βράχος τής αστραπής.
Burima695 From Albanian burim ‘spring, gush’.
Bushi (Βούτζι)696. From Albanian bush ‘boxtree, boxwood’.
Fourikis translated into Greek άβρότονον, φυτόν.
Dhëmbës697 (Δέμπες). From Albanian dhëmb ‘tooth’ plus the
Albanian-Illyrian suffix -ës/-as. The Greek word is οδοντωτός
‘toothed’.
Ferëza (Φέριζα)698. From Albanian ferra/fera “bramble bush,
thorn bush” and diminutive suffix -ëza. Fourikis translated it
into μικρά βάτος.
690
Merxhushi, N. (2014). Op. cit.
691
Pouqueville, F.C.H.L. (1826). Op.cit., p. 212.
692
Fourikis, P. (1922). Πόθεν το όνομά σου Σούλι, Ημερολόγιον της
Μεγάλης Ελλάδος. p. 405-406.
693
694
Fourikis, P. (1922). Op. cit.
695
696
697
Fourikis, P. (1922). Ibid.
Gropë From the Albanian gropë ‘hole, pit’.

Gungë (Κούγγε)699. From Albanian gungë 1. hunch, hump, 2.
big round rock, big stone’.
Gura (Γκούρα)700from Albanian gura ‘spring, gush’.
Translated into Greek: βράχος ή πηγή έκ τού βράχου
ανάβλυζουσα.
Kali701- from Albanian kali – ‘the horse’.
Kondat (Condatès)702- from the Albanian personal name and
patronymic Kondo, with the typical Albanian suffix -at.
Murga (Μούργκα)703- from the Albanian murg ‘monk’, or
mug ‘twilight, dusk’.
Murriz704. From the Albanian murriz ‘hawthorn’.
Palovreshti705. From the Albanian palo ‘bad’ + Albanian
vreshti ‘the vineyard’, which means “The bad vineyard”.
Qafa (Κιάφα)706 707. From Albanian qafë ‘1. n. neck, 2. n.
pass’. Fourikis translated it into Greek λαιμός, ζυγός,
κλεισώρεια.
Shënepremte (Σεν - η – Πρέμπτε)708. Santa Premte – a
national Albanian female saint.
Shtretëza (Στρέτεζα)709. This is an archaic Albanian form for
plateau [herein also belong shtrirë ‘laid, laid down’ and
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
Merxhushi, N. (2014). Ibid.
706
707
Pouqueville, F.C.H.L. (1826). Op .cit., p. 211.
708
709
shtresë ‘layer’ shtrat (Pl. shtertër)] plus the diminutive

Albanian suffix -zë. Translated into Greek μικρών οροπέδιον
‘small plateau’.
Vila (Vilia)710- from Albanian vilë ‘home, village’711. Many
Albanian villages in the Central Albania bear this name.
c. Albanian mountain names in southern Epirus
Çuka e Palit (Gumenicë) (the peak of Paul) derives from

Albanian çukë ‘peak, summit’712. Notice the typical early
Albanian form Pal for Paulus.
Murgana – a mountain just south of the Albanian-Greece
border. Derived from Albanian murg ‘monk’ (Greek.
monakhos μοναχός).
Mali i Bardhë (Sharat). Litterally: ‘The White Mountain’.
Compare two other homonyms Mali i Bardhë in Kurbin
municipality, North Albania and Vlorë district.
Mali i Bozhurit in Margëlliç (now Margaritis). Litterally ‘The
mounatin of Bozhur’, where Albanian bozhur ‘peony’
(Paeonia officinalis).
Mali i Buzëziut (Arpicë). Litterally, ‘The Mountain of the
Blacklip Man’ (from Albanian buzë ‘lip’ and (i, e) ziu ‘black’.
Mali i Dhëmbasit (Souli). From the Albanian dhëmb ‘tooth’.
Compare the names of the mount Dhëmbel (Përmet) and the
village Dhëmblan (Tepelenë).
710
712
Çabej, E. (2006). S. Etimologjike VII. pp. 255-256.
713
Çabej, E. (1976). S.Gjuhësore I. p 103.
Mali i Glatë (The Long Mountain) in Bedelen. Notice the

archaic and dialectal çam form i glatë for i gjatë ‘long’.
Mali i Hilës (Filat) (the mountain of Hila). The name of this
mountain may be related to the dialectal word il (yll, hyll)
‘star’.
Mali i Kurorës (The mountain of the Crown) (Nikolicaj).
From the Albanian kurorë ‘crown’. Another homonymous
mountain is in Kudhës, Vlorë county.
Mali i Llogarait. Of unknown etymology. Corresponds to
another Mali i Llogarait in Vlorë county, south Albania
(ancient Epirus vetus).
Mali i Malashinjit (The mountain of Malashinj). Apparently
derived from the Illyrian/Albanian word mal ‘mountain’.
Compare Mali i Melesinit, Kolonjë district, south Albania.
Mali i Mëllezit (Konispol). The name seems to be related to
the Albanian noun mëllenjë ‘common blackbird, thrush’.
Mali i Murgut (Souli). Litterally ‘Mount of Monk’. From the
Albanian word murg ‘monk’.
Mali i Qytezës (Mazrek). From Albanian qytezë ‘township’.
Litterally ‘The mountain of the Township’.
Malet e Sheshtagjonëve. (Mountains of Sheshtagjons). Notice
the Albanian form Gjon (Joan, John) in the second component
of the mountain’s name.
Mali i Shëndëlliut. Litterally ’The mountain of Saint Elias’.
There is another Mali i Shëndëllisë, Tepelenë district, part of
ancient Epirus vetus.
Mali i Shkodrës (Njihuar-Paramithi). From the name of the
north-Albanian city Shkodër. Another place name Shkodër
(Σχόδρα ) is northwest of Ioannina.
Mali i Ugurgarës in Nistë. Litterally: ‘The mountain of
Ugurgara’. Its etymology is not known.
Mali i Verdhëlës (Grikëhuar). Related to the Albanian adj.

(i,e) verdhë ‘yellow’ and the Albanian diminutive suffix -lë.
d. Albanian hydronyms in southern Epirus
Burim i Labit (The Spring of Lab). From the Albanian ethnic

name lab ‘inhabitant of Labëria’ or ‘related to Labëria’, a
south-Albanian region corresponding exactly to the ancient
Chaonia in Epirus.
Burim i Kaninës (The Spring of Kanina) - from the name of
the village of Kanina, Vlorë, Albania (part of the ancient
Epirus).
Burim i Zërës (Spring of Fairy) - from Albanian zëra – an
Albanian mythological figure ‘goddess of forest, fairy’.
Deti i Zonjës (literally Sea of the Lady). This is how çams in
both sides of the Albanian-Greek border call Ionian Sea. It
may be related to the name of the ancient Epirote goddess
Dione (see for a full discussion in subsection Illyrian-Epirote
mythological relationships in this chapter).
Di Krerët (The Two Heads), the strait that divides the island
Pascos from Antipaskos.
Kroi i Ariut (The Fountain of the Bear). From Albanian arí
‘bear’.
Kroi i Mirë (The Good Fountain) - from the Albanian word
kroi ‘the fountain’ and adjectiv i mirë ‘good’.
Kroi i Shurrës (Fountain of Urine) - from Albanian shurrë
‘urine’.
Kroi i Sorrëzës (The Fountain of the Crow) - from Albanian
sorrë ‘crow’ and the diminutive suffix -zë.
Lumi i Pavlit (Pavli River) - from Albanian form (Pavli) of the
personal name Paulus.
Lumi i Zi (Black River), the Albanian name of ancient river

Acheron, which corresponds well to the ancient Greek
characterization of Acheron as an underworld (black) river.
Lumreja of Janina (Ioannina), a meandering river flowing
down from Hani i Pllakës in Lefterhor. Notice the word lumë
‘river’, the first component of the river’s name.
Prroi i Dushqëzit (The Creek of Dushqëz) - from Albanian
dushq (plural of dushk ‘oak’) and the diminutive suffix -ëz.
Prroi i Katundit (The Creek of Village) - from Albanian
katund ‘village’.
Prroi i Miç Dukës (The Creek of Miç Duka) - from an
Albanian personal name (Miç is short for Demeter).
Prroi i Shkëmthit (The Creek of Rock) - from Albanian
shkëmb - ‘rock’ and the diminutive Albanian suffix -th.
Pus’ i Çalares (Well of the Lame) - from Albanian (i, e) çalë
‘lame’.
Pus’ i Mollës (Well of the Apple) - from Albanian mollë
‘apple’.
Uji i Verdhë (Yellow water). The sea streit between Kakaia of
Nisa and Vila. From the Albanian ujë ‘water’ and (i, e) verdhë
‘yellow’.
Uji i Bardhë (White Water) - from Albanian ujë ‘water’ and (i,
e) bardhë ‘white’.
e. A piece of medieval cadastral evidence on Albanian

population in Greece’s Epirus
Personal and family names found in the cadastral register of

the kaza (an Ottoman administrative division) of Delvina for
the years 1582-1583 about population of 64 villages clearly
show that the area was predominantly inhabited by Albanians.
As an illustration of this below are provided names of the
population of the village Sharat (now in the Greece’s part of

Epirus):
Nikë Nikolli, Nikol Gjini, Dol Nika, Pal Gjoni, Kostë Mëhilli,
Gjikë Dedë Zhupa, Liko Nikolla,Nikë Gjoni, Progër
Gjini,Dokë Gjini, Gjikë Gjoni, Martin Prifti, Gjikë Pali, Dokë
Doli, Martin Gjini, Gjokë Deda, Martin Pali, Zhupa Pali, Dodë
Pali, Jani Doli, Pjetri Qesari, Martin Komneni, Gjikë Teodori,
Ahmet Shtrepi, Lisimed Meladeni, Martin Kola, Nikol Pali,
Strati Lira, Dhimo Klea, Komnen Kondi, Dedë Gjini, Niklol
Pali, Martin Andrea, Doli Komneni, Melkë Andrea, Nikol
Qesari, Llazar Gjoni, Dod Nikolla, Lik Strati, Nik Andrea,
Martin Loli713.
It goes without saying that the form of all the first names and
the family names (most of them are patronymics) mentioned
above are unmistakably Albanian, neither Greek nor Slavic or
Aromanian.
8. Traces of the ethnic name of Albanians in the

medieval Epirus vetus
The ethnic name of Albanians derives from the name of an
Illyrian tribe Albanoi (Άλβανοὶ)714 living somewhere within
713
714
Claudii Ptolemaei, Geographia I, Red. C.F.A. Nobbe, Tauchnitz,
Leipzig, 1843, Libri 3, 13, 23.
715
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus De Cerimoniis I. Ed. I.I. Reiski,
Weber, Bonn. Red. 1829, p. 688.
716
Michael Attaliota Historia Corpus Scriptorium Historiae Byzantinae,
Weber, Bonn, 1853, p. 10.
717
Annae Comnenae Alexiadis I. VI, 7. In Corpus Scriptorum Historiae
Byzantinae. Ed. B.G. Niebuhr, Bonn, 1839.
718
Annae Comnenae Alexiadis II. Ibid., XIII, 5.
the territory of the tribe of Taulanti in the Adriatic coastal

plain of Albania, in the ex-Roman province of Epirus nova.
Later, during the Early Middle Ages, apparently related to the
arrival of Slavs in Balkans, this tribe name was spread to
designate the entirety of south-Illyrian tribes with a common
language, origin and history.
For the first time the name of the Albanian people is attested in
the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus’ De Cerimoniis715
by the middle of the 10th century. In the 11th century it appears
twice in the History of Michael Attaleiates716 and Anna
Comnene717 718, and thereafter uninterruptedly in the Byzantine
and western sources. However, from these sources is
impossible to draw any conclusion on the the Albanian
territories in the western part of the medieval Balkans.From
the 14th century names Epirus and Epirotes were
synonymously used with the name of Albania and Albanians.
719
Pelegrinage a Jerusalem de N. de Martoni: Notaire italien (1394-1395).
Revue de l’Orient latin, vol. 3, Paris, p. 662.
720
Braun, L. and Camaj, M. (1972). Ein albanischer Satz aus dem Jahre
1483. Zeitschrift fur vergleichende Sprachforschung 86, 1-6.
721
Demiraj, B. (2012). La Maledizione dell’Epirota. Res albanicae I, 1, 133
– 149, 133-147: Demiraj, B. Mallkimi i epirotit. p. 12-26. Internet
http://www.albanologie.uni-muenchen.de/downloads/publikationen-
demiraj/mallkimi-i-epirotit-_1483.pdf. Retrieved on October 26, 2015
722
Demiraj, B. Internet. Mallkimi i epirotit (1483). pp.12-26. Retrieved on
May 30 2015: “Se le nostre cronache non mentono, noi ci chiamiamo
Epiroti”.
In the known sources, Epirus is named Albania for the first

time in the 14th century719.
After the Ottoman conquest of Epirus and other Albanian
territories, before the fall of the Constantinople, in 1420 Turks
established the Arvanid sanjak (sanjak of Albania), which
included most of the present territories of the classical Epirus
up to Kalama (Thyamis) River. Towards the end of the 15th
century Epirotes are mentioned to speak a clearly non-Greek
language that is identified as Albanian720 721.
In the 15th century, George Castriota (Gjergj Kastrioti)
Skanderbeg (1405-1468), the leader of the Albanian armed
resistance against the Turkish Empire and the national hero of
Albanians, was called ‘Epirote’ by the contemporary
historians. About 40 years after the fall of the Albanian states
of Epirus, Skanderbeg, in a letter addressed to the prince of
Taranto, Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo, (1386-1463),
rhetorically proclaimed himself to be an Epirote: “If our
chronicles don’t lie, we are Epirotes”722 and appears in
contemporary sources as Prince of Epirus.
In the 16th century the hero is tagged “clarissimus Epirotarum
Principis” (The most famous Prince of Epirotes) in the title of
Marin Barletius’ history of the hero723.
In the 17th century Franciscus Blanchus published
Dictionarium Latino-Epiroticum (Latin-Albanian Dictionary)
723
Barletius, M. (1508/1510). Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi
Epirotarum Principis. Roma.
724
Blanchus, F. (1635). Dictionarium Latino-Epiroticum vna cum nonnullis
vsitatioribus loquendi formulis. Coll. de Propag. Fide, Romae, p. 3.
725
Blanchus, F. (1635). Ibid., p. 22.
726
Philippi Clüverii Introductio in universam geographiam, tam veterem
quam novam, J. Wolters, 1686, p. 329.
where he translates the word Epirus into Arbëni724 (Albania)

and Epirote – into (i) Arbneshë (Albanian), also adding the
Turkish form Arnautlar.
Many non-Albanian European historians from the 17th century
on identified Epirus with Albania. Among them are the
German geographer Johannes Buno (1617-1697) and filologist
Friedrich Heckel (1640-1715) in the 17th century, the editors
of the French edition of Pliny’s Naturalis historiae (Histoire
Naturelle), Swedish historian Johann Thunmann, Danish-
French geographer Conrad Malte-Brun in the 18 century;
British author A. Spenser and British historians W. C. Stafford
and E. L. Clark, German historians K. F. Merleker, J.P.
Fallmerayer, J. G. von Hahn, L. Schmitz, T. Mommsen;
British historians I. S. Clare, and G. Shipley, etc.
Even now that Albanians call themselves shqiptarë, the root
arb- of their ethnic name, Arbën/Arbër is encountered in place
names all over the Albanian-speaking territories from northern
Albania [the village Arbënesh, in the district of Kraja,
Montenegro722 through Central Albania (the village Arbana,
Tirana district) to the territories of the ancient Epirus, in
village names such as Arvenitsa < *Arbenitsa (Αρβενίτσα) in
province Thyamis (Çamëria), prefecture of Thesprotia, Greece
[the old name now changed to Argyrotopos (Αργυρότοπος)],
Arpitsa (Αρπίτσα) in the rovince Margëlliç (now changed to
Margaritis), and Arvanita in Suli (Souli) [(the old name now
changed to Perdika (Πέρδικας)]. The root is also preserved as
a patronymic Arbri (in Berat), and as an ethnic name arbër in
south Albania (corresponding to the classical Epirus),
especially in the region of Gjirokastër, for denoting the
inhabitants of Labëria (a region of south-west Albania that
corresponds precisely with the territory of ancient Chaonia).
As an obsolete place name Arbëria is still used to designate the

region where these Arbër reside in south Albania.
9. A late medieval reference on the language

spoken by Epirotes
In 1483, an Italian author, Tomasso de Mezzo (Tomà de
Mezzo), member of a noble Venetian family, published in
Venice the comedy L’ Epirota (The Epirote). The comedy was
written in Latin. The protagonist of the comedy, an ethnic
Epirote, says a sentence in his native language which is
already known as “Mallkimi i Epirotit“723 (The Curse of the
Epirote). The first successful attempt to translate was made in
1972 by Ludwig Braun and Martin Camaj in an article
published in 1972724. The sentence written in the “Epirote
language” is: “Drāburi te clofte goglie”. Despite any
imprecision in author’s transliteration, the sentence has been
translated into Albanian “Trëmburë të qoftë gojë”, which is
literally translated ‘May your mouth be frightened”725. Draburi
(trembur in modern Albanian) seems to be the particip of the
Albanian verb tremb ‘to frighten, scare’.
Interpretation of Damascenus as durrsak (of Durazzo and from
Durrës) is unconvincing at best. Had the Epirote been from
Durrës (Latin Dyrrhachium and Italian Durazzo), in a comedy
written in Latin, the author would have been expected to
characterize the Epirote as Dyrrhachiensis instead
723
Demiraj, B. (2012). La Maledizione dell’Epirota. Res albanicae I, 1, 133
– 149, 133-147: Demiraj, B. Mallkimi i epirotit. p. 12-26.
724
Braun, L. and Camaj, M. (1972). Ein albanischer Satz aus dem Jahre
1483. Zeitschrift fur vergleichende Sprachforschung 86, 1-6.
725
Demiraj, B. (2012). Op. cit.
Damascenus. Besides, Durrës and its region is situated within

the region of the Gheg dialect, while the Epirote’s phrase is
clearly in the south-Albanian Tosk dialect. What the author
meant by denoting an Epirote Damascenus (of Damascus), or
was it a typo, however, is hard to determine.
At the time the word kloftë ‘may your’ had the same form in
both the Gheg and Tosk dialects of Albanian. Diagnostic is
only goglia (pronounced golia) ‘mouth’, which at the time had
evolved to the present form goia (prononunced goya) in the
Gheg dialect In 1555 Buzuku’s Missale (Buzuku, G. (1555).
Meshari it appears as goie (l. 18: per goietteh ſegñtet ‘from the
mouth of the saint’). Later in 1635, Franciscus Blanchus also
translates the Latin os ‘mouth’ and bocca into goia in
Albanian726.
The old form goglie (golǝ) is preserved to the present day only
in the Cham and south Lab dialects. It is also used in most
dialects of Albanians that migrated to Greece and Italy mainly
from South Albania (Epirus vetus and Epirus nova) during the
13-15th centuries.
726
Blanchus F. (1635). Dictionarium Latino – Epiroticum. Op. cit., p. 80.
Chapter V
Cultural history of Epirus and Illyrian-

Albanian ethnic identity of Epirotes
1. The Koman-Krujë culture
Results of the archaeological excavations of the last century
appear to complement the picture provided by the ancient
historical sources and linguistic evidence on how shallow
processes of Hellenization in South Illyria and Epirus have
been. As for the possible latter Romanization, the realtively
small number of 2 hundred Latin inscriptions727 found mainly
in Roman coastal colonies and settlements along the main
roads of the territory of South Illyria hardly speak of a more
intense process of Romanization.
With the spread of the Christianity, by the end of the 3rd and
4th century CE, Epirotes, like the South-Illyrians, abandoned
the old pagan tradition of furnished burial rite. The inability of
the Roman Empire to defend its northern frontiers facilitated
barbar incursions and raids and the Slav invasion of Balkans,
including South Illyria, Epirus nova and Epirus vetus, the
devastation of the territories of the coastal Albanian plain and
valleys and the ensuing social insecurity by the end of the 6th
and the 7th century led to the rapid decline of the urban life and
a tendency of the native population to move toward the
727
Anamali, S. (1985). From the Illyrians to the Arbers. In The Albanians
and their Territories. Academy of Sciences of the PSR of Albania, 8
Nëntori, Tiranë, pp. 100-132 (104).
naturally defensible abandoned settlements or founded new

fortified settlements on hill tops and elevated grounds in
general. Examples are Drivastum, Kanina, Argyrion (medieval
Erghiri or Argyrocastro), etc.
From the socio-cultural aspect, this process of ruralization of
the region, was associated with a sudden return to the old
pagan burial rites with furnished graves, return to the earlier
native primitive art, fragmentation and crumbling of the
regional Church establishment in the Albanian territories.
The suddenly changed social conditions and the high social
stress represented an existential threat to the native population,
triggering the native historical, cultural and religious memory
as an unconscious reaction to existential threat the barbarian
invasions posed. It was an instinctual rather than intellectual
call for the return to their mythological-heroic past as a way to
a secure future, as a way out of the hopeless situation in which
they found themselves. The return to the ‘primitive’ traditions
in the periods of the ‘struggle for life’ is a well known
phenomenon in the history of many peoples. Even today, in the
era of literacy, science and rising atheism, peoples under the
social stress, such as Ukrainians, Lithuanians etc., are digging
deeper to dscover their ethnic roots and even attempting to
return to some pagan beliefs of their ancestors in their struggle
for ethnic survival effort.
During this period of deep social stress and unrest took place a
sudden change in the material culture of the region, as revealed
by the Koman-Krujë culture. The culture appears as an abrupt
departure from the unfurnished burials of the 5-6th century and
date from the 7-8th centuries. The culture is known as
Koman-Krujë culture after the names of places in South Illyria
(north Albania) where by the turn of the 20th century numerous
graves furnished with objects of a new style were first
V Cultural history and ethnicity of Epirotes 235
discovered. The Koman-Krujë culture spread not only in the

north of Albania but in the south Albania (Epirus nova and
Epirus vetus), in the valley of Vjosa (Piskovë), Dukat (Vlorë),
Skrapar and Kolonjë counties728, in Epirote region of Greece
(Merope and Kato Pedina), Aphione in the island of Corfou
and in surrounding areas of Greece, Macedonia and
Montenegro729, populated at the time by ancestors of
Albanians.
It is interesting to note that the reversion to the older, pre-
Christian burial tradition of South-illyrians/Epirotes
temporally coincides with the first introduction of Christian
burial rites in England by the 6-7th centuries CE.
Based on the presence of the Illyrian features in archaeological
objects, such as weapons, work tools, ornaments (earrings,
bracelets, etc.), the geography and historical evidence, early
students of the new culture came to the conclusion that it was
continuation of the earlier Illyrian culture730 of a population
that survived the ethnic Romanization. To this view also
adhered Albanian archaeologists who approached hands-on to
the study of the Koman-Krujë culture. The time of the
appearance of the Koman-Krujë culture in an Illyrian territory
of the Byzantine Empire, certainly would be reflected in the
presence of Christian and Byzantine elements and symbolic in
the archaeological finds.
However, now the opinions on the bearers of the Koman-Krujë
culture are divergent. By neglecting for historical and
geographical reasons the hypotheses on the Avar, Slav and
728
Anamali, S. (1982). Problemi i formimit të popullit shqiptar në dritën e
kërkimeve arkeologjike. Tiranë, p. 19.
729
Historia e Popullit Shqiptar (2002). Akad. e Shk. e R. të Shqipërisë,
Toena, Tiranë, p. 209.
730
Anamali, S. (1982). Op. cit., p.12.
Ostrogot character of the culture, presently two are the

mainstream opinions on the ethnicity of the bearers of the
Koman-Krujë culture. On the one hand is the hypothesis
supported by most archaeologists, including Albanians, who
have made the bulk of the archaeological field work and most
of the publications on the culture. They argue that it represents
a continuation of the earlier Illyrian culture, under the new
sociocultural and political circumstances of the early medieval
Balkans. The view is supported by the obvious presence in the
discovered objects of the pagan Illyrian shapes and symbols,
the close similarities to Illyrian objects of the Mati region and
on the historical context of the region in the Late Antiquity-
Early Middle Age.
It is important to keep in mind that the presence itself of the
Christian symbolism in the grave goods excludes Slavs as
potential bearers of the Koman-Krujë culture because until the
end of the 9th century they were still a pagan population. The
presence of the Byzantine symbolism in the culture was
explained with the Illyrians being part of the Byzantine
Empire.
On the other hand, is the hypothesis of some Yougoslav and
other archaeologists represented mainly by V. Popović.
Yougoslav archaeologists have abandoned their earlier claims
on the Slav ethnicity of the bearers of the Koman-rujë culture
by attributing it to a Romanized Illyrian population731.
J. Wilkes admits that Koman-Krujë grave goods show
similarities to the earlier Illyrian finds but, taking it for granted
that Illyrians of the Late Antiquity in the present Albanian
territories were romanized, he contends that ‘it is highly
improbable reconstruction of Illyrian history in this period”
731
Popović, V. (1988). L’Albanie pendant la basse Antiquité. In Les
Illyriens et les albanais. Ed M. Garashanin. Beograd, pp. 201-283.
and rejects both Slav and Albanian ethnicity of the bearers of

the culture in favor of an originally Illyrian, but already
romanized population. The most serious, if not
insurmountable, problem with his hypothesis is that it has
never been proven that Illyrian population in modern Albanian
and Kosova was ethnically romanized and most of historians
and linguists believe the contrary to be the case.
The argument that a romanized population along the via
Egnatia might be bearers of the Koman culture faces three
counter-arguments:
Firstly, as of now neither an authentic report nor a convincing
hypothesis has been presented to show the population along
the via Egnatia was romanized,
Secondly, via Egnatia is neither the centre nor the typical or
the most important the centre of the Koman-Krujë culture, and
Thirdly, no reasonable explanation is provided to account for
the fact that the Koman-Krujë culture is restricted to the
modern Albanian-speaking territories.
Another, more recent, interpretation of the nature of the
emergence of the Koman-Krujë culture is that of the British
historian William Bowden. He believes that the emergence of
Koman-Krujë culture has no bearing on the ethnicity of its
bearers because it is simply a response to the “fluctuating
social structure” of the time. The grave items represent
individual or group identity rather than ethnic identity. Says
he: “it seems unlikely that expression of group or ethnic
identity was a primary motivation behind the revival of
furnished burial in post-Roman Epirus vetus and Epirus nova.
The Komani-Kruja populations were participating in a
Europian-wide medium of funerary practice, rather than
constructing an identity that consciously expressed their
difference from their neighbours. The Komani-Kruja
population, however, was not attempting to maintain or

construct boundaries by which to preserve its ethnic integrity.
Instead, it was participating in the localized and fluctuating
social structures that emerged from the remains of Roman
Epirus”732.
Bowden’s idea that the emergence of the Koman-Krujë
represents an individual’s or group’s identity rather than ethnic
identity is interesting, but he neglects and doesn’t deal with the
essential evidence on the localization of this culture within the
Albanian territories, at a time when the social rapid change and
stress in the Early Middle Age was experienced by the peoples
of Balkans as a whole. He is right to argue that the Koman-
Krujë culture is not related to any conscious effort of the South
Illyrian and Epirote populations to construct their ethnic
identity, but his argument is not relevant to the problem of the
ethnicity supporters of the Illyrian ethnicity of the bearers of
the culture. The emergence of the new culture is rather an
unconscious return to older practice of furnished burial as an
unconscious appeal to the independent mythic-heroic past, an
unconscious behavior of a people experiencing a social
insecurity and existential crisis that resulted from the inability
of the empire to defend its northern borders from barbarian
raids and invasions during the 6-7th centuries CE.
The fact that the objects in furnished graves of the Koman-
Krujë culture are only found on the Albanian territories, but
not in other territories of the “romanized Illyrians (in modern
Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia), speaks loudly against bearers of
Koman-Krujë culture being a romanized population.
Interesting also is the appearance at the same time of the
732
Bowden, W. (2003). The construction of identities in post-Roman
Albania. In Theory and Practice in Late Antique Archaeology. Ed. L.
Lavan and W. Bowden, Brill, Leiden-Boston, pp 57-78 (p. 75).
furnished graves in Aphiona in the Ionian island of Corfou.

The proportion of the furnished and unfurnished graves in
Aphiona is similar (about 50 percent) to that of the Kala of
Dalmaces. This seems to reflect the simultaneous and
competing Christian and non-Christian, pagan views on death
and burial.
Reappearance by the 7-8th centuries of the furnished graves in
Epirus nova, Epirus vetus and even Kerkyra (Aphiona)733,
closely related to the Koman–Krujë culture is another
argument of the ethnic sameness of Illyrians and Epirotes by
the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Age.
Bowden’s argument that the emergence of that culture in
Albanian-speaking territories is a reflection of “fluctuating
socal structures” rather than ethnic situation or ethnic relations
of the region is hardly tenable, for in the 6th and 7th centuries
the neighboring areas and even Balkans as a whole was
experiencing similar “fluctuating social structures”. Bowden
shows an obvious misunderstanding of the way the ethnicity or
the spiritual world of a people is reflected in the material
culture. He contends that the Koman-Krujë populations were
not consciously “constructing an identity”734, but this is not
what the supporters of the Proto-Albanian origin of the
Koman-Krujë culture posit. Fashioning of the material culture
need not necessarily be conscious. As pointed out above, the
reversion to the ancestral traditions is not necessarily related to
conscious choices; it is rather an unconscious behavior evolved
and positively selected in the course of human history.
Archaeological evidence from the Koman-Krujë culture shows
no interruption or discontinuance that would suggest an
733
Bowden W. (2003). Ibid.
734
Bowden, W. (2003). Op. cit., p. 75.
ethnological or demographic upheaval in early medieval

Epirus.
2. Illyrian-Epirote mythological relationships

The Greek and Roman sources provide us with a few ancient
myths that have some bearing on the ethnicity of Epirotes. In
the 1st chapter we discussed about two Illyrian myths735 on the
origin of the name of the Ionian Sea. According to the first
version of the myth, recounted by Strabo, the name of the
Ionian Sea derives from the name of the ruler of the island
Issa736. In the second version, provided by Appian, the name of
the city Epidamnos comes from the name of the Illyrian king
of the Taulanti, whereas the name of the Ionian Sea derives
from Ionio, the name of the son of the Illyrian king
Dyrrhachium, the grandson of Epidamnus. When Dyrrhachium
was attacked by his brothers, Hierocles came to his aid, but
accidentally he killed Ionio, the king’s son and cast the corpse
into the sea to name it as we know it now, the Ionian Sea737.
We also pointed out that using an Illyrian name (Ionio) to
designate the “Epirote Sea” in the myth, may plausibly
symbolize the ethnic affinity of Illyrians with Epirotes.
Like many other barbarian peoples of the time, Epirote and
Illyrian belief comprised a significant component of animism,
a close-to-nature religion, lacking shrines and sancta, finding
its expression in the veneration of animate (plants and animals)
735
Kos M.Š. (2004). Mythological stories concerning Ilyria and its name.
In L’ Illyrie méridionale et l’ Épire dans l’Antiquité IV. De Bocard,
Paris, pp.493-504 (p.498).
736
Strabo Geography VIII, 5, 9.
737
Appian The Civil Wars, II, 6, 39.
and inanimate objects as part of a general spirituality. This is

reflected in the various Illyrian and Epirote tribes adopting
particular animals or plants as their totem animals. For
example, Ulciniates had ulk ‘wolf’738, Taulanti had *taulant
‘swallow’739, inherited in Albanian dallandushe; Arktanes –
probably related a proto-Albanian *ark ‘bear’740; Dalmatians
related to Illyrian/Albanian delme741 ‘sheep, ewe’, also
attestted in ancient town name Delminium, as well as in
medieval-modern Albanian village/town names Delbnisht,
Delvinë, etc. Encheleii had the eel as their totem animal (from
Illyrian *engélla/*angélla>Albanian ngjalë – ‘eel’)742; the
name of Dardans derives from darda ‘pear’743, now attested in
more than two dozen village names throughout Albanian-
speaking territories, etc.
3. An Albanian synonym for the Ionian Sea

As shown earlier, the ancient authors, Strabo744 and Appian745
mythologically related the name of the Ionian Sea to the name
of epichoric Illyrian heroes. However, Albanian çam (cham)
population of Epirus, both in Albania and Greece, have their
own name for the Ionian Sea; they call it Deti i Zonjës
738
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Albanesische Studien I. p. 239.
739
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Gjuhësore I. pp. 105-106.
740
Çabej, E. (1976). S. Etimologjike II. pp. 76-77.
741
von Hahn J.G. (1854). Op. cit., p. 232.
742
743
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Op. cit. p. 236.
744
745
Appian The Civil Wars II, 6, 39.
(literally, the Sea of the Lady). Quite naturally, this arouses

our curiosity about the reason why they use a different name.
One plausible answer to the question might be that Albanians’
ancestors inherited an epichoric Indo-European name for the
sea, which predates the planting of the Greek colonists in the
island Issa and in Dyrrhachion.
A universal observation on the onomastics of the West
Balkans, including Greece, shows that often immigrants
preserved the names of macrotoponyms, such as names of
cities, rivers, mountains, seas and lakes. Thus, e. g., ancient
Greeks didn’t invent new names for many of their cities or
places, but preserved their older ‘Pelasgian’ names. To this
group belong the name of the city, and the goddess, Athens746;
Larissa also is a still unexplained Pelasgian or Pre-
Indoeuropean name of a city in Thessaly and so is Corinth, a
compound noun, derived from the Pelasgian *kar- ‘point,
peak’ and a pre-Indo-European component -nthos747.
The name Deti i Zonjës may be plausibly related with the
ancient history and prehistory of Epirus. Like other areas of
the ancient Balkans, Europe and beyond, Epirotes and Illyrians
had a goddess of the earth of the type of the Old Indian Divine
Mother (Devi Adi parashakti), Greek Demeter, Roman Terra
Matter, Celtic - Danu, Germanic - Frau Hulda/Hludana.
A relation between Mother Earth with the sea is not unknown,
hence not surprising at all; the Dea Matrona of the Celts of
Gaul was associated with the Marne river, a tributary of Seine,
746
Bos, L. and Barber, G. (2014). A Translation of the Grecian Antiquities.
W.P. Grant, Cambridge, p. 5.
747
Online Etymology Dictionary. Available:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Corinth. Retrieved 1. 8.
2015.
and the Mother goddess of Egyptians was related to the

primordial waters.
Initially, Dione might have been an epichoric Epirote goddess
of the type of Terra Matter, worshipped by the Indo-European
peoples throughout Europe. In ancient Greek sources Diione
appears as a deity related chiefly with Dodona in Epirus, but
she is also described as a local escort of the Greek Zeus in
Dodona (Hera was the “permanent” wife of Zeus). How to
explain the fact that in the ancient Greek mythology Dione
appears as a wife of the Greek Zeus, when it is Hera that
overwhelmingly has the attributes of his wife?
To answer this question, first we need to invesigate the origin
of the name Dodona.
4. On the origin of the name Dodona

The ending -(o)na, is a frequent typical Illyrian suffix, but
similar suffixes are also observed in ancient Greek place
names, such as Aegina, Hermiona, Methone and Phaleron,
hence the suffix is of no diagnostic value. By separating the
suffix -(o)na of the word we obtain the root Dodo, which
might be derived via reduplication of a primordial *Do.
The historical and geographical circumstances of the time in
Epirus suggest that, in relation to the etymology of the root
*Do, we may restrict the scope of our research by basically
focusing on two ancient Balkan languages, Greek and Illyrian.
What comes first to our mind is the proposed Illyrian word
*Dā-, (from a PIE *ĝdhom748 or dhĝh(e)m749) from which
derives the Albanian dhe ‘earth’.
748
Çabej, E. (1996). S. Etimologjike IV. p. 18.
Ancient Greek authors themselves related the name of

Demeter to the Greek word Ge (Γῆ) ‘earth’. So, Euripides
identified Demeter with the Earth in Bacchae750 and in
Phonissae751. However, it is generally admittted that the
change g>d is not known in Greek. This makes imposible the
origin of Demeter from the Greek word Ge ‘earth’. But the
change g>d is normal for Illyrian and Albanian and, in Asia,
for the Avestan. This compelled a number of historians and
Indo-Europianists to conclude that Demeter (Δημήτηρ) [and
the earlier form Damater (Δαμάτηρ)] was initially an Illyrian
goddess752 and that Greeks borrowed the name of the goddess
from Illyrian753.
749
West, M.L. (2007). Indo-European Poetry and Myth. OUP, Oxford, p.
176.
750
Euripides Bacchae 266: “the goddess Demeter—she is the earth”
(Δημήτηρ θεά--γῆ δ᾽ ἐστίν).
751
Euripides Phoenissae 685-686: “goddess Demeter the queen of all,
Earth the nurse of all” (Δαμάτηρ θεά, πάντων ἄνασσα, πάντων δὲ Γᾶ
τροφός).
752
Pokorny, J. (1959). Op. cit.: “Clearly Δημήτηρ “mother Earth” was
shaped according to Illyrian and Albanian Phonetic rules (common
Albanian ĝh->d>dh). Δημή-τηρ with the common venetic Illyrian
suffix -ter, -tre. Therefore Δημήτηρ is an Illyrian goddess of earth”.
753
West, M.L. (2007). Op. cit., p., p. 176: “Demeter could therefore be a
borrowing from Illyrian”.
754
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Op. cit. p. 244.
The well known rule of the change of the Indo-European ā > o

in Albanian may explain change Dā >Do that is observed in
the supposed reduplication of Do in the place name Dodona.
J.G. von Hahn proposed that dhe ancient Illyrian word is
preserved in the north Albanian personal name Dodë754.
5. On the identity of the goddess Dione

Let’s first briefly review the adoption of Dione in the Greek
pantheon, her possible relationship with the Epirote sovereign
god and any possible traces of Dione in the modern Albanian
mythology.
We are not sure when Dione might have been adopted in the
Greek pantheon. However, it was mentioned as a divine
creature of the second order. In Hesiod’s Θεογονία in the 8-th
centuries BC Dione appears as a nymph and only later, it
appears in the altar of Pergamum in the 2nd century BC.
Unlike other gods that ancient Greeks borrowed from
Thracians (Ares and Dionysios), Phoenicians (Adonis and
Aphrodite) and a number of Egyptians gods that have definite
and stable functions and positions, Dione was never included
in the group of Olympic gods or had any definite functions in
the Greek pantheon. At times it appears as mother of
Aphrodite or Dionysios, other times described as daughter of
Uranus or Oceanus, etc. Dione is chiefly known for its role as
a native companion or escort of Zeus in Dodona alone, with
Hera being his permanent wife. Dione has only rare and
secondary roles in the Greek pantheon, and she is only a few
times mentioned in ancient Greek texts. Even in our time

Dione is generally absent in the genealogies of the Greek gods.
Ancient Greek authors also say that Dodona and its oracle
were founded not by Greeks but by Pelasgians, many centuries
before ancient Greeks become aware of its existence (by the
beginning of the 2nd millenium BC). Hesychius assures us that
still in the 5th century CE Epirotes worshipped their own
“father of gods”, Dei patyros755.
All the above suggest Dione to have been a native Epirote
godess, that was adopted (like other deities, Aphrodite, Ares,
Adonis, Dionysius, etc) to the Greek pantheon.
Epirotes had an attested father of gods (Deipaturos) and is to
be expected that, like other Indo-European
homologues/analogues had his female counterpart, a type of
Indo-European Mother Earth goddess and it is generally
admitted that Dodona’s Dione was such a type of goddess.
This makes it tempting to posit that, Dione, the Mother Earth
goddess has been the wife of Deipatyros, the epichoric Epirote
father of gods.
An important report by Hesychius in the 5th century CE shows
clearly that, despite the long and close contact with ancient
Greeks, the popular belief of Epirotes was different from that
of ancient Greeks. The late Antiquity lexicographer in his
“Alphabetical Collection of All Words” (Συναγωγὴ Πασῶν
Λέξεων κατὰ Στοιχεῖον)” provides the term Dei patyros
(Δειπάτυρος), defining it as the name of the god of the Epirote
tribe of Tymphaei (Δειπάτυρος - ϑεὺς παρὰ Τυμφαίοις)
(Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon). Tymphaei (Τυμφαῖοι) were
an ancient Epirote tribe inhabiting the mount Tymphe (Τυμφή)
in the eastern part of the ancient Epirus, bordering both
755
Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon (1867). Op. cit. p. 372.
Thessaly and Macedonia and the region was known as

Tymphaea (Τυμφαία)756.
All the names for the ‘father of all gods’ in Indo-European
languages are compound words derived from the PIE *dyeus
‘shining sky’ (the Hettite Sius, Greek zeu, Illyrian Dei, Latin
ju, Umbrian Iuve) and from the PIE *pǝter ‘father’ (Sanskrit
pita, Greek pater, Illyrian patyros, Latin piter)757. Evidently,
the Epirote-Illyrian name of the father of all gods, Deipatyros,
is diferent from the Greek Zeus. And it is clear that, despite the
neighborhood with Greeks and the presence of Greek colonists
in the Epirus coast and the latter influx of Roman colonists in
those cities, Epirotes continued to worship Deipatyros, the
ruler of their pantheon at least until the 5th century CE.
Based on the common origin of the pantheons of IE peoples, it
has been proposed that Dei patyros, where Dei seems to be the
Genitiv of Deiwa (PIE *deywós - god from *dyēus ‘shining
sky’) was the father of all gods in the Illyrian pantheon758.
Apparently Deipatyros’ role in the Illyrian pantheon was
different from the role of Zeus in the Greek pantheon. As a
father of Illyrian gods, worshipped by a more primitive
Illyrian-Epirote society, it had more natural attributes as may
be inferred from the evidence that the father of the Illyrian god
has been been identified with an holy Oak (Illyrian grabos,
from PIE *ghrebh-os ‘hornbeam’) translated into Greek Zeus
Phegonaios [from ancient Greek phēgós (φηγός) ‘oak’].
The Illyrian-Epirote origin of the Greek expression Zeus
Phegonaios is confirmed not only by the fact that it is uniquely
756
Smith, W. (1873). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by
Various Writers: Iabadius-Zymethus II, J. Murray, London, p. 1246.
757
Lando, S. (2010). Europas tungomål I/II. p. 43.
758
Çabej, N. (2014). Në Gjurmët e Perëndive dhe Mitologjemave Ilire. Fan
used in relation to the Dodona oak oracle, but also because the
Illyrian epithet grabovius ‘of the oak’ of the ruler of the gods
of their pantheon, via Illyrian-Messapian tribes, passed to the
Roman pantheon as epithet of the highest god, Jupiter
Grabovius. It is noteworthy that Grabovius was the name of
the Illyrian-Messapian ruler of gods. Fortson uggests that the
Illyrian name of the god Grabovius derives from *grabion,
*grab – ‘oak’, a word that is preserved in the Epirote dialect in
the same unchanged form grabos – ‘a kind of oak’759.
Dodona oracle, which was a focal point of communication of
Epirotes with the ancient Greek, Macedonians, and northern
Illyrians, all of whom worshipped the holy oak of Dodona.
Unlike Greeks, on the other side of the Adriatic and Ionian
seas, Latins and Italics didn’t translate, but used the original
Illyrian word Grabovius, as an epithet for their ruler of gods
Jupiter Grabovius and two other gods of theirs, Mars
Grabovius and Vofionus Grabovius.
Now let’s try to find possible traces of Dione in the region.
In our search for Deipatyros and Dione in the later mythology
it is important to bear in mind that the father of the Epirote
gods, Deipatyros, was objectified in the oracular oak of
Dodona. Strabo identifies the guardians of the oracle as
tomarouroi (τομούρους), the Epirote compound word for
guardians of the mount Tomarus/Tmarus (see earlier our-/ur-.
in section Epirote-Albanian lexical corespondences, chapter
II), because Tomaros was known as the Mount of Dodona
759
Fortson, B.W. IV, 2010. Indo-European Language and Culture: an
Introduction. Sec. ed. Blackwell Publishing, f. 299. Grabovius appears
as epithet of three Latin gods, Jupiter, Mars dhe Vofionus.
(Τόμαρος, ὄρος Δωδώνης)760. This leads us to a natural and

logical association with the name of the mount Tomor, the
highest peak in south Albania. This mountain is still
worshipped as “Froni i Perëndisë” ‘The throne of the God’ and
personified as Baba Tomor ‘Father Tomor’, reminiscent of the
Epirote epithet patyros ‘father’ in Dei patyros.
Almost one century ago, Maximilian Lambertz came up with
the original and very important idea that one of the central
figures in the modern Albanian mythology, E Bukura e Dheut,
‘The Beauty of the Earth’, was the Illyrian-Albanian analogue
of Persephone-Demeter761. Hence, E Bukura e Dheut may be
considered a hypostasis or transposition of the attested Illyrian
goddess Thana762, under the new circumstances of the spread
of Christianity among Epirotes763. E Bukura e Dheut, is
worshipped as the lover of Father Tomor (the Mount Tomor in
the territory of the ex-Roman province of Epirus nova).
The identification of Dione as ‘local wife’ of Zeus’ in the
Greek mythology, suggests that, in the regional Epirote
mythology, Dione, the Mother Earth of Epirotes, may have
been the wife of Dei patyros. A clear parallel arises now: E
760
Stephani Byzantii., p. 628: “Τόμαρος, ὄρος Δωδώνης, ὅ τινες Τομοὕρον
καὶ τοὺς κατοικοὔντας Τομούρους. οἱ δὲ Τμάρος, οὗ τὸ ἐϑνικὸν
Τμάριος”.
761
Lambertz, M. (1922). Albanische Märchen (Schriften der
Balkankommission), Wien, f. 44.
762
Çabej, N. (2014). ). Në Gjurmët e Perëndive dhe Mitologjemave Ilire.
Fan Noli, Tiranë, pp. 75-81.
763
Çabej, N. (2014). Në Gjurmët … Ibid., p. 37.
Bukura e Dheut, the transposition of the Illyrian Mother Earth

(Thana), is the lover of the Father Tomor, just like Epirote
Mother Earth, Dione, might have been the wife of Deipatyros.
Now we need to know whether Dione did exist in other
regions of Illyria.
In four altars in north Illyria (Topusco, Croatia) appears the
name of a native Illyrian goddess Thana (Θανα). Thana is
identified as Illyrian Mother Earth, goddess of the Earth,
fertility and reproduction764 and may be the analogue of Danu,
the Irish Mother Earth and the Epirote goddess Dione.
However, earlier identification of the Illyrian goddess Thana
with Diana has beens rejected by Lambertz765. E. Çabej shed
some additional light to the issue by indicating that the
grapheme Θ in Θανα (Thana) may represent a peculiar Ilyrian
sound, which may be related to the sound that gave z- in the
word zanë in Albanian766. In all likelihood the grapheme Θ
represents an Illyrian sound similar to d-, which in Albanian
evolved to z-. Were this hypothesis true, then Θανα would
regularly give in Albanian zana (as a result of rhotacism, zëra,
in south Albanian Tosk dialect that, includes the whole area of
ancient Epirus vetus and Epirus nova). Linguistically Dione
also could evelve to Zana/Zëra which is a central figure of the
Albanian mythology. The Albanian form zana is assimilated
into the figure of Majka Jana ‘Mother Jana’ of the Serbian
mythology767.
764
Çabej, N. (2014). Në Gjurmët…Ibid., pp. 75-81.
765
Lambertz, M. 1969. Die Mythologie der Albaner. Në Wörterbuch der
Mythologie, II. Götter und Mythen im Alten Europa. Ed. H.W.
Haussig, Ernst Klett, Stuttgart. pp. 508-509.
766
Çabej, E. (1976). SGJ II. Rilindja, Prishtinë, 1976, p. 317.
767
Pavlović, M. (1962). Diana – alb. Zanë - serb. Majka Jana. Zeitschrift
für Balkanologie. I, pp. 73-74.
So, if Thana, attested in the South and North Illyria, would be

identified with Dione of Dodona, a goddess of the “Mother
Earth” type, then it is highly likely that it was transposed to the
Albanian mythology in the figure of E Bukura e Dheut, where
dheu ‘earth’ represents one of the great divine kingdoms, along
the heaven and sea. It is relevant in this context to remember
that in an Albanian tales, there is another not clearly identified
mythological figure, “Hyria e Detit” or “E Bukura e Detit”
(The Beauty of the Sea”), residing in the sea, an omnipotent
magical being capable of performing miracles768. E Bukura e
Detit is a kind of sirene metamorphosizing into animal forms
of snake, turtle etc.769 and Lambertz identified it as the sister of
E Bukura e Dheut, a hypostasis of an Illyrian goddess of sea,
along Redon.
It is possible both these sea mythological figures represent
transposition of an initial Indo-European goddess postulated
by Dumezil, a hypothesis which seems to be supported by the
existence in the belief of Albanians of a rite in which the
sterile women bathe in sea believing this helps them getting
pregnant and having children.
6. The myth of the origin of Illyrian tribes

As we have already seen, the myth of Cadmus and Harmonia
on the origin of Illyrians narrated by Apollodorus in the 2nd
century BC, might have only tangential relevance on the ethnic
768
Përralla Shqiptare (1990). Tirane, pp. 64-67.
769
Gjoni, I. (2012). Marrëdhënie të miteve dhe kulteve të bregdetit të Jonit
me areale të tjera mitike. Disertation. p. 167. Available at
http://www.doktoratura.unitir.edu.al/wp-
content/uploads/2012/12/IRENA-GJONI.pdf.
affiliation of Epirotes, but the myth on the origin of Illyrians from

the Cyclops Polyphemus and his wife Galatea provided by
Appianus in the 1st century BC has more clear implications for
the ethnicity of Epirotes. Here is the Apollodorus’ narrative:
“They say that the country received its name from Illyrius, the
son of Polyphemus; for the Cyclops Polyphemus and his wife,
Galatea, had three sons, Celtus, Illyrius, and Galas, all of
whom migrated from Sicily; and the nations called Celts,
Illyrians, and Galatians took their origin from them. Among
the many myths prevailing among many peoples this seems to
me the most plausible. Illyrius had six sons, Encheleus,
Autarieus, Dardanus, Mædus, Taulas, and Perrhæbus, also
daughters, Partho, Daortho, Dassaro, and others, from whom
sprang the Taulantii, the Perrhæbi, the Enchelees, the
Autarienses, the Dardani, the Partheni, the Dassaretii, and the
Darsii. Autarieus had a son Pannonius, or Pæon, and the latter
had sons, Scordiscus and Triballus, from whom nations
bearing similar names were derived. But I will leave these
matters to the antiquarians”770.
In the Appian’s myth three of the sons of Illyrius, Perrhaebus
and Autarius and Encheleus, are respectively ancestors of the
770
Appian Illyrian Wars III, 1, 2 : (φασὶ δὲ τὴν μὲν χώραν ἐπώνυμον
Ἰλλυριοῦ τοῦ Πολυφήμου γενέσθαι: Πολυφήμῳ γὰρ τῷ Κύκλωπι καὶ
Γαλατείᾳ Κελτὸν καὶ Ἰλλυριὸν καὶ Γάλαν παῖδας ὄντας ἐξορμῆσαι
Σικελίας, καὶ ἄρξαι τῶν δι᾽ αὐτοὺς Κελτῶν καὶ Ἰλλυριῶν καὶ Γαλατῶν
λεγομένων. καὶ τόδε μοι μάλιστα, πολλὰ μυθευόντων ἕτερα πολλῶν,
ἀρέσκει. Ἰλλυριῷ δὲ παῖδας Ἐγχέλεα καὶ Αὐταριέα καὶ Δάρδανον καὶ
Μαῖδον καὶ Ταύλαντα καὶ Περραιβὸν γενέσθαι, καὶ θυγατέρας Παρθὼ
καὶ Δαορθὼ καὶ Δασσαρὼ καὶ ἑτέρας, ὅθεν εἰσὶ Ταυλάντιοί τε καὶ
Περραιβοὶ καὶ Ἐγχέλεες καὶ Αὐταριεῖς καὶ Δάρδανοι καὶ Παρθηνοὶ καὶ
Δασσαρήτιοι καὶ Δάρσιοι. Αὐταριεῖ δὲ αὐτῷ Παννόνιον ἡγοῦνται
παῖδα ἢ Παίονα γενέσθαι, καὶ Σκορδίσκον Παίονι καὶ Τριβαλλόν, ὧν
ὁμοίως τὰ ἔθνη παρώνυμα εἶναι. καὶ τάδε μὲν τοῖς ἀρχαιολογοῦσι
μεθείσθω”.
tribes of Perrhaebi and Autariates, and Enchelei. Autariates is

the name of two tribes, one in the north-central Illyria (modern
Bosnia) and the other in Epirus. Enchelei also is the name of
both a South-Ilyrian and an Epirote tribe. It is very unlikely
that the Alexandrine historian was not aware of this fact,
although this doesn’t necessarily mean that he might imply
Illyrian identity of Epirotes. However, there is something else
that makes us seriously think that this may be what he meant.
This is the fact that the Epirote tribe of Perrhaebi derives from
Perrhaebus, the son of Illyrius. It follows that, as first observed
by von Hahn, Perhaebi771, an “Epirote only” tribe is of Illyrian
origin.
According to Pliny the Elder, Perhaebi are an Epirote tribe,
situated in the region of the Pindus range: “perrhaebi, quorum
mons pindus”772. Summarizing the information from the myth,
we observe that three of the sons of Illyrius (Encheleus,
Autarieus and Perhaebus) were ancestors of three Illyrian and
three Epirote tribes. Could it be a triple blunder of the
meticulous ancient Alexandrine historian? It seems more likely
that it is reflection of his opinion on the ethnic Ilyrian
affiliation of Epirotes, with a common genealogy, symbolized
by the mythical origin from the same ancestor, Illyrius. In my
understanding, the narrator of the myth is not aware of any
ethnic distinction between Illyrians and Epirotes.
It may be argued that the concomitance of the same tribe
names in Epirus and Illyria may not be a triple blunder by the
historian, but a simple coincidence. But the idea of a “simple
coincidence” loses weight when considered in the broader
context of other examples of Illyrian and Epirote tribes having
the same names (see for other examples and a n extended
771
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Op. cit., p. 220.
772
Pliny the Elder The Natural History IV, 1, 2.
discussion in the section Double and triple Epirotan-Illyrian-

Messapian correspondences in tribe names in chapter II),
when such coincidences are not observed between the names
of Epirote and Greek tribes if one would not take into account
grecized forms of Epirote names. Why should such
concordances occur between Epirote and Illyrian tribes alone?
Now we have to return to the myth on the origin of the name
of the Ionian Sea, reviewed in the chapter I (section Ancient
Greek myths and the ethnic affiliation of Epirotes). As
mentioned earlier, the myth comes in two versions. In the first
version Strabo says that the name of the sea comes from the
ruler of the Illyrian island Issa773. In the second version,
recounted by Appian, the name of the Ionian Sea comes from
Ionio, the son of the Illyrian king Dyrrhachion, accidentally
killed by Hierocles774. Both versions are considered to be part
of Illyrian mythology adopted by Greek colonists in Issa and
Dyrrhachion775.
Why should the sea of Epirus be named after an Illyrian hero
and why would Greeks use an Illyrian, not a Greek name for
the sea of Epirus? The most plausible answer to this question,
in the context of adequate corroborating evidence provided
earlier throughout this work, is that ancient Greeks were aware
of the Ilyrian identity of Epirotes.
773
774
Appian The Civil Wars II, 6, 39.
775
M. Šašel Kos (2004). Mythological stories concerning Illyria and its
name. In L’Illyrie meridionale et l’ Épire dans l’antiquite IV. f. 493-
504 (498).
7. Snake symbols in ancient and modern Epirus
Snake had been symbol of fertility and reproduction in many

Indo-European cultures, but in the Illyrian mythology it had a
more important role than any other animal776. The figure of the
snake appears in coins minted in the Epirote town of
Amantia777.
Olympias was daughter of the Epirote king, Neoptolemus. She
was one of the wives of the Macedon Philip, and mother of
Alexander the Great. In a grecized myth on the birth of
Alexander it was Zeus in the form of a snake that with
Olympias conceived her son Alexander. The myth reveals the
cult of snake as a symbol of fertility and reproduction among
Epirotes. The snake still performs these functions in the folk
belief of Albanians.
Plutarch wrote that “a serpent was once seen lying stretched
out by the side of Olympias as she slept,….all the women of
these parts were addicted to the Orphic rites and the orgies of
Dionysus”778.
Olympias has been described to sleep “with a giant snake in
her bed as a pet”.
Snake has been the most widespread of all totem animals
among Ilyrians. Its veneration persisted until the present day
among the inhabitants of the southern Albania and Albanian
inhabitants of the Greek part of Epirus, in regions of the ex-
Roman provinces of Epirus vetus and Epirus nova.
The cult of snake as a symbol of reproduction and fertility is
still preserved in the Albanian popular belief. As the symbol of
goodness and good luck it is still alive among Albanians. Even
776
Stipčević, A. (2002). Op. cit., p. 311.
777
Ceka, H. (1972). Questions de numismatique illyrienne. Tiranë, p. 126.
778
Plutarch Alexander II, 4 and 5.
now in Gjirokastër, in the Albanian territory of the ex-Roman

province, Epirus vetus, the cult of snake is preserved in the
form of the worship of the vitorja e shtëpisë779 (literally
“weaver of the house”). In the popular belief of the region, the
snake is protector of the house and killing vitorja e shtëpisë, is
supernaturally punishable and ominous.
779
Çabej. E. (2006). S. Etimologjike VII. pp. 260-261.
Figure 8. Contorniate, showing Olympias and her snake.

Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz (Germany).
8. Traces of the Illyrian-Epirote ritual of human

sacrifices in Albanian mythology
Illyrians used to offer human sacrifices to their gods.
Describing the attack of Alexander the Great on Pelion, later
part of ex-Roman province of Epirus nova, Arrian says that the
defenders offered as a sacrifice three boys, three girls and three
black rams: “Alexander, however, led his forces towards the
city; and the enemy, after sacrificing three boys, an equal
number of girls, and three black rams, sallied forth for the
purpose of receiving the Macedonians in a hand-to-hand
conflict”.780
In the historical period at least, or from the time of the
founding of the Greek colonies in Epirus, human sacrifice was
not practiced by ancient Greeks. But the memory of offering
human sacrifices is alive in the mythology of Albanians,
throughout the Albanian-speaking territories, from
northernmost Albania to the Gulf of Arta (walling-in of human
beings to avoid the collapse of buildings in ballades of the
castles of Shkodra, Drivastum, Elbasan, etc, bridges of Dibra,
Berat and Arta, churches in Lin, Poradec, etc.). To the present-
day in Albania is preserved the ritual of sacrificing rams in the
beginning of construction of various civic and religious
buildings.
780
Arrian Anabasis I, 5, 7: “Ἀλέξανδρος μὲν δὴ τῇ πόλει προσῆγεν: οἱ δὲ
πολέμιοι σφαγιασάμενοι παῖδας τρεῖς καὶ κόρας ἴσας τὸν ἀριθμὸν καὶ
κριοὺς μέλανας τρεῖς, ὥρμηντο μὲν ὡς δεξόμενοι ἐς χεῖρας τοὺς
Μακεδόνας”.
9. Fustan/fustanella, the national Albanian

costume, and the ethnicity of Epirotes
Franz Baron Nopcsa has proven that fustanella, the traditional
costume of Albanians, a kind of Albanian mens’ kilt that is
still used in festivities throughout South Albania was a typical
Illyrian-Epirote costume, attested in ancient Illyrian works of
art. According to him, in Antiquity it was only worn by
Illyrians and Venetians (when he wrote, at the beginning of the
19th century, Venetians were still considered to be an Illyrian
tribe). At the time, he found traces of fustanella all around the
territories inhabited in antiquity by Illyrians, including Epirus,
Bosnia, Serbia and Slovenia781. In some languages the dress is
also called “Albanian dress”782. In modern Greece fustanella is
predominantly used by Albanians and in very rare cases by
Greeks, under the cultural influence of Albanians (Arbëreshë)
(Arvanites in Greek) that migrated to Greece during the 13-15th
centuries. According to the Greek scholar J.P. Verenis, to a
limited degree, fustanella was spread among Greeks in areas
inhabited by Albanians during the Ottoman rule783.
10. Goat horned helmet

Horned helmets are seen depicted in various statuettes and
relief sculptures of the Iron and Bronze Age. A few pieces of
781
Nopcsa, F.B. (1925). Albanien – Bauten, Trächten und Geräte
Nordalbaniens, de Gruyter, Berlin, p. 223.
782
783
Verinis,J.P. (2005). Spiridon Loues, the Modern Foustanéla, and the
Symbolic Power of Pallikariá at the 1896 Olympic Games. Journal of
Modern Greek Studies 23:1 (May 2005), pp. 139-175.
horned helmets are found in regions inhabited by Celts, but

reports on kings, rulers or warriors wearing horned helmets are
exceptional. It is believed that the horns on the helmet were
intended to frighten the enemy784.
There is no evidence that ancient Greeks and other peoples of
the ancient Balkans used horned helmets in general, let alone
helmets with goat horns.
Plutarch informs us that Pyrrhus of Epirus wore a horned
helmet: “For it chanced that he had taken off his helmet, and
he was not recognised until he bethought himself and put it on
again, when its towering crest and its goat's horns made him
known to all”785.
Before him, goat’s horns have been exclusive feature of the
helmets of Alexander the Great and his father Philip786, and
after him a helmet with goat’s horns wore the national hero of
Albanians.
At any rate, it comes as a surprise that Gjergj Kastriot, the
national hero of Albanians, in the 15th century, i.e., almost 18
centuries after Pyrrhus, just like him, wore a goat- horned
helmet. It may be noteworthy to remember in the above
context that Gjergj Kastriot’s native language was Albanian
784
Meyrick, S.R. (1842). A Critical Inquiry Into Antient Armour, as it
Existed in Europe. Bohn, London, p. XXII.
785
Plutarch, Pyrrhus, 11, 5: “ἔτυχε γὰρ ἀφῃρημένος τὸ κράνος, ἄχρι οὗ
συμφρονήσας καὶ πάλιν περιθέμενος ἐγνώσθη τῷ τε λόφῳ διαπρέποντι
καὶ τοῖς τραγικοῖς κέρασιν”.
786
Franke, P.R. (1983). Albanien im Altertum. Antike Welt. According to
Franke the horned royal helmet of Philip V (238–179 BC) of
Macedonia appears in a coin of 105 BC. In a famous mosaic in Pompei
is seen another goat horned at the feet of the fighting bareheaded
Alexander the Great. Pyrrhus’ horned helmet also appears in Tarentine
coins. Even now in the Orient Alexander the Great is also known as
Dhul Quarnein ‘two-horned’.
and he was proud to call himself Epirote, while in the

historiography and other documents of the time he is named
Figure 9. Helmet of Gjergj Kastriot, the national hero of

Albanians. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Neu Burg, Collection
of Arms and Armour. Photo: Sandstein. Internet:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KHM_Wien_A_127_-
_Helmet_of_Skanderbeg.jpg
Prince of Epirotes. I was not able to trace the goat horned

helmet in the long period separating Pyrrhus of Epirus and
Gjergj Kastriot, and I wonder how this unique Pyrrhic goat
horned helmet found its long way to the Albanian hero of the
15th century? It is tempting to draw a historical parallel that
may be relevant to the question of the ethnic relationship

between ancient Epirotes and modern Albanians.
11. The endonym shqiptarë

The origin of the endonym shqiptarë, the present national
name of Albanians, has been object of numerous studies, but it
still remains an unresolved issue. Many foreign scholars have
expressed the idea that the stem of the word is the Albanian
name shqipe ‘eagle’, hence Shqipëria (Albania) means “The
Land of Eagles”. Howeever, with E. Çabej, most of the
Albanian scholars, believe it derives from the Albanian adverb
shqip ‘comprehensibly, intelligibly’ or the verb shqipëlloj
‘pronounce clearly’. If the hypothesis that the ethnic endonym
shqiptar derives from the Albanian word shqipe ‘eagle’ will be
validated, this could probably establish a link between the
endonym and Pyrrhus, the legendary king of Epirotes, who
was called “The Eagle” by his soldiers. Says Plutarch: “and
when he was given the surname of “Eagle” by the Epeirots,
“Through you,” he said, “am I an eagle; why, pray, should I
not be? It is by your arms that I am borne aloft as by swift
pinions.”787
787
Plutarch Pyrrhus 10, 1: “μετὰ δὲ τὴν μάχην ταύτην ὁ Πύρρος ἐπανελθὼν
οἴκαδε λαμπρὸς ὑπὸ δόξης καὶφρονήματος ἔχαιρε: καὶ Ἀετὸς ὑπὸ τῶν
Ἠπειρωτῶν προσαγορευόμενος, δι᾽ ὑμᾶς,’ἔλεγεν, ἀετὸς εἰμι: πῶς γὰρ οὐ
μέλλω, τοῖς ὑμετέροις ὅπλοις ὥσπερ ὠκυπτέροις ἐπαιρόμενος”.
12. Multi-part singing
Multi-part singing or polyphonic singing is the most

widespread type of singing of Tosks, Labs, and Chams, living
in all the territories of the ancient Epirus vetus and Epirus
nova, now in South Albania and Greece. The two part singing
is encountered in many European countries just like in the rest
of Albania and Kosova.
What makes South Albania, unique in regard of the multi-part
singing is that
1. Multipart singing in this region, is the prevailing form of
folk singing among Albanian population, and
2. The existence of the three-part singing and even four-part
singing, which is not encountered in other Balkan countries
(three-part singing is recorded in a Bulgarian group in
Castoria, Greece, near the boundary with Albania, which is
considered to have been borrowed from the three-part singing
of South Albanian Tosks).
In the Greek part of Epirus, ethnic Albanians practice two-part
singing and three-part singing. The lack of this kind of singing
in other regions, both the continental and insular Greece,
suggests that the rare two-part singing of Greek-speaking
population in Epirus is borrowed from the Albanian
inhabitants of Epirus. The three-part singing is present all over
the South Albania (Tosk, Lab and Cham regions) and the four-
part singing occurs only in the region of Labëria (South
Albania), corresponding almost exactly with the ancient
territory of the Epirote tribe of Chaones.
South Albania, i.e., the regions of the ex-Roman provinces of
Epirus nova and Epirus vetus, with the latter presently divided
between Albania and Greece is the main center of the multipart
singing in Balkans, both in regard to the expanse and the

sophistication.
The geography of the multi-part singing in Albania shows a
pattern of decreased intensity from a focal point in the
westernmost region (Labëria) with four-part singing, toward
the three-part singing all around the north, east and south of
Labëria, with two-part singing in North Albania and Kosova
and Albanian speaking population of Epirus. The sharp
northern boundary of the three-part singing is Shkumbin River,
or the ancient via Egnatia, running parallel with it, defined by
Strabo788 as the northern boundary of Epirus nova. These
borders of the South-Albanian three- and four-part singing
coincide almost exactly with the historical and geographic
boundaries of ancient Epirus (Epirus vetus and Epirus nova).
There is no full consensus on the origin of the Albanian
multipart singing. The view that iso is related to the Byzantine
ecclesiastical drone has not been substantiated and no genetic
relationship has been possible to establish between the two. Iso
or drone is a common component of the South Albanian multi-
part singing and the Byzantine music, but R. Sokoli argued
that iso predates the Byzantine papadakes, which originates at
the 13-14th centuries789.
Arguing against the Levy’s proposition about a possible
ecclesiastical Byzantine origin of the ison in the Albanian
multipart singing, the scholar Doris Stockmann who, as part of
a German research expedition carried out field research on the
Albanian multipart singing in late 50es of the 20th century,
expressed the idea that the reverse must be true: “Levy drew
attention to the parallel use of the ison drone in Greek
788
789
Koço, E. (2015). A Journey of the Vocal Iso(n). Cambridge Scholars
Publishing, p. XXIII.
liturgical music and suggested the possibility of persistent

traces of Byzantine liturgical practice in Albania…Precisely
the opposite might have occurred. Hoerburger noted that the
ison singers were to be met within the Greek part of the
Southern Epirus, but only among refugees from the Albanian
area”790.
The view that the ison of the Albanian multipart singing may
originate in the Byzantine ecclesiastical music is implausible
not only because of the sophistication of the Albanian multi-
part singing compared to the Byzantine music, but also
because of the archaeological evidence that inhabitants of
Epirus nova in the Classical Antiquity use of double flute
(Albanian: cula dyjare) where one of the pipes of the flute
played the role of drone.
790
Stockmann, D. (1963). Zur Vokalmusik der südalbanischen Çamen.
Journal of the International Folk Music Council 15, 38-44. Cited in
Koço, E. (2015 ). A Journey of the Vocal Ison. Cambridge Scholars
Studies. pp. XXI-XXII.
Chapter VI
Epirus – ancient homeland of

Albanians
1. Historical evidence on presence of Albanians in

medieval Epirus
After the conquest of Constantinople by Franks, with the
formation of the Latin Empire in October 1204, an agreement
was reached on the partition of the European territories of the
Byzantine empire (Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae),
according to which all the continental Greek territories (with
the ethnic situation being taken into consideration in creation
of provinces) were assigned to the three vassal states
(Kingdom of Thessalia, Duchy of Athens and Principality of
Achaia) (figure 10). The territory of Epirus vetus and Epirus
nova, instead, was assigned to Venice, but it was not able to
bring it under control. The partition agreement says: “Province
of Dyrrhachium and Arbanon, together with Glavinitsa,
province of Bagenetia (/Vagenetia), province of Ioannina,
province of Drinopoli and province of Ochrid”791
791
von Hahn, J.G. (1869). Beiträge zur Geschichte von Mittel-Albanien.
Denkschriften: Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Schrift- und
Buchwesen des Mittelalters. Die illuminierten Handschriften und
Inkunabeln der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, vol. 16-17.
Hölder, Wien, p. 87: “Provincia Dirachii et Arbanii, concartolaroto,
cum Glavinica, de Bagenetia provincial, de Giannina provincia,
Drinopoli provincia, provincia Achridi”.
Notice the provinces that at the time, i.e. in the beginning of

the 15th century, were of unquestionable Greek ethnicity
(Peloponnesus, Thessaly, Macedonia and the belt of Thracia
linked to Constantinople were left to the Imperium Romaniae
(Latin Empire) and its three Greek vassal states (see map in
figure 10).
The fact that the territory of the ancient Epirus vetus and
Epirus nova, like the territory of Bulgaria, was left out of the
East Roman Empire and its three Greek vassal states appears
to reflect the acknowledgment by the conqueror Franks of the
non-Greek ethnic situation of Epirus. Indeed, as it will further
be shown, during the whole ensuing period until now, not only
Epirus nova, but Epirus vetus as well, has been uninterruptedly
inhabited by Albanians.
Notice that to Venice went all the provincia of “Dirachii et
Arbanii”, made up of all the territory of Epirus vetus and
Epirus nova, the Albanian-speaking territory stretching from
central Albania in the north through Glavinitsa (now Ballsh)
and Drinopoli (now Gjirokastër) to Iannina in south and
Ochrid in the east of “Middle Albania”. Besides Arbanon, it
included completely territories of the ancient Epirus vetus and
Epirus nova, from the central Albania to the Gulf of Arta.
A Venetian document of the year 1210 recommended
authorities what must do with local Albanians and Corfiotes, if
they do not obey the given instructions792. This seem to
indicate that in the beginning of the 13th century the mainland
792
Tafel, G.L.F.and Thomas, G.M. (1856). Urkunden zur älteren Handels-
und Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig, mit besonderer Beziehung
auf Byzanz und die Levante: Vom neunten bis zum Ausgang des
fünfzehnten Jahrhunderts vol. 2, Wien, p. 122: “Et si Arbanenses vel
Corfiatici nollent vestris et successorum uestrorum obedire preceptis,
ego in hoc vobis et vestris adiutorium pro posse prestare debeo”.
VI Epirus - ancient homeland of Albanians 267
facing the island of Corfou, which corresponds to the central

part of the Epirus vetus, was inhabited by Albanians. At this
time we hear about the Albanian-Epirote nobleman Georgios
Dysipatus, his name according to P. Xhufi793 seems to be an
Italianized form of the native family Spata > Di Spata (with
the Italian family prefix Di) as well as about the well known
Albanian-Epirote family of Gjin Zenebisha.
Xhufi has sharply noticed that in documents of the 14th and
15th century Greeks, Serbians and Italians are mentioned at the
individual and families level as conquerors or rulers rather
than as ethnic components of the population of Epirus as can
be seen from the fact that the army of the Despotate of Epirus
consisted of Albanians and Vlachs794. When Theodore of
Epirus, a relative of the imperial Byzantine families, raised to
the throne of the Despote of Epirus in 1215, he organized an
army whose core, according to Gustav F. Hertzberger (1826-
1907), consisted of Albanians or ‘Schkipetaren’ and the
Vlachs of the mountains of the Epirote-Thessalian border795,
what reflects the earlier and later location of respectively
Albanians and the Vlachs in the Epirus and Thessaly in the
793
Xhufi, P. (1994). The ethnic situation in Epirus during the Middle Ages.
Studia Albanica 1/2, 41-52 (based on Thalloczy, L., Jirecek, K. and
Sufflay, M. Acta Albaniae, no. 563).
794
Xhufi, P. (2006). Dilemat e Arbërit. Pegi, Tiranë, pp. 303-304.
795
Hertzberger, G.F. (1883). Allgemeine Geschichte. Zweite
Haupttheilung, Siebente Theil. Geschichte der Byzantiner und den
Osmanischen Reiches. G. Grote, Berlin, pp. 392-393:. “Die
kriegerische Albaner oder Schkipetaren im Norden des Despotats und
die wilden Vlachen in den epirotisch-thessalischen Grenzgebirgen
bildeten den Kern des Heeres, mit dem er sofort gegen Norden und
Nordosten seine Herrschaft auszudehnen anfing. Schnell genug gelang
es ihm, nicht nur Achrida, Prilapon und Pelagonia zu gewinnen,
sondern auch den Fürsten Slav von Melnik auf seine Seite zu
ziehen…”
modern times. The absence of Greek contingents in an Epirote

army that included even soldiers from the Vlach minority
points to the Albanian ethnicity of Epirotes in the beginning of
the 13th century.
In the same direction points a document showing that in 1279
Charles d’Anjou appointed Hugo de Rousseau de Sully, vicar
general of Albania, Durazzo, Avlona, Butrinto, Subato and
Corfou (territories of ex-Roman provinces of Epirus vetus and
Epirus nova), but even though governors of the castles of
Buthrotos, Chimara and Subota obeyed, he was defeated by
the Byzantine army in 1281 “near Berat in Albania” 796.
Another indication of the Albanian ethnicity of Epirus comes
from a report saying that during his campaign to conquer
Epirus in 1290s, Walter of Angevins negotiated “alliances with
various local Albanians”797. In the above context, “local
Albanians” are clearly Albanians of Epirus.
As mentioned earlier, in the course of his journey to Jerusalem,
Near East and Egypt, in 1394, the Italian notary Niccolo de
Martoni, made a short stop on the Greek Ionian island of
Leucas, facing eastwards the coast of Epirus (Epirus vetus),
which he calls Albania798. The use of the name Albania for
Epirus unequivocally indicates that at the time Epirus was
His recount is authentic medieval evidence on the Albanian
ethnicity of the classical Epirus (Epirus vetus) in the 14th
century. Inaccurate is the interpretation of de Martoni’s
796
Korobeiniko, D. (2014). Byzantium and the Turks in the Thirteenth
Century. Oxford University Press, Oxford – New York, p. 248.
797
van Antwerp Fine, J. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans – A Critical
Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest.
University of Michigan Press, p. 248.
798
Revue de l’Orient latin, vol. 3, Paris, p. 662.
information by Spiros S. Asonitis that the Italian voyager

“used the term Albania to denote the places in Epirus
controlled by the Albanians”799. Asonitis makes no attempt to
elaborate or argue his point. It is true that towards the end of
the 13th century, in Epirus begin to emerge the Albanian noble
family of Shpata (Spata) 800 and other noble Albanian families,
but this is far from the establishment of any ‘Albanian control’
over Epirus at that time. Only more than 60 years after de
Martoni’s report, by the middle of the 14th century, Epirote-
Albanian feudal rulers would bring Epirus under their control.
The fact that de Martoni uses the name Albania for Epirus,
unequivocally indicates that the term Albania, in the 14th
century, was a well-established term in the West for defining
the Epirote mainland (Epirus vetus), i.e. western Europeans
recognized the Albanians as genuine inhabitants of Epirus.
Putting this fact in a broader context, let’s remember that there
is no evidence, neither ancient nor medieval, to suggest that
any emigration of Albanians/Illyrians to Epirus ever occurred.
In the 14th century Albanians appear not only as the bulk of the
native population and Epirote army, but as landlords and
owners of castles as well. Asonitis himself recounts about a
castle that was bought at the time in “Glyki from its Albanian
lords at a price of 100 ducats”801.
A text of the 15th century on Epirus, by Anonymous
Panegyricus reads, “In the whole country, the coastal regions
799
Asonitis, S.S. (1998). Relations between the Venetian regimen Corphou
and the Albanians of Epirus (14th-15th centuries). In Institute for
Byzantine Research, International Symp. 5 The Medieval Albanians,
pp. 271-291.
800
Anamali, S., Biçoku, K, Duka, F, Islami, S., Korkuti, M. Naci S., Prendi,
F., Pulaha, S. and Xhufi, P. (2002). Historia e Popullit Shqiptar. Alb.
Acad. Sciences, Toena, Tiranë, p. 279.
801
Asonitis, S.S. (1998). Op. cit., p. 274.
are inhabited by Greeks, whereas above and in the interior of

the country, like in the past, still live barbarians”802. The
medieval Byzantine historian, like his ancient predecessors,
even after 15 centuries of the alleged process of Hellenization
and Romanization, still considers Epirotes ‘barbarians’. This
seems to unequivocally indicate the non-Greek ethnic identity
of medieval Epirotes in the 15th century, when Greeks
denominated themselves as Rhomaoi (Ῥωμαῖοι), to a lesser
extent Graikoí (Γραικοί), and in written sources often as
Hellenes.
The Byzantine historian saves us any effort to understand what
he meant by ‘barbarians’, when a little later he states, “Still
now that country is inhabited by Albanians, an Illyrian people,
scattered in small groups of people and villages”803. By
identifying the ‘barbarians’ of Epirus with Albanians and
defining them as an Illyrian people, he simply confirms the
general view of the Byzantine historiography on the Illyrian
origin of Albanians.
In the 16th century, the Italian lexicographer, Francesco
Alunno da Ferrara (1484- 1556) wrote, “Epirus. Latin Epirus,
part of Greece, already called Molossia and Chaonia now
Albania, is inhabited by Greeks and barbarians, where is the
famous city today called Valona”804 and, elaborating further at
802
Anonimi. In Burime Tregimtare Bizantine për Historinë e Shqipërisë –
Shek. X-XV. Përg. K. Bozhori and F. Liço. Tiranë, p. 318.
803
; Bojatzides,, I.K. (1926). Symbole eis ton mesaioniken istorian tes
Epeirou. Epeirotica Chronika I, Ibid. 79-80; Lambros, S. (1926).
Anonymon Panegyrikos. Palailogia kai Peloponnesiaka, 3, pp. 194-
195. Cited by Xhufi, P. (1994). The Ethnic Situation in Epirus During
the Middle Ages. Studia Albanica 1/2, 41-58.
804
Alunno, F. (1562). Della fabrica del mondo. Rampazetto, Venetia, p.
119: “Epiro. Lat. Epirus, parte della grecia, già detta Molossia &
Chaonia hor Albania è habitata da greci & barbari, ou e la città famosa
the same page, he writes: “Albania. Latin cahonia (sic!)

(Chaonia – N.R.Ç) in Epirus, sometimes includes the whole
Epirus & Chaones, which are called Albanians”805.
Xhufi pointed out that in a 16th century Greek chart of
navigation, the whole Acarnanian seacoast between the Gulf of
Arta (or the Ionnian island of Leukas) and the Gulf of Corynth
(the mouth of the river Achelous) is designated Albania806. As
shown earlier in the Russian and German ethnographic maps
(figure 5 and 6) of the middle of the 19th century, Akarnania
and parts of Etolia are presented as Albanian territories.
In 1686 the geographer Philipp Clüver et al. defined precisely
the boundries of Epirus with neighboring peoples: “Epirus is
separated from Macedonians by the river Celydnus and Pindus
mountain and from Greeks by the river Acheloos”807.
Certainly this statement reflects the ethnic situation of the
region where Macedonians are a Slavic people, not identical
with, or descendants of, the ancient Macedonians. As
mentioned in the 1st chapter, the German authors J. Buno
(1617-1697) and F. Heckel (1640-1715) wrote that the
inhabitants of Epirus call themselves Arbonars, whereas Turks
call them Arnautleri808. While there seems to be a misspelling
or typo, an -o- instead -a-, beyond any reasonable doubt, it has
to do with no other people but the Albanians (Arbëror/Arbnor).
che Valona hoggi si chiama, Benche Epiro grecamente sia qualunque

terra continente che nō è isola”.
805
Alunno, F. (1562). Ibid.: “Albania. Lat. cahonia (sic!) a epirum, e
regione in Epiro alcuna volta si piglia per tutto l’Epiro & Chaones Lat.
sono gli Albanesi”.
806
Xhufi, P. (2006). Dilemat e Arbërit. Pegi, Tiranë, p. 305.
807
quam novam, J. Wolters, 1686, p. 329.
808
Philippi Cluverii. Ibid.
In 1771, in the French publication of Plinius’ Naturalis

historiae, editors are mindful of emphasizing that Turks, who
have known Epirus since the 14th century as mercenaries of
the Byzantine emperor in crushing the rebellion of Albanians
in South Albania (Epirus nova and Epirus vetus), call Epirus
Arbanos809.
2. Albanian rulers of Epirus during the 14th and

15th centuries
The decline of the Byzantine power by the middle of the 14th
century, as a result of internal conflicts favored the rise of the
military and political power of Albanians in Epirus.
One century after the fall of the State of Arbanon (1255) in the
central-north Albania, by the middle of the 14th century,
Albanians emerge as dominant political-military force in
Epirus where they founded the Albanian independent states of
Epirus ruled by Peter Liosha, Gjin Bua Shpata (Spata) and
Gjin Zenebisha.
Based on the evidence from Chronicle of Ioannina, Donald M.
Nicol says that Simeon Uros (Симеон Урош Немањић), the
“Emperor of Greeks and Serbians”, from 1359 left the whole
Aitolia and Epirus to be ruled by Albanian lords, Gjin Bua
Shpata and Peter Liosha but, based on the same source, he
809
Histoire naturelle de Pline (1771). Traduite en françois, Veuve Desaint,
Paris, pp. 233-234.
adds that “In his case Symeon may simply have recognized an
accomplished fact”810.
Even if we take it for granted that Stephan Urosh left
Albanians to rule Aetolia and Epirus, the question would arise:
What could make Simeon Urosh to leave Epirus and Aetolia to
be ruled by Albanians if these regions were not inhabited by
Albanians?
Theoretically, one can imagine two possibilities:
1. Albanians had somewhere else a state and the transfer of the
power to Albanians was part of a political deal Urosh made
with the Albanian state, or
2. Epirus and Aetolia were at least predominantly inhabited by
Albanians, what would give Albanian leaders not only the
necessary legitimacy but also the political and military means
to rule these countries.
The first possibility is rejected by the fact that Albanians had
not any state at the time. The second possibility is the only
valid and realistic. Indeed, it is impossible to believe, by any
stretch of imagination, that the Emperor of the Serbs and
Greeks would voluntarily cede the rule of Epirus and Aetolia
to stateless ‘foreign’ Albanians.
In the absence of any other Albanian state and the absence of
evidence on Albanian migrations to Epirus, the transfer of
power implies the demographic-military domination of Epirus
and Aetolia by Albanians. This seems to be confirmed by
German, Russian and French ethnographic maps of the 19th
century (figure 5, 6 and 13).
It is noteworthy that the rule of the Albanian despot Gjin Bua
Shpata (John Spata) as the Despot of Epirus by the second half
810
Nicol, D.M. (1984). The Despotate of Epiros 1267-1479: A Contribution
to the History of Greece in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, New York, p. 142.
of the 14th century was supported by the people of Epirus and

was only challenged by the city of Ioannina, which, as it is
well known, in 1204-1205 absorbed a significant number of
Greek immigrants from Constantinople, Thessaly and
Peloponnesus811. At the same time, another Albanian prince,
Gjin Zenebisha, proclaimed himself sebastocrator (caesar,
emperor or despot) of the region of Gjirokaster (Argyrocastro).
Both of them were native Albanians from the central territory
of classical Epirus vetus (respectively from Delvina and
Zagoria).
The Albanian lords came to rule Epirus after the triumph of the
Albanian forces in the battle of Acheloos where they destroyed
the army of the Despot of Epirus Nicephor II. The fact that
Albanian lords of Epirus and an army of Albanians was
fighting a war in Aetolia against the army of the Despot of
Epirus clearly indicates that at the time Albanians in Epirus
were the most important political-military factor in Epirus, a
clear indication that in the middle of the 14th century Epirus
was predominantly inhabited by Albanians. Any migration of
Albanians to Epirus is rejected not only by the total absence of
relevant evidence, but some additional historical facts.
Firstly, as already mentioned, the known historical sources
show that migrations of Albanians that occurred during the
middle of the 14th century affected regions of the north
Greece, in Thessaly or Peloponnesus are described by
historians of the time. There is no visible reason why the
alleged Albanian migrations to Epirus wouldn’t be mentioned
in Greek and Byzantine chronicles of the time.
Secondly, Albanian lords rose to power and formed in Epirus a
state which lasted for two generations (sixty years). In view of
the cultural and political factors, which favored the Greek rule,
811
Oswald, B. (2007). Op. cit., p. 132.
formation by Albanians of a state in Epirus after a power

struggle, within a region of the Greek-dominated Byzantine
Empire, and where a considerable Greek immigration had
occurred about 150 years earlier can only be explained by the
presence of a predominantly Albanian population in Epirus. It
is also noteworthy that at the time the Despotate of Epirus was
the only Albanian-ruled state, and this fact, even per se, would
make absurd any thought that they could form a state in a
foreign Greek-Byzantine territory, when their own land was
under the Byzantine rule. This is a weighty argument
corroborating the view that Epirus in the 14th century was, at
least predominantly, inhabited by Albanians and supports the
idea that the absence of evidence on any immigration of
Albanians to Epirus is not accidental but reflects a historical
reality.
Thirdly, all the Albanian lords and Despots of Epirus were
native Epirote leaders from the regions of Zagoria and Delvina
and there is no evidence to suggest that these leaders were
immigrants in the medieval Epirus.
Fourthly, ever since the name Epirote was used synonymously
with Albanians, in western and Albanian sources after the 14th
century. See evidence presented in the section Epirus in
medieval and modern historiography.
According to Greek modern sources, even immediately after
the fall of the Albanian Despotate, in 1428, the ethnic situation
in Epirus remained predominantly Albanian, with only two
cities, Ioannina and Arta812, dominated by ethnic Greeks,
obviously as a resuilt of the Greek immigration of 1204 in
Epirus. Another medieval Greek source, Anonymous
Panegyric of Emperors Manuel and John VIII Paleologos,
812
Vogiatzidis, I. (1926). Συμβολὴ εἰς τὴν μεσαιωνικὴν ἱστορίαν τῆς
Ἠπείρου. Ηπειρωτικά Χρονικά. I, pp. 72-80.
“clearly describes the cities of Arta and Ioannina as peopled by

Greeks, while the Albanians occupy the rest of Epirus.”813
The the city of Ioannina was the only city to resist the rule of
Albanian despots but this is plausibly explained by the
presence in the city of the descendants of the Greek
immigrants of 1204 and that in the 14th century “Ioannina was
led by an elite descended from Constantinople refugees after
1204”814
The above evidences show that ethnic Albanians in Epirus
continued to maintain their demographic predominance even
after their massive migrations from Epirus to Peloponnesus
after the fall of their Despotate and the Ottoman conquest of
region815.
3. Who migrated when to Epirus
a. There is no record of any Albanian migration to Epirus
The actual presence of both Albanians and Greeks in Epirus

led to the idea that one of these two peoples is native the other
is a newcomer to Epirus. The issue became a bone of
contention with the rise of the nationalistic tide in the first part
813
Osswald, B. (2007). Op cit., p. 137.
814
Osswald, B. (2007). Ibid. p. 138
815
Osswald, B. (2007). Ibid. p.136: “Albanian social organization was still
archaic, based on the katund, an aggregate of 50-100 families. The clan
was then formed by several katund, four in the case of the Boua in
1423 in the Peloponnesus”. This excerpt on the size of the Albanian
migrants of the clan of the Albanian Despot of Epirus, Gjin Bua Shpata
may possibly give a general idea on the size of the Albanian population
that left Epirus for Peloponnesus towards the end of the 14 th and the
beginning of the 15th century.
of the 19th century with the founding of the independent state

of Greece by the beginning of the 19th century816.
The problem may be posed in the form of the question: Is there
any evidence of migration of Greeks or Albanians to Epirus?
In relation to Albanians suggestions and conjectures are
presented positing that a migration of Albanians might have
occurred sometime during Middle Ages. The speculation has
not been substantiated by any authentic report. No evidence,
whatsoever, has been presented so far to prove that such a
migration occurred at some time in the past. The absence of
any evidence on migration of Albanians to Epirus can hardly
be attributed to chance or the scarcity of information on
migrations in the antiquity or the Middle Ages. In the
Byzantine historiography we find descriptions, sometime
detailled ones, on migrations of Goths, Bulgarians, Pechenegs,
Slavs in the Balkan peninsula, or even intra-Balkanic medieval
migrations of Serbians around the peninsula (region of
Thessalonika, Croatia, etc.).
Based on Byzantine reports about migration of medieval
Albanians, Ducellier wrote about emigrations of Albanians
during the 13th and 14th centuries: “For various reasons, some
elements of the Albanian population, which was probably
sedentary initially, then began, in the late 13th and early 14th
816
An obtrusive role in fanning the flames of nationalistic frenzy played the
project of Megáli Idéa (Μεγάλη Ιδέα) ‘Great Idea’, proclaiming
creation of a Greek state that would include large parts of the
neighboring northern countries, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, the
whole European Turkey, as well as the Aegean and Black Sea
territories of the present-day Turkey and Cyprus. ‘For almost one
century, from 1844, even earlier as a non-official policy, Great Idea
represented the main goal of the foreign policy of the country. It was
abandoned as official policy of the Greek state only in 1922 as a result
of the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War in 1922.
centuries, to emigrate”817. What is Ducellier narrating

obviously has to do with the well known migrations of
Albanians to Thessaly and more south in Greeece. The fact
that there are reports on migrations of Albanians in various
regions of the medieval Greece, but not in Epirus, can
reasonably interpreted as an argumentum ex silentio, in favor
of the view that Albanians did not migrate to Epirus at the time
or any time in their history. However, as an argumentum ex
silentio, it cannot prove that migration of Albanians in Epirus
didn’t ever occur (the absence of evidence is not evidence of
absence).
Discussing about the situation in the 13th century Epirus,
Brendan Osswald also admits: “There is no evidence that
Albanians came southwards to Epirus in this period”818.
However, on the same page, contradictorily he adds:
“Albanians arrived in Epirus from the north, but also from
Thessaly, where some clans had settled in the ﬁrst decade of
the 14th century, perhaps employed by the Byzantines in their
war against the Catalan Company”819. It should be said upfront
that Oswald failed to support his guess valid sources, using as
substitute two statements by modern Greek authors, writing
now, 7 centuries after the relevant time, but without referring
to authentic sources. Using guesses and conjectures as
substitutes of evidence, however, methodically is hardly
appropriate when it comes to drawing valid conclusions.
817
Ducellier, A. Nomades ou sédentaires cit., pp. 23-36. (Osswald, B.
(2007). The Ethnic Composition of Medieval Epirus. In Borders and
Frontiers or State and Power. p. 125-154)
818
Osswald, B (2007). The ethnic composition of medieval Epirus. In
Imagining Frontiers, Contesting Identities. Ed. S.G. Ellis and L.
Klusáková. Edizioni Plus, Pisa. p. 134.
819
Oswald, B. (2007). Ibid.
Because of its crucial importance, the above statement needs to

be examined closely. Oswald himself admits that there is no
evidence of any Albanian migration to Epirus in the 13th
century820, while during the 14th century Albanians created a
great state in Epirus that included also Aetolia, Acarnania and
parts of Thessaly. To believe, without a shred of evidence, that
a group of foreign migrants, having no state of their own (there
was no other Albanian state at the time), could succeed in
taking over the power from the powerful Italian, Serbian and
Byzantine rulers in Epirus, within the Byzantine Empire,
would take nothing less than a deus ex machina. Using the
deus ex machina as substitute for an unattested migration to
reach a wanted conclusion is hardly compatible with the
historical method.
To my knowledge, most of the guesses, conjectures and
propositions on a possible migration of Albanians to Epirus
derive from an, essentially non-relevant, 1899 article of
Ludwig von Thalloczy and Konstantin Jireček. They wrote
that “An explosive expansion of Albanian highlanders took
place beginning from the end of the 13th century”821. But this
expansion to Greece is not related to Epirus. Oswald also
assures us that there is no evidence of Albanian migration to
Epirus during the 13th century822.
The evidence von Talloczy and Jireček provide is only related
to Albanian migrations to regions other than Epirus, namely to
the northern Greece and Thessaly. Yes, von Thallóczy and
820
Oswald, B. (2007). Ibid.
821
von Thallóczy, L. and Jireček, C. (1899). Zwei Urkunden aus
Nordalbanien. Archiv für slavische Phil. XXI, 1899, pp. 78-99 (84).
822
Oswald, B. (2007). Op. cit., p. 134.
Jireček narrate about raids of Albanian „shepherds and

nomads“, but to be precise, in relation to these raids, they do
not mention Epirus at all. Let’s quote them in extenso:
“As a result of many battles and fights between four military
rulers, the Byzantine emperors, despots of Epirus, of the
Neaple’s Anjous and Serbs, the valleys were deserted and
depopulated. Herdsmen population of mountains had a surplus
of human resources and pushed first toward town regions, but
later toward northern Greece, above all toward Thessaly. In
1295 the nobleman Michael Gabrielopoulos promised the
archonts of Phanar in Trikala, Thessaly, that neither he nor his
Albanian nationals will settle in the cities’ regions (μὴ
προσοικισω Άλβανίτας, Acta graeca 5, 260). The descent of
Albanians from mountains to the valleys of Thessaly,
devastated by anarchy and campaigns of Catalonians is
described clearly by Marino Sanudo in a letter of 1325. Also in
1330 Albanian shpherds and nomads raided city areas of Berat,
Kanina, Vlora etc. what moved Emperor Andronicus III
Palaeologus to undertake an expedition against these mountain
tribes and heavily punish them”823.
823
von Thallóczy, L. and Jireček, C. (1899). Op. cit., pp. 84-85: Die
Niederungen waren infolge der vielen Kämpfe zwischen den vier
Landesherren, den byzantischen Kaisern, den Despoten von Epirus,
den Anjou’s von Neapel und den Serben, verödet und entvölkert. Die
Hirtenbevölkerung der Gebirge hatte dagegen einen Überschuss an
Mannschaft und drängte sich zuerst gegen die Stadtgebiete, später aber
nach Nordgriechenland, vor allem nach Thessalien. Der Edelmann
Michael Gabrielopulos versprach 1295 den Archonten von Phanarion
bei Trikala in Thessalien, dass weder er noch seine Erben Albanesen
im Stadtgebiete ansiedeln werden (μὴ προσοικισω Άλβνίτας, Acta
graeca 5, 260). Anschaulich schildert das Herabstiegen der Albanenses
aus der Bergen in die durch Anarchie und durch die Feldzüge der
Catalonier verwüstete Ebene von Thessalien ein brief des Marino
Sanudo von 1325 (bei Tafel und Thomas, Urkunden 1, 500). Ebenso
The raids of these Albanian highlanders, in the 14th century, in

the above cities of the South Albania (ex Roman province of
Epirus nova), they represent internal migrations involving no
Greek, but only Albanian territories, as implied in von
Thallóczy & Jireček’s quote, as shown above824 825 826 and
numerous other sources827 828.
Thus, the medieval document speaks about the raids of
Albanian highlanders on the cities of Albania proper, northern
Greece and Thessaly, but it contains not even an hint on a
possible migration of Albanians to Epirus, which in western
sources of the 14th century appears under the name Albania829.
The absence of evidence on any migration of Albanians
certainly is not “evidence of the absence”, but the burden of
proof, or onus probandi, to prove that Albanians migrated to
Epirus sometime in their history rests solely on the proponents
of the view of the Albanian migration to Epirus. Having
conspicuously failed to do so, they did never succeed to
validate their view. Under such circumstances, by
paraphrasing Voltaire, one would say the interest those
bedrängten 1330 f. albanesische Hirten und Nomaden die Stadtgebiete

von Belgrad (Berat), Kanina, Valona u.s.w., was den Kaiser
Andronikos III. bewog, persönlich eine Expedition gegen diese
Bergstämme zu unternehmen und sie empfindlich zu züchtigen“.
824
Oswald, B. (2007). Op. cit., p. 134.
825
Oswald, B. (2007). Op. cit., p. 133.
826
Xhufi, P. (2009). Nga Paleologët te Muzakajt. pp. 151 and 205.
827
Ducellier, A. (1981). La façade maritime de l’Albanie au Moyen Age:
Durazzo et Valona du XIe au XVe siècle. Institute for Balkan Studies,
Thessaloniki.
828
Duka, F. (2004). Muzakajt – lidhëz e fuqishme midis kohëve
paraosmane dhe osmane. Studime Historike 1/2, 7-16.
829
Revue de l'Orient latin, vol. 3, 1895, Paris, p. 662.
historians have to believe an Albanian migration to Epirus is

no proof that it did occur.
Indeed, it is impossible that any massive migration of
Albanians, which would change the ethnological situation in
Epirus, could escape the attention of Byzantine historians,
while Albania and Albanian migrations to more remote regions
such as Thessaly, Boeotia and Peloponnesus are repeatedly
mentioned and described in Byzantine sources. During the first
half of the 14th century, Albanian territories, Epirus included,
were not outside the attention of the Byzantine and European
historiography.
Formation of Albanian kingdoms in Epirus also is hardly
compatible with the view that Albanians may have been
migrants or newcomers to Epirus. It is impossible even to
imagine how in the second half of the 14th century, Albanians,
who had no state of their own and without any hint, let alone
report, of any migration of theirs to Epirus, all of a sudden rose
to power and emerge as rulers of a “foreign country”, i.e.
Epirus and other regions south of it.
The ample evidence on migrations of Albanians in various
provinces of Greece but not in Epirus can be neither result of a
blind chance nor “conspiracy of silence” by Byzantine
historians.
b. A Greek migration to Epirus is recorded in 1204
It is a well known and firmly established historical fact that a

penetration of the ethnically Greek element in Epirus began as
early as the beginning of the historical era with the planting of
Greek colonists directly from Corinth in Ambrakia830, via the
830
Corinthian colony of Kerkyra in Buthrotus, and colonists from

Euboea in Oricum831.
The only authentic evidence on massive migration of foreign
populations to Epirus we know of is the migration of Greek
populations during the 4th crusade in the beginning of the 13th
century. The cause of migration was the persecution of Greeks
and Constantinopolitan Byzantinians with the founding of the
Latin Empire (Imperium Romaniae) in 1204, after the fall of
Constantinople to Franks of the 4th crusade. In Oswald’s
narrative: “The fall of Constantinople to the Franks on 13
April 1204 and the subsequent creation of the state of Epirus
by Michael I Komnenos Angelos Doukas (1205- ca.1215)
made it a destination for a lot of Greeks who wished to escape
Latin rule, to join the struggle against it, or who simply wished
to find conditions of stability. So our sources mention this
influx of refugees, coming from Constantinople. Demetrios
Chomatenos, archbishop of Ohrid, says that half at least of the
refugees from Constantinople found asylum in Epirus. The
most famous is the former Byzantine Emperor Alexis III. …
Theodore Demnites who escaped Anatolia for the region of
Achelôos in Epirus… Theodoros Chamaretos, a Greek lord in
the Peloponnese, fled to Epirus, and wrote to the father of his
wife that she could come and join him, since Epirus “was full
of countless refugees from the Peloponnese, many of them
persons of rank and wealth, and the lady would certainly find
herself among friends and compatriots”. This influx of Greek
refugees continued throughout the century: even after 1261
…..The most noble of the refugees, coming from
Constantinople or from other places, seem to have found a
place in Ioannina, where the castle was created specially for
831
them by Michael I. This city, quoted by John Apokaukos as a

πολίδιον, that is a “small city”, became a new Noah’s Ark for
the refugees”832.
The evidence from Chronicle of Ioannina also shows that after
the massive Greek migration towards the beginning of the 13th
century, Ioannina absorbed a considerable number of Greeks
forced to leave their native places, Constantinople, Thessaly
and Peloponnesus to escape massacres and slaughter of the 4th
crusaders after they conquered Constantinople and established
the New Roman Empire with its vassal states the Kingdom of
Thessalonica, the Duchy of Athens and the Duchy of
Archipelago. The fleeing Greek/Byzantine population of
Constantinople, Thessaly and Peloponnesus found refuge in
the two successor states of the Byzantine Empire, the
Despotate of Epirus and Empires of Nicaea and Trebizont.
The migration to Epirus of Greek populations by the beginning
of the 13th century is the only historically attested, hence
reliable migration known so far.
It is proposed that this migration might have been favored by
the cooperation of the native Albanians of Epirus with the
Comnenus dynasty, against their Venetian enemies, who were
in possession of their Epirote coastal cities and territories: “On
the dethronement and expulsion from Constantinople of the
reigning dynasty of Comnenus by the Crusaders (1204),
Michael Comnenus, a prince of the imperial family, rallied
around him the Albanian nobility, and, with its assistance,
entered upon a war against the Venetians who had brought
about the downfall of his family”833. Notice that the Greek
founder and ruler of the Despotate of Epirus in 1204 “rallied
832
Oswald, B. (2007). Op. cit., p. 132.
833
Chekrezi, C.A. (1919). Albania: Past and Present. Macmillan. New
York-Boston-London, p. 22.
Albanian nobility”, not any Greek nobility, in war against the

Venetians.
4. Epirus in medieval and modern historiography

A decree (chrysobull) of Manuel I. Komnenos (1143-1180) to
the bishoprics of Stagoi, in the 12th century corroborates the
presence of Albanian (Ἀλβανιται) in Thessaly, in the territory
of the Stagoi834 (now Kalabaka).
This information is ethnologically very important. Given
Albanian migrants of Greece speak a Tosk dialect, now spoken
south of Shkumbin River down to the Gulf of Arta, it may be
inferred that ex-Roman provinces of Epirus vetus and Epirus
nova were inhabited by Albanians not later than the 12th
century. The information also implies that, at this time, the
Albanian-speaking territory extended in South Albania beyond
the The State of Arbanon (Shteti i Arbrit), which was
erroneously considered by some historians as the political-
demographic nucleus (the territory north of Shkumbin to Drin
rivers) of Albanians from which their expansion occurred
afterwards835.
Another interesting report on the ethno-political status of
Albania in the 13th century is found in a medieval document
cited by Johann Thunmann, recounting about the “kingdom of
834
Archivum Europae centro-orientalis VII. Budapest, pp. 1-196, p. 167.
835
Archivum Europae centro-orientalis VII. Budapest, pp. 1-196.
Albania”, along the “principality of Achaia” and “duchy of

Athens”836.
To put Thunmann’s statement in a broader context, let’s
remember that after the founding of the Latin Empire of
Constantinople, by the beginning of the 13th century, three
vassal states were created within the empire, the Kingdom of
Thessalonica, the Duchy of Athens and the Principality of
Achaia. All the Greek-speaking territories of Balkans were
assigned to Latin Empire itself and to the three vassal states of
the empire. Albanian territories remained outside the Latin
Empire, becoming part of what the Byzantine historians named
Despotate of Epirus. Thus, the Balkan part of the Latin empire
in north was bordered by two independent states the Bulgarian
Kingdom and the Despotate of Epirus, with the latter in the
document being named “Kingdom of Albania”.The fact that
the document uses the term “Kingdom of Albania” as a
substitute for, or synonymously with, the Despotate of Epirus
is undoubtedly relevant to the issue of the ethnic identity of the
inhabitants of Epirus in the 13th century: it clearly suggests that
the population of Epirus at the time of the founding of the
Despotate of Epirus was, at least predominantly, Albanian.
There is no other reasonable explanation for using the term
836
Thunmann, J. (1774). Untersuchungen über die Geschichte der östlichen
Europäischen Völker I. Crusius, Leipzig, p. 296: “Nach Karls I. in
Sicilien Tod (1285) wurde sein Sohn und Nachfolger Karl II ebenfalls
Herr von de Sicilianischen Besitzungen in Neu Epir. Aber schon im J.
1294 übergab er dieselben nebst allen seinen Rechten und Ansprüchen
auf dass Fürstentum Achaja, das Herzogthum Athen, das Land
Wlachien und das Königreich Albanien, an den Fürsten von Tarent
Philip, sein jüngern Sohn”. The document cited by Thunmann is Dipl.
Carol. II ap. du Cange in Recueil de div. Cartes, p.37.
“Kingdom of Albania”, but admit that the ‘kingdom” was

The terms used to characterize the political status of Albania,
Achaia and Athens in the medieval document show a celar
hierarchy, with Athens in the lower status of a vassal state or
duchy ruled by Frank dukes, Othon de la Roche and his son (or
nephew), Guy I de la Roche (1205–1263). The other vassal
state, Achaia (Morea) stood at the higher status of principality,
within the Latin Empire of Constantinople, ruled by princes
Geoffrey I and Geoffrey II. The use of the term “kingdom of
Albania” in the above context seems to reflect both the
politically independent status of Epirus/Albania and the
Albanian ethnic identity of Epirotes at the time.
In the middle of the 12 century, the “Kingdom of Epirus” was
divided between principalities of Macedonia and Albania, with
the later falling under the rule of Constantine Ducas.
According to Lorenzo Miniati “For the respect of this
Kingdom, and the distinctive language, which is very different
from Greek (italics added – N.R.C.), the natives changed their
surnames, in accordance with the language of the land”837.
Miniati’s account indicates most plainly that Epirotes in the
13th century spoke Albanian.
Another interesting report “on the ethnicity of the Epirotes
(inhabitants of the historical Epirus vetus) provides us the
Byzantine emperor John Cantakuzenus (1292-1383), who
ruled from 1347 to 1354. Recounting on the inhabitants of
Himara (modern Labëria in ancient Epirus vetus – N.R.C.) in
837
Miniati, L. (1663). Le glorie cadute dell’antichissima, ed augustissima
famiglia Comnena…p. 44: “Per rispetto poi dell’aria di quell Regno,
del linguaggio particolare, ch’e molto differente dell lingua, e
pronuntia Greca, alteratono I Paesani I loro cognomi, second l’vfo dei
Paese ”.
his History Cantyacuzenus calls them Albanians: “Albanians

are autonomous nomades”. While providing Kantakuzenus’
quote, the German scholar K.F. Merleker states: “Chimariotes
are, like their forefathers, whom the emperor Cantakuzenus
calls Albanian sovereign nomades, who are independent
shepherds, a kind of bold and predatory Albanian Christians,
that from time to time come out of their rocks and drag to the
land ships that lay in the coast 838.
838
Merleker, K.F. (1841). Das Land und die Bewohner von Epeiros. Erste
Theil. Dalkowski, Königsberg, p. 7-8: “Die Chimarioten sind, wie ihre
Vorältern, welche Kaiser Kantakuzenos selbstherrschende albanische
Nomaden (2, 24. Άλβανοὶ αὐτόνομοι νομάδες), nennt, unabhängige
Hirten, eine kühne und räuberische Art albanischer Christen, die
zuweilen aus ihren Felsen hervorkommen und die Schiffe, welche
während der Windstille vor ihrer Küste liegen, an das land ziehen.
Figure 10. The borders of the Latin Empire and Byzantine

Empire after the 4th crusade (1204) up to the Treaty of
Nymphaeum in 1214. Borders are approximate. From: Varana-
own work; base map from Natural Earth Internet:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_Empire#/media/File:Latin
Empire.png
Another explicit description of the ethnological situation in
medieval Epirus comes from an anonymous Byzantine source
of 15th century. The information it provides is in full
agreement with what we know about the ancient ethnological
situation of the country, inhabited by the native ‚barbarian’
population, while a number of the coastal cities were also
populated by Greek, and later Roman, settlers. Says the

Anonymous author: “In the whole country, the coastal regions
are inhabited by Greeks, whereas above and in the interior of
the country, like in the past, still live barbarians”839. Thus, like
the ancient Greek authors, the Byzantine historian, 15
centuries later, despite long centuries of the so-called
processes of ‘Hellenization’ and ‘Romanization’, continues to
call barbarians the inhabitants of Epirus. Moreover he defines
Albanians of Epirus as descendants of Illyrians: “Still now that
country is inhabited by Albanians, an Illyrian people, scattered
in small groups of people and villages”840 841 842.
Even in the very dismissive of Albanians “Chronicles of
Ioannina” of the 14th century we read: “only the town of
Ioannina was not under Albanian domination because it was
inhabited by distinguished and capable men”843 (as pointed out
earlier, in the beginning of that century a sizable Greek
population migrated to Ioannina).
839
Anonimi. In Burime Tregimtare Bizantine për Historinë e Shqipërisë –
Shek. X-XV. Përg. K. Bozhori and F. Liço. Tiranë, p. 318 (in
Albanian).
840
Anonimi. In Burime Tregimtare Bizantine për Historinë e Shqipërisë...
Ibid.
841
Bojatzides, I.K. (1926). Symbole eis ton mesaioniken istorian tes
Epeirou. Epeirotica Chronika I, 79-80.
842
Lambros, S. (1926). Anonymon Panegyrikos. Palailogia kai
Peloponnesiaka, 3, pp. 194-195. Cited by Xhufi, P. (1994). The Ethnic
Situation in Epirus during the Middle Ages. Studia Albanica 1/2, 41-
58.
843
The Muslim Presence in Epirus and Western Greece (2008). In
Elevating and Safeguarding Culture Using Tools of the Information
Society: Dusty traces of the Muslim culture. Earthlab Greece. p. 307.
Modern Greek scholars themselves speak of the domination of

Epirus by Muslims (read: Albanians) “from the 15th to the
beginning of the 20th century”844.
At any rate, the most reliable sources of the ethnic situation in
Epirus from the 15th century on are historical descriptions and
data from cadastral surveys and taxation records of the
Ottoman administration.
Under intense pressure from revolts of the Albanians, the last
Italian despots of Epirus “were forced, to make deals with the
Turks and had virtually become subjects of the Sultan”845.
After the Ottoman conquest of Epirus, in 1420 Sultan Mehmed
I assigned almost all of ex-Roman provinces of Epirus vetus
and Epirus nova to the Arvanid sanjak (from Turkish sanjak
‘province’), i.e. Sanjak of Albania, situated between the
regions of modern Tirana and the Thyamis (Kalama) river846,
now in the territory of the Republic of Greece.
From the 17th century, the Albanian-inhabited province of
Çamëria (Chameria), most of it situated within the present
territory of the Republic of Greece, had the administrative
status of sanjak847. We don’t know how big this sanjak was but
let’s just remember that, at the time, sanjak was second, after
eyalet, in regard to the size of the administrative units of the
Ottoman Empire in Balkans.
A general trend of the demografic dynamics of Epirus during
the Ottoman rule, especially during the 15-16th centuries, was
the migration of rural populations toward naturally protected
hills and rugged places, because of the increased oppression848.
844
. Ibid., p. 278.
845
Ibid. p. 307.
846
Ibid. p. 328.
847
Ibid., p. 331.
848
Ibid. p., 309.
A case in point is the migration of the Albanian inhabitants in

Souli region in the 16th century. According to the tradition of
Souliotes, they originate in the village of Kardhiq, district of
Gjirokastër, Albania849, situated within the central part of the
ex-Roman province of Epirus vetus.
Many well known historians of the modern times, from the
17th century on, described Epirus as a region predominantly
populated by Albanians. In 1686 the geographer Philipp
Clüver et al. explicitly described Epirus as a country bordering
Greece, but different from it: “Epirus is separated from
Macedonians by the river Celydnus (now Gjanica – N.R.C.)
and Pindus range, and from Greeks by the river Acheloos”850.
As mentioned in the 1st chapter, the German authors J. Buno
(1617-1697) and F. Heckel (1640-1715) wrote that the
inhabitants of Epirus call themselves Arbonars, whereas Turks
call them Arnautleri851. In the French publication of Plinius’
Naturalis historiae, in 1771, the editors were mindful of
emphasizing that Turks, who have known Epirus since the
14th century (1338) as mercenaries of the Byzantine emperor
Andronicus III Palaeologus to crush the rebellion of Albanians
in South Albania (Epirus nova), call Epirus vetus Arbanos852.
In 1774 the Swedish historian Johann Thunmann (1746- 1778)
wrote that the Greeks themselves recognized as Albanians the
inhabitants of both Greek Illyria (central and north Albania)
and Epirus: “The Greeks, who were the first to come into
849
von Lüdemann, W. (1825). Der Suliotenkrieg nebst den darauf
bezüglichen Volksgesängen. F.U. Brockhaus, Leipzig, p. 1.
850
quam novam. J. Wolters, 1686, p. 329: ”Epirus, nunc dicitur Kanina,
separatur”.
851
Philippi Cluverii Introductio in ...Ibid. p 329.
852
Histoire naturelle de Pline (1771). Traduite en françois, Veuve Desaint,
Paris, pp. 233-234.
contact with the actual Albanians as an independent, warlike

people devoted to herding, used their name to refer in general
to the inhabitants of the mountainous areas of Greek Illyria and
Epirus, who used the same language and had the same customs
as the Albanians”853. He also showed that in view of the
increasing power of Albanians, the emperor Cantacuzene made
a political decision by wresting these regions from Nicephorus
and appointing Albanian rulers to govern them. Thus, Guin
Bua Spata (Gjin Bua Shpata) became ruler of territories around
Ioannina and Musacchi Topia ruler of the region of Arta854.
The latter political-military developments in Epirus have
shown that the emperor didn’t grant but was forced to hand
over the power to Albanian princes. The emperor’s decision
853
Thunmann, J. (1774).Untersuchungen über die Geschichte der östlichen
Europäischen Völker I. Crusius, Leipzig, p. 242: “Die Griechen, die
zuerst die eigentlichen Albaner, als eine unabhängiges, kriegerisches
und dem Hirtenleben ergebenes Volk kennenlernten, machten ihren
Namen zu einem allgemeinen Namen der übrigen Bergbewohner des
Griechischen Illyriens und des Epirs, die mit den Albanern von
gleicher Sprache und Lebensart waren”.
854
Thunmann, J. (1774). Untersuchungen...Op. cit. p. 306: “Kantakuzen
hatte zu der Zeit, da er diese Länder dem Nicephorus entriss, einige
Albanische Herren so gar zu Statthaltern darinnen verordnet. Guini de
Spata erhielt die Gegenden um Jannina, und Musacchi Topia das
Gebieth von Arta. Spata machte sich bald unabhängig, und nahm auch
dem Topia zugleich mit dem Leben seine Statthalterschaft (Spandugin.
ap. du Cange dans l’Hist. de Constantin L. VIII, p. 139)”.
855
Press, Cambridge-New York, p. 142.
again implies the Albanian ethnicity of Epirotes in the 14th

century, for were Epirotes Greek, it would be unexplainable
why a Greek emperor offered Albanians to rule Epirus at a
time when Albanians had no state of their own in any of the
Albanian-speaking territories. As Nicol remarks the Byzantine
emperor with this act was compelled to recognize an
established fact, a fait accompli855, an earned victory that he
could not reverse.
After the death of Stephan Dušan in 1355, a war of succession
started between his half-brother and Stephan’s son, Uroš. This
encouraged John Orsini’s son, Nicephorus II Orsini, to use the
opportunity to take over his father’s state. He took over
Thessaly, but encountered a tenacious resistance by Albanians
in Epirus. After preparing an army and reinforcing it with
Turkish mercenaries in 1856, he took an offensive against
Albanians on the banks of the Acheloos River where he fell in
battle and his army was routed856.
An insider’s information on the ethnological situation in
Epirus towards the end of the 18th century and the beginning of
the 19th century is provided by a native ethnic Greek born in
Ioannina, the capital city of the vilayet of Ioannina at the time.
His name was Athanasios Psalidas (Αθανάσιος Ψαλίδας, 1767-
1829). Having spent 10 years for continuing studies and
serving as an editor in Vienna, he returned in Ioannina to work
as teacher and director of Maroutsia, the best school of his
native city for 25 years. He left the city after the fall of the
pashalik of Ioannina in 1822, to die in the island of Lefkas in
1829.
856
Thunmann, J. (1774). Untersuchungen...Op. cit. p. 308.
Being an ethnic Greek, native of Ioannina and well educated

author, his knowledge of the ethnic situation of his own city
and Epirus cannot be questioned. According to him:
“Albania (former Illyricon and Epirus) is bordered to the east
by the lower parts of Macedonia and Thessaly, to the north by
Bosnia and Serbia, to the west by the Ionian Sea and to the
south by the Gulf of Amvrakia”857.
This definition of Albania by an ethnic Greek learned person
explicitly states that the territories of ancient Epirus towards
the end of the 18th century were still inhabited by Albanians.
Many centuries of the so-called “process of Hellenization” left
little traces in the ethnic Albanian composition of Epirus
despite the Greek migration of the year 1204 after the
massacres committed on Greeks by crusaders of the 4th
crusade.
Psalidas also explains that “Albania consists of two toparchies
or kingdoms, one of Epirus and one of Illyricon”858. By using
the Byzantine term toparchy (from the Greek toparches
τοπάρχης, ‘ruler of the country’) he simply describes the two
administrative units of the Ottoman Empire, inhabited by
Albanians, ‘Epirus’ and ‘Illyricon’. At the time ‘Epirus’ was
under the rule of the Ali Pasha of Tepelen and ‘Illyricon’, i.e.
857
Papacharisis A. (ed.), Kosma Thesprosian and Athanasios Psalidas,
Geography of Albania and Epirus. Ioannina 1964, 49-50 (in greek). In
The Muslim Presence…Op. cit. p. 321.
858
Papacharisis A. (ed.) Kosma Thesprosian and Athanasios Psalidas. Ibid:
With this revision he places the river Aoos as a border between Epirus
and Illyricon - Ano Arvanitia (upper Arvanitia), a notion which his
student Kosmas the Thesprotian also adopts to define Albania.
859
Papacharisis A. (ed.), Kosma Thesprosian and Athanasios Psalidas,
Geography of Albania and Epirus, Ioannina 1964, 49-50 (in greek).
the Albanian regions north of the Shkumbin river under the

rule of the Albanian Bushatlis.
It is reported, however, that later, after the formation of the
Greek state, Psalidas changed mind and corrected his original
statement. Having not myself access to the source, I have to
rely on a modern Greek source quoting his ‘revised’ statement:
“Albania to the west is bordered by the Adriatic Sea, to the
east by the western parts of Macedonia, to the north by Bosnia,
Dalmatia and Montenegro and to the south by Epirus, from
which it is divided by the river Viosa or Vousa”859.
Notice the essential differences. In the first statement Albania
was bordered to the west by the Ionian Sea and now, after one
decade or so, it is bordered to the west by the Adriatic Sea; in
the first statement Psalidas says that Albania is bordered to the
south by the Gulf of Ambracia but in the second Albania
retreates far north and is bordered by Epirus, a geographic
entity that he explicitly included into Albania in the first
statement.
It is impossible, by any stretch of imagination, to believe that a
native ethnic Greek educated person didn’t know the ethnicity
of his countrymen or that he needed several years to become
aware of the true ethnicity of the people of the city and country
where he was born, grown up and where he spent most of his
life.
Psalidas’ dichotomy can be easily and convincingly be
explained if one would take into account the circumstances
under which he “changed his mind”. The change happened at a
hectic time for the Greek nationalism, at the time of the Greek
revolution, when the foundations of the independent Greek
state were laid, and at the peak of the nationalistic drive for
extending the borders of the new Greek state into the territories
inhabited by Bulgarians, Macedonians, Albanians an Turks,

according to the ultranationalistic project of “Megali Idea”
(The Great Idea) (see the map below).
It is noteworthy that even after this change of mind, Psalidas
does not mention Greece as bordering Albania like he
mentioned Bosnia, Macedonia and Montenegro, leaving Epirus
as a non-identifiable, neither Greek nor Albanian ethnic entity.
Figure 11. Megali Idea. Greek map showing the possible lands
of a Greater Greece. WWI Paris Peace Conference (cropped
caption) of the Greece including Epirus at the north-west
corner of the black area. The shaded area shows the region
where the Greek and French claims conflict.
From the New York Times, Current History 1919.
Two centuries ago the Danish-French geographer Conrad

Malte Brun (1755-1826), in the volume 4 of Universal
Geography, explicitly identifies Epirus with Albania, or with
what he names “lower Albania”, to which he devotes the
subsection Lower Albania. Says he: “The lower Albania or the
ancient Epirus lies to the south of the fortieth parallel; we shall
consider it on that account as a distinct region”860. In the
subsection “Climate, vegetation – Lower Albania or Epirus” of
the London edition of his work, he writes: “The whole Epirus
or the lower Albania is covered with mountains, the most of
them calcareous and furrowed by deep ravines”861.
And again in 1841 Karl Friedrich Merleker (1803-1872)
identifies Epirus or “Pashalik of Ioannina” with Albania862.
Merleker’s delineation of the boundaries of the Albanian-
speaking people also coincides pretty much with the well
known location of Albanian people: “The present-day Albania
is bordered north by Bosnia, east by Macedonia and Thessaly,
south by Acarnania and Gulf of Arta and west by the Ionian
and Adriatic seas”863.
860
Malte-Brun, C. (1929). Universal Geography: or A Description of All
the Parts of the World on a new Plan IV. Laval and Bradford,
Philadelphia, 1829, p. 103.
861
Malte-Brun, C. (1827). Universal Geography, Or, a Description of All
the Parts of the World, on a new Plan VI, London, p. 176.
862
Merleker K.F. (1852). Historisch-geographische Darstellung des
Landes und der Bewohner von Epeiros: Tl. III. Jahresbericht der
königlichen Friedrichskollegium, Königsberg, 1841, f. 4: “dem
gegenwärtigen Paschalik Janina oder Albanien”.
863
Merleker, K. F. (1852). Ibid., p. 17: “das heutige Albanien gegen
Norden von Bosnien, gegen Westen von Macedonien und Thessalien,
gegen Süden von Akarnanien und dem Golf von Arta, und gegen
Westen von dem ionischen und adriatischen Meere begrenzt wird”.
The German scholar also pointed out that based on

insignificant evidence, such as the presence in Albanian of the
Latin words, some authors posited that Albanians arrived to
their present territories from Alba, Italy, while other authors
based on the similarity of the name with the Caucasian
Albania864, an exonym for the country of the Caucasian
Aluans720 speculated that Albanians came from Caucasus. In
the authoritative Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
(1854) we read: “Epirus was inhabited by various tribes, which
were not regarded by the Greeks themselves as members of the
Hellenic race. Accordingly, Epirus was not a part of Hellas,
which was supposed to begin at Ambracia”865.
The same identification of the Pashalik of Ioannina with
Albania made the German geographer, L. Schmitz, by the
middle of the 19th century, in his Manual of Ancient
Geography866.
In 1854 another German scholar, Johann Georg von Hahn
(1811–1869) defines Ioannina as a “city of the South
Albania”867.
The English historian William Cooke Stafford in 1855 also
identified Epirus with Albania: “Albania comprises the ancient
864
The name “Albania’ for the people of Caucasus seems to be a
misspelling of the original name of the people by ancient Greeks and
then Latins. This is indicated by the fact that their western neighbors,
ancient Armenians called them Aluans (Ałuank) and their language
ałowanic; their eastern neighbors, medieval Persians knew them as
Arran; and Georgians in the north called them Rani.
865
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854). Ed. William Smith,
LLD. Little, Brown and Co. Boston, Item Epeirus. p. 831-833.
866
Schmitz, L. (1859). A Manual of Ancient Geography. Blanchard and
Lea, Philadelphia, p. 84-85. In author’s definition, Epirus “embraces
the modern Pashalik of Ioannina or Albania”.
867
von Hahn, J.G. (1854). Albanesische Studien. Op. cit., p. 12.
kingdoms of Illyria and Epirus....Scutari is the capital of Upper

or Northern Albania, the ancient Illyria; and Iannina, of
Southern or Lower Albania, the ancient Epirus”868
In 1860 the renowned German Medievalist/Byzantinist Jakob
Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer (1790–1861) again proclaimed the
Albanian identity of Epirotes as a non-Greek people, by
defining Albanians as a “branch of the great Illyrian people
and at the same time the blood- and speech relatives of the
ancient Epirotes and Macedonians, two peoples that in turn
belong to barbarian Illyrians, not to Hellenes”869
Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903), one of the greatest historians
of all time, in his masterpiece Römische Geschichte expressed
monumentally his conviction on the Illyrian-Albanian identity
of Epirotes by calling them Albanians of Antiquity: “The brave
Epirots, the Albanians of antiquity, clung with hereditary
loyalty and fresh enthusiasm to the high-spirited youth—the
"eagle," as they called him”870.
868
Stafford, W.C. (1855). History of the war in Russia and Turkey…
Jackson, London – Liverpool, p. 120.
869
Fallmerayer, J.P. (1860). Das albanesische Element in Griechenland.
Verlag der K. Akad., München, p. 4: “Zweig des grossen Volkstammes
der Illyrier und zugleich für Bluts- und Sprachverwandte der alten
Epiroten und Macedonier zu erklären, welche beiden Völker ihrerseits
ebenfalls den Illyrischen Barbaren, nich den Hellenen angehören”.
870
Buchhandlung, Leipzig, f. 257: “…die tapfern Epeiroten, die
Albanesen des Alterthums, hingen mit angestammter Treue und
frischer Begeisterung an dem muthigen Jüngling, dem ‚Adler‘, wie sie
ihn hiessen.”.
871
Clare, I.S. (1906). Library of universal history III. Union Book Co,
NewYork – Chicago, p. 706.8 Clare, I.S. (1906). Library of universal
history III. Union Book Co, NewYork – Chicago, p. 706.
872
Shipley, G. (2000). The Greek World after Alexander 323–30 BC.
Routledge, London-New York, p. 111.
Towards the beginning of the 20th century I. S. Clare defined

the ethnological situation in Epirus from antiquity to the
modern times as follows: “During the entire historical period
Epirus was more Illyrian than Greek”871. Along the same lines,
and echoing Clare, towards the end of the 20th century, the
British historian Graham Shipley came to the conclusion:
“Thracians, Paionians, Epirotes, and Illyrians – were primarily
non-urban peoples with more or less Hellenized elites. To
Greece as a whole, Macedonia seemed a bulwark against the
‘barbarians’”872.
Based on ancient Greek sources and expressing a widespread
opinion, in 1917, the German classicist and geographer Eugen
Oberhummer (1859-1944) also confirmed the Illyrian-
Albanian identity of Epirotes, emphasizing the fact that they
spoke a language that was different from Greek: “Epirus itself,
as far south as north-western Greece, was inhabited by Illyrian
tribes that spoke a language that was unintelligible to
Greeks”873.
873
Oberhummer, E. (1917). Die Balkanvölker. Verein nat. Kenntn. LVII.
Bd. 263- 279: “Auch in Epirus selbst und bis in das nordwestliche
Griechenland hinein wohnten Stämme, die als illyrisch bezeichnet
werden und eine den Griechen unverständliche Sprache redeten”.
874
Clark, E.L. (1878). The Races of European Turkey. Dodd, Mead and
Co., New York, p. 167-168.
875
Trencsényi, B.Kopecek, M. (2006): Discourses of Collective Identity in
Central and Southeast Europe (1770-1945): The Formation of
National Movements. Central European University Press, p. 173.
876
von Lüdemann, W. (1825). Der Suliotenkrieg nebst den darauf
bezüglichen Volksgesängen. F.U. Brockhaus, Leipzig, p. 1.
The stark distinction of Epirotes from Greeks was vividly

emphasized by the British author E. L. Clark: “The Ancient
Epirots were as distinct from the Hellenes as the Albanians are
from the modern Greeks”874.
On the origin of Souliotes
A brief discussion on the ethnic origin of Souliotes (Albanian:

Suliotë) is within the scope of this book owing to the
outstanding role this Albanian tribe played in the Greek war of
Independence.
By consensus it is admitted that “The Souliotes were Albanian
by origin and Orthodox by faith”875. Their native language was
Albanian of the Cham dialect and the folklore of the tribe is in
Albanian.
According to Souliotes’ own oral tradition, their ancestors
were shepherds from the village Kardhiq, Gjirokastër district,
Albania (territory of the ancient Epirus vetus). They were
compelled to leave the place of origin and settle in the
mountainous and inaccessible region of Suli, to escape the
Turkish maltreatment876. The non-Greek nature of the Epirus
877
Pounds, N.J.G. (1976). An Historical Geography of Europe 450 B.C.-
A.D. 1330. CUP Archive, p. 30.
878
879
Xhufi, P. (2006). Dilemat e Arbërit. Pegi, Tiranë, p. 305.
880
Xhufi, P. (2006). Dilemat e Arbërit. Ibid.
and Epirotes and even neighboring southern regions of Aetolia

and Acarnania was also pointed out as late as 1976 by the
British historical geographer N.J.G. Pounds: “Epirus formed
no part of Greece, and in the 5th century Greek commerce and
culture had made little impression upon its tribes. It is doubtful
whether the tribes of Aetolia and Acarnania should be
considered Greek.”877. Pound’s thought on the non-Greek
character of Acarnania and Etolia may traced back to
Thucydides in the 5th century BC, who informs us that
Eurytanians, the greatest tribe of Etolians, spoke a language
that Greeks couldn’t comprehend878.
Indeed, the ethnographic maps by geographers and
cartographers from Rusia and Germany concur with Pound’s
viewpoint (see figure 5 and 6) that Acarnania and part of
Aetoliaby the middle of the 19th century were inhabited by
Albanians and the French ethnographic map by G. Lejean
(1861) (figure 12) shows that Albanians inhabited not only the
whole area of Epirus but a considerable part of the region of
Thessaly. It is noteworthy that the whole seacoast of Acarnania
881
Press, Cambridge, New York, pp. 142 -146.
is also designated Albania in a late Greek mediaeval

navigation chart879.
The 14th century Albanian rulers of Epirus Gjin Bua Shpata
and Gjin Zenebisha are mentioned in the documents of the
time as domini in Albania (Rulers in Albania)”880. The
Chronicle of Ioannina shows that even the population of
Ioannina that by the beginning of the 13th century had absorbed
a considerable Greek population preferred the rule of Albanian
lords Gjin Bua Shpata and Peter Losha over that of the
conqueror Peter Prelubovitch in the Despotate of Epirus in the
70es of the 14th century881.
As late as 1999, the French historian, Alain Ducellier, a
specialist in Byzantine studies at the University of Toulouse,
assured us that not only the hinterland of Epirus, but even its
coast, planted with several Greek and later Roman colonists,
remained ethnically Albanian during the whole Middle Ages.
Describing the situation in Epirus by the end of the 12 to 13th
century in The New Cambridge Medieval History vol 5 –
c.1198-c.1300, he writes: “the coasts of Epiros, despite their
control by Serbs and Greeks, remained primarily inhabited by
Albanains”882.
I will close these notes with the conclusion of Edwin E.
Jacques (1999) on the ethnic identity of Epirotes, drawn from
882
Ducellier, A. (1999). Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria. In The New
Cambridge Medieval History V – c.1198-c.1300. Ed. D. Abulafia,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge – New York, p. 780.
discussions in a conference of historians held in Clermont-

Ferrand, France, in 1984:
“In October 1984, 70 historians and archaeologists from
Greece, Albania, Romania, Italy and several other countries of
Europe convened in Clermont-Ferrand, France. They held a
colloquium with a group of specialists in ancient history who
were working there under the direction of Professor Pierre
Cabanes, the renowned expert on Epirus. They compared
studies on the tribal and ethnic groups, which gradually
organised into urban life, then federated into state
organisations. They compared juridical institutions such as
family right of ownership, the role of the woman in the family
and the procedure in freeing slaves. Similarities of Epirotes
centers like Dodona and those of Southern Illyria were
evidenced by the layout, architecture, and political
organisation, also the circulation of coins, the structure of
groves, the burial rites and articles found in the tumuli. But
scholars concluded that from early antiquity until the Roman
times that culture of Southern Illyria and Epirus, including
Molossia, was quite different from that of classical Greece as
found in Athens and Sparta”883.
883
Jacques, E.E. (1995). The Albanians: An ethnic history from prehistoric
times to the present. McFarland and Co. Inc. Publishers, Jefferson,
N.Carolina, pp. 79-80.
Figure 12. A 19th century ethnographic map of Epirus and

surrounding area. From Ethnographie de la Turquie d'Europe,
1861, by Guillaume Lejean. Albanian population extends
continuously to the south down to the Gulf of Arta and to the
east in the territory of Thessaly (the main Vlach minority in
the Pindus range).

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© Albanet Publishing 2016

Copyright © 2016 Albanet Publishing. All rights reserved.

Cover: Alba Mezini

Printed in the United States of America

In this work I investigate the ethnicity of Epirotes from the

The book is written during the year 2015 and is part of a

The title of the book Epirotes - the Albanians of antiquity is

Albanian relationships 105

4. Albanian Tosk dialect suggests that Epirotes

11. The endonym shqiptarë 261

Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer

In ancient Greek and Roman sources Epirus appears as a

The founding of Greek colonies in Epirus, even by itself,

ancient Greek and Roman authors of Epirotes as a non-Greek

The history of various peoples of Europe and the world shows

perform their distinct burial rituals13 and Epirote women had a

by the ethnographic studies and maps of the middle of the 19th

When the evidence on the non-Greek identity of ancient

- Evolution according to the rules of the Albanian phonetics

The socio-cultural and demographic landscape of modern

The Ancient Greek View on the

1. The origin of the place name Epirus

We do not know how old is the name of Epirus as a proper

the Asiatic mainland44. The same does the latter, when he

(Ἤπειρος) as a place in general (ἡ γενικὴ χώρα), not a

The name Epirus is the Latinized form of the name Ἂπειρος

Euthycles, who, with much difficulty passing through Epirus,

From the ancient Greek and Roman historians and

(Άργύρινοι), 23) Arktanes (Άρκτᾶνες), 24) Pleraei

The Dassaretae controversy

However, the British scholar, N.G.L. Hammond (1907-2001)

that besides the Illyrian tribe of Enchelei, the same name

Pseudo-Skylax69 informs us that: “Boulinoi are an Illyric

Aous valley as well as “some parts of Epirus”71. This passage

serious attempt to prove that their consensual recognition of

the tribe name doksaroi seems to have been preserved in the

In Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) we

3. On the origin of some Epirote tribe names

εἶναι παρευτρεπίσασθαι τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰλλυρίδα πρός τε τὰς ἄλλας

(δάξα) ‘sea’80. As pointed out earlier, the name may be

‘mountain’84, which is semantically plausible, when we

related to the OInd candrá ‘moon’ and Middle Breton cann

[Apodotes, Boiotes (from Boion oros), Kladiates, Doesstes

4. The boundaries of Epirus

Owing to the geographic proximity of Epirus to ancient

geographical and political entity inhabited by ‘barbarian’

Figure 1. Map of Epirus vetus showing its borders with

οἱ βάρβαροι ἔχουσι, Μακεδονίαν μὲν Θρᾷκες καί τινα μέρη τῆς

ancient Greek sources that they were ‘Hellenized’ by the 4th

the congress. This is, according to Plutarch, the Pericles’

Greek colonization of Kerkyra

Kerkyra is the largest island in the Ionian Sea a few miles

colonization of the island began several centuries after the

5. Greek colonies refute ethnic affiliation of

colonies are founded in foreign countries; movements of

Epirote settlement founded in the 9th century BC and known

Aetolia from a “northwestern Greek” tribe, which included a

1. Colonies are founded in foreign countries (the major

It may logically be deduced that to Greeks, Epirus was a

6. Mythical origins of Epirotes

The Greek colonization of the coastal cities in Mediterranean

The crucial role of myths for justifying the political power is

genetive of deiwa? from PIE deiwo-) is the Epirote word for