Epidamnus. Detailed history

The ancient Greek city Epidamnus (or Epidamnos, and renamed Dyrrachium in 229 by the Romans), began as a colony jointly established in 627 by Corcyra and Corinth. The colony was originally part of Corinth’s expansion under its tyrant, Cypselus. Corcyra was a colony of Corinth that worked with it in its western colonizing efforts. Corinth also supplied the colonists, and its leader, a common practice among the Corinthians, Phaleus, who belonged to the Heraclidae family.

The colony of Epidamnus was established on the Ionic gulf, on an isthmus of a peninsula extending into the sea. It had a favorable position that commanded the Adriatic, and it had fertile land to help feed its population. With its rich resources, the colony prospered; it soon acquired wealth and its population grew. The city acted as a transit point for trade both along the coast and inland, even reaching to the Black Sea. The term Dyrrachium from the Greek form Dyrrachion appears on Greek coins from the fifth century, appears to apply to the rough and ragged peninsula on which the city was built.

The Corinthians believed that their daughter cities, like most Greek cities, had an obligation to respect the mother city. For instance, Corinth believed that Corcyra should show respect and that its granddaughter city, Epidamnus, should as well. Corinth felt that it had a right to interfere in the business of Epidamnus since it had provided its leader. For the most part, however, Corinth did not interfere extensively with its daughter and granddaughter cities. In fact, Corinth and Corcyra were often hostile with each other due to the political refugees that had fled Corinth to escape to Corcyra under Cypselus.

Epidamnus had a tight and closed oligarchy, which ruled the city. It had a single magistrate, termed the archon, who commanded its administration. Although this was unusual for the Greek city-states, it was not unique since some other cities also had a single magistrate to oversee the city. The tribes were led by chiefs or phylarchs, who formed a council that kept the aristocracy even closer knit and shielded from outside influence. These phylarchs were probably hereditary, passed from generation to generation. It appears that the middle class of merchants, artisans, and traders were viewed as peasants and not given any political rights. All of this led to occurrences of social and political upheaval.

In the period just before the Peloponnesian War, civil war broke out in Epidamnus, with unintended consequences. With the overthrow of the oligarchs by the middle class, who called themselves democrats, the political structure changed. The single archon remained, but the phylarchs were now replaced by a larger senate, elected by the people. The new government was liberal in that it allowed resident aliens to be citizens.

The city had always been an important trading center, with contacts far and wide, including east across the mountains to the Black Sea. This trade was crucial for maintaining the wealth of the city. The new government continued the policy of trading with the local Illyrian tribes, controlled by an official agent. This may have been to prevent too much contact and chances for political faction, which in fact occurred anyway. When the oligarchs were driven out of Epidamnus, some took refuge with the Illyrians and exhorted them to attack the city. Epidamnus apparently was not defensively strong, so it appealed for help from its mother city, Corcyra.

The city of Corcyra had a powerful navy, but it was also neutral. This neutrality was not necessarily because of any altruistic philosophy—indeed, many Greeks as related by ancient historians indicated that Corcyra remained neutral so that it could continue its age-old practice of piracy. Corcyra had become very powerful and wealthy, with the third-largest navy in the Greek world, behind Athens and Corinth.

The ambassadors from Epidamnus were rebuffed in their request for help, in part because Corcyra probably was not interested in becoming involved in the internecine war. Epidamnus at this point sent delegates to Delphi to enquire whether it should appeal to its grandmother city, Corinth, and place itself under Corinthian control and protection. The Oracle at Delphi indicated that the city should indeed do this, and so it did.

Corinth, which had continual issues with Corcyra, now saw this as an opportunity to become involved even more directly with Corcyra and its affairs. Given its historical ties with Epidamnus, Corinth was only too glad to help, sending troops to help defend Epidamnus against the aristocrats and Illyrians and to insult Corcyra to boot. New colonists were sent by the Corinthians over land to Epidamnus.

The aristocrats, who had been thrown out or exiled by the citizens of Epidamnus into the nearby vicinities populated by nomadic tribes, hearing of the arrival of the new Corinthian colonists, sent delegates to Corcyra to complain about their exile and request aid, pointing to their kindred families. At this point, the Corcyraeans decided to help the exiled aristocrats and sent a fleet of twenty-five warships to Epidamnus, demanding that the city rid itself of the Corinthians and accept the aristocrats back.

When the city rejected these demands, the Corcyraeans began to besiege it in aid of the local Illyrians and aristocrats. Corinth was promptly notified, and a new force was raised with seventy-five ships and 2,000 hoplites, as well as other light-armed troops, and sent there to relieve the city. At the Battle of Leucimme in 435, the Corinthian relief force was defeated. At the same time, indeed supposedly on the same day, the defenders at Epidamnus were in desperate need and surrendered the city. The Corinthians were held as hostages, with the other settlers sold into slavery or executed.

Corcyra was now in a good position to exploit the situation, moving to control the area. The Corcyraeans sailed to Leucas, another Corinthian colony, and plundered the area. They continued to harass the area on the western coast of Illyria. Corinth, hurt in this endeavor, now decided to raise a new force, and Corcyra made overtures to Athens to join the Delian League. The history of Epidamnus was unknown for nearly a century after this event, until in 312, the Illyrian king Glaucias became master of the city, with help from Corcyra. It appears that the city did not remain allied with Corcyra after the events of 435. In fact, the two cities probably continued their age-old animosity, resulting in continual conflict.

Epidamnus is an example of how a small city on the periphery of the spheres of power often provoked a greater crisis, in this case a world war amongst the Greeks, the Peloponnesian War. The city was often typical of other Greek cities, in that it suffered from civil strife, usually between oligarchs or aristocrats and democrats or tradesmen. This conflict resulted in a revolution where the defeated party (in this case the oligarchs) were ousted and attempted to revive themselves by inviting a foreign power to help. The result of these machinations was to bring two superpowers, Corinth and Athens, into conflict with each other, which also drew in Corinth’s allies, Sparta and the Peloponnesian League.