The province of Epirus (Latin: Provincia Epiri, Koine and Medieval Greek: Ἐπαρχία Ἠπείρου, Eparchía Ēpeírou) was a province of the Roman Empire, covering the region of Ancient Epirus. Rome first annexed the region in 167 BC, in the aftermath of the Third Macedonian War, and initially put the region in the larger Roman province of Macedonia, which at the time covered the whole of the Hellenistic world in mainland Europe. In 27 BC, Epirus and Achaea were separated from Macedonia and grouped into the senatorial province of Achaea, with the exception of its northernmost part, which remained part of the province of Macedonia. Under Emperor Trajan, sometime between 103 and 114 AD, Epirus became a separate province, under a procurator Augusti. The new province extended from the Gulf of Aulon (Vlorë) and the Acroceraunian Mountains in the north to the lower course of the Acheloos River in the south, and included the northern Ionian Islands of Corfu, Lefkada, Ithaca, Cephallonia, and Zakynthos.
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Epirus (Roman province) in the context of Thesprotians
The Thesprotians (Ancient Greek: Θεσπρωτοί, romanized: Thesprōtoí) were an ancient Greek tribe, akin to the Molossians, inhabiting the kingdom of Thesprotis in Epirus. Together with the Molossians and the Chaonians, they formed the main tribes of the northwestern Greek group. On their northeastern frontier, they neighbored the Chaonians and on their northern frontier they neighbored the kingdom of the Molossians. The poet Homer frequently mentions Thesprotia in the Odyssey, which had friendly relations with Ithaca and Doulichi. The Thesprotians originally controlled the Dodona oracle, the oldest religious shrine in Greece. Later, they were part of the Epirus until they were annexed into the Roman Empire.
Epirus (Roman province) in the context of Oricum
Oricum (Ancient Greek: Ὤρικον, Ὤρικος or Ὠρικός; Latin: Oricum or Oricus; Albanian: Oriku or Orikum) was a harbor on the Illyrian coast that developed in an Ancient Greek polis at the south end of the Bay of Vlorë on the southern Adriatic coast. It was located at the foot of the Akrokeraunian Mountains, the natural border between ancient Epirus and Illyria. Oricum later became an important Roman city between the provinces of Epirus Vetus and Epirus Nova in Macedonia. It is now an archaeological park of Albania, near modern Orikum, Vlorë County. Oricum holds such a strategic geographical position that the area has been in continuous usage as a naval base from antiquity to the present-days.
It appears that the site of Oricum was uninhabited before the 6th century BC. In the early period contacts between the Greeks and the local Illyrians were evidently absent in the hinterland of the site. Early Greek sources describe Orikos as a harbor (Greek: λιμήν, limen). Findings from the proto-urban period in Orikos provide evidence of extensive contacts primarily with the Greek world. Like other ports of southern Illyria, the site of Orikos was a place of exchange of products and a meeting point between the outside world and the Illyrians located in the hinterland. In the Classical period Orikos was likely part of the peraia of Korkyra.
Epirus (Roman province) in the context of Nicopolis
Nicopolis (Ancient Greek: Νικόπολις, romanized: Nikópolis, lit. 'City of Victory') or Actia Nicopolis was the capital city of the Roman province of Epirus. Its site, near Preveza, Greece, still contains impressive ruins. The city was founded in 29 BC by Octavian in commemoration of his victory in 31 BC over Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium nearby. It flourished through commerce and imperial patronage, obtaining its capital status in the early second century AD when Trajan created the province of Epirus. Nicopolis survived the turmoil of the third century and was made capital of a different, smaller province, Epirus Vetus, during the reforms of Diocletian.
Bishops of Nicopolis appear in the historical record as early as the reign of Constantine, but Christianity did not predominate in the region until the late fourth century. A series of basilicas were constructed during the ensuing period. Between the reigns of Zeno and Justinian Nicopolis was repeatedly damaged by warfare, declining in size and receiving new fortifications. The city died out sometime after the eighth century.Its site was first discovered and excavated by Greek archaeologist Alexander Philadelpheus.