v45_0075 - ILIRIA - DIRRACHIO Drachme

ILLYRIA - DYRRHACHIUM

(3rd - 1st century BC)

Epidamnos, colony of Corcyra was founded in 623 BC. The city was the capital of the Dyrrachi. In 435 BC, a conflict broke out between Dyrrachium and Corinth, leading to the Peloponnesian War. It was also at this time that the city changed its name to become Dyrrachium instead of Epidamnos. In the middle of the 4th century BC, the city entered the Corinthian orbit and coined to the Corinthian type. In 312 BC, Glaucias, king of the Illyrians captured the city with the help of the Corcyreans. Around 280 BC, Dyrrachium was in the Macedonian orbit of Ptolemy Ceraunos. The city was then ruined by the Illyrian tribes and eventually came under Roman protectorate in 229 BC. When the Romans began to occupy the area at the end of the 3rd century BC, they renamed the city after of Dyrrhachium. It became at the end of the Republic the most important port for trade with Italy from Brindisium.