Epirus was another Greek state in Ancient Greece, less prominent than Athens or Sparta but nevertheless key to the Ancient World. Occupied since the Mycenean age (Dark Age Greece/era of the sack of Troy) Epirus has burial mounds and links to Mycenean civilzation which indicates that they may have been ancestors to the people of Epirus. When the Dorians invaded Greece they landed at Epirus first and the region was split into three Greek tribes, the Molossians, the Thesprotians and the Chaonians. Perhaps it was this divide that prevented a more unified and powerful people in the region. Largely unsuccessful and obscure however in the classical age Epirus could not rival the likes of Macedon, Thebes, Athens or Sparta during the years of Greek propsperity and it was not until the earlier years of the Roman Republic, some 600 years after the Greeks fought back the Persian hordes, that Epirus made a name in History. Located in Northwest Greece Epirus is closest of all the Greek cities to Italy and did launch an invasion against the Romans in 280BC under King Pyrrhus but was so outnumbered and undersupplied that despite several victories they were forced to retreat back to Greece. This is where the term 'a Pyrrhic Victory' comes from, meaning that something was won but at so great a cost that it wasn't really worth it. Pyrrhus invaded Italy with the aid of Macedonian ally Ptolemy Ceraunus' infantry and cavalry aswell as war elephants loaned from Ptolemy II of Egypt. War elephants were an effective item in war, crushing the enemy beneath their feet and routing opposition but they also needed much care and many supplies which Epirus could not transport to Italy fast enough.
Epirus is not only famous for the unfortunate King Pyrrhus. Of the three tribes created by the Dorian Invasion the Molossians prospered and allied themselves with the Macedonians. In fact in 359 BC Molossian princess Olympias of Epirus married King Phillip II of Macedon and was to become mother to one of the greatest men who ever lived, Alexander the Great. Her brother Alexander of Epirus led forces into Italy which had not yet been unified by the Romans and won several victories before he was defeated and killed by Romans. Though it was never able to live up to grandure itself Epirus would have been famous for Alexander's empire had it been his father and not mother that came from Epirus. Furthermore, Epirus is also a famous location in Ancient Greek mythology. The River Acheron which runs through the region is said to be one of the rivers into the underworld and that the River Styx (which you may have read about in the Myths and Legends section) spawns from it. The figure of Charon is said to have delivered souls to the underworld down the Acheron and the Styx. The Grand Statue of Zeus at Olympia is also just a little South of Epirus and so it is located closely to the mythological mountain of the Gods, Mount Olympus. Perhaps more famous in myth than in real life, Epirus is nevertheless recognised in History as one of the main polis of Ancient Greece. The First picture is of King Pyrrhus and the second the River Acheron.
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