The
ancient Greek city of
Epidamnus or
Epidamnos , later the Roman
Dyrrachium (modern
Durrës,
Albania, c. 30 km W of Tirana) was founded in 627 BC in
Illyria by a group of colonists from
Corinth and Corcyra (modern
Corfu).
Aristotle's
Politics several times draws for examples on the internal government of Epidamnos, which was run as a tight oligarchy that appointed a ruling magistrate; tradesmen and craftsmen were excluded from power, until internal strife produced a more democratic government. The exiled oligarchs appealed to Corcyra while the democrats enlisted the help of Corinth, initiating a struggle between the two mother cities described by
Thucydides as a cause of the
Peloponnesian War. Individual trading with the local Illyrians was forbidden at Epidamnos: all traffic was through the authorized city agent or
poletes. In the fourth century BC the
city-state was part of the kingdoms of
Cassander and
Pyrrhus. The general vicinity of Epidamnus was called
Epidamnia.