Epirus vetus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Epirus vetus was a province in the Roman Empire. Between 146 BC and 395 AD, it was incorporated into the Roman province of Macedonia. Epirus was originally a Greek[1] nation that controlled part of the Balkans and the sourthen tip of Italy. Their army was similar to Macedon's, relying on phalanxes and heavy cavalry. Epirus's most famous ruler was Pyrrhus of Epirus, who defeated several Roman armies, but the costs were so high that now a victory that comes at a heavy price is called a Pyhrric victory.
[edit] References
- ^ Hammond, NGL (1994). Philip of Macedon. London, UK: Duckworth. "Epirus was a land of milk and animal products...The social unit was a small tribe, consisting of several nomadic or semi-nomadic groups, and these tribes, of which more than seventy names are known, coalesced into large tribal coalitions, three in number: Thesprotians, Molossians and Chaonians...We know from the discovery of inscriptions that these tribes were speaking the Greek language (in a West-Greek dialect)"
