Depicting Dioni and Zeus (left) and a bull (right)
The coalition was established between 370 and 320 BC (firstly as theMolossian League in 370 BC), which helped unify the three main Greek tribes ofEpirus (i.e.,Molossians,Thesprotians, andChaonians).[3] The oracle ofDodona was the religious, political and cultural centre of the Molossian League and later of the Epirote League. In 297 BC,Pyrrhus of Epirus became leader of the League.[4] When KingAgathocles of Syracuse conquered Corcyra, he offered the island as dowry to his daughterLanassa on her marriage toPyrrhus of Epirus in 295 BC.[5] The island then became a member of the Epirote League. It was then perhaps that the settlement ofCassope was founded to serve as a base for the king of Epirus' expeditions. The island remained in the Epirote League until 255 BC when it became independent after the death ofAlexander II of Epirus. The league was defeated by theIllyrians during theBattle of Phoenice, which forced it to enter into an alliance withTeuta to prevent further attacks. This alliance made the Epirotes hostile to the Achaeans and Aetolians, but it presumably ended following the Illyrian defeat in theFirst Illyrian War.
Although the Epirote League remained neutral in the first twoMacedonian Wars, it was ultimately dismantled in theThird Macedonian War (171–168 BC), with the Molossians siding with theMacedonians and the Chaonians and Thesprotians supporting theRoman Republic.[6]
Copies of the decrees (proxeny and citizenship decrees,manumission records) of the Molossian and Epirote League were set up inDodona. All members had common citizenship.[7] Regarding the dialect of the Epirote League, it was not Corinthian Doric and even the alphabet was not Corinthian; it was probably Northwest Doric, as some recorded inquiries atDodona appear to indicate.[8] The first epigraphical evidence of the Molossian League goes back to 370 BC under the king (orbasileus)Neoptolemus.[9]
^Boatwright, Gargola & Talbert 2004, p. 92: "Pyrrhus matched this model. His power base was his kingship over the Molossians, a traditional office with customary limitations. To this he added the post of hegemon, or commander, of the Epirote League, an alliance of Epirote communities to which each contributed forces and funds toward common goals."
^Franke 1989, p. 459: "As king of the Molossians – he never styled himself king of the Epirotes and certainly never king of Epirus, a title found especially in the Roman tradition – Pyrrhus was at the same time thehegemon of the Epirote League which was founded around 325/20 and describes itself as theΣΥΜΜΑΧΟΙ ΤΩΝ ΑΠΕΙΡΩΤΑΝ ('the Epirote allies') on inscriptions. The League united the three main peoples of Epirus (Map 9) – the Molossians, the Thesprotians, and the Chaonians, who were evidently the last to join; each of these in turn consisted of numerous sub-groups."
^Koester 1995, p. 33: "After a variety of experiences Pyrrhos had become king of the Molossians and leader of the Epirote league in northwestern Greece (297 BCE)."
^"Epirus".Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved16 November 2013.
^Eidinow 2007, p. 59: "[...] to the gradual weakening of the Molossian monarchy and the formation of the Epirote League, in which the members had common citizenship (233/2–168 BCE)."
Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière (1994). "CHAPTER 9d. ILLYRIANS AND NORTH-WEST GREEKS". In Lewis, David Malcolm; Boardman, John; Hornblower, Simon; Ostwald, M. (eds.).The Cambridge Ancient History: The Fourth Century B.C. Vol. VI (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 422–443.ISBN0-521-23348-8.
