Molossians
The Molossians were a group of ancient Greek tribes which inhabited the region of Epirus in classical antiquity. Together with the Chaonians and the Thesprotians, they formed the main tribal groupings of the northwestern Greek group. On their northern frontier, they neighbored the Chaonians and on their southern frontier neighbored the kingdom of the Thesprotians. They formed their own state around 370 BC and were part of the League of Epirus. The most famous Molossian ruler was Pyrrhus of Epirus, considered one of the greatest generals of antiquity. The Molossians sided with the Macedonians against Rome in the Third Macedonian War and were defeated. Following the war, the region witnessed devastation while a considerable number of Molossians and other Epirotes were enslaved and transported to the Roman Republic, in the Italian Peninsula.
Ancient sources
According to Strabo, the Molossians, along with the Chaonians and Thesprotians, were the most famous among the fourteen tribes of Epirus, who once ruled over the whole region. The Chaonians ruled Epirus at an earlier time, and afterwards the Thesprotians and Molossians controlled the region. The Thesprotians, the Chaonians, and the Molossians were the three principal clusters of Greek tribes that had emerged from Epirus and were the most powerful among all other tribes.The Molossians were also renowned for their vicious hounds, which were used by shepherds to guard their flocks. This is where the canine breed Molossoid, native to Greece, received its name. Virgil tells us that in ancient Greece the heavier Molossian dogs were often used by the Greeks and Romans for hunting and to watch over the house and livestock. "Never, with them on guard," says Virgil, "need you fear for your stalls a midnight thief, or onslaught of wolves, or Iberian brigands at your back."
Strabo records that the Thesprotians, Molossians and Macedonians referred to old men as pelioi and old women as peliai . Cf. Ancient Greek πέλεια peleia, "pigeon", so-called because of its dusky grey color. Ancient Greek πελός pelos meant "grey". Their senators were called Peligones, similar to Macedonian Peliganes.
Molossian royalty
The Molossian ruling dynasty claimed to be descended from mythological Molossus, one of the three sons of Neoptolemus, son of Achilles and Deidamia. Following the sack of Troy, Neoptolemus and his armies settled in Epirus where they joined with the local population. Molossus inherited the kingdom of Epirus after the death of Helenus, son of Priam and Hecuba of Troy, who had married his erstwhile sister-in-law Andromache after Neoptolemus's death. According to some historians, their first king was Phaethon, one of those who came into Epirus with Pelasgus. According to Plutarch, Deucalion and Pyrrha, having set up the worship of Zeus at Dodona, settled there among the Molossians. At the time, among writers of the classical era these stories were not doubted. According to Johannes Engels in the Oxford Companion to Macedonia, genealogical links through the Trojan cycle and other myths strongly connected Epirus with the rest of Greece, precluding serious debate about the Greekness of the Epirotes, including the Molossians.The most famed member of the Molossian dynasty was Pyrrhus, who became famous for his several Pyrrhic victories in battle over the Romans. According to Plutarch, Pyrrhus was the son of Aeacides of Epirus and a Greek woman from Thessaly named Phthia, the daughter of a war hero in the Lamian War. Pyrrhus was a second cousin of Alexander the Great. Moreover, Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great, was a member of this celebrated sovereign house.
History
Molossian core
During the Late Bronze Age the Molossians were probably located over much of the central and western ranges of the Pindos. They were among the known Greek tribes of the Mycenaean period after the Proto-Greek split. The area of Pogoni has been regarded as the heartland of the Molossian tribes due to the large number of tumuli burials found in this region dating from that time. They initially lived in small unwalled settlements, kata komas, mainly scattered in the river valleys and lakeside areas of central Epirus. Among those settlements the most excavated were located in Liatovouni at the confluence of the Aoös and Voidomatis rivers at the valley of Konitsa established in the 13th–12th century B.C and Vitsa. At the earliest burial at Liatovouni Mycenaean weapons were unearthed. This Molossian cemetery consist of a total of 103 burials and was in use until late 5th to early 4th century B.C. A large Molossian cemetery, was also found at Koutsokrano, Pogoni.Molossian expansion
Molossians were also among the Greek colonists that reached the Ionian shore of Asia Minor during the period of its colonization. The Molossian expansion in Epirus possibly began in the early 6th century BC. As such they became a leading power in the region already from the time of historian Hecataeus. Their expansion was primarily directed towards the Thesprotians. However, the nearby Chaonians also lost some pastures but they kept control of an area stretching from Grammos to the southwest of Ohrid-Prespa.The Epirotes were traditionally on friendly terms with the Corinthians, however in 5th century BC during the last decades of the reign of Tharyps, the Molossians adopted a pro-Athenian policy. This change had also its effects in trade.
In 385 BC, Alcetas, the deposed Molossian king who was exiled to the court of Dionysius of Syracuse with aid by the Illyrians, attacked the faction of Molossian dynasty who had overthrown him and attempted to take power. Dionysius planned to control all the Ionian Sea. Sparta intervened and expelled the Illyrians who were led by Bardyllis. Even with the aid of 2,000 Greek hoplites and 500 suits of Greek armour, the Illyrians were defeated by the Spartans but not before ravaging the region and killing 15,000 Molossians. Alcetas eventually managed to restore his power and brought the Molossian state closer to Athens.
Unified Epirus
The ruling Molossian Aeacidae dynasty managed to create the first centralized state in Epirus, expanding their power at the expense of rival tribes. The Aeacids allied themselves with the increasingly powerful kingdom of Macedon, in part against the common threat of Illyrian raids, and in 359 BC the Molossian princess Olympias, niece of Arybbas of Epirus, married King Philip II of Macedon. She was to become the mother of Alexander the Great. On the death of Arybbas, Alexander the Molossian, uncle of Alexander the Great of Macedon, succeeded to the throne with the title King of Epirus.In 334 BC, the time Alexander the Great crossed into Asia, Alexander I the Molossian led an expedition in southern Italy in support of the Greek cities of Magna Graecia against the nearby Italian tribes and the emerging Roman Republic. After some successes on the battlefield, he was defeated by a coalition of Italic tribes at the Battle of Pandosia in 331 BC.
In another Illyrian attack in 360 BC, the Molossian king Arymbas evacuated his non-combatant population to Aetolia and let the Illyrians loot freely. The stratagem worked, and the Molossians fell upon the Illyrians, who were encumbered with booty, and defeated them.
In 330 BC, upon Alexander the Molossian's death, the term "Epirus" appears as a single political unit in the ancient Greek records for the first time, under the leadership of the Molossian dynasty. Subsequently, the coinages of the three major Epirote tribal groups came to an end, and a new coinage was issued with the legend Epirotes.
After Alexander's I death, Aeacides of Epirus, who succeeded him, espoused the cause of Olympias against Cassander, but was dethroned in 313 BC.
Reign of Pyrrhus
Aeacides's son Pyrrhus came to the throne in 295 BC. In 295 BC, Pyrrhus transferred the capital of his kingdom from Passaron to Ambracia. In, Pyrrhus made Dodona the religious capital of his domain and adorned it by implementing a series of construction projects. Pyrrhus, being a skillful general, was encouraged to aid the Greeks of Tarentum and decided to initiate a major offensive in the Italian peninsula and Sicily. Due to its superior martial abilities, the Epirote army defeated the Romans in the Battle of Heraclea. Subsequently, Pyrrhus's forces nearly reached the outskirts of Rome, but had to retreat to avoid an unequal conflict with a more numerous Roman army. The following year, Pyrrhus invaded Apulia and the two armies met in the Battle of Asculum where the Epirotes won the eponymous Pyrrhic victory, at a high cost.In 277 BC, Pyrrhus captured the Carthaginian fortress in Eryx, Sicily. This prompted the rest of the Carthaginian-controlled cities to defect to Pyrrhus. His Italian campaign came to an end following the inconclusive Battle of Beneventum. Having lost the vast majority of his army, he decided to return to Epirus, which finally resulted in the loss of all his Italian holdings. Because of his costly victories, the term "Pyrrhic victory" is often used for a victory with devastating cost to the victor.