Epidamnos

Epidamnos was an ancient Greek colony on the Adriatic coast of Illyria, founded around 627 BC by settlers from Corinth and Corcyra on the site of modern Durres, Albania. It grew into a major trading center between the Greek world and the Illyrian interior, standing within the territory of the Taulantii and blending Greek and Illyrian populations. Rome seized the city in 229 BC during the First Illyrian War and renamed it Dyrrachium, after which it became a key transit port and, under Byzantine rule, the capital of the province of Epirus Nova.