Chap. 26.1 ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 201 



brauce is fast fading away. For in this region there were 

 formerly the Labeatae, theEnclerini\ the Sas»i, the Grabaei-, 

 properly called Illyrii, the Taulantii^, and the Pyrsei. The 

 Promontory of jN^ympha^um on the sea-coast still retains its 

 name"* ; and there is Lissum, a town enjoying the rights of 

 Roman citizens, at a distance from Epidaurum of 100 miles. 

 (23.) At Lissum begins the province of Macedonia'^, the 

 nations of the Parthini^, and behind them the DassaretsD''. 

 The mountains of Candavia^ are seventy-eight miles from 

 Dyrrhachium. On the coast lies Denda, a town with the 

 riglits of Eoman citizens, the colony of Epidamuum^ which, 

 on account of its inauspicious name, was by the Romans 

 called D}Trhachium, the river Aous'°, by some called JEas, 

 and Apollonia", formerly a colony of the Corinthians, at a 

 distance of four miles from the sea, in the vicinity of which 



1 According to Hardouin, the modem Endero stands on the site of 

 their capital. 



2 Grabia, mentioned hj Pouqueville, in his " Voyage de la Gr^ce," seems 

 to retain the name of this tribe. 



3 Pouqueville is of opinion that they occupied the district now known 

 as Musache. 



* Dalechamp tliiiiks that the two words "Retinet nomen" do not belong 

 to the text, but have crept in from bemg the gloss of some more recent 

 commentator. They certainly appear to be out of place. This promontory 

 is now called Cabo Rodoni. * The modern Albania. 



^ Pouquerille is of opinion that they inhabited the district about the 

 present village of Presa, seven leagues N.E. of Durazzo. 



7 From Ptolemy we learn that Lychnidus was their to^\^l ; the site of 

 which, according to Pouquevdle, is still pointed out at a spot about four 

 leagues south of Ochrida, on the eastern bank of the Lake of Oclirida. 



^ ]S"ow called El Bassan ; though Pouqueville says Tomoros or Do 

 Caulonias. Conmiencing in EpLrus, they sepai'ated Illyricum from Mace- 

 donia. See Lucan's Pliarsalia, 15. vi. 1. 331. 



3 The Romans are said to have changed its Greek name Epidamnum, 

 from an idea that it was inauspicious, as implying " dannmni" or " ruin." 

 It has been asserted that they gave it the name of Durrhachiuni or Dyrrlia- 

 cliium, frcm " duinim," rugged, on accoimt of the ruggednoss of its 

 locahty. This however cannot be the case, as the word, like its pre- 

 decessor, is of Greek origin. Its unfortunate name, " E])idamnus," is the 

 subject of several puns and witticisms in that most amusing perhaps of all 

 the plays of Plautus, tlie Menaichmi. It was of Corcyra'an origin, ajid 

 after playing a distinguished part in th.e civil wars bctwcru Ponqiey and 

 Csesar, was granted by Augustus to his veteran troops. The modern 

 Durazzo stands on its site. ''' Now called the Yoioussa. 



'^ The monastery of Pollina stands on its site. It was founded by 



