Cassope, Epirus [ruins; ancient region of Epirus now shared between Greece and Albania]

Roamin' The Empire ^ | June 29, 2022 | Rob

[SunkenCiv]

The Cassopaean people seem to have been derived as a branch of the Thesprotian people... They dwelt primarily in the area between the Acheron (retaining its ancient name today), the Aphas (modern Louros River) and the Sinus Ambracius (modern Gulf of Ambracia). The synoikismos of a number of Cassopaean villages in the area in the first half of the 4th century BCE resulted in the founding of Cassope, which became the chief settlement of the Cassopaeans. The city is mentioned, in passing, in Diodorus Siculus' description of the Macedonian king Cassander's campaign against Alcetas II of Epirus around 312 BCE.

A wide Mediterranean trade network helped propel Cassope to the zenith of its prosperity in the late 3rd and early 2nd century BCE. Many of the larger public buildings were constructed during this period, with the city having a population perhaps as high as 10,000 inhabitants... The alliance of the Epirote League during the Third Macedonian War lead to the Roman dismantling of the league and the subsequent destruction of 70 Epirote cities at the hands of Lucius Aemelius Paullus Macedonicus as punishment in 168-167 BCE. At the same time, 150,000 Epirotes were sold into slavery...

Following this episode, the city continued to be inhabited and once again, though early on there is evidence to suggest the city struggled, perhaps if not due to direct destruction, from the instability produced by the widespread destruction of other cities. Cassope eventually prospered in the century afterward, though. With Octavian's victory at the nearby Battle of Actium in September of 31 BCE and the founding of the city of Nicopolis shortly thereafter, the inhabitants of Cassope were relocated, along with those of many other surrounding cities, to help populate Nicopolis, and the site of Cassope was effectively abandoned.

[SunkenCiv]

(this is a little woo-woo out there, nice pics though, I suggest watching it with the sound off)

The polygonal city of Cassope | 20:07
Stone Riddles | 2.82K subscribers | 5,276 views | December 3, 2024

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7227.JPG
Residential structure (house 15) between the west gate and agora.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7244.JPG
Odeion-Bouleuterion.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7245.JPG
North Stoa and Katagogion.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7253.JPG
North Stoa (foreground) and West Stoa.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7409.JPG
North Stoa and agora.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7259.JPG
Temnos and West Stoa.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7278.JPG
Courtyard of the Prytaneion.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7269.JPG
Detail of the ΔΙΟΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ inscription on the north altar in the agora.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7279.JPG
Road leading up along the west side of the Katagogion.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7281.JPG
Entrance of the Katagogion.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7285.JPG
Rooms of the southwestern quadrant of the Katagogion.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7304.JPG
Residential area (houses 1-4) north of the Katagogion.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7298.JPG
Alley near the Katagogion.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7323.JPG
Residential area, Katagogion, and agora.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7351.JPG
Theater.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7371.JPG
Retaining wall above the theater.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7382.JPG
Road leading toward the theater.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7403.JPG
Walls of structures in the western part of Cassope.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7385.JPG
West Gate.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7386.JPG
Western walls.
http://www.roamintheempire.com/wp-content/gallery/cassope/IMGP7393.JPG
Antechamber of the grave monument.

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epirus

[SteveH]

fascinating