Epi´rus

(Gr. Epeiros ), a country of ancient Greece corresponding to Southern Albania and the north-western division of modern Greece. The most interesting locality in it was Dodona. The inhabitants were only in part Greeks. The Molo i ans at last acquired the ascendancy, and the kings of this tribe took the name of kings of Epirus. The most celebrated King of Epirus was Pyrrhus, who made war upon the Romans. Epirus became a Roman province in 168 B.C. , and shared the fortunes of Rome till it was conquered by the Turks. The population is about 250,000. In Nov., 1914, Greece, with the consent of the Great Powers, occupied North Epirus, and formally took po e ion of it in March, 1916. By the end of 1920, however, the occupation had not yet been recognized.—Epirus is also the name of an administrative province of Greece, formed after the Balkan campaigns (1912-3) out of the territory acquired by the country.