Alexander I of Molossia and the creation of Apeiros

Abstract

In a recent reassessment of the history of Molossia and Epeiros, Elizabeth Meyer argued for the gradual emergence of an Epeirote regional identity, thanks to long cooperation and shared resistance to external interference by the region’s population groups. In this article it is argued that some of Meyer’s evidence for Epeirote ethnogenesis is better interpreted as showing the foundation of a new kingdom under the Molossian king Alexander I (ruled ca. 343/2–331/0). This new state was called «Apeiros» by Alexander as a claim over the rest of the region. Accepting this reconstruction can offer more plausible solutions to some remaining source problems for the history of the region: the origin in royal policy of the use of «Epeirote» vocabulary in a political sense opens up the possibility that at times our sources preserve traces of political vocabulary being deployed not to describe the history of the area accurately, but for their usefulness in fashioning royal reputations. It also highlights how some models of political and social change in Classical and Hellenistic Greece might require significant adjustment when considering monarchical societies.