Amphilochia

AMPHILO´CHIA(Αμφιλοχία: Ἀμφίλοχος), a small district at the eastern end of the Ambraciot gulf, bounded on the N. by Ambracia and on the S. by the territory of the Agraei. It did not extend far inland. It is a mountainous district, and the rocks along the coast rise in some parts to 450 or 500 feet high. The Amphilochi were a non-Hellenic tribe, although they were supposed to have derived their name from the Argive Amphilochus, the son of Amphiaraus. Strabo (p. 326) describes them as an Epirot people, but their country is more usually described as a part of Acarnania. (Steph. B. s.v.;Scyl. p 12.) Their lineage, as Grote remarks, was probably something intermediate between the Acarnanians and Epirots. At the time of the Peloponnesian war the Amphilochi were in close alliance with the Acarnanians. After the death of Alexander the Great the Amphilochi were conquered by the Aetolians; and they were at a later time included in the Roman province of Epirus. The only town in their country was Argos, surnamed Amphilochicum, under which the history of the people is more fully given. There were also a few villages or fortresses, which owe their importance simply to their connection with the history of Argos, and which are therefore described in that article. [ARGOS AMPHILOCHICUM]