Chaonia
Chaonia, Chaon, (Ancient Greek: Χαονία, Χάων) was the name of the N.W. district of Epirus, the homeland of the Epirot tribe of the Chaonians (Ancient Greek Χάονες Chaones).[1][2] Its capital was called Phoenice (Ancient Greek Φοινίκη), meaning "red ground"). The area was named so because there is lots of red earth; lots of iron, that turns into red-mud easily when it rains. According to Virgil, Chaon (Ancient Greek Χάων) was the eponymous ancestor of the Chaonians.[3]
Geography
Strabo in Geography,[4] places Chaonia as part of Epirus, now part of north-western Greece and south-western Albania, and reached from the city of Onchesmos (now called Saranda) in the north, to the River Thyamis in the south, and as far as the Ambracian Gulf, including to the south the ancient city of Cestrine (now called Filiates), and represented the southernmost border to the wider region of Illyria. The Roman historian, Appian, mentions Chaonia as the southern border in his description and geography of Illyria.[5]
Important cities in Chaonia included Chimaera, Vouthroton, Thesprotia, Phoenice, Panormos, Onchesmos, Corfu, Antigonia and Cassiope (in Corfu). The region was likely named after the Chaonians who settled there.