Roman Protectorate 250-200 BC, Illyria, Dyrrhachion, Drachm, 3.52g.

Durrës (/ˈdʊrəs/ DUURR-əs,^[8][9] Albanian: [ˈdurəs]; Albanian definite form: Durrësi) is the second-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest continuously inhabited cities,^[10] with roughly 2,500 years of recorded history. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of the Erzen and Ishëm at the southeastern corner of the Adriatic Sea. Durrës' climate is profoundly influenced by a seasonal Mediterranean climate.

Durrës was founded under the name of Epidamnos around the 7th century BC, by ancient Greek colonists from Corinth and Corcyra in cooperation with the Taulantii, a local Illyrian tribe.^[11][12] Also known as Dyrrachium, Durrës essentially developed as it became an integral part of the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire. The Via Egnatia started in the city and led east across the fields, lowlands and highlands of the Balkan Peninsula to Constantinople.