EPIDAVRTIS, a t. of ancient Greece, on the eastern shore of the Peloponnesus, in the district of Argolis, was situated on a small promontory, 15 stadia in circumference, in the Saronic gulf, in lat. 37° 38' n., long. 23° 10' east. During the most prosperous period of Grecian history, E. was an independent state. It was colonized first, it is supposed, by Carians (hence the older name of Epicarus, according to Aristotle), and afterwards by Ionians, but was subsequently invaded by a Dorian army under Deiphontes, the son-in-law of Temenus the Ileracleide. This 'force dethroned Pityreus, the Ionian king of E., compelled him and his citizens to retire to Athens, and inaugurated the Dorian rule, which preserved the ascendency at E. during the whole of the historical period. The form of government was originally monarchical, but after many vicissitudes, it eventually became and remained oligarchical. At an early period, E. became one of the chief commercial cities of the Peloponnesus. It colonized the islands of Cos, Calyd nus, and Nisyrus, as well as the town of 2Egina, which, during the 6th c., attracted all
its commerce from the then declining mother-city. E. was chiefly famous for its temple of /Esculapins, to which patients resorted from all parts of the Hellenic world, seeking cures for their diseases. The site of this temple was a plain surrounded by mountains, about 5 m. w. of the town, and which is still called Hieron, the sanctuary. E. had also numerous temples, among which, were those of Artemis, Dionysus, Aphrodite, and Hera, and a magnificent theater, at present in a more perfect state of preservation than any in the Peloponnesus, and with sufficient accommodation for 12,000 spectators.
E. (modern Greek, Epidarro) is now a small village, with scarcely 100 inhabitants, employed for the most part in raising vegetables for the Athenian market. The plain surrounding the village is productive and highly cultivated. Here, in Jan., 1822, a congress from all parts of Greece assembled, and promulgated the constitution, known as the constitution of Epidaurus.