in Ancient Geography, a maritime town on the eastern coast of Argolis, renowned as the principal seat in Greece of the worship of Esculapius. It stood on a small peninsula which projected into the sea, and had originally a small portion of territory attached to it, which was severed from the rest of Argolis by a mountain range, and from a remote period was noted for its fertility. Epidaurus was at first an independent state, and its proximity to Athens and the islands of the Saronic gulf, the advantages of its position in a commercial point of view, and the sacredness attaching to it from its temple of Esculapius, soon made it a place of very considerable importance. It is said to have been founded by a colony of Carians; an idea borne out by the primitive name of the city, which was Epicurus. These Carians gave way before the Ionians, who in their turn were driven out by the Dorians under Deiphontes. Under the descendants of this prince Epidaurus attained great prosperity, and began to send out colonies, the chief of which, Aigina, speedily outstripped the mother city in wealth and power. To the monarchical form of government which Epidaurus inherited from Deiphontes an oligarchical succeeded, and, as in many other of the Greek states, the oligarchy degenerated into a despotism. When Procles, the last tyrant of Epidaurus, fell into the power of Periander of Corinth, the oligarchy was restored and maintained with the aid of Sparta. How the administration of affairs was actually carried out cannot now be ascertained. The only magistrates we read of are the artynai, who presided over a council consisting of 180 members. The lower classes of the population, who tilled the soil for their Dorian masters in the city, were called komopedes or dusty feet. When or from what causes Epidaurus declined from its great prosperity is not known; but in the time of the Romans hardly anything of it remained except the great temple of Esculapius. Not far from the site of the old town stands the modern village of Pidhavro, a corruption of the ancient Epidaurus. The temple of Esculapius was one of the most celebrated of all the sacred places in Greece. It was distant five miles from the city, and stood in the midst of a lawn which was nearly a mile in circumference. The wall which inclosed this lawn is still partly visible. A festival in honour of the patron god was celebrated in the adjoining grove every fourth year, nine days after the Isthmian games at Corinth. Some remains of the great temple may still be seen; and a theatre believed to have been connected with it is the most perfect ruin of that kind in the whole of Southern Greece. From the immense crowds of sick persons who flocked from all parts of Greece to propitiate Esculapius, the temple soon acquired vast wealth. The report of these riches tempted the curiosity of Sulla, who had shortly before robbed the temples at Delphi and Olympia. The walls of the building itself were hung round with the votive tablets of the patients who had recovered from their diseases through the intervention as they supposed of the son of Apollo.

There were two other ancient cities of this name; one a maritime town of Illyricum, now called Ragusa Vecchia; the other a maritime town of Laconia, whose ruins are still visible at Monemvasia.