The CHAONIANS occupied the extreme north-west of the country, in and about the Ceraunian mountains, which is now inhabited by the Cimariots. They were, no doubt, the same as the Chonians in southern Italy, and of Pelasgic origin. Although they are said in the earliest times to have enjoyed a kind of supremacy, yet the Thesprotians are very conspicuous in the most ancient Greek records, because their country contained in its high mountains the oracle of DODONA, the centre of the public religion of the Pelasgians, as Samothrace, in the east, was the centre of their mysteries. The Greeks, as a kindred nation, were not excluded from either. Dodona must not be conceived as an important town; many inquiries have been made in Epirus to ascertain its site, but traces of a real town have not been found anywhere, and Epirus in general was inhabited only κωμηδόν, and not κατὰ πόλεις. The place, however, where Dodona stood has been discovered with some degree of certainty: the summit of a hill or mountain surrounded by Cyclopian walls, so that its sides are quite precipitous, is commonly supposed to be the site. The mountains of Epirus were no more fortified than Suli; whereas the idea of a πόλις is a place surrounded by a wall. The hill of Dodona was the κρησφύγετον, that is, the place to which, in times of war, women, children, old men, and moveable property were conveyed for the sake of safety. The sanctuary was situated in an ancient and immense oak-forest on mount Tmarus; but from a statement in Servius, we learn that this sanctuary was disturbed by Illyrian robbers. The passage of Servius is corrupt, and I have emended it, because it is of great interest in regard to Greek history. Our knowledge of Dodona is extremely defective; it was situated beyond the sphere of Greek culture, so that it is always mentioned only by the way, just as is the case with Delphi. What should we know of Delphi, had not Pausanias left us a description of it? The article in Stephanus Byzantinus contains the most important information about Dodona; and more may be elicited from it than has yet been done; the article has not yet been made quite clear. Bells, or pieces of metal, which were struck with hammers, seem to have been suspended from the trees around the sanctuary. Wagons in ancient times were likewise provided with pieces of metal or bells, in order that in the narrow streets timely warning might be given to others to make room; such things are still found among the antiquities of Herculaneum.