Illyrians, of whom no trace now remains in Dalmatia, may perhaps have been merged in the Slaves, and helped to swell their numbers. [Illustration: VIEW OF RAGUSA (_From P. G. Coronelli’s “Views of Dalmatia”_, 1680)] CHAPTER II THE FOUNDATION AND EARLY HISTORY OF THE CITY (656-1204) We have alluded to the destruction by the Avars of Salona and Epidaurum,[14] and the flight of their inhabitants to the new settlements. Of Salona extensive ruins remain, but with regard to the site of Epidaurum there is a division of opinion among archæologists. It is generally held that the remains at or near the village of Ragusavecchia, a few miles to the south-east of Ragusa, are those of the ancient Epidaurum. In the neighbouring valley of Canali (Slavonic, _Konavli_) there are the ruins of a Roman aqueduct. The name Ragusavecchia corroborates the tradition that it was the original home of the Ragusans; while its Slavonic name, _Cavtat_, is undoubtedly derived from the Latin _civitas_. Some archæologists, however, have doubts as to this point, and Professor Giuseppe Gelcich, than whom no greater authority on Dalmatian history exists, is of opinion that Epidaurum must be sought for somewhere on the Sutorina promontory in the Bocche di Cattaro. Fragments of Roman brickwork and mosaic pavement have been found there too; and according to Professor Gelcich, the Canali aqueduct is so built that it must have served a city farther south than Ragusavecchia. On the other hand, the statements of the classical writers, especially of Pliny, seem to bear out the general opinion, which is, in fact, based on them.