They considered the name Epidamnos to be inauspicious because of its coincidental similarities with the Latin word damnum, meaning "loss" or "harm".

The meaning of Dyrrachium ("bad spine" or "difficult ridge" in Greek) is unclear, but it has been suggested that it refers to the imposing cliffs near the city.

Julius Caesar's rival Pompey made a stand there in 48 BC before fleeing south to Greece.

The Roman emperor Caesar Augustus made the city a colony for veterans of his legions following the Battle of Actium, proclaiming it a civitas libera (lit.

Like much of the rest of the Balkans, Dyrrachium and the surrounding Dyrraciensis province suffered from barbarian incursions during the Migration Period.

It was besieged in 481 by Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, and in subsequent centuries, it had to fend off attacks by the Bulgarians.

During communism in Albania, the port was named after Albanian communist leader, Enver Hoxha.A small harbor for fishing boats was built on the west mole and opened in 2013.