Ancient
The earliest recorded inhabitants of the city (6th century BC) were the Greek tribe of the Dassaretae or Dexarioi, the northernmost subgroup of the Chaonians, and the region was known as Dessaretis after them. Modern Berat occupies the site of Antipatreia, which originally was a settlement of the Dexarioiand later a Macedonian stronghold in southern Illyria. The founding date is unknown, although if Cassander is the founder it has been suggested that Antipatreia was founded after he took control of the region around 314 BC. In 200 BC it was captured by the Roman legatos Lucius Apustius, who razed the walls and massacred the male population of the city.
Medieval
The town became part of the unstable frontier of the Byzantine Empire following the fall of the Roman Empire and, along with much of the rest of the Balkan peninsula, it suffered from repeated invasions by Slavs. Its Slavic name of Belgrad persisted throughout the First Bulgarian Empire and the Second Bulgarian Empire, changing toBerat under Ottoman rule. During the Byzantine period, the city was known asPulcheriopolis.
The Bulgarians under Presian I captured the town in the 9th century and renamed it "Beligrad" (White City). It became one of the most important towns in the Bulgarian region Kutmichevitsa. The Bulgarians were driven out in the 11th century but retook the city in 1203 during the rule of Kaloyan. During the 13th century, it fell to Michael I Ducas, the ruler of the Despotate of Epirus.
Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos sent letters to the Albanian leaders of Berat and Durrës in 1272 asking them to abandon their alliance with Charles I of Naples, leader of the Kingdom of Albania, who had captured and incorporated it at the same period in the Kingdom of Albania. However, they sent the letters to Charles as a sign of their loyalty. In 1274 Michael VIII recaptured
