Byllis

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city ​​wall
cathedral
theatre
View from the hill to the Vjosa

Byllis was an important city in southern Illyria in ancient times , founded by the Illyrians .

location

The ruins of Byllis are located in the south of Albania on a 523 m high hilltop ( Albanian  Mali i Gradishtës ) near the place Hekal between Fier , Tepelena and Vlora . The bank of the Vjosa is two kilometers to the south.

The city of Ballsh is five kilometers to the north, the ruins of ancient Apollonia 30 kilometers to the northwest.

history

Byllis was in the central Illyrian area. The spread of iron took place here in the period from the 11th century to the 5th century BC. From this time onwards, the Illyrians began to establish fortified settlements on hilltops in a dominant position. The urban foundation of Byllis was preceded by the construction of Nikaia, two kilometers southeast of the Vjosa, and of Amantia , a few kilometers south of the river. Nikaia was from the second half of the 5th century BC. A fortified city. Their remains can be found on a hill above the present-day village of Klos .

The Greek author Pseudo-Skylax referred to the inhabitants in this area as Illyrians from the tribe of the Byllionen. From the 5th century onwards there were significant social changes. State communities now had a hereditary king at their head. At first there were aristocrats and craftsmen living in the cities. There were also soldiers and traders. The cities grew in size as the peasants who settled in the surrounding area were also taken in as tribal conflicts increased.

When there was a need for a larger urban area in Nikaia, the middle of the 4th century BC. Byllis was founded in sight on a hill plateau as the new capital of the Byllionen. The new location also made it possible to control the road in the Vjosatal from Apollonia to Antigoneia and further into the Epirus , as well as a view of the land of the Amantier south of the river.

Greek colonists from Corinth, who penetrated inland from Apollonia, were probably also involved in the settlement of the cities of Nikaia and Byllis. There are also known marriages between the Greek aristocracy and members of local clans . With Neoptolemus, Byllis had a mythical city founder from Greek legend .

Agriculture formed the basis of the economic boom. With the coastal cities of Apollonia and Epidamnos , wheat was traded for Greek ceramics. From the end of the 3rd century BC There was rapid population growth in Byllis and Nikaia. After the defeat of the Illyrians in the war against Rome in 229, Byllis was able to remain as an autonomous client state within the Roman protectorate. The monarchy was established in Byllis and other southern Illyrian cities from the end of the 3rd century BC. Replaced as a form of government by an organized ancestral state ( Koinon ) that was dependent on the Romans . Byllis became a flourishing city with its own coinage. Many of the surviving buildings date from this time.

148 BC Byllis became part of the Roman province of Macedonia under the name Colonia Byllidensium and became an important Roman base. Little changed in Byllis during the time of the Roman colony. According to Latin inscriptions, there were legal instructions directly from Rome, for example regarding the renovation of the city wall. At the time of the Roman Civil Wars , 48 BC had BC Caesar set up a military camp in the city.

In late antiquity , Byllis was a bishopric. The first bishop, Felix, traveled as a participant to the (third) council of Ephesus in 431. It is not entirely clear whether the bishop of Byllis, Philocharis, was also present at the (fourth) council of Chalcedon in 451. The city must have been an important Christian center, because the remains of around a dozen early Christian basilicas have been excavated within a radius of five to ten kilometers, one of them in Ballsh, five kilometers to the north. The last time there was brisk construction activity in the 6th century during the time of Emperor Justinian (527-565).

From the year 578, Slavs began to invade the area. Byllis was destroyed in a devastating Slav invasion in 586 and was never rebuilt. The residents moved to Ballsh. The bishopric was also moved there.

Research history

The English traveler Henry Holland identified the hill as the ancient Byllis from an inscription in 1815. Carl Patsch took measurements in 1904. The first systematic investigations were carried out by Camillo Praschniker from 1917 to 1918 , who excavated parts of the surrounding wall, the stoa and the theater. In the 1980s, further parts of the upper urban area were exposed. From 1999 to 2003, an Albanian-French team carried out extensive excavations. Among them were the two Albanian archaeologists Neritan Ceka and Skënder Muçaj . In 2005 and 2006 Albanian, Austrian and Canadian archaeologists dug again. Illyrian houses below the Justinian wall and the basilica E near the north gate were uncovered. In 2007, the surrounding wall with a round tower at its northern tip was built up with the preserved stone blocks.

City layout

The elongated triangular urban area of ​​30 hectares was protected by a surrounding wall around 2200 meters long. This was originally 8–9 meters high, about 2.5 meters thick and consisted in the lower area of ​​rectangular, layered limestone blocks. There were six gates designed as entrance corridors, over whose barrel vault watchtowers were built. Remains of adjoining porticoed halls ( stoa ) are still preserved from the four hectare agora in the center of the city . The theater from the middle of the 3rd century BC. Chr. With a diameter of 80 meters offered space for 7500 spectators. The population of Byllis is estimated at 7,000 at the time, so it was also intended for the surrounding villages. A 50-meter-long cistern with a barrel vault served as a drinking water supply.

The remains of five basilicas have so far been exposed. The largest basilica was built at the beginning of the 5th century, the central room ( naos ) consisted of three naves separated by columns, with a narthex and portico in front. A small baptistery was attached. As a bishop's church, the complex underwent numerous expansions at the end of the 5th and 6th centuries. Excellently preserved mosaic floors were exposed here (these are currently covered with sand). In the 6th century, under Emperor Justinian, the city was reduced to a third of its area and separated by a wall running lengthways through the original city area. Ashlar stones and steps from the ancient theater were used to build them.

Due to its historical importance, the general interest has been directed more towards the city of Apollonia until today. In view of the extensive, only partially excavated field of ruins, Byllis deserves similar attention as the largest city in southern Illyria. The excavations were carried out carefully, so far without restoration with foreign materials.

literature

  • Neritan Ceka : Le Koinon des Bylliones. In: Pierre Cabanes (ed.): L'Illyrie méridionale et l'Épire dans l'Antiquité. Actes du colloque international de Clermont-Ferrand 1984. Clermont-Ferrand 1987, pp. 136-149.
  • Neritan Ceka, S. Mucau: Bylisi. Historia dhe monumentet. Tirana 2004. ISBN 99943-672-0-X .
  • Appian: Historia Romana, Book IX: Macedonian and Illyrian Wars

Web links

Commons : Byllis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Muzafer Korkuti: Illyria in prehistory. In: Arne Eggebrecht (Ed.): Albania. Treasures from the land of the Skipetars. Exhibition catalog. Mainz 1988
  2. ↑ Wlodzimierz Pajakowski: The Illyrians. Illyrii proprie dicti. History and settlement areas. Attempt at a reconstruction. Poznań 2000 (Polish original edition 1981), p. 101
  3. ^ Peter Siewert: Political forms of organization in pre-Roman southern Illyria. (PDF) In: Dall'Adriatico al Danubio. L'Illirico nell'età greca e romana. Atti del convegno internazionale Cividale del Friuli, 25-27 September 2003. 25 September 2003, accessed on 22 December 2015 .
  4. ↑ Markus Peters: The ecclesial geography of Albania up to the end of the 6th century. In: Krishterimi ndër Shqiptarë, Simpozium Ndërkombëtar, Tirana, 16-19 Nëntor 1999. November 16, 1999, accessed on December 22, 2015 .

Coordinates: 40 ° 32 '  N , 19 ° 44'  E