Listed 5 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "APOLLONIA Ancient city ALBANIA".
The city was founded in 588 B.C. by colonists from Corinth and Corcyra, to the north of the mouth of the Aous river.
An ancient city near the mouth of the Aous river (the Vojussa). The
remains are scattered over the hill of Pojani near a monastery which is said to
have been built on the site of a temple of Apollo on the hill of Sthyllas. In
the monastery a single Doric column is preserved, belonging to a hexastyle temple
of the 5th c. B.C. The necropolis is in the valley of Kryegyata. The founding
of Apollonia, in 588 B.C., is attributed to colonists from Corinth and Kerkyra.
Its location favored its development. Quite early, the city must have defended
itself against incursions by Macedonians and Illyrians as a result of which it
sought an alliance with Rome in 260 B.C., and in 229 it came under Roman protection.
Cicero called it an "urbs gravis et nobilis" and the city had a renowned
school of rhetoric which even Octavian attended.
The walls, ca. 4 km long and well preserved, are constructed of limestone
blocks and fortified with towers. The S side of the acropolis is buttressed by
a beautifully terraced wall of ornamentally bossed stones. A gate with a pointed
arch is set in the walls.
The theater, set apart on the W slopes of the hill of the acropolis,
is identified by limestone blocks with a molding characteristic of theater seats.
A Hellenistic portico at the foot of the acropolis had a wall with
17 arched niches in front of which were Ionic half-columns with limestone capitals.
In another niche, larger than the others, a small rectangular Hellenistic temple,
with angular pilasters, is set. In front of the temple is an elegant altar.
The small odeon or covered theater next to the temple is Roman in
design, rectangular in plan, with a semicircular cavea.
The monument of the public games superintendents is rectangular (19
x 15 m) on the outside, with a portico along the front and with a pedimental roof.
There is a small vestibule inside and a small cavea with an orchestra. There were
Corinthian columns on the facade and a richly carved cornice. On the architrave,
there is an inscription in Greek which says that the building was constructed
in the Antonine period by Q. Villius Crespinus Furius Proculus, a prytaneus, or
superintendent of the public games, and high priest for life, in honor and memory
of his brother Villius Valerius Furius Proculus, prefect of a cohort in Syria,
tribune of Legio X (or XIV) in Pannonia, and a superintendent designate of the
public games. The plan and structure of the building are quite similar to those
of the bouleuterion of Miletos.
The acropolis had two summits, the major one being to the S. The lower
level of a Greek temple was uncovered there and perhaps a limestone Ionic frieze
found in the vicinity is part of that temple. The frieze has relief figures of
warriors in combat.
A bath complex has been partially excavated near the W section of
the city walls. Two rooms are visible, one of which has a mosaic pavement, as
well as the heating room.
The remains of a gymnasium have been partially excavated about 300
m S of the monastery. It is perhaps the gymnasium mentioned by Strabo which was
destined for other uses in the Roman period. Two archaic antefixes belonged to
an older structure as did a stater struck at Metapontion. It was decorated with
statues and the base was discovered there for a statue of Aphrodite, as is clear
from a Greek inscription on one of its sides which mentions the prytaneus Psillus
and the hieromnemones. During the Hellenistic period, the building was provided
with a terracotta bathing tub set into the pavement, but in the Roman period it
was turned into a home. Coins dating to the 4th c. A.D., have been discovered
there.
Minor monuments include the remains of Roman houses, a triple-opening
triumphal arch, a row of shops along a street, and a large hall in which it is
tempting to recognize a library.
The necropolis, in the valley of Kryegyata, includes Greek tombs dating
to the 6th c. B.C. as well as Roman tombs. The Roman tombs of the Imperial period
are often shaped like small temples.
Various works of art have been found in the area of the ancient city.
The most important is certainly the previously mentioned archaic frieze, coming
perhaps from a temple on the acropolis. In the Louvre is a copy of the Anapauomenos
of Praxiteles; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna is a copy of the head
of the Ludovisi Ares; and in Tirana is the Meleager of Skopas. The limestone stelai,
which are somewhat reminiscent of Tarentine art works, are the most characteristic,
in form and decoration, and can be considered Apollonian originals. Among Apollonian
works of art is the votive offering dedicated to Olympia for a victory over Thronion.
It is the work of Lykios, the son of Myron.
P. C. Sestieri, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
An important town in Illyria, not far from the mouth of the Aous, and sixty stadia from the sea. It was founded by the Corinthians and Corcyraeans, and was equally celebrated as a place of commerce and of learning. Many distinguished Romans, among others the young Octavius, afterwards the emperor Augustus, pursued their studies here. Persons travelling from Italy to Greece and the East usually landed either at Apollonia or Dyrrhacium.
This extract is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Apollonia (Pollina, or Pollona), a city of Illyria, situated 10 stadia from the right bank of the Aous, and 60 stadia from the sea (Strab. vii. p. 316), or 50 stadia according to Scylax. It was founded by the Corinthians and Corcyraeans in the seventh century before the Christian era, and is said to have been originally called Gylaceia (Gulakeia), from Gylax, the name of its oecist. (Thuc. i. 26; Scymnus, 439, 440; Paus. v. 21. § 12, 22. § 3; Strab.; Steph. B. s. v.) Apollonia soon became a flourishing place, but its name rarely occurs in Grecian history. It is mentioned in the civil wars between Caesar and Pompey, as a fortified town with a citadel; and the possession of it was of great importance to Caesar in his campaign against Pompey in Greece. (Caes. B.C. iii. 12, seq.) Towards the end of the Roman republic it was celebrated as a seat of learning; and many of the Roman nobles were accustomed to send their sons thither for the purpose of studying the literature and philosophy of Greece. It was here that Augustus spent six months before the death of his uncle summoned him to Rome. (Suet. Aug. 10; Vell. Pat. ii. 59.) Cicero calls it at this period urbs magna et gravis. Apollonia is mentioned by Hierocles (p. 653, ed. Wesseling) in the sixth century; but its name does not occur in the writers of the middle ages. The village of Aulon, a little to the S. of Apollonia, appears to have increased in importance in the middle ages, as Apollonia declined. According to Strabo, the Via Egnatia commenced at Apollonia, and according to others at Dyrrhachium; the two roads met at Clodiana. There are scarcely any vestiges of the ancient city at the present day. Leake discovered some traces of walls and of two temples; and the monastery, built near its site, contains some fine pieces of sculpture, which were found in ploughing the fields in its neighbourhood. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. i. p. 368, seq.; Tafel, De Via Fgnatia, p. 14, seq.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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