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Byllis

Bylis (in Albanian) Βύλλις or Βουλλίς (in Greek)
Ruins of Bylis
Location in Albania
Location	Hekal, Fier County, Albania
Region	Illyria
Coordinates	40°32′25″N 19°44′15″E / 40.54028°N 19.73750°E / 40.54028; 19.73750
Type	Settlement
History
Periods	Classical Hellenistic Roman Byzantine
Cultures	Illyrian Ancient Greek Roman
Site notes
Excavation dates	1978–1991 2000–present
Archaeologists	Camillo Prashniker Neritan Ceka Skënder Muçaj Jean-Pierre Sodini Pascale Chevalier Nicolas Beaudry
Ownership	Public
Cultural Monument of Albania

Byllis (Template:Lang-gr; Template:Lang-la) or Bullis or Boullis (Βουλλίς) was an ancient city and the chief settlement of the Illyrian tribe of the Bylliones, located in the transboundary region between southern Illyria and Epirus. The remains of Byllis are situated north-east of Vlorë, 25 kilometers from the sea in Hekal, Fier County, Albania.

Stephanus of Byzantium mentions a town called Byllis as a seaside city in Illyria and its foundation legend, according to which the city was built by Myrmidons under Neoptolemus, returning from the Trojan War towards its homeland. This legendary tradition is reflected also by numismatics.

The massive walls of Byllis were built before the end of the 4th century and literary sources report them as an Illyrian rather than Epirote or Macedonian foundation. Later Byllis acquired the trappings of a Hellenistic town, and because the southernmost Illyrian tribes, including the Bylliones, were inclined to become bilingual, it was also a Greek-speaking city. Byllis received sacred ancient Greek envoys, known as theoroi, during the early 2nd century BC.

During the Roman-Illyrian war in 169/168 BC the Bylliones took part on the Roman side against the Illyrian king Gentius. However, the subsequent alliance of Byllis with Molossians and Macedonians led to its sacking and destruction by the Romans. After a long decline, in 30 BC the city became a Roman colony. In Roman times Byllis rose again, also becoming a bishopric in late antiquity.

Byllis was designated as an archaeological park on 7 April 2003 by the government of Albania.

City

Byllis was founded on the territory of the Illyrian community of the Bylliones around 350 BC, on an already existent proto-uraban area dating back to the previous century. Several scholars have suggested Byllis was an Ancient Greek foundation on the territory of a barbarian people, as suggested by the predominantly Greek character of the city in the vast majority of the corpus of the names in Hellenistic epigraphic material, which mainly belong to the northern Greek onomastic area. This important testimony to the basically Greek character of the inhabitants of the city is not invalidated by the presence of a few Illyrian names. According to M. B. Hatzopoulos, Byllis is the northernmost non-colonial Greek city in the region.. According to Tom Winnifrith, literary sources report the massive walls of Byllis as an Illyrian rather than Epirote or Macedonian foundation. Later Byllis acquired the trappings of a Hellenistic town, and because the southernmost Illyrian tribes, including the Bylliones, were inclined to become bilingual, it was also a Greek-speaking city. Byllis constitued the chief settlement of the Illyrian koinon of the Bylliones, of which several hilltop centers are found in the lower valley of the Aoos river. In the Hellenistic era a stadium and a theatre were built in the city. Byllis received ancient Greek sacred envoys, known as theoroi, during the early 2nd century BC. Only cities that were considered Greek were eligible to receive theoroi, which indicates that by this time Byllis was considered a Greek city or that its inhabitants, the Byllideis, had become Greek=speaking.

It has been suggested that the city had its own coinage which was different from that of the tribe of the Bylliones. However, a recent analysis of the epigraphy and numismatics of the area seems to indicate an alternating use of the names: the ethnos with its territory on the one hand, and the "tribal" polis that was the capital of the ethnos on the other hand, being internally organized with a political authority represented by the decision-making bodies of the koinon of the Bylliones, while representing the urban center of reference for the community.

The walls of Byllis were 2,200m long, enclosing 30 hectares of a plain atop a hill 524m above sea level. There were 6 gates in the city walls. The road coming from Apollonia passed through two of them, crossing Byllis in the direction of the narrows of gorges of the Vjosa river on the way to Macedonia or those of Antigonia in the direction of Epirus. In 2011 during a road reconstruction near the archaeological park found in the site a statue of the Hellenistic era, which may depict an Illyrian soldier or a war deity, was discovered. However, there is little point in proposing an Illyrian label for city in which language, institutions, officials, onomastics, city-planning and fortifications were Greek.

League of the Bylliones

The League (Koinon) of the Illyrian tribe of the Bylliones (Ancient Greek: Κοινὸν Βυλλίων), which had been hellenized to a degree and was bilingual, was a coalition of one or two poleis, as attested after 232 BC. The league was restricted to Byllis and Nikaea, and Byllis considered Nikaia as one of its demes. Nikaia was a member of the league, as a 2nd-century BC inscription indicates. The only attestation of the city as polis is in the work of Stephanus of Byzantium in the 6th century. On the other hand, the citizens of Byllis were called Byllideis (Template:Lang-el).

Roman and Byzantine rule

Under the Roman Empire, Byllis became part of the province of Epirus Nova. Its name often occurs at the time of the civil wars. In the time of Pliny the Elder, it was a Roman colony, and was called Colonia Bullidensis. Its territory is called Bylliake (Βυλλιακή) by Strabo. The walls of Byllis carry more than four inscriptions written in Greek with details regarding their construction by the engineer Victorinus, as ordered by Emperor Justinian I (483-565).

During the early Christian period Byllis remained an important settlement in Epirus Nova though it was reduced in size. A significant number of basilica churches have been unearthed which contained mosaic floors and various carvings. Two of those basilicas had possibly diaconicon chambers attached, while a baptistery was established at basicila B.

Association with see of Apollonia

One of the participants in the Council of Ephesus in 431 was a Felix who signed once as Bishop of Apollonia and Byllis, at another time as Bishop of Apollonia. Some assume that the two towns formed a single episcopal see, others suppose he was, strictly speaking, Bishop only of Apollonia, but was temporarily in charge also of Byllis during a vacancy of that see. At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, Eusebius subscribes simply as Bishop of Apollonia. In the letter of the bishops of Epirus Nova to the Byzantine Emperor Leo I in 458, Philocharis subscribed as Bishop of what the manuscripts call "Vallidus", and which editors think should be corrected to "Byllis". Whether Philocharis is to be considered Bishop also of Apollonia depends on the interpretation of the position of Felix in 431.

The Annuario Pontificio lists Apollonia as a titular see, thus recognizing that it was once a residential diocese, a suffragan of the archbishopric of Dyrrachium. It grants no such recognition to Byllis.

Gallery

• Remains of the Basilica
• Episcopal building
• Theater
• Ruins
• View from the remains

See also

• List of settlements in Illyria
• Tourism in Albania

Notes

1. e.g. Alexander, Andriscus, Archelaus, Kebbas, Maketa, Machatas, Nikanor, Peukolaos, Phalakros, Philotas, Drimakos and Alexommas
2. e.g. Preuratos, Triteutas, Trasos

Bibliography

• Beaudry, Nicolas, Chevalier, Pascale (2020). 'Les espaces domestiques et économiques du groupe épiscopal protobyzantin de Byllis (Albanie)', Archaeology of a World of Changes. Late Roman and Early Byzantine Architecture, Sculpture and Landscapes, Oxford, pp. 201–218.
• Beaudry, Nicolas (2010). 'Një punishte për prodhimin e verës në Bylisi', Monumentet 28, pp. 41–50.
• Beaudry, Nicolas, Chevalier, Pascale, & Muçaj, Skënder (2010). 'Le quartier épiscopal, campagne 2009, Byllis (Albanie)', Bulletin du Centre d’études médiévales d’Auxerre 14, pp. 57–60.
• Beaudry, Nicolas, et al. (2003). 'Byllis (Albanie)', Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 126.2, pp. 659–684.
• Bejko, Lorenc; Morris, Sarah; Papadopoulos, John; Schepartz, Lynne (2015). The Excavation of the Prehistoric Burial Tumulus at Lofkend, Albania. ISD LLC. ISBN 978-1938770524.
• Belli Pasqua, Roberta (2014). "Nuove ricerche per lo studio e la valorizzazione di Byllis (Albania)". In Salvatore Nuzzo, Gregorio Andria, Pietro Camarda (ed.). Contributi di Ricerca 1 - Research Contributions 1: 1° Workshop sullo stato dell’arte delle ricerche nel Politecnico di Bari – 1st Workshop on the State of the Art and Challenges of Research Efforts at POLIBA. Gangemi Editore spa. ISBN 978-88-492-9976-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
• Belli Pasqua, Roberta (2017). Lavarone, Massimo (ed.). "Ricerca archeologica e valorizzazione: riflessioni sul Parco Archeologico di Byllis (Albania)". Quaderni Friulani di Archeologia (XXVII). Società Friulana di Archeologia: 89–97. ISSN 1122-7133.
• Bowden, William (2003). Epirus Vetus: The Archaeology of a Late Antique Province. Duckworth. ISBN 0-7156-3116-0.
• Chevalier, Pascale (2018). 'Une ville du VIe s. retournant à la ruralité : désurbanisation et abandon du siège épiscopal de Byllis', L'Illyrie méridionale et l'Épire dans l'Antiquité VI, vol. 2, Paris, pp. 435–448.
• Chevalier, Pascale, et al. (2003). 'Trois basiliques et un groupe épiscopal des Ve-VIe siècles réétudiés à Byllis (Albanie)', Hortus Artium Medievalium 9, pp. 155–165.
• Ceka, Neritan; Muçaj, Skënder (2005). Byllis, its history and monuments. Tirana.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Chevalier, Pascale, et al. (2008). 'Byllis (Albanie), campagne 2007: le quartier épiscopal, la Basilique E et les carrières', Bulletin du Centre d’études médiévales d’Auxerre 13, pp. 73–76.
• Chevalier, Pascale, Beaudry, Nicolas, & Muçaj, Skënder (2009). 'Le quartier épiscopal, campagne 2008, Byllis (Albanie)', Bulletin du Centre d’études médiévales d’Auxerre 13, pp. 73–76.
• Hammond, N. G. L. (1989). "The Illyrian Atintani, the Epirotic Atintanes and the Roman Protectorate". The Journal of Roman Studies. 79: 11–25. doi:10.2307/301177. JSTOR 301177.
• Haxhimihali, Marin (2004). 'Byllis et sa région à la lumière des sources écrites du VIe siècle', L'Illyrie méridionale et l'Épire dans l'Antiquité IV, Paris, pp. 463–466.
• Hansen, Mogens Herman; Nielsen, Thomas Heine (2004). An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-814099-3.
• Hatzopoulos, M. B.; Sakellariou, M.; Loukopoulou, L. D. (1997). Epirus, Four Thousand Years of Greek History and Civilization. Ekdotike Athenon. ISBN 960-213-377-5.
• Jaupaj, Lavdosh (2019). Etudes des interactions culturelles en aire Illyro-épirote du VII au III siècle av. J.-C (Thesis). Université de Lyon; Instituti i Arkeologjisë (Albanie).
• Lasagni, Chiara (2019). Le realtà locali nel mondo greco: Ricerche su poleis ed ethne della Grecia occidentale. Studi e testi di epigrafia. Edizioni dell'Orso. ISBN 978-88-6274-962-6.
• Lippert, Andreas; Matzinger, Joachim (2021). Die Illyrer: Geschichte, Archäologie und Sprache. Kohlhammer Verlag. ISBN 9783170377103.
• Lewis, D. M.; Boardman, John (1994). The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 6: The Fourth Century BC. ISBN 0-521-23348-8.
• Wilkes, John (1995). The Illyrians. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19807-5.
• Winnifrith, Tom J. (2002). Badlands-borderlands: a history of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania. London. ISBN 0-7156-3201-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |agency= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

References

1. ^ Lippert & Matzinger 2021, pp. 101–102: "Das Koinon der Byllionen hatte ihren Hauptsitz in Byllis rund 5 km nordöst-lich von Nikaia und ebenfalls am rechten Ufer der Vjosa (> Abb. 30). Die Stadt wurde urn 350 v. Chr. auf einem steilen Hügel angelegt und umfasste eine Fläche von 30 ha."
2. ^ Belli Pasqua 2014, p. 427: "Fondata intorno alla metà del IV a.C. in una zona già sede di abitati protourbani risalenti al secolo precedente, Byllis fu la sede principale della comunità territoriale dei Bylliones, della quale sono stati individuati numerosi centri, dislocati sulle colline che delimitano la valle del fiume Vjosa."
3. Hatzopoulos, Miltiades B. (23 November 2020). Ancient Macedonia. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 212. ISBN 978-3-11-071868-3. Byllis, city on the border between Illyria and Epirus
4. Abdy, Richard Anthony (2007). Roman Butrint: An Assessment. Oxbow Books for the Butrint Foundation. p. 190. ISBN 978-1-84217-234-6. the Caesarean colony at Corinth, and possible Caesarean colonies at Dyme and Byllis, represent the most obvious impact of Roman settlement in Epirus and Achaea .
5. Marzano, Annalisa; Métraux, Guy P. R. (30 April 2018). The Roman Villa in the Mediterranean Basin: Late Republic to Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. p. 271. ISBN 978-1-316-73254-0. Byllis (Epirus)
6. Hodges, Richard (2000). Towns and Trade in the Age of Charlemagne. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-7156-2965-9. The great curtain walls at Butrint , in common with the refortification of other cities in Epirus such as Byllis
7. Ceka and Mucau (2005). Byllis. Tirana: Migjeni. p. 11. ISBN 99943-672-7-7.
8. ^ Winnifrith 2002, p. 58: "There are however, some other sites in Southern Albania which cannot be attributed to sudden Macedonian or Molossian advance, notably Amantia, Byllis and Selce, thought by some to be Pelium, where Alexander the Great fought a difficult campaign. Their massive walls were constructed before the end of the fourth century , and the literary sources talk of them as Illyrian rather than Epirote or Macedonian foundations. Later Amantia and Byllis acquired the trappings of a Hellenistic town."
9. ^ Tom Winnifrith. Perspectives on Albania. Macmillan, 1992. ISBN 978-0-333-51282-1, p. 37: The southernmost Illyrian tribes tended to become bilingual. Thus Byllis, the largest city in the territory of the Illyrian Bylliones, was a Greek-speaking city, visited by Greek envoys from the shrines of Greece.
10. ^ Peter Allan Hansen. Carmina epigraphica Graeca. Novus Eboracus, 1983. ISBN 978-3-11-008387-3, p. 295: "Sacred envoys from Greek sanctuaries visited Greek cities only: Dyrrachium, Apollonia, Oricum, Amantia and Byllis (BCH 45 , 1f.), from which it appears that Byllis was a Greek city, founded probably by Pyrrhus, or that its citizens, the Byllideis, had become Greek-speaking.".
11. Lippert & Matzinger 2021, p. 101.
12. Tusa, Sebastiano. "Menaxhimi Fiskal dhe Struktura Drejtuese e Sistemit të Parqeve Arkeologjike në Shqipëri në vëmendje të veçantë: Parqet Arkeologjike: Apolloni dhe Antigone" (PDF) (in Albanian). United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
13. ^ Hatzopoulos 1997, pp. 144–145. sfn error: no target: CITEREFHatzopoulos1997 (help)
14. Hatzopoulos, Sakellariou & Loukopoulou 1997, pp. 144-145: "... the omasticon of Byllis , Nikaia and their regions consists of Greek names...This important testimony to the basically Greek character of the inhabitants is not invalidated by the presence of a few Illyrians names (Preuratos...)" "Fanoula Papazoglou also speaks of "Greek foundations on barbarian territory".
15. Hammond 1989, p. 19 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFHammond1989 (help)
16. M. B. Hatzopoulos. The Borders of Hellenism in Epirus during Antiquity. Epirus: Ekdotike Athenon, p. 145, 1997.
17. Tom Winnifrith. Badlands, borderlands: a history of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania. Duckworth, 2002. ISBN 978-0-7156-3201-7, p. 58
18. Hammond 1989, p. 18. sfn error: no target: CITEREFHammond1989 (help)
19. Lasagni 2019, p. 74.
20. Fier: Ancient statue discovered in Byllis Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
21. ^ Hammond 1989, p. 17 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFHammond1989 (help)
22. Marjeta Šašel Kos. Appian and Illyricum. Narodni muzej Slovenije, 2005, p. 226
23. ^ Pleket, H. W. Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Volume XXXIX: 1989.
24. Wilkes 1995, p. 97
25. Robert, L. "Discours inaugaural", L' Illyrie méridionale et L'Épire dans l'Antiquité, Actes du colloque international de Clermont-Ferrand. Clermont-Ferrand, 1984 , p. 14.
26. Hansen & Nielsen 2004, p. 346
27. Bowden 2003
28. e.g., Cicero, Phil. 11.11; Julius Caesar B.C. 3.40. et alii
29. Pliny. Naturalis Historia. Vol. 4.10.17.
30. Strabo. Geographica. Vol. vii. p.316. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
31. Bowden 2003.
32. Ceka and Mucaj (2005). Byllis. Migjeni. pp. 108–109. ISBN 99943-672-7-7.
33. Chalkia, Eugenia (1997). "Early Christian Art". Epirus. Ekdotike Athenon: 166–81. ISBN 9789602133712. A similar shrinkage occurred at Byllis ... was reduced to only 11 , but the town did not lose its importance , which is attested by the discovery of a great number of basilicas richly adorned with carving and mosaic floors.
34. Chalkia, Eugenia (1997). "Early Christian Art". Epirus. Ekdotike Athenon: 166–81. ISBN 9789602133712. "Among the southern annexes , an apsidal room with its own atrium stood apart and seems to have served as the diakonikon of the church , where the faithful deposited their offerings .
35. Chalkia, Eugenia (1997). "Early Christian Art". Epirus. Ekdotike Athenon: 166–81. ISBN 9789602133712. In basilica B at Byllis... the baptisteries take the form of a simple rectangular room on the south side of the church
36. Daniele Farlati-Jacopo Coleti, Illyricum Sacrum, vol. VII, Venezia 1817, pp. 395-396
37. Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Parigi 1740, Vol. II, coll. 248-249
38. Louis Petit, "Byllis" in Catholic Encyclopedia (New York 1908)
39. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 835
40. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), "Sedi titolari", pp. 819-1013

External links

• Byllis Archaeological Park

• Cultural Monuments of Albania
• Archaeological sites in Albania
• Former populated places in Albania
• Illyrian Albania
• Archaeology of Illyria
• Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Albania
• Hellenistic Albania
• Albania in the Roman era
• Cities in ancient Illyria
• Coloniae (Roman)
• Tourist attractions in Fier County
• Buildings and structures in Fier County