Apollonia (Greek: Ἀπολλωνία κατ' Ἐπίδαμνον or Ἀπολλωνία πρὸς Ἐπιδάμνῳ Apollonia kat' Epidamnon or Apollonia pros Epidamno), was an Ancient Greek city and colony in northern Epirus, now modern-day Albania, located on the right bank of the Aous river; its ruins are situated in the Fier region, near the village of Pojani. It was founded in 588 BCE by Greek colonists from Kerkyra (Corfu) and Corinth, and was perhaps the most important of the several classical towns known as Apollonia (Απολλωνία).
The site was already used by Corinthian traders and
the Taulantii, a cluster of Illyrian tribes, who remained closely
involved with the settlement for centuries and lived alongside the
Greek colonists. The city was said to have originally been named
Gylakeia after Gylax, its founder, but the name was later
changed to honor the god Apollo.
It is mentioned by Strabo in his Geographica as "an exceedingly
well-governed city" .
Aristotle considered Apollonia an important example of an oligarchic system, as the descendants of the Greek colonists controlled the city and prevailed over a large serf population of mostly Illyrian origin. The city grew rich on the slave trade and local agriculture, as well as its large harbour, said to have been able to hold a hundred ships at a time. The remains of a late sixth-century temple, located just outside the city, were reported in 2006; it is only the fifth known Hellenic temple found in present-day Albania. Apollonia, like Dyrrachium further north, was an important port on the Illyrian coast as the most convenient link between Brundusium and northern Greece, and as one of the western starting points of the Via Egnatia leading east to Thessaloniki and Byzantium in Thrace. It had its own mint, stamping coins that have been found as far away as the basin of the Danube.
The city was for a time included among the dominions of Pyrrhus of Epirus. In 229 BC it came under the control of the Roman Republic, to which it was firmly loyal; it was rewarded in 168 BC with booty seized from Gentius, the defeated king of Illyria. In 148 BC Apollonia became part of the Roman province of Macedonia,specifically of Epirus Nova. In the civil war between Pompey and Julius Caesar it supported the latter, but fell to Marcus Iunius Brutus in 48 BC. The later Roman emperor Augustus studied in Apollonia in 44 BC under the tutelage of Athenodorus of Tarsus; it was there that he received news of Caesar's murder.
Apollonia flourished under Roman rule and was noted by Cicero in his Philippics as magna urbs et gravis, a great and important city. Its decline began in the 3rd century AD, when an earthquake changed the path of the Aoos, causing the harbour to silt up and the inland area to become a malaria-ridden swamp. Christianity was established in the city at an early stage, and bishops from Apollonia were present during the First Council of Ephesus (431) and the Council of Chalcedon (451). However, the city became increasingly uninhabitable as the inland swamp expanded and the nearby settlement of Avlona (modern-day Vlore) became dominant. By the end of antiquity the city was largely depopulated, hosting only a small Christian community. This community (which probably is part of the site of the old city) built on a hill the 13th century Ardenica Monastery, within which is the Church of Panagia (Albanian: Shën Mëri, or Saint Mary).
The city was part of Epirus Nova in Roman Times.
The city seems to have sunk with the rise of Vlora. It was "rediscovered" by European classicists in the 18th century, though it was not until the Austrian occupation of 1916–1918 that the site was investigated by archaeologists. Their work was continued by a French team between 1924–1938. Parts of the site were damaged during the Second World War. After the war, an Albanian team undertook further work from 1948 onwards, although much of the site remains unexcavated to this day. Some of the team's archeological discoveries are on display within the monastery, and other artefacts from Apollonia are in the capital Tirana. Unfortunately, during the anarchy that followed the collapse of the communist regime in 1990, the archeological collection was plundered. The ruins were also frequently dug up by plunderers for relics to be sold to collectors abroad.
