Olympe
Olympe (Ancient Greek: Ολύμπη) (Albanian: Olimpi) was an ancient city located in the territory of the Amantes, between northern Epirus and southern Illyria in classical antiquity. It is located in modern day Mavrovë, Vlorë County, Albania.[1][2]
Ολύμπη Olimp | |
![]() Location in Albania | |
| Location | Mavrovë, Vlorë County, Albania |
|---|---|
| Region | Epirus or Illyria |
| Coordinates | |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Periods |
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| Cultures |
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| Site notes | |
| Ownership | Government of Albania |
History
The settlement at Olympe was fortified between the late 5th century BC and the early 4th century BC.[1]
Taking into account archaeological and historical considerations, the city of Olympe should have been founded in the ethnic context of the Amantes, but later it was organized as a proper polis turning away from its ethnic context.[2][3] The dissociation from the ethnic to the polis coincided with Philip V of Macedon's conquest of a number of cities in Illyria.[2]
In the Hellenistic period there is evidence for the polis status of Olympe, and Stephanus of Byzantium (fl. 6th century AD) recorded Olympe as a "polis of Illyria" (πόλις Ίλλυρίας). During the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC Olympe minted bronze coins bearing the inscription ΟΛΥΜΠΑΣΤΑΝ (OLYMPASTAN), and the city-ethnic was probably ’Ολυμπαστάς (Olympastas). A late 3rd century BC dedication to Zeus Megistos mentions a politarches, a grammateus and the synarchontes.[1]
References
- Hansen & Nielsen 2004, p. 347.
- Shpuza 2017, p. 43.
- Cabanes 2011, p. 80.
Sources
- Cabanes, Pierre (2011). "Disa çështje mbi Amantët / Interrogations sur les Amantes". Iliria. 35: 75–98. doi:10.3406/iliri.2011.1100.
- Hansen, Mogens Herman; Nielsen, Thomas Heine (2004). An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198140991.
- Shpuza, Saimir (2017). Dyczek, Piotr (ed.). "Scodra and the Labeates. Cities, rural fortifications and territorial defense in the Hellenistic period". Novensia. Warszawa: Ośrodek Badań nad Antykiem Europy Południowo-Wschodniej. 28: 41–64. ISBN 978-83-946222-5-1. ISSN 0860-5777.
