Lying just across the Adriatic from Italy, it’s no surprise that the region of modern day Albania was important to the ancient Romans. It was the gateway to the East, and the famous Via Egnatia which stretched from the shores of the Adriatic all the way to Byzantium, resounded with the hobnail boots of Roman soldiers and the cart wheels of merchants.
But the ancient cities of Albania were not just ‘through routes’. Many Roman citizens chose to spend time there or to acquire estates. One of the cities that held a particular importance for Rome was Apollonia. Originally an Illyrian settlement, Apollonia was refounded by Greeks coming from Corcyra (Corfu) and Corinth in the 7th century BCE. The city prospered and grew in importance, partly because of its strategic location on navigable the River Aous (Vjosa) and because it was one of the termini of the Via Egnatia, but also because of its rich hinterland which included plentiful supplies of bitumen, important for caulking ships.
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| The monument of the Agonothetes in the Roman Agora of Apollonia |
The historian Polybius tells us that the city put itself
under the protection of Rome towards the end of the 3rd century BCE
during the Illyrian Wars, and it became a base for the Roman army. Part of the
Roman Province of Macedonia from 148 BCE, the city received many settlers and
visitors from Italy, including Octavian, (later Augustus) future Emperor of
Rome, who resided in the city for several months.
One of the attractions of Apollonia, apart from it being ‘magna
urbs et gravis’ (according to Cicero) was its reputation as a centre of
learning, and in particular of rhetoric. Greek rhetoric was highly regarded and
young Roman aristocrats were often sent to Greece to study: military prowess
was not enough, political life needed oratorical skills too.
It was Julius Caesar, great-uncle of Octavian, who sent him
to Apollonia. Caesar knew the city well; he had used it as a base during the
Civil War of 48 BCE (much of which was fought in Albania) and had rewarded the
city for its loyalty to him.
In fact, Caesar’s plan was for Octavian to accompany him on
his expedition to Parthia, but he recognised that Octavian needed more
experience and so sent him to Apollonia to train with the legions that were
based there, and also to benefit from the school of oratory. Octavian took with
him Apollodorus of Pergamum, his teacher of declamation, and was also
accompanied by various friends and comrades. The most famous of these was Marcus
Vipsanius Agrippa, his great friend, and later most steadfast and gifted
military commander. This is the first time we hear of Agrippa, and he is
involved in this wonderful anecdote preserved by Suetonius in his Life of
Augustus.
Suetonius tells us that while at Apollonia, the two friends
went to the studio of the astrologer Theogenes. Theogenes first read the future
of Agrippa, and predicted a career for him that was almost unbelievable.
Octavian, fearing that his future could not possibly be as great, refused for a
while to disclose his time of birth. When he was eventually persuaded, Theogenes threw himself at the feet of the
future Emperor, needing to say nothing more.
Octavian had been in the city for four months when a
freedman arrived with a letter from his mother Atia, Caesar’s niece. The letter
contained devastating news - Caesar had been assassinated in the Senate by
Cassius, Brutus and accomplices. She asked her son to return to Rome
straightaway, to fulfil his destiny.
Octavian consulted with his friends and the leading men of Apollonia. Some
advised him to join up the army that had been preparing for the Parthian War
and then to go to Rome and avenge Caesar. However, Octavian decided to return
to Rome and make his decision there, when he had taken stock of the situation.
Nicolaus of Damascus in his Life of Augustus tells us that the
inhabitants of Apollonia came “in multitudes” and asked Octavian to stay,
concerned for his safety, and offered him the city to do as he wished. Though
not persuaded, after becoming Augustus he showed great favour to the city,
conferring on it the status of ‘civitas immunis et libera’, meaning the
city could enjoy its own laws and elect its own magistrates, and “made it one
of the most fortunate cities”.
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| Augustus of Prima Porta by Justin Benttinen |
Perhaps for this reason, the city seems to have
enthusiastically adopted the Imperial cult. Recent work shows the excavated
monumental Roman agora (Forum) of Apollonia to have been the centre of activity
of the cult. During the 2nd century CE, the agora was remodelled
with various structures, including a shrine for cult rituals and a monumental building
with an intriguing inscription. The inscription reveals that local citizen, Quintus
Villius Crispinus Furius Proculus who had held several positions in the city,
including that of organising Games, erected the building to the memory and
honour of his brother Villius Valentinus Furius Proculus. It records the
military career of his brother, and notes that 25 pairs of gladiators fought at
the building’s inauguration. Portraits busts of members of the Imperial family
were found in the inner chamber and portico of the building.
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| View of the Agora showing the inner chamber of the monument with inscription |
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| The retaining wall of the 4th/3rdC BC has been used as the back of a shrine, probably to the Imperial cult |
The Games referred to may be the Sebasteia, celebrated in the
Greek east in honour of the Emperor, as part of the Imperial cult. We know that
the Greek theatre at Apollonia was remodelled for the purpose of gladiatorial
combat, a practice now thought to be deliberate regional policy introduced by
the Roman authorities in connection with the Imperial cult.
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| Relief showing gladiators from the remodelled theatre of Apollonia |
Brief Bibliography
Ceka, N., Apollonia Its History and Monuments, 2005
Ducros, M., Organisation et Importance des Combats de
Gladiateurs dans les Régions Nord-Égéennes: Macédoine, Thrace, Thasos, 2018,
Melethmata 77
Gilkes, O., 2012, Albania An Archaeological Guide
Goldsworthy, A., 2015, Augustus
Goldsworthy, A., 2016, Caesar
Piccinini, J., The Roman Agora of Apollonia, 2019, Annuario,
97
Primary Sources
Julius Caesar, The Civil Wars
Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Augustus
Polybius, Histories
Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars
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