Excavations at Hadrianopolis (Albania)

The site of Hadrianopolis lies in the region of ancient Epirus originally inhabited by the tribe of

the Chaonians, the main cities of which included Buthrotos, Phoinike and Antigoneia. In the

Archaic period the area was under the influence of the Corinthian colony of Kerkyra. Later the

Chaonians were brought into the alliance with various Greek states and acquired the reputation of

being a warlike race. Polybius describes Phoinike as the best fortified and most impregnable site

of Epirus.

The Chaonians were among Rome’s allies in the 3rd Macedonian war (171-168 BC), which

marked the beginning of Roman hegemony in Greece. While 70 cities were destroyed in Epirus

and 150.000 peoples were reduced to slavery (Strabo), the Chaonians, profited from their

friendship with the Romans and took advantage of their strategic position. In the newly founded

province of Macedonia, settlements flourished in the valley of the river Drin, which became one

of the main accesses to the Via Egnatia from the South. Among these settlements was the city of

Hadrianopolis.

Chaonia enjoyed continuous prosperity during

the Roman period thanks to its central position

between East and West. As the empire split

(AD395) and Epirus found itself at the fringes of

the Eastern Roman Empire, it became the focus

of imperial intervention. Emperor Justinian

fortified several outposts throughout the region

and is known to have re-founded Hadrianopolis

as Justinianopolis.

The SettlementThe settlement of Hadrianopolis lies in the broadest section of the

valley of the river Drin, 14km south of Gjirokaster, near the

village of Sofratikë. It occupies a square area ca. 400 x 400m in

size. Geophysical surveys have revealed that within this perimeter

the city was planned following a regular grid pattern with streets

crossing each other at right angles.

The most prominent archaeological remains uncovered so far are

the theatre (known from 19th century travelers’ reports, and

excavated in the 70s) and a monumental public complex—

including a bath with hot and cold rooms—located to the north of

it. This was mostly brought to light by our team from the

University of Oxford in the last two years of excavations. Remote

sensing carried out by the University of Macerata has further

located large peristyle

houses organized around

internal courtyards in the

central plots of the town. A necropolis, consisting of

stone-lined single graves, has been found to extend over a

significant area beyond the urban limits and is presently

under investigation. The buildings identified so far

mostly belong to the Roman imperial and late antique

periods. Pottery finds—and more recently structural

remains—have nevertheless shown that the site was

inhabited in the Hellenistic period.

The main phase of the settlement, which saw the

construction of the theatre and its adjacent buildings, can

be dated to the period of Hadrian (AD 117-138). The emperor might therefore have been

responsible for the promotion and embellishment of the city, within a larger attempt to organize

and exploit the fertile valley of the Drin. The site enjoyed continuous habitation until at least the

end of the 5th century AD, when the excavations reveal layers of destruction and a lack of

archaeological materials. According to Procopius, in the course of his reorganization of the

fortresses and fortified cities of the Balkans, Emperor Justinian (AD 527-565) “built the city of

Hadrianopolis

Justinianopolis, which formerly was called Adrianopolis” (de Aed. IV 1, 36). Since any such

intervention has not been confirmed by the excavated remains, and the site is anyhow not

naturally defensible, it is assumed that this Justinianic re-foundation led to the transfer of the city

to a hillside location. Small scale habitation until the 7th century is still in evidence at the original

site.

The name of Drynopolis and its bishopric continued to be attested throughout the Byzantine and

mediaeval periods, and has left a permanent mark on the contemporary toponymy of the area.

The Surroundings

In antiquity, Hadrianopolis was the main urban centre of a densely populated area, which

extended along the valley of the river Drin. Extensive archaeological surveys have been carried

out both in the immediate surroundings of the ancient city

and further afield. Surveys in the extra-urban area west of

the settlement led to the identification of an extensive

necropolis. Subsequent excavations brought to light six

single inhumation graves. They all consist of simple cist

burials, stone-lined, covered with gabled lids. The

deceased all rest on their back, with arms crossed on the

chest, and are accompanied by a few modest objects. This

could be due to the low status of the occupants or to the

fact that the graves had been disturbed

before being investigated.

In the wider surroundings of the settlement surveys

brought to light a number of new archaeological sites.

These new sites, together with a few previously-known

settlements were all recorded in a scientific manner.

Information on each site - including photographs and

plans of the surveyed structures - fed a purpose-built

database . GPS technology was used in establishing each

site’s location and creating the baseline for a new

archaeological cartography of the entire valley of the

Drin.

Hellenistic settlements and habitation clusters seem to concentrate on the hills and the most

elevated areas. They dominate the valley from above and control accesses and routes through the

mountains and towards the sea. They are naturally well defensible and placed in strategic

locations within the region. A good example is that of the city of Antigoneia, founded by Pyrrhus

on an almost impregnable hill overlooking the settlements on the plain.

In the Roman period the focus of settlement shifts to the valley. Large and small centres are

located along the course of the river, and ultimately mark the route of a major Roman road of the

region, running parallel to the coast from south to north. The settlement at Hadrianopolis might

originally have been one of these centres located along the road. Probably by virtue of its

favourable location it became the main centre of the area in the Hadrianic period. In the late

antique period, while Hadrianopolis and all settlements along the valley are mostly abandoned,

habitation returns to the uplands. This was probably an immediate reaction to the invasions of

new populations from the north. The archaeological map of the Drin’s valley, where relevant

information for all archaeological remains of the region is recorded, will constitute an invaluable

tool which will facilitate the heritage management of the area by the Albanian authorities.

The monuments

The theatre at Hadrianopolis was built in the first half of the 2nd century AD, on the basis of the

archaeological finds and architectural features. It is therefore possible that its construction started

at the end of the reign of Emperor Hadrian.

Among the ancient authors, Dio Cassius reports that

the Emperor held an interest in buildings for

spectacles, although not many theatres of the ancient

world can be attributed with certainty to Hadrian. The

building technique in stones and concrete, the fact that the cavea is built on an artificial structure

and the structural connection between the cavea and the stage building, all belong to the Roman

building tradition. The plan of the orchestra and of the cavea- larger than the semicircle - and the

dimensions and shape of the stage building – narrow and almost detached from the cavea - find

parallels in theatres of Greek- Hellenistic tradition in the eastern part of the empire. Elements

from different architectural traditions, Greek and Roman, are mixed in the theatre of

Hadrianopolis, following a pattern attested in other theatres of the region. The building

underwent several modifications in its later history, and possibly was used in the Byzantine

period as an urban stronghold.

In front of the theatre, archaeological investigations have brought to light a large public building

with a long history.

On a site already in

use in the last two

centuries BC, a

complex of rooms

arranged around a

courtyard was built in

the 2nd century AD.

Two of these rooms

preserve traces of

suspensurae, the piers

of bricks that supported a suspended floor covering a cavity through which the hot air would flow

(hypocaust). They were hot rooms of a Roman bath complex . This building opened onto an open

area to the west, a large square in front of the theatre, possibly a porticus post scaenam. Thick

destruction and spoliation levels mark the later phases. Onto these levels new buildings were

constructed. In particular, at the turn of the 6th century, a large public building, perhaps a church ,

was placed in the open area in front of the theatre and the older adjacent baths underwent radical

changes. This suggests a reorganization of the urban centre.

Later destruction and abandonment levels seal this brief moment in the life of the site, on top of

which are to be found merely rural walls, perishable structures, and other transitory signs of life,

all dating around the 7th century.

The 2010 project

The funds generously awarded by the Roman Society were used towards the second

excavation campaign at Hadrianopolis (Albania) carried out by a team from Oxford University.

Both endeavours were part of an important collaborative project which involves the universities

of Macerata and Oxford, together with the Archaeological Institute of Tirana, under the joint

direction of Dr Roberto Perna (Macerata), Prof Dimiter Çondi (Tirana), and Milena Melfi

(Oxford). Such project provides us with the unique opportunity of participating in a long-term

collaborative fieldwork in a site which enjoyed continuous habitation from the Hellenistic to the

Roman period, and bears abundant testimonies to the Roman strategic and military activities in

the Adriatic and towards the Greek mainland in the last two centuries before Christ. The

excavation of the settlement later known as Hadrianopolis has the potential of making a valuable

contribution to the definition of the Roman intervention in Epiros at the time of the Illyrian and

Macedonian wars. At the same time, the project will bring to light the largely unknown later

phases of the Roman city, and clarify issues of settlement patterns, the relation with central

models, and communication networks in this largely unknown region of the eastern Roman

Empire.

The 2010 field-work campaign at Hadrianopolis lasted four weeks from 26/7/2010 to

15/8/2010. The team from Oxford University, consisted of 5 members (2 post-graduate students,

2 undergraduate students and myself). Excavations were mostly carried out in the sector of the

archaeological area, corresponding to a large public building—already identified in last year’s

investigation—and the surrounding open-air areas. This year’s work allowed us to define the

chronological phases and topographical development of the structures, as much as to understand

its role and position within the urban layout. Our team was able to bring to light and identify the

functioning and chronology of the impressive bathing establishment, situated at the heart of the

newly founded Hadrianic city, and forming a monumental complex with the contemporary

theatre. The building was later incorporated into a basilica, possibly at the time of the 6 th century

re-foundation of the city, under the name of Justinianopolis. Deeper trenches in the newly

identified open-air areas surrounding the baths also revealed Hellenistic layers of habitation (3 rd

to 1st cent.BC), and will contribute in clarifying the nature and aspect of the settlement in the

years preceding the arrival of Lucius Aemilius Paulus.

At the same time, and on the occasion of the restoration of the flooring of the orchestra of

the Roman theatre, smaller test trenches were opened under the removed floor slabs. These

revealed in great detail the construction techniques applied in building the theatre and confirmed

its Hadrianic date. The most important discovery consisted in the remains of earlier structures

under the Roman theatre. These are presently limited to a curved wall in ashlar blocks, and only

further investigations will reveal whether they belong to a Hellenistic predecessor of the

Hadrianic theatre, a building for public meetings (bouleterion?) or performances (theatre?)

All these new data confirmed that the Hadrianic—and later Justinianic—foundation certainly

occurred in an area previously inhabited, and possibly provided with monumental buildings

already at the time of the Macedonian wars. In the last two days of excavations, during the

cleaning and filling works carried out for the safety of the archaeological area, the discovery of

part of the foundations of a Hellenistic monument in ashlar masonry, with two columns in antis

on its front, enforces this reconstruction. Next year’s excavations will hopefully clarify the

nature of the Hellenistic settlement and its role within the topography and history of ancient

Epirus, especially in view of its advantageous position on the river crossing and within the

territory of the early colony of Butrint.

Beside the scientific results, both graduate and undergraduate students were successfully

trained in the latest archaeological and technological methodologies. Students of the University

of Oxford, Macerata and Gjirokaster enjoyed a scientific excavation with a full didactic

experience in mapping, recording and processing finds, as well as having the possibility of

participating in field and geophysical survey.