Albanopolis ( sq, Albanopolis or ''Albanët''; grc, Ἀλβανόπολις, Albanópolis) was a city in ancient Roman Macedon specifically in

Epirus Nova sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

, the city of the

Albanoi The Albanoi ( grc, Ἀλβανοί, ''Albanoi''; la, Albani) were an Illyrian tribe. They were possibly first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (550-476 BCE) under the name ''Abroi''. Ptolemy (200-118 BCE) is the first authors who mentions them ...

, an Illyrian tribe. Albanopolis has been located by various scholars at the modern-day village of

Zgërdhesh Zgërdhesh is an archeological site in Albania. It is located south of the road from Fushë-Kruja to Kruja. Zgërdhesh is somewhat of a mystery because it is unmentioned in ancient sources. Some scholars believe, however, that it may be the site ...

or at

Krujë Krujë ( sq-definite, Kruja; see also the etymology section) is a town and a municipality in north central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is only 20 km north from the capital of Albania, Tirana. Kruj ...

. The ancient city may correspond with later mentions of the settlement called Arbanon and Albanon during the Middle Ages, although it is not certain this was the same place.. The city appears at 150 AD almost 300 years after Roman conquest of the region.

Attestation

The toponym Albanopolis has been found on a funeral inscription in

Gorno Sonje Gorno Sonje ( mk, Горно Соње) is a village in the municipality of Sopište, North Macedonia. Demographics According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 219 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:Macedonian Census (2 ...

, near the city of

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

(ancient

Scupi Scupi (''Σκούποι'' in ancient greek) is an archaeological site located between Zajčev Rid (''Зајчев Рид'' 'Rabbit Hill') and the Vardar River, several kilometers from the center of Skopje in North Macedonia. A Roman military camp w ...

), present-day

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

. It was discovered in 1931 by Nikola Vulić and its text was analyzed and published in 1982 by

Borka Dragojević-Josifovska Borka Dragojević-Josifovska, in Serbian: ''Борка Драгојевић-Јосифовска'' (1910 - 2004) was a Bosnian archaeologist, museum curator, numismatist and philologist, who was Professor of Classical Philology at Ss. Cyril and ...

. The inscription in Latin reads "POSIS MESTYLU F

LIUS ''Lius'' is a genus of beetles in the family Buprestidae, containing the following species: * '' Lius aculeatus'' (Gory, 1841) * '' Lius adonis'' Saunders, 1876 * '' Lius aeneicollis'' Kerremans, 1896 * '' Lius aeneovirens'' Obenberger, 1932 * ...

VIA Via or VIA may refer to the following: Science and technology * MOS Technology 6522, Versatile Interface Adapter * ''Via'' (moth), a genus of moths in the family Noctuidae * Via (electronics), a through-connection * VIA Technologies, a Taiwan ...

DELVS MVCATI F

LIA Lia is a feminine given name. In the Spanish-speaking world, it is accented Lía. In America, the name may be a variant of Leah or Lea. Lia may be a diminutive of various names including Julia, Cecilia, Amelia, Talia, Cornelia, Ophelia, Rosal ...

DOM ALBANOP LIIPSA DELVS". It is translated as "Posis Mestylu, son of Flavia, daughter of Delus Mucati, who comes from Albanopolis". It dates to the end of the 1st century CE or the beginning of the 2nd century CE.

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

(100-170 CE) is the only author who mentions Albanopolis. He mentions it in the third book of ''Geographia'' as a city of a tribe he refers to as the Albanoi. They were a people who lived in the region between Mat and

Shkumbin The Shkumbin (; ; la, Genusus, also la, Genessus, label=none or la, Scampis, label=none), also commonly Shkembi, is a river in Southern Europe. It is long and its drainage basin is . Its average discharge is . Etymology It derives from La ...

Johann Georg von Hahn Johann Georg von Hahn (11 July 1811 – 23 September 1869) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian and later Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian diplomat, Philology, philologist and specialist in History of Albania, Albanian history, Albanian language, lan ...

first noted that the suffix -

polis ''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...

("city") was probably added at a later date by other authors as in other editions it is mentioned as "Albanos polis" or "Albanos".

Location

The first scholar to advance the idea that

was the site of the ancient Albanopolis was Austrian diplomat

. Zgërdhesh was also visited during World War I by Camillo Praschniker, an Austrian archaeologist, but his visit was short and he did not have time to draw any conclusions. According to historian Selim Islami, Hahn's hypothesis is not conclusive, but may have merit, and deserves to be pursued in the future.

References

{{Illyrians Cities in ancient Illyria Illyrian Albania Archaeological sites in Albania Former populated places in the Balkans

Attestation

Location

See also

References