BUTHROTUM
(Butrinto) Epeiros, S Albania.
A city which, according to Vergil, was founded by
the Trojan seer Helenos. After marrying Andromache,
the widow of Hector, Helenos migrated to the shores of
Epeiros where he founded a new Troy. In reality, Buthrotum must have been founded, as were Apollonia and
Durazzo, by colonists from Kerkyra (Corfu). It is situated on a hill commanding a view of the coastal lagoon
of Corfu—Lake Pelode in antiquity—connected to the
sea by a short, natural canal. The remains of the city,
which belong to the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine periods, are scattered on the acropolis hill—along its slopes
and in the low-lying section along the bank of the canal—and in the entire zone between there and the base of
the hill.
The city became a colony under Julius Caesar. Pompeius Atticus constructed a magnificent villa there, the
Amaltheion, in the vicinity of which was found a Parian
marble relief representing a winged Nike of disputed
date. The acropolis is protected by three circuit walls,
set out in three rows of varying height. The highest and
oldest was constructed of large, rough-hewn polygonal
blocks. The central wall, halfway up the hill, is also built
of polygonal blocks. The third wall, at the foot of the
hill, is made of ashlar masonry; occasionally the stones
are very large and the wall shows traces of the restorations of different periods. This last wall, constructed
between the end of the 5th c. and the beginning of the
4th c. B.C., was provided with bastions and gates. The
most important of the gates are the so-called Porta Scea
and the Porta del Leone. The left side of the former juts
out like a large tower in such a way as to force attackers
to expose their right, unshielded sides. The flat arch of
the gate is made of long, narrow rectangular blocks held
in place by molded brackets. The present pavement, 5 m
from the top of the gate, dates to the Byzantine period;
the original paving is 1.5 m below that.
The Porta del Leone has the same structure as the
Porta Scea and was so named because the top is decorated with a sculptured limestone relief of a lion tearing
a bull to pieces. The work seems unfinished (but certainly archaic—6th c. B.C.) and appears to have been
added to the gate after its construction.
Only the foundations of the N and W gates remain,
while the Porta a Mare in the third circuit wall is partially preserved and gains its name from its geographic
location. It is formed of two towers, one square and the
other semicircular. At the center on the inside, each of
the two large towers has a pillar which must have served
to support the roofing. All the gates date to the beginning of the Hellenistic period, around the middle of the 4th c. B.C.
Among other Greek and Roman buildings partially
preserved and of prime importance is the theater, which
stretches along the S slopes of the acropolis. The cavea
and the orchestra belong to the end of the 4th c. B.C.
Thirteen rows of seats have been preserved as have the
remains of at least six others, separated from the first
by a diazoma and parapet. Four stairways form five
sections. The horseshoe-shaped orchestra was paved in
the Roman period with slabs of white limestone. The
stage dates to the first years of the Empire, with but few
traces of the original. The scaena is composed of the
scaenae frons and the pulpitum, the first of which is
formed by a wall and three arcades with niches in the
pilasters, and niches also adorn the frons pulpiti. The
parodoi were transformed in the Roman period into versurae by means of a vaulted roof. Many Greek inscriptions can be read on the rows and on the walls of the
parodoi. On the third row is a dedicatory inscription,
probably to Asklepios since proximity of a small shrine
dedicated to Asklepios is nearby. Numerous statues have
been discovered in the theater, among which are a copy
of the Great Hercules and the so-called Goddess of
Buthrotum, the latter a Hellenistic head of Apollo
fitted to a female torso of the 5th c. In addition, there
are two statues of warriors, one of which is signed by
Sosikles the Athenian.
In the vicinity of the theater are various monuments,
the most important of which are:
A Greek temple, somewhat above the theater along
the S slope of the hill of the acropolis, in antis with the
cella raised in the center on three steps; two mosaic
pavements—one of them polychrome—have been placed
over the original floor; the temple dates to the Hellenistic
period.
A portico of ashlar masonry on the same axis as the
theater with arcades supported by pillars; only one arch
is partially preserved and the pillars have been reinforced.
A Shrine of Aesculapius, a small Roman temple built
over a previous temple of the Greek period, backs onto
the W side of the theater. It comprises a vestibule and a
cella in which was discovered a large headless statue
which must be that of Aesculapius or of his priest; some
340 vases and vase stands were found in the votive pit
and inscriptions to Aesculapius were found on some of
those dating to the Hellenistic period.
There are numerous buildings at Buthrotum, partially
preserved, dating primarily to the Roman period. Among
them are various bath complexes, the Nymphaeum, and
the Fountain of Junia Rufina. The fountain, near the
Porta del Leone, is a well of sulphurous water used in
the Greek period and on into the Roman period. Along
the parapet are limestone slabs with a Greek inscription
referring to Junia Rufina, the friend of the Nymphs. The
arcaded aqueduct, near the Porta a Mare, is also noteworthy. The Baptistery was built from a circular room
of the Roman period with a mosaic pavement dating to
the end of the 4th c. A.D. On the pavement a baptismal
font in the form of a Greek cross had been carved out of
two superposed column drums. Two panels inserted in it
depicted the Baptism and the Eucharist. The mosaic is
polychrome and the decoration is of animal forms in
bright colors.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dion. Hal. 1.51.1;
Strab. 6.324; Ptol.
3.13.3; Caes.
BCiv. 3.16.1; Plin.
HN 4.4; Cic.
Ad Fam.
16.7.
L. M. Ugolini,
Butrinto, Il mito di Enea, gli scavi
(1937); id.,
Albania Antica, III L'Acropoli di Butrinto
(1942); P. C. Sestieri, “Butrinto,”
Arte Mediterranea 1.6
(1941) 26; A. de Franciscis, “Iscrizioni di Butrinto,”
RendNap 21 (1941) 273ff.
P. C. SESTIERI
