Oricum
Oricum was a harbor on the Illyrian coast that developed in an Ancient Greek polis at the south end of the Bay of Vlorë on the southern Adriatic coast. It was located at the foot of the Akrokeraunian Mountains, the natural border between ancient Epirus and Illyria. Oricum later became an important Roman city between the provinces of Epirus Vetus and Epirus Nova in Macedonia. It is now an archaeological park of Albania, near modern Orikum, Vlorë County. Oricum holds such a strategic geographical position that the area has been in continuous usage as a naval base from antiquity to the present-days.
It appears that the site of Oricum was uninhabited before the 6th century BC. In the early period contacts between the Greeks and the local Illyrians were evidently absent in the hinterland of the site. Early Greek sources describe Orikos as a harbor. Findings from the proto-urban period in Orikos provide evidence of extensive contacts primarily with the Greek world. Like other ports of southern Illyria, the site of Orikos was a place of exchange of products and a meeting point between the outside world and the Illyrians located in the hinterland. In the Classical period Orikos was likely part of the peraia of Korkyra.
The polis of Orikos was founded as a southern Greek colony rather than an indigenous foundation. The settlement developed towards mid-5th century BC, and it was built on a Greek model. It is firstly identified as a Greek polis within the territory of Illyrian Amantia in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax. At the beginning of the Hellenistic period Oricum appears to have already acquired the status of polis with its own territory. Pyrrhus gained control of Oricum, incorporating it into the State of Epirus during his rule. After the Roman victory against the Illyrians, in 228 BC Oricum became part of the Roman protectorate in Illyricum. During the Macedonian Wars Oricum was involved in the conflicts between Rome and Macedon in the Illyrian territory that Rome had aimed to protect and control periodically for thirty years, since the First Illyrian War.
Oricum experienced a phase of great prosperity in the period between the late 3rd and the early 1st centuries BC, much like other cities in northern Epirus at the time. In the Roman period Oricum was one of the principal harbors of the new province of Epirus Nova, in the province of Macedonia. During the conflicts of the Great Roman Civil War between Caesar and Pompey in Illyria, Oricum was one of the ports of the Illyrian coast that obeyed to Pompey. However it became the first one taken by Caesar, who used it as an important naval base in his military operations. The inhabitants of the city were described as Graeci by Caesar. The city experienced a decline during the Roman imperial era, when the nearby port of Aulon appears to have gained more prominence.
Location
Oricum, placed at the end of the Karaburun Peninsula, constitutes the eastern point of the narrowest stretch of the sea – the Strait of Otranto – which connects the Iapygian promontory in southeastern Italy with Albania. From pre-colonial times until the Hellenistic period the Strait of Otranto was the main east-west sea route, which, with a distance of around 72 km, required about twelve hours of navigation with very favorable wind. In Roman times, a shift to the north took place, using the Brundisium-Dyrrachium route, which was considered safer, although being longer.The Akrokeraunian Mountains have served as a navigation landmark for the ships. From Italy the navigators could have turned left towards Illyria or right towards Epirus and beyond towards the Aegean Sea; from the south they could have continued straight towards Illyria, or turned left towards Italy; from the north, they could have continued straight towards Epirus and beyond the Aegean, or turned right towards Italy. The usage as navigation landmark instead of stopping points of the Akrokeraunian Mountains is due to the fact that, except for a few small bays, its topography does not feature large harbors. The closest ports are those of Oricum, Aulona and Triport to the north, and Panormos to the south. But in classical antiquity these port towns have always been overshadowed by the more prominent port of Apollonia. Admitting that Triport corresponds to Thronion, which was conquered by Apollonia around mid-5th century BC, Apollonia's territory was close to Orikos, which would explain Orikos' probable imitation of an Apollonian coin type, intended to facilitate trade.
The harbor at Orikos ensured the link to the northern routes, while the routes to Korkyra and to the southeastern destinations, such as the Ambracian Gulf, were granted by Panormos, a harbor located in the middle of the Ceraunian Mountains. Orikos is located on the large valley of Dukat, at the foot of the Karaburun Peninsula and on the road leading to the Llogara Pass. This mountain pass connects the valley of Dukat in Illyria with the ancient Palaeste in Epirus to the south of the Karaburun Peninsula in open sea. However the Llogara Pass is difficult to cross, as highlighted also by Caesar in the De Bello Civili describing his military operations in the area during the Great Roman Civil War in winter 48 BC. Oricum was not a very favorable harbor, because it was located far from the main sea and land routes. The city based its economy on the natural resources of the Acroceraunians: timber for ships and limestone from the quarries of the peninsula. The solid limestone was cut into large square blocks by digging channels on three sides. From the archaic period until Roman imperial times the limestone was transported to Apollonia and Dyrrhachium
Orikos is firstly mentioned in ancient sources by Hecataeus of Miletus and Herodotus, where it is identified as a λιμήν in his description of the coast of Epirus. Hecataeus also states that Oricum is located on the northern edge of the Acroceraunian which marks the border of Epirus. In the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax Orikos is identified for the first time as a Greek polis located within the territory of Amantia, the latter being regarded as an Illyrian city. According to Pseudo-Scylax Oricum marked the end of Illyria and the beginning of Chaonia and Epirus a fact already known from the 6th century B.C by Hecataeus. Also according to Pseudo-Scymnus in the 2nd century BC the end of the Illyrian land was around Oricum in the Bay of Vlorë. Pseudo-Scymnus as well as Lucian attribute to Oricum a Greek foundation. Ptolemy locates Oricum in Chaonia. Similarly Flavius Philostratus in the 2nd century AD states that Oricum was located in Epirus.
Placed on the foot of the Ceraunian Mountains, in a broader context Oricum is located in a border zone between the Epirotes, more specifically the Chaones located south of the Acroceraunians mountains, and the Illyrians whose southernmost territory is located at the foot of this mountain. Being on that geographic border caused misunderstandings among ancient authors about Oricum's location in Illyria or Epirus. From a geographical perspective, the territory of Epirus hardly goes beyond the Ceraunian Mountains, which represent a natural border that is difficult to cross. Available data indicate that Orikos became part of state of Epirus only during the Kingdom of Pyrrhus of Epirus.
The territory of Orikos is delimited by high mountains on its western, southern and eastern sides: Maja e Çikës in the southeast; the Lungara massif in the east that stretches north towards Kaninë and Drashovicë near Vlorë; Rrëza e Kanalit and the Karaburun peninsula in the southwest. Those mountains form the triangular shape of the Dukat plain. The region is opened in the north towards the Bay of Vlorë on the Adriatic Sea. The site of Oricum forms an island that is separated from the edge of the Bay of Vlorë by a lagoon, which was sufficiently deep to have allowed the sheltering of Caesar's ships during his arrival in the port. Two channels placed on the sides of the island connect the lagoon with the Bay. The Acroceraunian Mountains protect the area from the winds that come from the south and from the west. Oricum has a very fertile hinterland. The mountains surrounding the Dukat valley continuously supply it with water, and a very thick forest covers the Llogara pass. There was a significant number of rural settlements in the hinteland of the ancient city.
Strabo mentions that Oricum owned a seaport, Panormos. In another passage he mentions Panormos as a large harbor at the centre of the Ceraunian Mountains, which has tentatively been identified with present-day Porto Palermo on the Ionian coast. The area of Oricum is separated from the Ionian coast by the Ceraunian Mountains, and connected to it only by the difficult Llogara Pass at over 1000 meters of altitude. Rather than conjecturing a phase in which Oricum might have extended its area of regional influence as far as Porto Palermo wresting it from the Chaonians and the city of Chimara, it is much more likely that Strabo uses the term Panormos to define, in two different passages two distinct ports: one of the harbors of the Bay of Vlorë placed along the south-eastern coast of the Acroceraunian/Karaburun promontory that directly pertained to Oricum, and Porto Palermo on the Ionian coast.
Orikos was originally on an island, but already in ancient times it became connected to the mainland; it covered an area of, but archaeological remains are scarce. The establishment of trading posts on small offshore islands was a common practice by Eretrian colonists from Euboia. Eretrian presence in Oricum would indicate that at that time the Corinthians were not interested in the Illyrian mainland.
History
Pre-foundation period
The earliest traces of human life in the area of Oricum belong to the Late Paleolithic and Mesolithic.Two Illyrian tumuli used in a period spanning from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age have been found in Dukat, in the hinterland of Oricum. Exchanges with the other side of the Adriatic and the Aegean World are found in the area. The architectural similarity with the tumulus of Torre Santa Sabina in Brindisi, Apulia, provides evidence of communication and interaction between the two shores of the Adriatic. The earlier graves offered a variety of Middle Helladic findings, Aegean type knives and Minyan ware probably of local manufacture. Naue II type swords, typical of 12th century Mycenaean Greek culture found through Albania and Greece were also unearthed. Around the 11th–10th centuries BC the first imports from southern Italy appear in the Dukat plain.
In the early historical period the findings from the hinterland of Oricum reveal no contacts between the Greeks and the local Illyrian population. Despite the absence of archaeological evidence, Euboeans and Phoenicians might have established trade routes along the eastern shores of the Adriatic following the same networks that had been traversed previously during the Mycenaean period.