Dimale or Dimallum ( Illyrian: Διμάλη /Dimálē;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: Διμάλη or Διμάλλον;

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Dimallum'') was a town in southern

Illyria In classical and late antiquity, Illyria (; , ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; , ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyrians. The Ancient Gree ...

in classical antiquity which was situated in the vicinity or within the territory of the

Parthini The Parthini, Partini or Partheenatai were an Illyrians, Illyrian List of ancient Illyrian peoples and tribes, tribe that lived in southern Illyria (modern Albania). They likely were located in the Shkumbin valley controlling the important route b ...

, an Illyrian tribe. It was built on a hill of 450 m above sea level, in the hinterland of Apollonia, about 30 km from the eastern coast of the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

. It is located in today Krotinë,

Berat County Berat County (; ), officially the County of Berat (), is a Counties of Albania, county in the Southern Albania, Southern Region of the Republic of Albania. It is the ninth largest by area and the List of counties of Albania by population, ninth m ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. The first walls of Dimale were built around mid-4th century BC when the Illyrians went through a dynamic development founding their own cities. The urban settlement was built on an already existent Illyrian hilltop proto-urban area dating back to the previous century. In the

Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

(between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC) the town experienced its climax, during a phase marked by intense urban planning, including the construction of a new

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...

and the building of several

stoa A stoa (; plural, stoas,"stoa", ''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd Ed., 1989 stoai, or stoae ), in ancient Greek architecture, is a covered walkway or portico, commonly for public use. Early stoas were open at the entrance with columns, usually ...

s, a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

, and a

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

, showing a significant influence of the

Ancient Greek culture Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically rel ...

on the local Illyrian inhabitants. Manufacturing and materials seem to witness an intense exchange with nearby Apollonia. The fortified town of Dimale was regarded as impenetrable by Illyrians. It was involved in the Second Roman-Illyrian War and the First Roman-Macedonian War.

Name

The Illyrian toponym is attested in literary sources and epigraphic material, written as Διμάλη in

Greek script The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BC. It was derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and is the earliest known alphabetic script to systematically write vowels as w ...

and ''Dimallum'' in

Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

. The toponym belongs to the southeast Dalmatian onomastic area of Illyrian. It is a compound of ''di'' + ''mal''. The root ''mal'' – is reflected in many ancient Balkan (Illyrian or

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

) toponyms such as ''Malontum'', ''Maloventum'', ''Malontina'', ''Dacia Maluensis'' etc. The Illyrian toponym ''Dimallum'' has been connected to

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

''di-male'', meaning "two mountains", with the

Proto-Albanian Proto-Albanian is the ancestral reconstructed language of Albanian, before the Gheg– Tosk dialectal diversification (before ). Albanoid and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrat ...

form of the second component reconstructed as ''mol-no''. The Illyrian reconstruction of the first component has been rendered as ''*d(ṷ)i-'', 'two'. Therefore ''Dimale'' must have meant '(settlement between) two mountains' in Illyrian.

History

At Dimale an Illyrian pre-urban and proto-urban settlement of the 5th-4th centuries BC is confirmed by pottery found in the site. However physical architectural remains of this period have not been preserved. The Illyrian settlement seems to have included initially only a small inhabited area on the hill, which was fortified in the 4th century BC, representing one of the proto-urban centres that were established in the hinterland of southern

(today

), especially during the developed

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

. These proto-urban centres were fortified sites different to the small unwalled villages known as ''komai''. The processes of the development of these proto-urban settlements are unclear to scholars, who also have not yet completely understood the role of these sites, whether they were hilltop shelters, towns or meeting centres of regional trading. The development and prosperity of the town occurred in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. During this period a new wall was built replacing the first fortification. The new wall comprised the whole hill of Dimale. The town made available sufficient financial resources to undertake a social and religious construction program. Several

s, a

, and a

were built, showing a significant influence of the

on the local Illyrian inhabitants. It has been indicated that the city was a centre of the Illyrian tribe of

, and was belatedly

Hellenized Hellenization or Hellenification is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language, and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous people in the Hellenistic period, many of the te ...

under the influence of Apollonia and the Epirote League.

Roman period

Dimale appears in ancient sources of the Roman period that describes the wars involving the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

. During the

Second Illyrian War The Illyrian Wars were a series of wars fought between the Roman Republic and the Illyrian kingdom under the Ardiaei and Labeatae. In the ''First Illyrian War'', which lasted from 229 BC to 228 BC, Rome's concern was that the trade across the Ad ...

in 219 BC,

Demetrius of Pharos Demetrius of Pharos (also Pharus; ) was a ruler of Pharos involved in the First Illyrian War, after which he ruled a portion of the Illyrian Adriatic coast on behalf of the Romans, as a client king. Demetrius was a regent ruler to Pinnes, ...

, after expelling all his opponents from Dimale, fortified the city against an imminent

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

attack and left to defend Pharos. In spite of the fortress of Dimale being considered impregnable, the Romans, under the command of L. Aemilius Paullus, captured the city in a seven-day siege with local Illyrian help. After Demetrius' complete defeat at Roman hands and ultimate flight to Macedonia, Dimale entered into a friendly relationship (''

amicitia ''Amicitia'' is the Latin word for friendship, either between individuals, between the state and an individual or between states. It was "a technical term of Roman political life" from the 2nd century BC, when, according to Seneca, it was introdu ...

'') with Rome. During the First Macedonian war, in 213 or 212 BC,

Philip V of Macedon Philip V (; 238–179 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by the Social War (220–217 BC), Social War in Greece (220-217 BC) ...

managed to take control of the city but, after an unsuccessful Roman assault led by P. Sempronius Tuditanus in 205 BC, the city reverted to its previous status in the negotiations between Philip V and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Phoenice Phoenice or Phoenike () was an ancient Greek city in Epirus and capital of the Chaonians.: "To the north the Chaonians had expelled the Corcyraeans from their holdings on the mainland and built fortifications at Buthrotum, Kalivo and Kara-Ali- ...

(

Treaty of Phoenice The Treaty of Phoenice, also known as the Peace of Phoenice, was a treaty''Hannibal's War: A Military History of the Second Punic War'' by J. F. Lazenby, , 1998, page 178, "... the two belligerents with peace proposals, both were more than ready to ...

) the same year.

Findings and organization

The identification of the site of Krotinë with the ancient Illyrian city became possible thanks to the discovery of ancient

tiles Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or ot ...

stamped with the word ''DIMALLITAN'' (Greek: ΔΙΜΑΛΛΙΤΑΝ). The epigraphic material found at Dimale is mainly constituted by stamps on tiles datable between the 3rd and 2nd century BC, and by some stone inscriptions. The inscriptions are written in northwest Doric Greek. The name of the ''polis'' is written in the form Διμάλλας, ''Dimallas'', while the name of the ''ethnicon'' is written in the genitive plural Διμαλλίταν, ''Dimallitan''. Epigraphy in Dimale mentions a number of Greek offices such as prytanis, grammateus and phylarchos as well as a single dedication to Phoebus. The inscriptions bear both non-Greek onomastics and Greek onomastics with names typical of Epirus and the Corinthian colonies. The city hosted a number of monuments, typical of the ancient Greek architectural style, such as a

. The indication of the office of ''phylarchos'', also attested at

Epidamnos Epidamnos ''(Ancient Greek: Επίδαμνος, Albanian: Epidamn)'', later known as Dyrrachium ''(Latin: Dyrrhachium, Greek: Δυρράχιον, Albanian: Dyrrah)'', was a prominent city on the Adriatic coast, located in modern-day Durrës, Alb ...

, would imply that the Illyrian city of Dimale adopted in Hellenistic times a system of ''phylai'' on the model of the nearby Corinthian poleis. Archaeological investigation suggests the economic and cultural influence of nearby Apollonia, however, in terms of institutional organization, the office of ''phylarchos'' at Dimale is hardly attributable to the Apollonian influence. It is difficult to determine whether Dimale was the capital of a ''koinon'' or organized as a city-state. The inscriptions of the ''ethnicon'' depicted on coins do not provide a definitive answer. The proximity of the theater and the agora seems to be closer to the Illyrian-Epirote model rather than to the Greek city model. It can therefore be assumed that the theater was used as a place for political assemblies.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Polybius, Histories, 3.18 - Demetrius Fortifies DimalePolybius, Histories, 7.9 - Treaty Between Hannibal and King Philip V of MacedonTitus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, 29.12
{{Castles in Albania Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Albania Archaeology of Illyria Buildings and structures in Berat County Cities in ancient Illyria Former populated places in Albania Former populated places in the Balkans Illyrian Albania Hellenistic Albania Tourist attractions in Berat County