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Oricum

"Orikon" redirects here. Not to be confused with Oricon, Oricombank, or Oricourt.
Oricum
Ὤρικος, Ὤρικον
Oriku , Orikumi
The site of ancient Orikos
Oricum is located in Albania
Oricum
Location in Albania
LocationOrikum, Vlorë County, Albania
RegionEpirus or Illyria
Coordinates40°19′8″N 19°25′43″E / 40.31889°N 19.42861°E / 40.31889; 19.42861
Typeharbor, settlement
History
Periods
  • Classical
  • Hellenistic
  • Roman
Cultures
  • Greek
  • Roman
Site notes
OwnershipGovernment of Albania

Oricum (Ancient Greek: Ὤρικον, Ὤρικος or Ὠρικός; Latin: Oricum or Oricus; Albanian: Oriku or Orikum) 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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]

It appears that the site of Oricum was uninhabited before the 6th century BC.[4] In the early period contacts between the Greeks and the local Illyrians were evidently absent in the hinterland of the site.[5] Early Greek sources describe Orikos as a harbor (Greek: λιμήν, limen). Findings from the proto-urban period in Orikos provide evidence of extensive contacts primarily with the Greek world.[6] 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.[7] In the Classical period Orikos was likely part of the peraia of Korkyra.[8]

The polis of Orikos was founded as a southern Greek colony rather than an indigenous foundation.[9] The settlement developed towards mid-5th century BC,[6] and it was built on a Greek model.[10] It is firstly identified as a Greek polis within the territory of Illyrian Amantia in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax (mid-4th century BC).[11] At the beginning of the Hellenistic period Oricum appears to have already acquired the status of polis with its own territory.[12] Pyrrhus gained control of Oricum, incorporating it into the State of Epirus during his rule (early 3rd century BC).[13][14] After the Roman victory against the Illyrians, in 228 BC Oricum became part of the Roman protectorate in Illyricum.[15] 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.[16][17][18]

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.[19][20] In the Roman period Oricum was one of the principal harbors of the new province of Epirus Nova, in the province of Macedonia.[21] 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.[22] The inhabitants of the city were described as Graeci ("Greeks") by Caesar.[23] The city experienced a decline during the Roman imperial era, when the nearby port of Aulon (modern Vlorë) appears to have gained more prominence.[24]

  1. ^ Cabanes 2008, pp. 164–165; Hatzopoulos 2020, p. 227; Hernandez 2017, pp. 257–258: "Drawing upon earlier written sources about sailing voyages (periploi), the Periplous of Pseudo-Skylax (28–33) traces the coast of the Mediterranean and purports to be a "circumnavigation of the inhabited world". The text was composed in the third quarter of the 4th century B.C. The description of Epeiros moves southward along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas in the direction of mainland Greece. It appears to represent Epeiros in the years ca. 380–360 B.C. In Illyria, Epidamnos and Apollonia are listed as Greek cities (πόλεις Ἑλληνίδες). Orikos is identified as a polis located within the territory of an Illyrian city, Amantia. After Illyria, the text lists Chaonia."; Funke, Moustakis & Hochschulz 2004, p. 342; Shehi 2015, p. 289; Zindel et al. 2018, p. 346; Malcolm 2020, p. 350: "Orikum, on the south-western side of the Bay of Dukat (below the Bay of Vlorë), is close to the site of the Illyrian and Roman port of Oricum."; Morton 2017, p. 15: "The 200 BC Roman campaign was not only an extension of the First Macedonian War politically, but topographically as well, as it concerned the same Illyrian ports of Apollonia, Corcyra, and Oricum. However, Roman concern with these Illyrian ports had not begun with the First Macedonian War, but in fact had been a Roman military concern since the First Illyrian War in 229 BC. In 200 BC, the Roman army returned to Illyrian territory that Rome had been fighting to control and protect periodically for the past 30 years. However, the Romans now led a land army further inland than they ever had before."; Katz 2016, p. 421: "Oricos: Illyrian port, on Epirus' border."; Bereti et al. 2013, p. 98: "With regard to the site's nature the literary sources are unanimous: from the 5th cent. on: Orikos is considered to be among the prime maritime harbours, the safest in the region.12 No doubt thanks to its size and to its proximity to the Italian coast it becomes the main bridge-head for the Romans during the Illyrian and Macedonian wars."; Shpuza 2014, p. 59: "De tout temps situé aux confins de provinces, Orikos s'est trouvé pendant la période hellé-nistique sur la frontière entre l'Épire et l'Illyrie ; également pendant la période romaine, où la ville constitue la limite entre les provinces de Macédoine et d'Achaïe, puis, plus tard, au II e s. apr. J.-C., entre la Macédoine et la nouvelle province de l'Épire qui se sépare de l'Achaïe. C'est aussi là qu'ilest convenu de placer la limite entre la mer Adriatique et la mer Ionienne."; Shpuza & Cipa 2021, p. 114: "Politiquement, le territoire d'Orikos se situait à la frontière entre l'Épire et l'Illyrie (fig.3), le col de Llogara étant le seul point de passage terrestre entre ces deux régions."; Shpuza 2022b, p. 553: "Cette po-sition frontalière a probablement occasionné des malentendus parmi les auteurs anciens sur son po-sitionnement en Illyrie ou en Épire. Cependant, tous ceux qui connaissent la géographie imaginent mal que le territoire d' Épire puisse aller au-delà des Monts Cérauniens, qui représentent une frontière naturelle difficilement franchissable. D'après les données à notre disposition, Orikos n'a fait partie de l'Épire que pendant le Royaume de Pyrrhos au début du 3e siècle avant J.C."; Eckstein 2008, p. 421: "Oricum (Greek town on Adriatic)".
  2. ^ Tusa 2010, p. 8
  3. ^ Cabanes 2008, p. 164.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Përzhita was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kirigin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Zindel et al. 2018, p. 346.
  7. ^ Meta 2019, p. 126.
  8. ^ Funke, Moustakis & Hochschulz 2004, p. 347.
  9. ^ Hernandez 2010, p. 51.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Winnifrith was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Shipley 2019, pp. 62, 115, 117; Jaupaj 2019, pp. 15, 88; Hernandez 2017, pp. 257–258
  12. ^ Shpuza & Cipa 2021, p. 115.
  13. ^ Shpuza 2022b, p. 553: "Cette po-sition frontalière a probablement occasionné des malentendus parmi les auteurs anciens sur son po-sitionnement en Illyrie ou en Épire. Cependant, tous ceux qui connaissent la géographie imaginent mal que le territoire d' Épire puisse aller au-delà des Monts Cérauniens, qui représentent une frontière naturelle difficilement franchissable. D'après les données à notre disposition, Orikos n'a fait partie de l'Épire que pendant le Royaume de Pyrrhos au début du 3e siècle avant J.C."
  14. ^ Stephens 2011, p. 203
  15. ^ Ivetic 2022, p. 44.
  16. ^ Morton 2017, p. 15: "The 200 BC Roman campaign was not only an extension of the First Macedonian War politically, but topographically as well, as it concerned the same Illyrian ports of Apollonia, Corcyra, and Oricum. However, Roman concern with these Illyrian ports had not begun with the First Macedonian War, but in fact had been a Roman military concern since the First Illyrian War in 229 BC. In 200 BC, the Roman army returned to Illyrian territory that Rome had been fighting to control and protect periodically for the past 30 years. However, the Romans now led a land army further inland than they ever had before."
  17. ^ Burton 2017, pp. 24–25: "In late summer, 214, Philip raided the Illyrian coast with 120 lemboi, attacking and taking Oricum and laying siege to Apollonia. The Roman propraetor in charge of the fleet, M. Valerius Laevinus, quickly recovered Oricum and sent a detachment of troops to Apollonia, which easily slipped into the city by night. Another night attack, this time on the Macedonian camp near Apollonia, followed."
  18. ^ Eckstein 2008, p. 86: "Indeed, Laevinus' intervention was a highly risky operation, coming at a point when the two best harbors on a difficult coast were already denied to the Roman fleet (Oricum in Philip's hands; Apollonia besieged by the Macedonians). But the reason given for Laevinus' crossing to Illyria is explicit: Oricum and Apollonia would be good bases for an attack upon Italy (Livy 24.40.5)."
  19. ^ Hernandez 2010, p. 71.
  20. ^ De Mitri 2020, p. 197
  21. ^ Shpuza 2014, p. 59: "De tout temps situé aux confins de provinces, Orikos s'est trouvé pendant la période hellé-nistique sur la frontière entre l'Épire et l'Illyrie ; également pendant la période romaine, où la ville constitue la limite entre les provinces de Macédoine et d'Achaïe, puis, plus tard, au II e s. apr. J.-C.,entre la Macédoine et la nouvelle province de l'Épire qui se sépare de l'Achaïe. C'est aussi là qu'ilest convenu de placer la limite entre la mer Adriatique et la mer Ionienne."
  22. ^ Shpuza 2022a, pp. 24–25; Longhurst 2016, pp. 132–134
  23. ^ Hernandez 2010, p. 31.
  24. ^ Shpuza 2022a, p. 64.

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