Dimale

Dimale or Dimallum (Ancient Greek: Διμάλη or Διμάλλον, Latin: Dimallum) was a town in southern Illyria in classical antiquity which was situated in the vicinity or within the territory of the Parthini, 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. It is located in today Krotinë, Berat County, Albania.[1]

Dimale
Διμάλη
Shown within Albania
Alternative nameΔιμάλλον, Dimallum
LocationKrotinë, Berat County, Albania
RegionIllyria
Coordinates
TypeSettlement
History
PeriodsIron Age, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman
CulturesIllyrian, Greek, Roman
Site notes
OwnershipPublic

The Illyrian settlement was fortified in the 4th century BC. In the Hellenistic period (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 and the building of several stoas, a temple, and a theater, showing a significant influence of the Ancient Greek culture on the local Illyrian inhabitants. Manufacturing and materials seem to witness an intense exchange with nearby Apollonia.[2]

The fortified town of Dimale was regarded as impenetrable by Illyrians.[3] It was involved in the Second Roman-Illyrian War[4] and the First Roman-Macedonian War.[5]

Name

The place name Dimallum belongs to the southeast Dalmatian onomastic area of Illyrian.[6] It is a compound of di + mal. The root mal – is reflected in many ancient Balkan (Illyrian or Thracian) toponyms such as Malontum, Maloventum, Malontina, Dacia Maluensis etc.[7][8] The Illyrian toponym Dimallum is related to Albanian di-male, meaning "two mountains", with the Proto-Albanian form reconstructed as mol-no.[8]

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.[9][10] However physical architectural remains of this period have not been preserved.[11] The Illyrian settlement seems to have included initially only a small inhabited area on the hill, which was fortified in the 4th century BC,[12][10] representing one of the proto-urban centres that were established in the hinterland of southern Illyria (today Albania), especially during the developed Iron Age. 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.[13]

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 stoas, a temple, and a theater were built, showing a significant influence of the Ancient Greek culture on the local Illyrian inhabitants.[14]

The hypothesis proposed by N.G.L. Hammond, according to which Dimale was possibly founded by King Pyrrhus of Epirus, or by settlers from the nearby Greek colony of Apollonia, is considered completely outdated by recent studies.[15] According to M. B. Hatzopoulos, the non-Greek name of the city, the lack of any Greek founding legends associated with it and the mixed (colonial Greek, Greek from Epirus, non-Greek) onomastics of its inhabitants, suggest that Dimale had not a Greek character from the beginning, being originally a settlement of the Illyrian Parthini, which was Hellenized under the influence of the Epirote state and Apollonia.[16] Although the city is frequently linked with the Parthini in various ancient sources, it was never explicitly stated to be a city of that tribe.[17]

Roman period

Dimale appears in ancient sources of the Roman period that describes the wars involving the Roman Republic. During the Second Illyrian War in 219 BC, Demetrius of Pharos, after expelling all his opponents from Dimale, fortified the city against an imminent Roman 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) with Rome.[4] During the First Macedonian war, in 213 or 212 BC, Philip V of Macedon managed to take control of the city[18] 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 Phoenice (Treaty of Phoenice) the same year.[19]

Findings and organization

The identification of the site of Krotinë with the ancient Illyrian city became possible thanks to the discovery of ancient tiles stamped with the word DIMALLITAN (Greek: ΔΙΜΑΛΛΙΤΑΝ).[20][21] 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 name of the polis is written in the Northwest Doric form Διμάλλας, Dimallas, while the name of the ethnicon is written in the genitive plural Διμαλλίταν, Dimallitan.[21]

Epigraphy in Dimale mentions a number of Greek offices[17] such as prytanis, grammateus and phylarchos as well as a single dedication to Phoebus.[22] The city hosted a number of monuments, typical of the ancient Greek architectural style, such as a stoa.[17] The indication of the office of phylarchos, also attested at Epidamnos, 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.[23] 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.[24]

See also

References
  1. Muka & Heinzelmann 2014, p. 223; Lasagni 2019, p. 64; Jaupaj 2019, p. 194; Christ 1974, p. 290; Bengtson 2009, p. 399; Kaffka 2007, p. 10; Wilkes 1992, p. 133; Gruen 1986, p. 381; Winnifrith 2002, p. 33; Stipčević 1974, p. 99; Hatzopoulos 1997, pp. 145; Šašel Kos 2005, p. 406.
  2. Lasagni 2019, p. 65; Muka & Heinzelmann 2012, p. 390.
  3. Stipčević 1974, p. 53: "Demetrus took refuge in the fortified town of Dimallum. The Illyrians had regarded Dimallum as impregnable, and this was precisely the reason why the Romans had decided to attack it.
  4. Errington 1989, pp. 92–93.
  5. Errington 1989, pp. 98, 104.
  6. De Simone 2018, p. 1869
  7. Doçi 2008, p. 718
  8. Illyés 1992, p. 220: "mal: "shore, bank, edge." Thracian toponym Malua, Dacia Maluensis, translated to Dacia Ripensis, also Illyrian Malontum, Dimallum, cf., Alb. Dimale, "two mountains." The ancient Albanian form is reconstructed as *mol-no; modern Alb. mal, "mountain," Romanian mal, "bank, mountain"."
  9. Dautaj 2009, p. 281: "Emërtimi qeramikë e pikturuar helenistike e Dimalit, në një farë mënyre, nënkupton vazhdimësinë e saj nga periudhat e mëparshme, konkretisht të qeramikës së pikturuar para dhe protourbane ilire, me të cilën ka mjaft dukuri e pika takimi, natyrisht me risi e novatorizëm në kushtet e zhvillimit të gjithanshëm të jetës urbane në periudhën helenistike."
  10. Muka & Heinzelmann 2012, p. 390: "Në përmbledhje të rezultateve të dy fushatave arkeologjike, krijohet një panoramë më e plotë rreth Dimalit: vendbanimi ilir duket të ketë qenë banuar fillimisht gjatë shek. V-IV p.e. sonë, në një sipërfaqe më të vogël, të përqendruar kryesisht në kodrën e akropolit, e cila u fortifikua në shek. IV p.e. sonë."
  11. Muka & Heinzelmann 2014, p. 228.
  12. Lasagni 2019, p. 65: "l'insediamento illirico venne fortificato nel IV sec. a.C.; nel periodo III-II sec. a.C. la città conobbe il suo floruit, accompagnato da un'intensa attività urbanistica: a questa fase risale, tra le altre cose, l'edificazione di una nuova cinta muraria e del teatro; lavorazioni e materiali sembrano testimoniare un intenso scambio con la vicina Apollonia."
  13. Papadopoulos 2016, p. 440.
  14. Muka & Heinzelmann 2012, p. 390: "Zhvillimi dhe begatia e qytetit shënohen gjatë shek. III-II p.Kr., periudhë gjatë së cilës fotifikimi i parë i akropolit braktiset dhe në vend të tij qyteti fortifikohet me një mur të ri, i cili përfshin tashmë gjithë kodrën e Dimalit. Gjatë kësaj periudhe, qyteti vuri në dispozicion burime të mjaftueshme financiare për të ndërmarrë një program ndërtimesh me karakter shoqëror dhe religjioz, përfshirë këtu ndërtimin e disa stoave, një tempulli dhe një teatri. Gjithë këto ndërtime dëshmojnë për një gjurmë të konsiderueshme që kultura helene ka lënë tek banorët vendas ilirë."
  15. Lasagni 2019, p. 65: "È da considerarsi del tutto superata l'ipotesi, avanzata da Hammond 1968, 14-15, che Dimalla fosse una polis di origine greca, fondata sotto Pirro con un contingente di coloni da Apollonia"
  16. Hatzopoulos 1997, pp. 145
  17. Hatzopoulos 1997, pp. 144
  18. Errington 1989, p. 98.
  19. Errington 1989, p. 104.
  20. Wilkes 1992, p. 133: "The location of Dimale (or Dimallum), a settlement in the territory of the Parthini, at Krotinc west of Berat, depends on tiles stamped DIMALLITAN (in Greek)."
  21. Lasagni, p. 64: "La città illirica di Dimalla (o Dimale), identificata nell’odierna Krotinë/Berat, a nordovest di Apollonia, ha restituito un insieme di documenti epigrafici costituito per la stragrande maggioranza di bolli su tegole databili tra III e II sec. a.C., e da alcune iscrizioni su pietra. Tra i primi, si segnalano in particolare una serie di bolli relativi ad ateliers pubblici, alcuni recanti il nome della polis, ancora nella forma dorica-nordoccidentale Διμάλλας, altri recante l’etnico al genitivo plurale Διμαλλίταν, indicazioni che l’editore, B. Dautaj, suggeriva di interpretare come afferenti rispettivamente alla sola polis di Dimalla, da una parte, e al koinon dei Dimallitai, dall’altra." p. 74: "si vedano, quali esempi significativi, la compresenza delle scritte ΔΙΜΑΛΛΙΤΑΝ e ΔΙΜΑΛΛΑ negli stampi su tegola da Dimalla"
  22. Myrto 1998: "Dimale"
  23. Lasagni 2019, p. 65: "L’indicazione della carica del phylarchos, che abbiamo visto essere attestata a Epidamnos, implicherebbe che la città illirica di Dimalla avesse adottato in età ellenistica un sistema di phylai – quali che fossero le loro precise funzioni e composizione – sul modello delle vicine poleis corinzie. L’influenza economica e culturale delle poleis hellenides dell’area, e in particolare di Apollonia, sembra emergere dalla stessa indagine archeologica; ma, sul piano istituzionale, sembra difficile credere che la figura del phylarchos possa essere esistita a Dimalla provenendo da tale matrice.
  24. Jaupaj 2019, pp. 440–441

Bibliography
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