A Micocosm of Mediterranean Archaeology	"In the Footsteps of Aeneas: Five Years at Butrint" January 14, 2000

Greek theater (Courtesy Richard Hodges)

The history of Butrint resembles that of many great ports dotted around the Mediterranean. Its hilltop, situated close the the seaways, was first occupied in the Late Bronze Age, long after the Trojan exiles may have settled in these parts. By the sixth century B.C. the hill was fortified; by the fourth century it had expanded to the foot of the hill where, within massive new defences, the community built a fine theater fit to accommodate 5,000 people at ceremonies, festivals, and plays. The theater itself was located beside a processional way that terminated at a sacred fountain, celebrated for its curative powers. Historians argue whether Butrint in these centuries was a Chaonian tribal city or a Corfiot colony. In either case it was a notable port on the Adriatic seaway. Three centuries later the port was caught up in the Roman civil war between Caesar and Pompey. Unfortunately it sided with Pompey, and after Caesar's victory in 44 B.C. he designated it a colony for his veterans. One local landowner, T. Pomponius Atticus, was most put out, and lobbied his friend Cicero to reverse the decision in the senate. Cicero's lobbying and Caesar's assassination made no difference. Great reclamation works proceeded, and the town expanded beyond the Greek walls onto an apron of low-lying land beside the channel. Before long a suburb had taken shape on the reclaimed land on the south side of the channel. Indeed, it seems that the Romans drained the land, divided it up into centuriated parcels for the veterans, and constructed a major aqueduct from the springs six kilometers away. Three centuries passed quietly before, in the fifth century, with the ascendency of Constantinople, this port at the fulcrum of the Mediterranean trade-routes began to enjoy a period of great prosperity. Notwithstanding Gothic incursions into the region, a new palace was constructed beside the waterfront. Then, during the reign of the emperor Justinian, a new cathedral was erected beside the bridge into the city. Close to it a large baptistry was constructed with a magnificent mosaic pavement. Butrint's prowess at this moment can be measured by its new defensive walls, which enclosed the entire town with an inner circuit around its citadel.

The sixth-century basilica (Courtesy Richard Hodges) [LARGER IMAGE]

On the eve of the Slavic invasions of the Balkans, Butrint was at its apogee. Our new excavations in collaboration with the Institute of Archaeology, concentrated principally at the Byzantine palace beside the Butrint canal and around the Byzantine baptistry, show that trade with Constantinople and southern Italy remained a vital element of the town's life until the 620s. But by the 650s, like every Adriatic port, its population had largely disappeared, and not until the tenth century did it begin to regain its urban complexion. Its subsequent history, like that of its near neighbor, Corfu, illustrates the importance of this sea corridor for the ever-changing history of great Mediterranean powers. In 1084, the burgeoning Byzantine port was saved from capture by the Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard when the emperor Alexius Comnenus deployed his entire fleet in Butrint's bay to beat off the invaders. But once Constantinople was taken by the crusaders in 1204, ports like Butrint were vulnerable. First the Venetians, then local despots, then the Angevins, then the Byzantine forces, and finally the Venetians once more took control of the port. A new western harbor, as well as several castles and refurbished defenses bear witness to its prosperity up until 1453, when Ottoman forces under Ceniz Ziberi besieged it. The Venetians successfully resisted, but the omens were not good. Three generations later, in August 1537, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent arrived at Butrint, and the Venetian castellan surrendered. From this bridgehead Suleiman embarked on a plan to build a three-kilometer-long bridge of boats across the Straits of Corfu. Crossing with his army, he devastated much of the island, but the Venetian fortress at the town of Corfu thwarted his siege. With these events, trapped on the frontier of an Ottoman world at odds with Western Christendom, the port passed into oblivion as a place of refuge for the likes of Casanova and for hunters and painters.

The Discovery of Butrint	A Microcosm of Albania's History 1993-1998

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