Thronion (Ancient Greek:Θρόνιον) was anAncient Greek city on the Illyrian coast, in theBay of Vlorë on the southernAdriatic Sea. Although the earliest contacts appear to have been more pre-colonial activity rather than permanent settlement, an ancient, still archaeologically unproven tradition claims that the city was founded as aLocrian–Euboeancolony on the fringes of the territory of theAmantes. Thronion was located to the south of the territory ofApollonia and in front of theAcroceraunian Mountains, the natural boundary between ancientEpirus andIllyria. Thronion was conquered by nearby Apollonia before 460 BCE.
Thronion has been identified with the site ofTriport northwest of present-dayVlorë,Albania, where a large fortified port-town that was inhabited from the 6th century BCE to the 2nd century CE is found now partially submerged.
The city was attested byAncient Greek epigraphy asΘρόνιον (Thronion), inscribed on a monument erected byApolloniates inOlympia,[1] as well as on an official inquiry of the oracle ofDodona.[2]
The Apollonian monument at Olympia was found by archaeologistEmil Kunze, but it was already documented by ancient geographerPausanias (2nd century CE), who mentioned Thronion as aLocrian–Euboean colony and calls it aπόλισμαpolisma.[3] Pausanias reported that the sculptor of the Apollonian monument was the AthenianLykios, son of Myron. If correct, this information would provide a further clue to the chronological dating of the monument, since Lykios has been probably active in the 440s and 430s.[4]
The city bears the same name asThronion, the chief city of theLocrians.[5]
Pausanias places Thronion in front of theAcroceraunian Mountains and on the fringes ofAbantis, which was the Hellenistic Greek interpretation ofAmantia,[6] the latter being attested byPseudo-Scylax (mid-4th century BCE) who located it in southern Illyria, corresponding to the hinterland of theBay of Vlorë.[7] The interpretation of the toponymAmantia asAbantia besides mythological stories has been rationalized by ancient authors as a part of a colonization of the area from Euboea,[5] which so far has not yet been proven by modern research.[8] Thronion most likely was located on the southern border of thechora of nearbyApollonia, which expanded its territorial control to the south after conquering Thronion around 450 BCE.[9]
The data from Pausanias and the Apollonian conquest of the city support the placement of the Euboean colony of Thronion on the coastal site ofTriport located northwest of Vlorë and in front of theAcroceraunian Mountains.[10][note 1] On this site a large fortified port-town that was inhabited from the 6th century BCE to the 2nd century CE is found, now partially submerged.[13] The site of Triport has been also identified with ancientAulon, which appeared in historial sources starting form the 2nd century CE. Those identifications are not in contradiction with each other. It has been suggested that a transfer of the ancient city has occurred from the site of Triport to the site of modern Vlorë.[14]
Admitting that Triport corresponds to Thronion, conquered by Apollonia in the 5th century BC, Apollonia's territory was close toOrikos, which would explain Orikos' probable imitation of an Apollonian coin type, intended to facilitate trade.[15]
The shores of theBay of Vlorë on the Illyrian coast, which are characterised by the best harbors, had already been occupied in early times, as implied by the fact thatCorinthians settled the site ofApollonia (around 600 BCE) and not the shores of the Bay.[16] During theGreek colonisation the coastal area of the Bay was settled byArchaic Greek colonists, who traditionally foundedOrikos, Thronion andAulon on those shores.[17] The hinterland of the bay was inhabited byIllyrians.[18]
Thronion was traditionally supposed to be founded as aLocrian–Euboean colony on the Illyrian coast.[19] According to part of the ancient literary tradition, the Euboeans were the firstcolonizers of theAdriatic Sea.Plutarch (1st–2nd centuries CE) alludes to an Euboean presence inKorkyra, andPseudo-Scymnus (2nd century BCE) attributes the founding ofOrikos, on the Illyrian coast at the southern end of theBay of Vlorë, to Euboean legendary heroes returning from the Trojan War. The same legend linked to thenostoi is taken up byPausanias (2nd century CE) about the region of Thronion, a city which was to have been founded by a group of Locrians andAbantes – theHomeric designation of the Euboeans – during their return from the Trojan conflict. The Euboean presence in the Adriatic, asserted by ancient literature but so far not corroborated by archaeological material, remains very problematic. Only more in-depth research in the field will be able to provide more precise answers about what appears to have been more pre-colonial contact than permanent settlement.[8] The populations of the area developed colonial myths which linked them to the legendary heroes returning from the Trojan War.[20] Thronion claimed descent from Greek heroes.[21] Based on this tradition the founding colonists named the settlement Thronion after theLocrian city located in Euboia and its region was named Abantis after the name used for Euboea by Homer.[22] It was probably nearbyApollonia, which identified itself with the Trojan side, that initiated the interpretation of the conflict between Trojans and Greeks, in contrapposition to the people of Thronion, the GreekAbantes, which were assimilated by homonymy to the localAmantes.[20] Pausanias' data have been compared with the information provided by anApollonian commemorative monument, suggesting an "oppositional ethnicity" between the Greek colonial associations of theBay of Aulon (i.e. the area calledAbantis), and the barbarians of the hinterland.[23]
Before 460 BCE a war was fought between Apollonia and Thronion.[24] Apolloniates won and conquered Thronion, and the conquerors were satisfied obtaining the fringes of the territory of theAmantes.[1] By conquering Thronion, the Apolloniates had achieved two goals: they had substantially enlarged their territory towards the Illyrian hinterland and had also acquired a profitable source of money.[25] It gave the Apolloniates control over the lower valley of theShushicë river, a tributary of theAoös (modern Vjosa), and consolidated their control over the sanctuary ofNymphaion and the area of the bitumen mines of present-daySelenicë, located to the east of the confluence of the Shushicë into the Aoös.[1] Through that expansion Apollonia benefitted from the exploitation of new fertile lands.[9] With the spoils of Thronion, the Apolloniates erected a monument atOlympia celebrating their victory and conquest.[1] This turn may have also been the result of Apollonia's increasing power towards nearby Epirote lands.[26]
After the Apollonian conquest of Thronion, the region experienced the development of indigenous proto-urban settlements into urban settlements, likeAmantia of theAmantes andNikaia of theBylliones, where polygonal walls and cyclopean ramparts were built around mid-5th century BCE.[27] Territorial modifications apparently took place in this sector during the 4th century BCE, with a withdrawal of Apollonia onto its previous domain.[14]
The wealth of Thronion may have derived in part from control of the bitumen mines around present-daySelenica, until the Apollonian conquest of the city before 460 BCE.[28]
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
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