The Roman Empire owes many of its achievements to the many Illyrian (Albanian) emperors that have pave the rode for mighty Rome.

Apollonia

The ancient city of Apollonia serves as a living relic of the antiquated history of the Albanian people.  The city holds the ruins of an ancient Greek colony.  The historic site stands as a memento of the strong Dorian influence in Greek Culture, since the type of columns on this structure were later named Doric, after the Dorians.  The famous site has been mentioned among Shakespeare's immortal plays.

-The conversion of most of the modern world into Christianity, can be accredited to Constantine the Great, the Roman Emperor who made the switch on his death bed.  Constantine came from the province of Rome known as Illyria.

-Of the vast empire formed by
Alexander the Great, a small area, known as Illirium was not conquered, just like Macedon, where Alexander supposedly originated.  Alexander could not possibly conquer his own homeland.

-The Dorian Civilization was one of the first civilizations in the Balkans, originating in northern Greece, or Albania.  The Dorian's were the only civilization to conquer the Greeks, except for the Romans.  Yet, the Dorian success so early in history effected much of the Greek society for years to come.

APOLLONIA

     Not many nations can boast about an ancient and extremely antique history.  Most can relate their beginnings as migrations from other continents or places, but not Albania.  When an Albanian is asked how and from where their people originated they have no answer.  And this is because Albanians are maybe the oldest people to occupy the Mediterranean region, and maybe one of the oldest cultures in world history.  They did not migrate or arrive from somewhere else, they just existed in the area known as the Balkans.  This in itself, guarantees and intricate and eloquent history that is sometimes passed over by many history books. 
     In the dark and solemn days of the wondrous lands, which would later be called the Balkans, there existed two people.  One, that would later be known as the Greek people, and the other, the men that would form the nation of Albania.  For centuries these two cultures would have many periods of cultural exchange and of cultural strife.  There has been a distinction between the two very early on though.  The Albanian, or Illyrian people, have been known to be as brute soldiers with strong features, and the Greeks, on the other hand as the eloquent philosophers.  We are not attempting to change this fact.  Albanians were warriors.  But many times, they are not even given credit for the war-like and conquering geniuses it once produced.  These men consist of people like Alexander the Great, Constantine the Great, Justinian, Dioclatian, and so on.  And through the many conquerors, there have also escaped men like Aristotle.  In this classical world, the lives of men were based around similar things.  This accounts for the many works published in Greek or Latin.  Yet, every time a notable person has come from a Northern Greece, he has come from Illirium, and there is no denying that.

Photo Credits.  Apollonia: http://albanian.com/main/albania/places/apollonia.html

| home | disclaimer | contact us | history chat | light a candle