Byllis

• a town in Grecian Illyria, Caes. B. C. 3, 40; Cic. Phil. 11, 11, 26.—
• II Derivv.
• • A Bullĭdenses, Caes. B. C. 3, 12; 3, 40.—
  • B Bullien-ses, Cic. Pis. 40, 96.—
  • C Bulliōnes, Cic. Fam. 13, 42, 1 (others, Bullĭdenses).—
  • D Bulĭōnes, um, m., Plin. 3, 23, 26, § 145.—
• E. Bullīni, the inhabitants of Byllis, Liv. 44, 30, 10.

BYLLIS [BULLIS]

Identified by a Latin inscription cut in rock. It lies on the right bank of the lower Aous on the hill of Gradisht, which is fortified with a circuit wall ca. 2000 m long. The remains of two theaters are visible as well as remains of the agora and a gymnasium; another fortification wall separates the higher part of the site. A limestone statue of a comic actor from Byllis is in the Museum at Valona; funerary reliefs have been found, and a rock-niche contains a dedication to Dionysos. The remains are of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and the main Roman road up the Aous valley passed below the site. The city was the capital of the Bylliones, who issued money.

C. Patsch, “Das Sandschak Berat in Albanien,” Schriften der Balkankommission, Antiquarische Abteilung, III (1904) 102ff; C. Praschniker, “Muzakhia und Malakastra,” JOAI 21-22 (1922-24) Beiblatt 68ff; P. C. Sestieri in Rivista d'Albania 4, 47ff; N.G.L. Hammond, Epirus (1967) 225ff.