Amantia or Abantia was an ancient Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 polis in Epirus

Epirus

The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...

. It occupied an important defensive position above the Aoos river valley to the east, and on the road to the coast and the Bay of Vlorë

Vlorë

Vlorë is one of the biggest towns and the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës, with a population of about 94,000 . It is the city where the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on November 28, 1912...

. A Greek temple

Greek temple

Greek temples were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in Greek paganism. The temples themselves did usually not directly serve a cult purpose, since the sacrifices and rituals dedicated to the respective deity took place outside them...

, the Aphrodite

Aphrodite

Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....

 temple, a theatre, and a stadium

Stadium

A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...

 have also been found in the city. The name for its civilians was Amantieus .

History

According to Pausanias

Pausanias (geographer)

Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...

, the settlement was founded by Locrians

Locrians

The Locrians were an ancient Greek tribe in Greece. The Locrians spoke the Locrian dialect, a Doric-Northwest dialect, which indicates that they may have been relatives of the Dorians. They inhabited the ancient region of Locris in Central Greece....

 from nearby Thronium

Thronium

Thronion or Thronium was an ancient Greek city of the Euboian-Lokrians in Epirus. It is believed to lie somewhere to the south of Vlorë, between the Shushicë River and the sea....

 and Abantes

Abantes

The Abantes were an ancient Ionian tribe. Their home was Euboea.- Origins :Aristotle of Chalcis states that the Abantes were Thracians from Abae in Phokis...

 from Euboea

Euboea

Euboea is the second largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. The narrow Euripus Strait separates it from Boeotia in mainland Greece. In general outline it is a long and narrow, seahorse-shaped island; it is about long, and varies in breadth from to...

. Stephanus Byzantius similarly attributes the foundation to Euboean Abantes "returning from the Trojan war". Hesychius

Hesychius

Hesychius , may refer to:*Hesychius of Alexandria, lexicographer*St. Hesychius of Cazorla, saint, martyr, and bishop*Hesychius of Jerusalem, presbyter and exegete*Hesychius of Sinai, hieromonk and Byzantine author*Hesychius of Antioch...

 states that it was an Epirote settlement. The city's foundation legend had Elpenor

Elpenor

In Greek mythology, Elpenor was a comrade of Odysseus.-The story:Elpenor was not especially notable for his intelligence or strength, but he survived the Trojan War, and appears in the Odyssey. He is the youngest man to survive the Laestrygonians...

, who actually dies at Troy, acting as a nostos

Nostos

Nostos is the Greek word for homecoming. It is a theme dealt with in many Homeric writings such as the Odyssey, in which the main character, Odysseus, strives to get home after the Trojan War...

 and leading the colonists. Their political leaders had titles like prytanis and grammateus . The town was surrounded with a walled enclosure roughly 2,100m long. A large fort was built with two gates and two defensive towers in the north.

Its name was mentioned for the first time in the 4th century BC. It is situated on the slope of a high hill and had only its acropolis

Acropolis

Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...

fortified. By the 3rd century BC, the town was strengthened economically and minted its own coins.