Nicaea or Nikaia was an ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 city in the region of Illyria

Illyria

In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....

.

History

Nicaea is located 1500 meters south of Byllis or near Fier

Fier

Fieri is a city in southwest Albania, in the district and county of the same name. It is located at , and has a population of 82,297 . Fier is from the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Apollonia.-History :...

. Stephanus of Byzantium

Stephanus of Byzantium

Stephen of Byzantium, also known as Stephanus Byzantinus , was the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica...

 calls it a polis

Polis

Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...

. It was too large to a be a kome and had walled fortifications in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The city plan resembles that of another Greek city, Amantia

Amantia

Amantia or Abantia was an ancient Greek polis in Epirus. 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. A Greek temple, the Aphrodite temple, a theatre, and a stadium have also been found in the city...

. As a 2nd century BC inscription indicates (Σώστρατος...Βυλλίων απο Νίκαιας), the city was a member of the Koinon

Koinon

Koinon , meaning "common" and interpreted as "commonwealth", "league" or "federation" were a number of associations of cities in ancient and early modern Greek history. The various federations termed Koinon were:...

of the Bylliones. The corpus of names found in Nikaia is Greek, (Alexander, Andriscus, Archelaus, Kebbas, Maketa, Machatas, Nikanor, Peukolaos, Phalakros, Philotas, Drimakos and Alexommas) with very few Illyrian names.

A Hellenistic inscription records a strategos eponymos a general of the Koinon of the Bylliones. This Koinon of the Bylliones did not refer to an ethnos

Ethnos

Ethnos may refer to:*Ethnic group*Ethnos...

, but to the coalition of Byllis and Nikaia to which it was restricted. Byllis

Byllis

Byllis was an ancient city located in the region of Illyria. The remains of Byllis are situated north-east of Vlorë, 25 kilometers from the sea in Hekal, Mallakastër District, Albania....

 considered Nikaia to be one of its deme

Deme

In Ancient Greece, a deme or demos was a subdivision of Attica, the region of Greece surrounding Athens. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, but did not acquire particular significance until the reforms of Cleisthenes in...

s. Inscriptions at both Byllis

Byllis

Byllis was an ancient city located in the region of Illyria. The remains of Byllis are situated north-east of Vlorë, 25 kilometers from the sea in Hekal, Mallakastër District, Albania....

and Nikaia begin in the middle of the 4th century BC and are both in ancient Greek, as are institutions and the gods worshiped.