SULLE ORME DI ENEA. PASCOLI, LAGHI E CITTÀ D’EPIRO: LE VIE D’ACCESSO A BUTRINTO

Abstract

The landscape of the ancient Epirus was characterised by mountains covered with grasslands that fell suddenly to the coast,
where natural harbours and coastal lagoons could be encountered. In this context, cities began to develop from the Hellenistic
period onwards, establishing an ever-changing dialogue between the urban landscape and its surroundings. Those who travelled
through the area crossed a landscape dominated by uncultivated land to gain access to walled settlements built scenically on steep
hillsides. To enter Butrint, for example, it was necessary first to cross a salt lagoon and then to land at the foot of the Acropolis. This
is the route followed by Aeneas who, in the Virgilian tradition, visits Butrint where he encounters a new Troy and another Scea
Gate. But the boundary between cities and their surroundings, in a dynamic landscape such as coastal Epirus, changes considerably
over time. After the Roman conquest, the cities invaded the reclaimed plain and were included in a network of roads that ran from
the land into the settlements, opening up privileged routes to the heart of the monumental centres. The city walls were bypassed by
urban expansion and the entrances were restructured, as in Butrint, now accessible by land thanks to a road that crosses the lagoon
on the arches of an aqueduct, reaching the forum of the Roman colony.

Keywords: Ancient Epirus, Butrint, Landscape Archaeology.