Ricerc@Sapienza

This paper is focused on providing a general overview of the Hellenistic fortified sites of ancient Chaonia, Epirus. It provides both an overview of the building techniques and formal aesthetics and a more general consideration of their role and function in the context of the historical landscape, which is conditioned to a considerable extent by their monumentality. While the lack of archaeological field-research is a strong bias for the definition of their chronology and function, some considerations can nonetheless be put forward, with the awareness that further research will hopefully reshape the overall picture.