have been able to hold a hundred ships at a time. The city also benefited from the local supply of asphalt which was a valuable commodity in ancient times, for example for caulking ships. The remains of a late sixth-century temple, located just outside the city, were reported in 2006; it is only the fifth known stone temple found in present-day Albania. Later in the Hellenistic period the economy of Apollonia adopted a more dispersed farmstead approach. Whether this expansion was the result of conquest, expansion, assimilation of local indigenous groups or cooperation between colonists and indigenous groups this is unclear. The city was for a time included among the dominions of Pyrrhus of Epirus. Roman period In 229 BC, it came under the control of the Roman Republic, to which it was firmly loyal. In the Fourth Macedonian War, the praetor Lucius Anicius Gallus who led the Roman campaign to defeat the Illyrian ruler Gentius was based in Apollonia with Roman troops and 2,000 infantry and 200 cavalry from the Illyrian tribe of the Parthini led by tribal leaders Epicadus and Algalsus.a part of the captured fleet of Gentiues was presented to the people of Apollonia after the war. It is possible that by the 3rd century BC, Apollonia's colonial character changed or was lost as a high proportion of Illyrians in highly ranked positions began to emerge. Another possible reason of admixture was Apollonia's growth and territorial expansion, with the incorporation of additional Greek colonists at a later era, though they probably did not enjoy full citizenship privileges. In 148 BC, Apollonia became part of the Roman province of Macedonia, specifically of Epirus Nova. In the Roman Civil War between Pompey and Julius Caesar, it supported the latter, but fell to Marcus Junius Brutus in 48 BC. Gaius Octavius later known as Augustus studied in Apollonia in 44 BC under the tutelage of Athenodorus of Tarsus; it was there that he received news of Caesar's murder. The city received a series of privileges by Gaius Octavius which reaffirmed its oligarchic institutions, which were seen favorably by the emerging power structure in Rome. Apollonia flourished under Roman rule and was noted by Cicero in his Philippicae as magna urbs et gravis, a great and important city. Christianity was established in the city at an early stage, and bishops from Apollonia were present during the First Council of Ephesus (431)