Dardania (/dɑːrˈdeɪniə/;Latin:Dardania;Ancient Greek:Δαρδανία) in the CentralBalkans, initially an unofficial region inMoesia (87–284), and then a province administratively part of theDiocese of Moesia (293–337). It was named after the tribe of theDardani who inhabited the region in classical antiquity before the Roman conquest. During the lateImperial period the Dardanian territory was the homeland of manyRoman emperors, notablyConstantine the Great andJustinian I.[1]
Dardania is named after the Dardani, a tribe that lived in the region and formed theKingdom of Dardania in the 4th century BC. The eastern parts of the region were at theThraco-Illyrian contact zone. In archaeological research, Illyrian names are predominant in western Dardania (present-day Kosovo), while Thracian names are mostly found in eastern Dardania (present-day south-eastern Serbia). Thracian names are absent in western Dardania; some Illyrian names appear in the eastern parts. The correspondence of Illyrian names - including those of the ruling elite - in Dardania with those of the southern Illyrians suggests a "thracianization" of parts of Dardania.[2]Celts were present in Dardania in 279 BC.[3]
In 179 BC, theBastarnae conquered the Dardani, who later, in 174, pushed them out in a war that proved catastrophic, and, a few years later, in 170 BC, the Macedonians defeated the Dardani.[4] Macedonia and Illyria became Roman protectorates in 168 BC.[5] TheScordisci, a tribe of Celtic origin, most likely subdued the Dardani in the mid-2nd century BC, after which there is for a long time no mention of the Dardani.[6] In 97 BC, the Dardani are mentioned again, defeated by the Macedonian Roman army.[7] Dardanian slaves or freedmen at the time of the Roman conquest were clearly ofPaleo-Balkan origin, according to their personal names,[8] noted as being mostly of the "Central-Dalmatian type".[9] Dardania wasRomanized early on.[8] The Roman province of Dardania contained some Roman towns and several large estates, but it was far from being Romanized.[10]
After the Roman conquest, the pre-Roman Dardania was organized into theMoesia province.[11] During the reign ofDomitian (81–96), in 86, Moesia was subdivided into Upper and Lower Moesia (Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior).[12] The old name of Dardania was used for a new province part of Moesia Superior.[13]Ptolemy (100–170) calls Dardania a special district of Moesia Superior.[14]
TheDiocese of Moesia was adiocese established by EmperorDiocletian (r. 284–305). During his reign, the diocese included 11 provinces, one of which was Dardania.[15] Dardania and Moesia Prima were established by dividing them from Moesia Superior, probably under Diocletian.[15] During[14] or likely after[15] emperorConstantine I (r. 306–337),Dacia Mediterranea was created out of parts of Dardania and Thrace.[15][14] The two new dioceses, Moesia andDacia, were grouped into the newpraetorian prefecture of Illyricum in the second half of the 4th century, which essentially covered the same area as the earlier Diocese of Moesia.[16]
Little is known regarding Christianity in the Balkans in the first centuries AD.[17] Bishop Dacus of Macedonia, from Dardania, was present at theFirst Council of Nicaea (325).[18]
In 535, emperorJustinian I (527-565) created theArchbishopric of Justiniana Prima as a regional primacy with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over all provinces of theDiocese of Dacia, including the province ofDardania.[19]
According to theExpositio totius mundi (ca. 350), Dardania supplied Macedonia with cheese and lard.[20]
The main centres of Roman Dardania wereScupi (Skopje),Naissus (Niš) andUlpiana (Lipjan).[8] At the time of Moesia Superior, the towns in Dardania included Scupi, Naissus, Ulpiana,Therranda,Vicianum,Vindenis,Velanis,Dardapara,Quemedava,Diocletiana,Sintia,Meria andDamastion.
The Romans occupied Naissos (Latin:Naissus) during the "Dardanian War" (75–73 BC) and set up a legionary camp.[21] The city (calledrefugia andvici in pre-Roman relation), because of its strategic position (Thracians were based to the south[21]), developed as an importantgarrison and market town of Moesia Superior.[22] The Romans also founded a mining town namedmunicipium Dardanicum.[23]
The area remained part of the Eastern Roman,Byzantine Empire, after the Eastern–Western Roman split in the 5th century.[24]Procopius (500–560) used the old Roman provinces to describe the geography of the Balkans. According toBuildings of Justinian IV, there were 8 new and 61 restored fortifications in Dardania.[25] Dardania was a region in which Justinian's restoration process was predominant.[26] In 518, an earthquake devastated Dardania, followed by famine that killed much of the population and weakened the Empire's defences.[26] According to Florin Curta, a small number of Slavs (Sclaveni andAntes) migrated to the Balkans in the 6th century.[27]
Whether the Dardanians were an Illyrian or a Thracian people has been much debated and one view suggests that the area was originally populated with Thracians who then exposed to direct contact with Illyrians over a long period. [..] The meaning of this state of affairs has been variously interpreted, ranging from notions of Thracianization' (in part) of an existing Illyrian population to the precise opposite. In favour of the latter may be the close correspondence of Illyrian names in Dardania with those of the southern 'real' Illyrians to their west, including the names of Dardanian rulers, Longarus, Bato, Monunius, and Etuta, and those on later epitaphs, Epicadus, Scerviaedus, Tuta, Times, and Cinna.
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