.png) By the 3rd century the location of the Dardani had resolved itself into theKingdom of Dardania, which is shown in red. The solid lines give modern borders:Republic of Kosovo in the center,Serbia across the north,North Macedonia across the south,Albania to the SW, andMontenegro to the NW. | |
| Languages | |
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| Palaeo-Balkan language group |
TheDardani (/ˈdɑːrdənaɪ/;Ancient Greek:Δαρδάνιοι, Δάρδανοι;Latin:Dardani) orDardanians were aPaleo-Balkan people, who lived in a region that was namedDardania after their settlement there.[1][2] They were among the oldest Balkan peoples, and their society was very complex.[3] The Dardani were the most stable and conservative ethnic element among the peoples of the central Balkans, retaining an enduring presence in the region for several centuries.[4][5]
Ancient tradition considered the Dardani as anIllyrian people.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]Strabo, in particular – also mentioningGalabri andThunatae as Dardanian tribes – describes the Dardani as one of the three strongest Illyrian peoples, the other two being theArdiaei andAutariatae.[13][14] As Dardanians had followed their own peculiar geographical, social and political development inDardania, some ancient sources also distinguish them from those Illyrians dwelling in the central and southern coast of the easternAdriatic Sea and its hinterland, who had constituted their own socio-political formation, referred to as 'Illyrian kingdom' by ancient authors.[12][8][15] The Dardani were also related to theirThracian neighbors.[16][17][18] In Roman times, there appearThracian names in the eastern strip of Dardania, and several Thracian andDacian placenames also appear there, such asDardapara andQuemedava,[19] but Illyrian names dominated the rest.[20] Nevertheless, ancient authors have not identified Dardanians with Thracians, and Strabo explicitly makes a clear distinction between them.[21][7] The Dardanians, who are said by Nicholas Damascenus, Strabo, Appian and others to be Illyrians, were regarded by Dio Cassius as beingMoesians, and Stephanus says that their towns of Naissus [Nish] and Skupi [Skopje] were Thracian.[22] Various scholars regard Dardania as a mixed territory of Daco-Thracian-Illyrian elements.[23]
TheKingdom of Dardania was attested since the 4th century BC in ancient sources reporting the wars the Dardanians waged against their south-eastern neighbor –Macedon – until the 2nd century BC.[16] The historianJustin, a main source about the history of the Macedonian kings, refers to an 'lllyrian war' between 346 and the end of 343 BC, fought by 'Dardani and other neighbouring peoples' againstPhilip II of Macedon, who won the conflict.[24][25] After theCeltic invasion of the Balkans weakened the state of theMacedonians andPaeonians, the political and military role of the Dardanians began to grow in the region. They expanded their state to the area ofPaeonia which definitively disappeared from history, and to some territories of the southern Illyrians. The Dardanians strongly pressured Macedon, using every opportunity to attack it. However the Macedonians quickly recovered and consolidated their state, and the Dardanians lost their important political role. The strengthening of the Illyrian (Ardiaean–Labeatan) state on their western borders also contributed to the restriction of Dardanian warlike actions towards their neighbors.[26]
The Dardani sided withRome in theRoman-Macedonian Wars, continuing their clashes with Macedon. After the defeat of Macedon in theThird Macedonian War, the fragile Dardanian-Roman alliance weakened, in particular after the Senate's decision not to return to the Dardanian kingdom the territory that had been previously conquered by the Macedonians,[27] notablyPaeonia, which the Dardani claimed as their own territory.[28] The Senate only recognized the Dardani the right to trade salt. Thereafter, from sworn enemies of Macedonia, the Dardani became enemies of Rome.[27] Dardanians fought againstRoman proconsuls, and were finally defeated probably byMarcus Antonius in 39 BC or byMarcus Licinius Crassus in 29/8 BC.[16] The Romans created the province ofMoesia also including the territory of Dardania. After the Roman emperorDomitian divided the province of Moesia intoMoesia Superior andMoesia Inferior in 86 AD, the Dardani were located in southern Moesia Superior.[29][16] ARoman colony was established atScupi in Dardanian territory under theFlavian dynasty. In the 2nd century AD Dardanians were still notorious asbrigands (latrones dardaniae). During the lateImperial period their territory was the homeland of manyRoman emperors, notablyConstantine the Great andJustinian I.[16]
Inscriptions from the Roman and Byzantine period have been found in Dardania, one in the ancient city ofUlpiana which readsUrbem Dardania[30] and two inScupi which readDardanus andAlbanoi orAlbanopolis.[31][32]
The ethnonym of theDardani has been attested in ancient Greek literature asDardaneis,Dardanioi andDardanoi, and in Latin asDardani.[33] The term used for their territory wasDardanike (Δαρδανική).[34] The rootDard- is attested outside the Dardanian region and the Trojan-Dardanian area in several other ancient ethnonyms, personal names, and toponyms:Dardas, anopraetor epiratrum;Δερδιενις, name of Macedonian-Elimiot princes;Δερδια inThessaly;Δερδενις inLesbos; in ancientApuliaDardi, aDaunian tribe,Derdensis a region andΔαρδανον, a Daunian settlement. The suffix-ano inDard- was common to many Indo-European languages.[35]
The names of the two main Dardanian tribes –Galabri/Galabrioi andThunatae/Thunatai – have been respectively connected to theMessapicKalabroi/Calabri andDaunioi/Daunii inApulia (south-easternItaly), of Palaeo-Balkan provenance.[36][17]
The nameDardan- (ethnonym:Δάρδανοι/Dardani; toponym:Δαρδανική/Dardania) is traditionally connected to the same root asdardhë, theAlbanian word for 'pear',[16][37] as well as Alb.dardhán,dardán, 'farmer'.[37] The ethnonymPirustae, which is attested since Roman times for a tribe close to the Dardani or living in Dardania, is considered to be theLatin translation ofDardani (cf. Latinpirus "pear"),[38] which would confirm the link with the Albaniandardhë.[39]
In 1854,Johann Georg von Hahn was the first to propose that the namesDardanoi andDardania were related to the Albanian worddardhë ("pear, pear-tree"). This is suggested by the fact that toponyms related to fruits or animals are not unknown in the region (cf. Alb.dele, delmë "sheep" supposedly related to Dalmatia,Ulcinj in Montenegro < Alb.ujk, ulk "wolf" etc.).[40][41] Albanian typical toponyms formed with the same root asdardhë have been attested:Dardhan-i (in 1467 CE),Dardhanesh-i (1431),Dardhasi (1431),Dardas (1467),Dardhë-a (1417),Darda,Dardhicë-a (1431).[42] Several modern toponyms are found in various parts ofAlbania, including Dardha inBerat,Dardha inKorça, Dardha inLibrazhd, Dardha inPuka,Dardhas inPogradec, Dardhaj inMirdita, and Dardhës inPërmet. Dardha in Puka is recorded asDarda in a 1671 ecclesiastical report and on a 1688 map by a Venetian cartographer. Dardha is also the name of anAlbanian tribe in the northern part of theDistrict of Dibra.[41][37]
Opinions differ on the etymon of the root inProto-Albanian, and eventually inProto-Indo-European. On the basis of an alleged connection between Albaniandardhë andGreekἄχερδος, ἀχράς "wild pear", a common Indo-European root has been tentatively reconstructed by scholars:*ĝʰor-d- "thorn bush";*(n)ĝʰ∂rdis;*ĝʰerzd⁽ʰ⁾- "thorny, grain, barley". However it has been suggested that this connection is only conceivable assuming an ancient common Balkano-Aegean substrate word for Albanian and Greek.[43][44][45] A proposed Indo-European root*dʰeregh- "a thorny plant", with the Proto-Albanian form reconstructed as*dʰorĝʰ-eh₂-, is not clear.[43][45] More recently for the Albaniandardhë theProto-Albanian*dardā has been reconstructed, itself a derivative ofderdh "to tip out, pour, spill, secrete, cast (metals)" < PAlb*derda. InOld Albanian texts the root is recorded notumlautized:dardh. It continues Proto-Albanian*darda, which is close to onomatopoeicLithuaniandardĕti "to rattle"Latviandàrdêt "to creak",Welshgo-dyrddu "to mumble, to gumble" (the semantic development of "pear" that occurs in Albanian can also be seen in theSlavic parallelgruša,kruša "pear, pear tree" <*grušiti,*krušiti "to crumble, to break", and also in the Indo-European parallel*peisom "pear" <*peis-).[46] Slavic toponyms with "Kruševo" (from Proto-Slavic kruša, "pear") and other related toponyms particularly found in the area of the ancient Dardani have been proposed as South Slavic translations ofDarda- toponyms.[47]
Other roots have been connected to the nameDardan- by some scholars. It has been proposed a possible link todarda "bee", maybe originally with the meaning of "noise", "chatter", compared with Sanskritdardurá- "frog", "pipe", Lithuaniandardėt́i "to rattle", "chatter" (which however is regarded by Orel[46] as an onomatopoeic form connected to Albanianderdh, hence todardhë, see above), Gkreek δάρδα · μέλισσα "bee", sometimes interpreted as μόλυσμα "stain", δαρδαίνει · μολύνει "to stain", both late antique attestations fromHesychius (5th century CE) and with aberrant semantics.[48] Another link has been made with the PIE root*dhereĝh- "to hold", "strong", which would have evolved todard- in consistency with the phonetic change of voiced palatal velars that are a characteristic trait of Albanian.[49]
The opinion criticising the etymologies based on roots that originally included*g̑h because in the earliest form of Albanian PIE*g̑h turned into*dʑ and correspondingly later into*dz, which should have been spelled in Greek/Latin documents with /z/, /s/, or a similar letter, instead of /d/, is refutable by the attestation of the Proto-Albanoid termdiellina "henbane".[50] This term was mentioned as a "Thracian-Dacian" phytonym by the Ancient Greek pharmacologistPedanius Dioscorides (1st century AD), and it has a clear etymological connection with the Albanian worddiell "sun" (diellina "henbane" belongs to the genus calledsolanum with the Latin rootsol "sun", being so named because of its yellow leaves), displaying a characteristic Albanian phonetic change in which the voiced palatal velar*ĝ(h)- turned into the interdentaldh or the dentald, passing through intermediate stages represented by the palato-alveolar affricate voicedȷ́ [dʑ], dental affricatedz and further through a final stagedð (i.e.*ĝ(h)- >ȷ́ [dʑ] >dz >dð >dh/d: Alb.dielli < PAlb.*dðiella <*dziella- < EPAlb.*ȷ́élu̯a- < PIE*ǵʰélh₃u̯o- "yellow, golden, bright/shiny").[51] This phenomenon reflects the uncertainty of the Ancient Greek and Roman authors in transcribing the Proto-Albanian affricates, which were unfamiliar to them. Indeed, many similar examples of Palaeo-Balkan names with alternating spellings in ancient literature using both dentals and sibilants can be connected to an earlier stage of Albanian and furthermore provide strong support forEric Hamp's thesis about the Proto-Albanoid dialects, spoken in the central-western Balkans including the historical regions of Dardania, Illyria proper, Paeonia, Upper Moesia, western Dacia and western Thrace.[51]
The name of the Dardani is mentioned for the first time in theIliad in the name ofDardanus who foundedDardanus on the Aegean coast ofAnatolia and his people theDardanoi, from which the toponymDardanelles is derived. Other parallel ethnic names in the Balkans and Anatolia, respectively include:Eneti andEnetoi,Bryges andPhryges. These parallels indicate closer links than simply a correlation of names. According to a current explanation, the connection is likely related to the large-scale movement of peoples that occurred at the end of theBronze Age (around 1200 BC), when the attacks of the 'Sea Peoples' afflicted some of the established powers around the easternMediterranean.[52]
In ancient historiography, the Dardani of the Balkans are mentioned as a people in the second century BCE byPolybius who describes their wars againstMacedon in the third century BC.[53] Historians of Hellenistic and Roman antiquity who mention the Dardanians areDiodorus Siculus,Marcus Terentius Varro,Strabo,Sallust,Appian,Dionysius of Halicarnassus and others.[54] According to a mythological tradition reported byAppian (2nd century AD),Dardanos (Δάρδανος), one of the sons ofIllyrius (Ἰλλυριός), was theeponymous ancestor of theDardanoi (Δάρδανοι).[55] In ancient sources the Dardani are mentioned as one of theIllyrian people and/or as a distinct grouping in the region of Dardania. As such, the Dardani were Illyrians from an ethno-linguistic perspective, but they had followed their own peculiar geographical, social and political development inDardania.[56]
In the late 1st century BCE, in Rome a new ideological discourse was formed. Propagated by poets likeHorace andOvid, it constructed a glorious Trojan past for the Romans, who were claimed to be descendants of Trojan Dardanians. In the years before the Trojan origin story became the official Roman narrative about their origins, the Romans came into conflict in the Balkans with the Dardani.[57] In public discourse this created the problem that the Roman army could be seen as fighting against a people who could be related to the ancestors of the Romans. The image of the historical Dardani in the 1st century BC was that of Illyrian barbarians who raided their Macedonian frontier and had to be dealt with. In this context, the name of a people known as theMoesi appeared in Roman sources. TheMoesi are mentioned only in three ancient sources in the period after the death of Emperor Augustus in 14 CE. The name itself was taken from the name of theMysians in Asia Minor.[58] The choice seems to be related to the fact that the Trojan-era Mysians lived close to the Trojan-era Dardanians. As the name of theDardani in Roman discourse became linked to the ancestors of the Romans, the actual Dardani began to be covered in Roman literature by other names. After the death of Augustus, their name in connection to the Balkans became a political problem. After the death of Augustus, the new emperor wasTiberius, his stepson and the most senior Roman general in the Balkans. As Tiberius had played a key role in the Roman conquest of the Balkans, as emperor he couldn't be portrayed as the conqueror ofDardanians, whose name had been constructed as the name of the mythical progenitors of the Romans. Thus, the decision to create a new name for Dardania and the Dardani was made. Despite this decision and the administrative use of the namesMoesia andMoesi for theDardani andDardania, the original use of the name persisted by authors like Appian.[58] The nameDardania was not used for several hundred years after this period in an administrative context. It was only recreated by EmperorDiocletian in the 3rd century CE.[59]
The territory of present-dayKosovo which formed the core area of the Dardani has been inhabited since theNeolithic era.Runik andVlashnjë are two of the most significant sites in the Neolithic period. During the late 3rd millennium BCE,Proto-Indo-European tribes migrated and settled in the region alongside the existing Neolithic population. New practices in agriculture and cattle breeding appear in this period and new settlements formed in Kosovo. Co-existence and intermingling of the Neolithic population and the PIE-speakers gave rise to thematerial culture which developed in the Bronze Age (2100-1100 BCE) in settlements including Vlashnjë, Korishë, Pogragjë, Bardhi i Madh and Topanicë.
Archaeological research in the territory of Dardania greatly expanded since 2000. In contemporary research, a periodization of four phases of development of pre-Roman Dardania is being utilized:[60]
In the Iron Age habitation further developed with the emergence of theGlasinac-Mat culture, anIllyrian material culture which developed in the Iron Age western Balkans.[61] The Dardani - as they became known in classical antiquity - were one of the particular groups of the Glasinac-Mat culture.[62]
TheBrnjica cultural group was a Late Bronze Age cultural manifestation in what was to become Dardania, closely connected to the Balkan-Danubian complex.[63][64][65] It dates between the 14th and 10th centuries BCE,[63] and appears in Kosovo, Morava valley, Sandzak, Macedonia and South-East Serbia.[66] InYugoslavian historiography, starting from Milutin Garašanin in the 1970s and 1980s, the Brnjica culture came to be interpreted as the "Daco-Moesian" and non-"Illyrian" linguistic component of the later Dardani.[64][67] Before that change, Yugoslavian scholars had regarded the Dardani as of Illyrian origin. The narrative of a distinct "Daco-Moesian" concept developed as a response to Albanian and Bulgarian researchers, and especially to changes inside Yugoslavia due to increasing local nationalisms.[68]
In Dardania tribal aristocracy and pre-urban development emerged from the 6th–5th centuries BC. The contacts of the Dardanians with theMediterranean world began early and intensified during the Iron Age. Trade connections with theAncient Greek world were created from the 7th century BC onwards.[69] The proto-urban development was followed by the creation of urban centers and the emergence of craftsmanship, and a Dardanianpolity began to develop from the 4th century BC.[69] Material culture and accounts in classical sources suggest that Dardanian society reached an advanced phase of development.[3][70]
The Dardani are referred to as one of the opponents ofMacedon in the 4th century BC, clashing withPhilip II who managed to subdue them and their neighbors, probably during the early period of his reign.[25] The Dardani have remained quiet until Philip II's death, after which they were planningdefection. However an open war have not been caused by their riots, sinceAlexander the Great managed to have the full control of the kingdom and its army after succeeding his father to the Macedonian throne. Indeed, the Dardani have not been mentioned in the ancient accounts concerning the events ofAlexander's Balkan campaign.[71] It appears that the Dardani evaded the Macedonian rule during theWars of the Diadochi between 284 BC and 281 BC, at the time ofLysimachus'empire. Thereafter the Dardani became a constant threat to Macedon on its northern borders.[72]
In 279 BC, at the times of thegreat Celtic invasion, Dardania was raided by several Celtic tribes on their campaigns that were undertaken to plunder the treasuries of Greek temples.[72] During these events an unnamed Dardanian king offered to help the Macedonians with 20,000 soldiers to counteract the invading Celts, but it was refused by the Macedonian kingPtolemy Keraunos who, underestimating the Celtic strength, died fighting them.[73][74][72] Only at the oracle ofDelphi the Celts eventually arrested and were defeated. Afterwards they withdrew in the north passing through Dardania, however they were completely destroyed by the Dardani.[75] Further references to the Dardani are provided in the ancient sources describing Dardanian constant wars against Macedonians from the second half of the 3rd century BC.[75]
After the Celtic invasion of the Balkans weakened the state of the Macedonians andPaeonians, the political and military role of the Dardanians began to grow in the region. They expanded their state to the area ofPaeonia which definitively disappeared from history.[26] In 230 the Dardani underLongarus[76] capturedBylazora from the Paeonians.[77] Taking advantage of Macedonian weakness, in 229 the Dardani attacked Macedonia and defeatedDemetrius II in an important battle.[78] After obtaining a great victory over the Macedonian army the Dardani invaded Macedon proper. The Dardanian expansion in Macedon, similar to theArdiaean expansion in Epirus around the same years, may have been part of a general movement among the Illyrian peoples.[79]
In this period Dardanian influence on the region grew and some other Illyrian tribes desertedTeuta, joining the Dardani under Longarus and forcing Teuta to call off her expedition forces in Epirus.[80] WhenPhilip V rose to the Macedonian throne, skirmishing with Dardani began in 220-219 BCE and he managed to capture Bylazora from them in 217 BCE. Skirmishes continued in 211 and in 209 when a force of Dardani under Aeropus, probably a pretender to the Macedonian throne, captured Lychnidus and looted Macedonia taking 20.000 prisoners and retreating before Philip's forces could reach them.[81]
After its victory in theFirst Roman-Illyrian War, Rome had established theProtectorate of Illyricum, in the southern Illyrian coastland (south-eastern Adriatic). Due to the wars against Macedonia and for their own interests in the region, Dardanians entered into alliance with the Romans around 200 BCE. They became part of an anti-Macedonian coalition, also participating in theSecond Macedonian War.[27][82] In 200 BCEBato of Dardania along withPleuratus III, ruler of theIllyrian kingdom of theLabeatae, and Amynander king of Athamania, cooperated with Roman consul Sulpicius in his expedition against Philip V of Macedon.[83] During the winter of 197-196 BCE, the Dardanians attacked Macedonia again devastating part of it, which forced Philip to withdraw from the war against the Romans in order to defend the frontier against the Dardani. After Philip's defeat against the Romans at theBattle of Cynoscephalae, he gathered 6,000 infantry and 500 cavalry and defeated the Dardani in a battle nearStobi, in which Dardani suffered great losses.[27]
This put Philip in a difficult position, and in order to prevent the Dardanian reprisal and the continuation of their attacks which would have led to the invasion of Macedonia, around 183 BCE he made an agreement with theBastarnae (a people who lived beyond theDanube) to destroy the Dardani and settle in their territory.[27][84][85] For the feasibility of the plan, Philip arranged the safety of the passage of the Bastarnae through Thracian territory, offering gifts to the Thracian kings.[86][84] A joint campaign of the Bastarnae and Macedonians against the Dardanians was thereby organized, and Philip's son,Perseus of Macedon, went with the avant-guard into Thrace. In the meantime Philip was leading the main Macedonian army fromAmphipolis. The Bastarnae departed in the summer of 179 BCE, but soon after having sent their messengers to Amphipolis, before reaching Philip they were informed that the Macedonian king had died. With this event, the Macedonian-Bastarnae settlement scheme collapsed, and the deal between the Macedonians and Thracians fell through, so conflicts between the Thracians and the Bastarnae could not be prevented. In this situation, many Bastarnae returned home in 179/178 BCE, but 30,000 of them, led by Clondicus, chose to continue their march against the Dardani to occupy their land. With Philip V's death, the throne went to his son Perseus, who may have assisted the Bastarnae led by Clondicus in their invasion of Dardania.[87][86]
The massive invasion of the Bastarnae exposed the Dardani to great danger, with serious consequences, so in 177 BCE, they sent a delegation to the Roman Senate to complain to their allies about the attacks of Perseus' Macedonians and Clondicus' Bastarnae. The situation claimed by the Dardani was initially confirmed by aThessalian delegation, and finally whitnessed by Roman envoys sent to the Bastarnae and the Macedonians, presumably in order to reach an agreement to make peace with the Dardani.[86][87] Returning to Rome in 175 BCE, the Roman delegation attested the situation to the Senate, and announced that the war was in progress in Dardania and that the responsible was the Macedonian kingPhilip V.[86] Around the same time, Macedonian envoys were sent to the Romans to deny Perseus' involvement, but the Roman Senate warned him to respect the treaty he had established with Rome.[87]
The Romans apparently did nothing to stop theDardanian–Bastarnic war or to help the Dardanians, their allies, in this conflict.[86] The Dardani had to fight alone against the Bastarnae, who were reinforced by theirThracian andScordiscan allies.[86][87] The Dardani waited to attack until the Bastarnae's allies went home for the winter; either in late 176 BC, or the early winter of 175–174 BCE. The Dardani ultimately won the war. But soon later (in late winter of 175 BCE or 174 BCE), the Bastarne, allegedly with Perseus' help, moved to cross the frozen river of the Danube in order to undertake another war against the Dardani, but the weight of the massive Bastarnae troops caused the collapse of the river's ice, and most of them perished there.[87] In 169 BCE the daughter of the Dardanian kingMonunious,Etuta, married the Illyrian kingGenthius, so good relations between them were secured.[88]
As king of Madedon, Perseus quickly consolidated his power and made preparations for a final war against Rome. Securing the borders with the Dardani was a priority, so in 169 BCE he launched a victorious military campaign against them, conquering and devastating parts of Dardania that bordered Macedon. Cities of thePenestae that were also defended by Illyrian and Roman garrisons were conquered, and the territory to the sout-west of Dardania around theScardus Mountains was devastated and burned, thereafter acquiring the denomination of 'Illyria Deserta' ('Deserted Illyria'), serving the purpose to prevent Dardanian incursions into Macedonia andIllyris.[88][89][90] Thereafter Perseus sent Macedonian ambassadors, including the Illyrian exile Pleuratus, to the Illyrian kingGentius to tell him of the Macedonian victories, in order to frighten the Labeatan king of the Illyrians – who in the previous Macedonian war were allied alongside the Dardani with Rome against Macedon – into siding this time with Macedonia against Rome.[88][89][91] Gentius was not against the idea to fight the Romans, but he lacked resources. After the Roman invasion of Macedonia in 168 BCE, Perseus decided to give Gentius subsidy so a treaty was concluded between them, and an alliance was formed against Rome.[92]
After the Third Macedonian War, the fragile Dardanian-Roman alliance weakened further, in particular after the Senate's decision not to return to the Dardanian kingdom the territory that had been previously conquered by the Macedonians, includingPaeonia, which the Dardani claimed as their own territory.[28][27] The Senate only recognized the Dardani the right to trade salt. Thereafter, from sworn enemies of Macedonia, the Dardani became enemies of Rome.[27]
After theRoman-Illyrian wars andRoman-Macedonian Wars,Illyricum andMacedonia became Roman protectorates in 168 BC.[93] The Dardani resisted Roman offensives of the years 97 BCE, 85 BCE, and 77/6 BCE. But in 75–73 BCE the Dardani had to face terrible conflicts against Rome, known asBellum Dardanicum.[94] During theMithridatic Wars (88–63 BC) between theRoman Republic andMithridates VI ofPontus, the Dardani,Eneti, andSintians were raidingRoman Macedonia; afer his arrival, theconsulSulla attacked them, reportedly devastating their territory.[95][96]
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Dardanians continued to fight againstRoman proconsuls, and were finally defeated probably byMarcus Antonius in 39 BC or byMarcus Licinius Crassus in 29/8 BC.[16] Under Roman administration they were included in the province ofMoesia. After the Roman emperorDomitian divided the province of Moesia into Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior in 86 AD, the Dardani were located in southern Moesia Superior.[29][16] EmperorDiocletian later (284) made Dardania into a separate province with its capital atNaissus (Niš).[97] The Romans found an ancient formed economy in Dardania, based on agriculture and animal husbandry, mining and metallurgy, in different handicrafts and in trade. The Romans focused especially in exploitation of mines, same as in other provinces, and in road construction.[98][99]
During theByzantine administration (in the 6th century), there was a Byzantine province of Dardania that included cities ofUlpiana,Scupi,Justiniana Prima, and others.
A Dardanianpolity began to develop from the 4th century BC.[69] TheKingdom of Dardania was attested since the 4th century BC in ancient sources reporting the wars the Dardanians waged against their south-eastern neighbor –Macedon – until the 2nd century BC.[16][26] The Dardanian kingdom was made up of many tribes and tribal groups, confirmed byStrabo,[100] who mentions theGalabri andThunatae as Dardanian tribes, and describes the Dardani as one of the three strongest Illyrian peoples, the other two being theArdiaei andAutariatae.[13][14]
The Dardanians always had separate domains from the rest of theIllyrians.[101] The term used for their territory was (Δαρδανική),[34] while other tribal areas had more unspecified terms, such asAutariaton khora (Αὐταριατῶν χώρα), for the "land ofAutariatae." The term was used to describe the Dardanian political status as a semi-independent country in the laterRoman Republic.[102] Little data exists about the territory of the Dardani prior to Roman conquest, especially on its southern extent which has been contested with Macedon, so scholars use information provided in Roman times to define the bounds of Dardanian territory.[103]
An unnamed Dardanian king is mentioned in ancient sources describing the events of the region of the early 3rd century BC. He offered theMacedonian kingPtolemy Ceraunos 20,000 soldiers to counteract theinvading Celts, but Ceraunos declined the offer.[72] Tribal chiefsLongarus and his sonBato took part in the wars againstRomans andMacedonians.[104]
Etuta (Etleva)[106] was the daughter ofMonunius II of Dardania and theillyrian queen ofArdiaei.[106] Some scholars believe that Illyrian rulersBardylis,[107]Audata,[108]Cleitus (son of Bardylis),[109]Bardylis II,[110]Bircenna (daughter of Bardylis II),[111] andMonunios were Dardanian, however this is considered an old fallacy because it is unsupported by any ancient source, while some facts and ancient geographical locations go squarely against it.[112][113][114][115][116] Nevertheless,Bardylis, if not Dardanian, probably had some kind of hegemony on Dardanians during his reign.[117][118]
Unlike theirThracian neighbors, in pre-Roman times the Dardani were not Hellenized.[119] From the Greek point of view, they were barbarians. Because of this, they are mentioned unfavorably in Ancient Greek and Roman sources. The tribe was viewed as "extremely barbaric".[120][page needed][121]Claudius Aelianus and other writers[who?] wrote that they bathed only three[122] times in their lives. At birth, when they were wed, and after they died.Strabo refers to them as wild[123] and dwelling in dirty caves under dung-hills.[124] This however may have had to do not with cleanliness, as bathing had to do with monetary[121] status from the viewpoint of theGreeks.
Dardanian slaves or freedmen at the time of the Roman conquest were clearly ofPaleo-Balkan origin, according to their personal names.[125] It has been noted that personal names were mostly of the "Central-Dalmatian type".[126]
| Dardanian | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Kingdom of Dardania |
| Region | centralBalkans |
| Ethnicity | Dardani |
| Extinct | (date missing) |
Indo-European
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
The Dardanians had their own language.[106] An extensive study based ononomastics of the Roman era has been undertaken byRadoslav Katičić which puts the Dardanian language area in the Central Illyrian area ("Central Illyrian" consisting of most of former Yugoslavia, north of southern Montenegro to the west of Morava, excepting ancient Liburnia in the northwest, but perhaps extending into Pannonia in the north).[127][128] Another extensive study based on onomastics in Thrace, eastern Macedonia, Moesia, Dacia and Bithynia has been carried out by Dan Dana in the 2010s, also taking into consideration current Balkan historical linguistics. Dana concludes that the Illyrian character of Dardanian onomastics is unquestionable and that it is appropriate to definitively rule out the idea of a Thracian origin or participation (at least appreciable) in the ethnogenesis of the Dardani.[129] Since the Dardani were neighbored to the east by the Thracians, the eastern parts of Dardania were at the Thraco-Illyrian contact zone. As shown by archaeological research Illyrian names are predominant in western Dardania (present-day Kosovo), and occasionally appear in eastern Dardania (present-day south-eastern Serbia), while Thracian names are found in the eastern parts, but are absent from the western parts.[12][10][9][5] The correspondence of Illyrian onomastics in Dardania – including those of the Dardanian ruling dynasty – with those of the southern Illyrians suggests "thracianization" of parts of Dardania at a later date.[9][130][104] The linguistic relationship between 'Illyrian' and 'Thracian' is uncertain due to the paucity of the available written material of those languages, consisting only of onomastic and toponymic evidence in the case of Illyrian, and the same for Thracian except for a few short inscriptions of difficult interpretation. Dardanian in the context of a distinct language is considered in recent decades as potentially significant for the history of theAlbanian language.[131]
Graves from the 6th and 5th centuries BCE inRomajë contain long iron bars which were placed in the tombs are a means of payment to the afterlife. They indicate that the tribe of the Dardani had developed a concept about the afterlife as shown later in other archaeological material like the votive monument ofSmirë.[132] The weapons included double-edged axes (Labrys), which might have been used in a ritualistic manner related tosun worship, which was the chiefcult object of the Illyrian religion, especially prominent among northern Illyrian tribes.[133]
Among the characteristic Dardanian deities wereAndinus, considered to have been the indigenous god ofvegetation andsoil fertility,[134][135] andDea Dardanica ("Dardanian Goddess"). They are attested in votive inscriptions of the Roman period in Dardania.
A monument representing a round labyrinth that was dedicated to the "Dardanian Goddess" was found in Smira. This monument provides evidence for cosmogonic and cosmologic knowledges among the Dardani.[137] The labyrinth was realized based on the concept of thetrinity. There is used a numerological and geometric approach through a multidimensional holographic field, which illustrates the Dardanian perception of the cosmic order and the interconnection between the material world and the higher realm.[138]
Dardanian funerary stelae portray representations of their mourning practice, which accurately mirrors theAlbanian traditional lamentation of the dead –gjâma. The lamentation of the dead is represented on the stelae through the depiction of the mourners with raised hands, grabbing their heads and beating their chests.[139][140]
Strabo writes that Dardanians cared about music, always using musical instruments, both of thewind andstring type.[124]
Dardanian stelae depict women wearing axhubleta-like garment.[140] The xhubleta is a bell-shaped dress worn by Albanian women of the northern highlands, which survived from ancient times exclusively in Albanian inhabited territories.[140][141][142]
the Dardanians ... living in the frontiers of the Illyrian and the Thracian worlds retained their individuality and, alone among the peoples of that region, succeeded in maintaining themselves as an ethnic unity even when they were militarily and politically subjected by the Roman arms [...] and when, towards the end of the ancient world, the Balkans were involved in far-reaching ethnic perturbations, the Dardanians, of all the Central Balkan tribes, played the greatest part in the genesis of the new peoples who took the place of the old
The assumption that the Dardanian kingdom was composed of a considerable number of tribes and tribal groups, finds confirmation in Strabo's statement about
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' lllyrians 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.
... including the names of Dardanian rulers, Longarus, Bato, Monunius and Etuta, and those on later epitaphs, Epicadus, Scerviaedus, Tuta, Times and Cinna. Other Dardanian names are linked with...
Grabos became the most powerful Illyrian king after the death of Bardylis in 358.
There must have been some reason why it was said of the Dardanians, and not of any other people, that they only bathed three times in their lives ...like the Dardanians', which was applied not to dirty folk, as might be expected, but to the miserly (ἐπὶ τῶν φειδωλῶν)! For the Greeks, obviously, to bathe or not was only a question of expense and financial means.
Joseph, Brian D.; Dedvukaj, Lindon (2024)."Turning night into day: Milieu and semantic change in Albanian".Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America.9 (1).Linguistic Society of America: 5681.doi:10.3765/plsa.v9i1.5681.
Media related toDardani (Balkans) at Wikimedia Commons
