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The Kingdoms in Illyria Circa 400–167 B.C.*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2013

N. G. L. Hammond
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Extract

The positions and the extent of these kingdoms have been disputed in the past, especially by Droysen, Zippel, Meyer, and Beloch, and they are the subject now of an interesting and well-documented paper by F. Papazoglou, entitled ‘Les origines et la destinée de l'état Illyrien: Illyrii proprie dicti’. His conclusions are that there was a specific political ‘Organization’ called ʾΙλλυριοί that almost all the known kings of Illyria—he gives fifteen of them between 400 and 167 B.C.—were rulers of this organization; and that this organization was not the one and only tribal organization known by this specific name, the ‘Illyrii proprie dicti’ of Pliny, HN iii. 144 and P. Mela ii. 55. In the course of the paper he does not mention any use of the term ʾΙλλυριοί before 423 B.C.; he shows no knowledge of the topography of the areas and little concern with topography; and he makes some statements which are erroneous, at least in part, e.g. that when Glaucias took the title ‘king of the Illyrians’ the Taulantii disappeared for ever from history—yet he quotes from Livy the terms given to the Taulantii by Rome in 168 B.C. Moreover, his conclusions do not seem to me to be probable.

Type
Research Article
Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 61 , November 1966 , pp. 239 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1966

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References

1 In Historia xiv (1965) 143–79.

2 He gives the lists of kings on pp. 166 and 176, and writes (176): ‘je crois pouvoir conclure que les auteurs antiques ne connaissaient, de la fin du Ve siècle à 168 avant notre ère, qu'un seul royaume illyrien.’ Droysen, J. G., G. d. Hellenismus iii. 2 (1878) 42 ff.Google Scholar, thought of one Illyrian king dom formed by Bardylis and inherited 150 years later by Agron; but he is very vague about the location of this king dom, as F. Papazoglou points out. Zippel, G., Der römische Herrschaft in Illyrien bis auf Augustus (Leipzig, 1877)Google Scholar, differed from Droysen and regarded Bardylis as king of the Enchelii and Agron as king of the Ardiaeai, two tribes which are far apart, and his view was accepted by Schütt, C., Untersuchungen z. Gesch. d. alt. Illyrier (Breslau, 1910).Google Scholar

3 He discusses these Illyrii at 177 and in n. 127.

4 ‘Les Taulantins disparurent à jamais de l'histoire’ (162).

5 My reasons will appear in the course of the paper. It is obvious enough that the vast number of Illyrian tribes were never united into a single Illyrian state; but when Papa zoglou talks of the ‘Illyrian state’ he is not so specific, and his ‘Illyrian state’ seems to be an amorphous and even chameleon-like entity.

6 I discuss some problems of topography in central Albania in my forthcoming book Epirus (Oxford, 1967) and in an article ‘The Opening Campaigns and the Battle of the Aoi Stena in the Second Macedonian War’, which is due to appear in JRS 1966.

7 F. Papazoglou, 179, n. 127 sees that they are placed on the coast between Lissus and Epidaurus and cites the agreement of Katičič, R. in Živa Antika xii–xiii (1964) 87 f.Google Scholar; but for the purposes of his argument he places them some where in the hinterland (‘quelque part dans l'hinterland… il ne faut pas prendre à la lettre cette indication’, i.e. of Pliny).

8 The excavations are reported in Buletin për Shkencat Shoqërore i (Tirana, 1955) 110 f. in Albanian with a résumé in French; and a summary is given in Studia Albanica i (Tirana, 1964) 101 f. in French. I owe my knowledge of Studia Albanica to Professor Frano Prendi, who kindly sent me a copy.

9 In Buletin i Universitetit Shtetëror të Tiranës, Seria Shkencat Shoqërore i. (1963) 198 f.

10 Hdt. i. 196, FGrH 115 F 129 = Strabo, G 317, and C 314. Appian, Illyr. i. I, includes the area eastwards between Thrace and the Danube.

11 Strabo, C 206.

12 ‘Il n'y avait par conséquence, à l'époque dont parle Polybe, qu'un seul état auquel revenait l'épithète “illyrien”.’

13 We may compare Appian's phrase a ruler among Illyrians, (Mac. ii. 2)Google Scholar or ‘en Illyrie’ as F. Papazoglou (148) translates

14 The point of is missed in F. Papazoglou's comment: ‘on voit qu'Appien lui aussi, malgré son intérêt éthnographique, n'a pu trouver d'autre ethnique pour désigner Agron et ses sujets que celui d'Illyriens.’ Zonaras did better.

15 I do not find the evidence of Zonaras and Polybius-Appian ‘contraires’ as F. Papazoglou does (172). He comments on Zonaras: ‘on ne voit pas bien par quel détour de la pensée cet auteur a pu conclure qu'Agron fut un Ardiéen.’ Presumably his source supplied the information. Diod. Sic. xii. 49. 2–3 also makes Agron and Teuta rulers of the Ardiaei.

16 Appián, , Illyr. i. 2Google Scholar; the sons and grandsons of Illyrius are eponymous ancestors of well-known Illyrian tribes. We may compare the sons of Neoptolemus, founder of the Molossian dynasty (see Dakaris, S. I., Οι γενεαλογικοὶ μῦθοι τῶν Μολοσσῶν (Athens, 1964) 23).Google Scholar

17 161 ff.

18 Head, HN 2 316 and Brunšmid, J., Die Inschriften und Münzen der griechischen Städte Dalmatiens (Vienna, 1898) 54, n. 47.Google Scholar Both kings are mentioned as Illyrians in Trogus, Prol. 24 and 25.

19 See Beloch, , GG iii. 2. 73Google Scholar, for the Macedonian royal house and note the name, for instance, of Amyntas recurring.

20 Geyer, F. in Historische Zeitschrift, Beiheft xix (1930), 81Google Scholar put his floruit c. 430 (i.e. aged then about 30), but this does not allow time for his daughter to reach marriageable age and then his grand-daughter to do likewise by c. 392 B.C. He put the birth of Alexander to Eurydice in 392 B.C. (127).

21 Geyer, loc. cit.; Beloch, , GG iii. 2. 74Google Scholar; and Papazoglou 151. Papazoglou leans heavily on the description in Plutarch, de educ. puer. 14 b, of Eurydice as and echoes of this in Libanius viii, p. 606. 18 and the Suda s.v. Karanos. The source is likely to be Theopompus who enjoyed scandalmongering about Philip's family; and there is this point in the taunt that the Bacchiadae had been in Illyria for perhaps two centuries.

22 They may have been joint kings, like Neoptolemus and Pyrrhus in Molossia, Scerdilaidas and Pleuratus in Ardiaea (cf. Papazoglou 172), and Theodorus and Amynander in Athamania.

23 I have argued in CQ xxxi (1937) 79 f. and xxxii (1938) 137 f. that Diodorus was drawing on Ephorus xxvii, a reliable source, for this account.

24 IG ii/iii2 1. 127 = Tod, GHI ii, no. 157, giving the date of the ratification of an alliance already arranged by the Athenian envoys; Grabus was in alliance with the League, Chalcidian (TAPA lxix 44 f.)Google Scholar, that is before winter 357/356 B.C. when the League made alliance with Philip. Had Grabus been the successor of Bardylis (so Tod, GHI, no. 157) he could not have recovered so soon from the defeat of 358 B.C.

25 Beloch, , GG iii 1. 231, n. 1Google Scholar, supposed Grabus to be a king of the Penestae or the Dardani; C. Schütt, Untersuchungen z. Gesch. d. alt. Illyrier 41, a king of the Taulantii or the Dardani; Schäfer, , Demosthenes ii. 20Google Scholar, and Papazoglou, 155, a son of Bardylis. The connexion between Grabus and the Grabaei was not made. The passages in Diodorus xvi. 22. 3 and 69. 7 are probably drawn from a short textbook like Oxyr. Pap. 1, no. xii; see my article in CQ xxxi (1937) 90–91.

26 Strabo says that the three tribes—Autariatae, Ardiaei, and Dardani—were warred down first by one another and then by Macedon and Rome; Philip II played a prominent part in the Macedonian part of the process. We do not know to which region (Plut. Alex. 9) or king of Illyria (Justin ix. 7) Alexander went after his quarrel with Philip.

27 The entry in Diodorus is probably derived from Diyllus, Syntaxis ii; see CQ xxxii. 150. Ed. Meyer, , ‘Isokrates' Zweiter Brief an Philipp und Demosthenes' Zweite Philippika’ in Sitzungsber. d. Preuss. Akad. Berlin (1909) 758 ff.Google Scholar, followed by Papazoglou 156 f., conflated the two campaigns into one; he then equated Pleuratus with Pleurias, put the war in 344/343, and thought Pleurias might have been a king in the region of Scodra. Schutt, op. cit. 44 f., having accepted Meyer's equation, thought him a Taulantian king; Droysen, , G. d. Hell. i. 1. 115 n. 1Google Scholar, a Dardanian king; Lenschau, in RE xxi. 239Google Scholar, equating Pleuratus and Pleurias, supported Meyer's location of Pleurias; Bengtson, , GG 2 (1960) 310Google Scholar, accepted Meyer's location but for Pleuratus. Papazoglou, 159, makes Grabus, Pleuratus (he eliminates Pleurias), and Cleitus all sons of Bardylis and claims that the activity of Philip could extend only to the Illyrian regions ‘limitrophes de la Macédoine’; how pleased the other neighbours of Philip would have been if he had followed such a policy in general!

28 When he rebelled, Cleitus captured Pelium (Arrian, , Anab. i. 5. 5)Google Scholar; he was then raiding southwards, as Scerdilaidas did in the time of Philip V (Plb. v. 108. 1–2).

29 The sources are Plut. Pyrrhus; Justin xvii; and Diod. Sic. xix. 67, 70, and 78 for these events. They do not support the supposition, mentioned above, that Glaucias acquired the large inland kingdom of the elder Bardylis.

30 This is a disputed point; see the summary of views in Lévêque, P., Pyrrhos (Paris, 1957), 175 n. 4Google Scholar, who does not come to a decision. The phrase of Appian implies that Pyrrhus held Dyrrachium, as he says Agron did; for it is an important place on the Ionian Gulf (cf. Zonaras ix. 25). There is also an indication that Pyrrhus penetrated as far at least as Scodra; for he took the capital of a tribe in Illyria (Frontin, . Strat. iii. 6. 3Google Scholar: ‘civitatem quae caput gentis erat’), which, if the Taulantii were on his side, lay north of their territory and might well be Scodra, described by Livy xliv. 31. 2 as ‘regni totius arcem’ in the time of Genthius. Dio fr. 40. 3 states that ‘the rulers in Illyricum paid court to Pyrrhus’ this implies some authority north of Dyrrachium, as does his marriage with the daughter of Bardylis.

31 I am here in agreement with Droysen but not with Papazoglou 164 f., who supposes Monunius to have been a son of Bardylis II or of Grabus and so one of the fifteen kings of his ‘Illyrian kingdom’, nor with Beloch, , GG iii. 1. 260Google Scholar, and Schutt, op. cit. 64, who suppose he succeeded Glaucias as king of the Taulantii.

32 J. G. Droysen, Das dardanische Fürstentum 79; see n. 52.

33 Excavations by Albanian archaeologists at Dyrrachium have shown that a large Illyrian element was in the city in the Hellenistic period; see Buletin pér Shkencat Shoqërore i (1957) 61 f.

34 Papazoglou 166 suggests that Mytilius was the son of Monunius.

35 CIL iii 600.

36 Plut. Pyrrh. iii. 5; Justin iii. 21; Paus. I. 11. 5.

37 The exact position of Pelium is uncertain. It was in Dassaretis (Livy xxxi. 40. 4 ‘ab Celetro in Dassaretios processit urbemque Pelion vi cepit’); it was close to Macedonia and convenient for raids into Macedonia (Livy xxxi. 40). It is usually placed in the plain of Koritsa (e.g. by Wace, A. J. B. in BSA xviii. 168).Google ScholarPliny, HN iv. 1Google Scholar has Dassaretis ‘a tergo’ in relation to Epirus.

38 FGrH 156 (Arrian) F 1. 7 mentions Macedon's control of Illyria at that time.

39 See my forthcoming article in JRS 1966.

40 Geyer, op. cit. 111, thinks the two passages are a doublet of a single incident, which Geyer puts in 393/392 B.C.

41 See also Trogus, Prol. 7, ‘additae in excessu Illyriorum et Paeonum origines’.

42 ‘Bardulis Illyrius latro … magnas opes habuit.’

43 An inscription from the monastery of St. John near Elbasan has the name Parthinus; see Buletin i Universitetit Shtetëror të Tironës, Seria Shkemat Shoquërore i (1961) 103 f. In early times the Parthini may have held Dyrrachium (Dio xli. 49. 2).

44 The mention of them by Hecataeus, (FGrH i F 103)Google Scholar and the knowledge of the Enchelean kings' claim to descent from the Cadmeans support this suggestion.

45 Bylazora is usually identified with Küprülü south-east of Skoplje on the Vardar; see Walbank, F. W., A Historical Commentary on Polybius I, 626.Google Scholar J. V. A. Fine puts Sintia in the northern part of the plain of Monastir, (JRS xxvi (1936) 25).Google Scholar

46 In ancient times the main channel of the Drin entered the sea further north than it does today; see May, J. M. F. in JRS xxxvi (1946) 55 f.Google Scholar

47 So Beaumont, R. L. in JHS lvi (1936) 201.Google Scholar

48 Jireček, Die Heerstrasse von Belgrad nach Constantinopel, 23, took the course of the Roman road from Ulpiana (Lipljan, near Priština, at the head of the river Ibar) to Lissus through the valley of the White Drin; Evans, A. J. in Archaeologia xlix (1885) 66Google Scholar suggested a shorter route to the north of the breach made by the White Drin. See Fig. 2.

49 See Patsch s.v. Dardani in RE iv. 2156. In this position they were literally above the Illyrians and the Macedonians as Zonaras ix. 15 says

50 See the excellent map in Archaeologia xlix (1885) before p. 5. Pliny HN iv. I placed the Dardani not far from Dassaretis: ‘Epiros … a tergo suo Dassaretas … mox Dardanos habet.’

51 See Walbank, F. W., A Historical Commentary on Polybius, i. 153 and 163Google Scholar, and Tomaschek s.v. Ardiaei in RE ii. 615; May, J. M. F. in JRS xxxvi (1946) 48 f.Google Scholar; and Papazoglou, F. in Recueil des travaux de la Faculté de philosophie de Belgrade vii (1963) 71 f.Google Scholar

52 J. G. Droysen, ‘Das dardanische Fürstentum’ in Kleine Schriften zur alten Geschichte (I), regarded Bardy lis as a Dardanian king but did not investigate the geographical aspect of the matter.

53 Agatharchides, , FGrH 86 F 17Google Scholar, stating that the Dardani had companies of 1,000 slaves to one master and that these served their masters in war, refers to the period of Philip V in the opinion of Jacoby. Pausanias iv. 35. 4 associates the Illyrian expansion with the fall of the Molossian monarchy.

54 Livy xlv. 26, 13–15 keeps the distinction between the two tribes clear and used the slightly different names ‘Dassaretii’ and ‘Dassarenses’ at xlv. 26. 13–15, but at other times he uses Dassaretii instead of Dassarenses, e.g. at xxvii. 32. 9. The suggestion of F. Papazoglou, 175, n. 120, that Livy's Dassaretii and Dassarenses at xlv. 26. 13–15 are corruptions of one original name does not make sense in the context; for Livy makes some Dassaretii free from tax and the Dassarenses liable to tax, and one people cannot be both.

55 ‘Non solum liberos, sed etiam immunes fore Issenses et Taulantios, Dassaretiorum Pirustas, Rhizonitas, Olciniatas, quod incolumi Gentio ad Romanos defecissent. Daorsis quoque immunitatem dare, quod relicto Caravantio cum armis ad Romanos transissent. Scodrensibus et Dassarensibus et Selepitanis ceterisque Illyriis vectigal dimidium eius, quod regi pependissent, inpositum.’ The people of Issa and the Taulantii joined Rome in 229–228 B.C.