In the 1st century BC, they invaded the Roman province of Macedonia together with the Scordisci and the Maedi. In AD 6, they were conquered by Rome and became part of the province of Moesia Superior, part of present day Kosovo.
According to Strabo, they were divided into two sub-groups, the Galabri and the Thunaki.
Name and etymology
Living on the border between Thracian and Illyrian influence, the Dardani appear to have been a prototypically "balkanized" Thraco-Illyrian tribe.Beginning with Johann Georg von Hahn in 1854, 19th century historical linguistics speculated that Dardanoi and Dardania may be related to a proto-Albanian word meaning pear tree (dardhë in modern Albanian). Opinions differ whether the ultimate etymon of this word in Proto-Indo-European was *g'hord- (which would make it related also to Greek achrás 'wild pear'), or *dheregh-..
The distribution of ancient names found inscribed in Dardania are one of the main evidences that support the idea that the Dardani were Illyrians commingled with Thracians. Thracian names are found mostly in eastern Dardania, from Scupi to Naissus and Remesiana, although some Illyrian names occur. Illyrian names are dominant in the western areas, where Thracian names are not found.
Robert Graves connected Greek δάρδανος "burned up" (from the verb δαρδάπτω dardapto "to wear, to slay, to burn up")..
Greek mythology
In Greek mythology "Δάρδανος" (Dardanus), one of the sons of Illyrius (the others being Enchelus, Autarieus, Maedus, Taulas, and Perrhaebus) was the eponymous ancestor of the "Δάρδανοι" (Dardanoi) .Some Roman writers proposed a connection between these Dardani of the Balkans and the Dardans (Trojans) of the Troad, the popular version of the story being that a group of Dardan colonists had settled in the Balkans and had degenerated in their new Balkan home to a state of barbarism, becoming the Dardani..
History
The Dardani were an Illyrian tribe. They seem to have often been a threat to the Greeks in the kingdom of Macedon. Dardania's largest towns were those of Ulpiana (Pristina), Naissus (Niš), Therranda (Prizren), Vicianum (Vučitrn), Skopi (Stoc, Skopje), and its capital was Damastioni.List of the rulers of Dardania:
- Bardyllis,king,4th century BC
- Longarus, king, 3rd century BC
- Bato, king, 3rd and 2nd century BC
- Monunius, king, 3rd century BC
- Teuta or Etuta, queen, 3rd century BC,
Dardania was conquered into the Roman Empire in AD 6 by Gaius Scribonius Curio, and became part of the province of Moesia Superior in AD 87. Emperor Diocletian later c. 284 made Dardania into a separate province with its capital at Naissus (Niš).
References
- Grace Harriet Macurdy. The Wanderings of Dardanus and the Dardani, Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 46 (1915), pp. 119-128
- András Mócsy, Sheppard Frere, Pannonia and Upper Moesia: A History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman Empire, Routledge (1974), ISBN 0710077149.
See also
External links
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Last updated on Wednesday July 16, 2008 at 12:58:44 PDT (GMT -0700)
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