Dassaretii

The Dassaretii[lower-alpha 1] (Ancient Greek: Δασσαρῆται, Δασσαρήτιοι, Latin: Dassaretae, Dassaretii) were an Illyrian people that lived in the inlands of southern Illyria, between present-day south-eastern Albania and south-western North Macedonia.[1] Their territory included the entire region between the rivers Asamus and Eordaicus (whose union forms the Apsus), the plateau of Korça locked by the fortress of Pelion and, towards the north it extended to Lake Lychnidus up to the Black Drin. They were directly in contact with the regions of Orestis and Lynkestis of Upper Macedonia.[2] Their chief city was Lychnidos, located on the edge of the lake of the same name.[3] One of the most important settlements in their territory was established at Selcë e Poshtme near the western shore of Lake Lychnidus, where the Illyrian Royal Tombs were built.[4]

This article is about the ancient Illyrian tribe. For the ancient Greek tribe, see Dexaroi.

The Dassaretii were one of the most prominent peoples of southern Illyria, forming an ethnic state.[5] They made up the ancient Illyrian kingdom that was established in this region.[6] The weakening of the kingdom of the Enchelei presumably led to Enchelei's assimilation and inclusion into a newly established Illyrian realm at the latest in the 6th–5th centuries BC, marking the arising of the Dassaretii, who appear to have replaced the Enchelei in the lakeland area.[7][8]

Most scholars hold that the Illyrian kingdom that was established in the early 4th century BC by the first attested Illyrian ruler – Bardylis – was centered along Lake Ohrid and east to the Prespa Lakes, which was called Dassaretis or Dassaretia later in Roman times, located on the border between Macedon and Epirus.[9] Although Ohrid and Prespa are usually called "Dassaretan Lakes", only Ohrid remained part of Dassaretan territory, while the region of Prespa became part of Macedon when Philip II annexed it after his victories against the Illyrians.[10][11]

During a campaign in Illyria in 335 BC, Alexander the Great undertook a victorious siege at Pelion, in Dassaretis, against Illyrians who revolted under the leadership of Cleitus, son of Bardylis, with the aid of Glaucias, king of the Taulantii.[12] Bardylis II, who reigned in the early 3rd century BC and who is presumably considered Cleitus' son, might have succeeded Glaucias on the throne as the grandson of Bardylis, or alternatively he might have reigned independently after his father Cleitus somewhere in Dassaretia, in an area located nearer the Macedonian border.[13]

From the 3rd century BC onwards the Dassaretii have been attested as one of the largest Illyrian tribes of the region, and in different periods they changed their rulers, being alternatively under the Illyrian (Ardiaean/Labeatan) kingdom, the Madedonian kingdom and the Roman Republic.[14] In Hellenistic times the Dassaretii minted coins bearing the inscription of their ethnicon.[15] As Roman allies, in 167 BC the Romans declared Dassaretii and their region Dassaretia independent.[16][17] Dassaretia remained part of the Roman protectorate in southern Illyricum outside the borders of Macedonia. From the middle of the 2nd century BC Dassaretia was included in the Roman province of Macedonia. The Dassaretii established autonomous political entities under the Roman protectorate. Centered at Lychnidus, Roman era inscriptions indicate that Dassaretia was an administrative unit with its own magistrates.[16]

Name
View of Lake Ohrid, one of the bodies of water that are usually called "Dassaretan Lakes".[10]

The tribal name Dassaret- is of Illyrian origin,[18][19][20] stemming from Illyrian *daksa/dassa ("water, sea") attached to the suffix -ar. It is related to Illyrian personal names Dazos and Dassius and is also reflected in the toponym of Daksa island and the river Ardaxanos, which is mentioned by Polybius (2nd century BC) in the hinterland of modern Durrës and Lezhë.[21] The name Dassaret- appears relatively late in ancient literature, being mentioned for the first time around 200 BC.[22]

The tribal name Sesarethioi (or Sesarethii), mentioned for the first time by Hecataeus (6th century BC) as an Illyrian tribe holding the city of Sesarethus in the territory of the Illyrian people of Taulantioi, is very close to Dassaretioi. The variant Sesarethioi is also mentioned by Strabo (1st century BC – 1st century AD) as an alternative name for the Enchelei.[23][19][24] It has been suggested either that the name Sesarethii can't be considered as another name for the Enchelei (another tribe mentioned by Hecataeus as living to the north of the Chaones),[25] or that Dassaretii were probably known to the Greeks with the name Encheleoi, while their original name in Illyrian would have been Sesarethioi, indicating therefore a connection between them.[23]

The name Dexaroi, mentioned by Hecataeus as a Chaonian tribe adjacent to the Enchelei, has likely the same root as the Illyrian Dassaretii.[21][26] The hypothesis that equates the Dexaroi with the Dassaretii still remains uncertain.[27] According to a mythological tradition reported by Appian (2nd century AD), the Dassaretii were among the South-Illyrian tribes that took their names from the first generation of the descendants of Illyrius, the eponymous ancestor of all the Illyrian peoples.[28][29][30] The Illyrian Dassaretii are often mentioned by Polybius (The Histories) and Livy (Ab Urbe Condita Libri) in their accounts of the Illyrian Wars and Macedonian Wars. They are also mentioned by Strabo (Geographica. VII. p. 316), Appian (Illyrike. 1), Pomponius Mela (De situ orbis libri III. II. 3), Pliny (Natural History. III. 23), Ptolemy (Geography. p. 83) and Stephanus of Byzantium (Ethnica. "Δασσαρῆται"). Their name appears also on coins of the Hellenistic period bearing the inscription ΔΑΣΣΑΡΗΤΙΩΝ, attesting their presence in the Lychnidus area.[15]

Geography

The territory inhabited by the Dassaretii – Dassaretis or Dassaretia – has been documented in literary sources dating from the Roman period. It was a central area of southern Illyria, directly in contact with the regions of Orestis and Lynkestis of Upper Macedonia.[31][32][33] The Dassaretii were located between the tribes of Parthini (who dwelled in the Shkumbin valley) and Atintanes (who inhabited in the mountain ranges between Asamus and Aous rivers). The extent of the territory of Dassaretii seems to have been considerable, since it included the entire region between the rivers Asamus and Eordaicus (whose union forms the Apsus), the plateau of Korça locked by the fortress of Pelion and, towards the north it extended to Lake Lychnidus up to the city of the same name.[31][34][32][35]

Although Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa are usually called "Dassaretan Lakes", only Ohrid remained part of Dassaretan territory, while the region of Prespa became part of Macedon when Philip II annexed it after his victories against the Illyrians.[10][36] Upper Prespa was on the borderland between the Dassaretan tribes and the Paeones, who were located to the north-east of the lakes, while Lower Prespa was part of the Orestae.[37] The inhabitants of the settlements that were concentrated in Upper Prespa have been under the dominion of the Dassaretan tribal confederation prior to being completely integrated into the Kingdom of Macedon.[38]

Livy (1st century BC) reports that following the victory of 167, the Roman Senate decided to give freedom to "Issenses et Taulantios, Dassaretiorum Pirustas, Rhizonitas, Olciniatas", rewarded because they abandoned the Illyrian kingdom of Gentius a little before his defeat. For a similar reason Daorsi too gained immunitas, while half of the tax had to be paid by "Scodrensibus et Dassarensibus et Selepitanis ceterisque Illyriis" ("the inhabitants of Scodra, Dassarenses and Seleptani, as well as by other Illyrians").[39] Some scholars have suggested that Livy's material follows exclusively Polybius (2nd century BC). However, it is contradicted by the fact that Lyvian texts reports Illyrian toponyms and ethnonyms principally located in the core of the Illyrian kingdom (Ardiaean–Labeatan dynasty), north of Via Egnatia, except for Taulantii and Dassaretii, a situation different from that of the 2nd century BC. An evident relation between the Pirustae and Dassaretii appears in the text, but the Pirustae are thought to have been located much further north of Dassaretii. This could be explained by the possibility that the Pirustae had various locations in different periods, by the existence of two tribes with the same name or similar names, or by an unknown and hypothetical expansion of the Dassaretii to the north.[40]

Settlements

The capital of the Illyrian tribe of Dassaretii was Lychnidos, a city located on the edge of the lake of the same name.[41] Polybius mentions Pelion, Antipatreia, Chrysondyon, Gertous and Creonion as Dassaretan cities in the 2nd century BC. The precise location seems to have been found however only for Antipatreia, identified with modern Berat.[42][43][24] The settlement of Hija e Korbit in the Korça plain at the Devoll river (ancient Eordaicus) has been probably one of the relevant commercial and military sites of the Illyrian Dassaretii.[44] One of the most prominent settlements in the region of Illyrian Dassaretii was established at Selcë e Poshtme, where the Illyrian Royal Tombs were built.[34][45]

Culture

Language
Main article: Illyrian language
See also: Palaeo-Balkan languages

The idiom spoken by the Dassaretii is included in the southern Illyrian onomastic province in modern linguistics.[46][47] The territory they inhabited belongs to the area that is considered in current scholarship as the linguistic core of Illyrian.[48] It has been suggested that the zone located to the south and west of the Dassareti, Parthini and Taulanti, before reaching the Chaones and Atintanes, was a mixed area generally considered as a part of Illyria, however it was a cultural extension of Greek-speaking Epirus.[49][50] The Dassaretii were most likely one of the Illyrian peoples described as bilingual by Strabo.[51] The region assigned by Strabo to this Illyrian tribe was subject to the phenomenon of admixture of Greek and non-Greek elements, the latter occasionally not belonging to Illyrian but to the strata of an earlier population.[51] It has been suggested that there may have been a 'Brygian' substratum or a strong influence by the Brygi, as Dassaretia was one of the regions that was previously inhabited by this Paleo-Balkan people.[52]

Religion
See also: Illyrian religion

Several cult-objects with similar features are found in different Illyrian regions, including the territory of the Illyrian tribes of Dassaretii, Labeatae, Daorsi, and comprising also the Iapodes. In particular, a 3rd-century BC silvered bronze belt buckle, found inside the Illyrian Tombs of Selça e Poshtme near the western shore of Lake Lychnidus in Dassaretan territory, depicts a scene of warriors and horsemen in combat, with a giant serpent as a protector totem of one of the horsemen; a very similar belt was found also in the necropolis of Gostilj near the Lake Scutari in the territory of the Labeatae, indicating a common hero-cult practice in those regions. Modern scholars suggest that the iconographic representation of the same mythological event includes the Illyrian cults of the serpent, of Cadmus, and of the horseman, the latter being a common Paleo-Balkan hero.[45][8]

The cult of Artemis under the epithet Άγρότα, Agrota was practiced in southern Illyria, in particular during the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial times. The worship of Artemis Agrota, "Artemis the Huntress", is considered an Illyrian indigenous cult since it was widespread only in southern Illyria, stretching from the Illyrian Dassaretan territory up to Dalmatia, including also the territory of Apollonia. In later Roman times, the cult of Diana Candaviensis, which has been interpreted as "Artemis the Huntress", was practiced up to the region north of Lake Shkodra (ancient lacus labeatis), including also the territory of the Docleatae.[53]

Politics

Illyrian Realm
Illyrian tribes in the 7th–4th centuries BCE.

Dassaretii were one of the tribes forming the ancient Illyrian kingdom that was established in the region of southern Illyria.[46][47][54][55] Ancient sources and modern scholars hold that one of the first kingdoms established in this region was that of the Enchelei. It seems that the weakening of the kingdom of Enchelae resulted in their assimilation and inclusion into a newly established Illyrian realm at the latest in the 6th–5th centuries BC, marking the arising of the Dassaretii, who appear to have replaced the Enchelei in the lakeland area (Ohrid and Prespa).[7][8]

Illyrians after the rise of Macedon.

According to a historical reconstruction, Bardylis founded a powerful Illyrian dynasty among the Dassaretii in the 5th century BC,[56][57][58][59] and established a realm centered in their territory that comprised the area along Lychnidus and east to the Prespa Lakes, which was called "Dassaretis" later in Roman times.[60][lower-alpha 2] A fragment of Callisthenes (c. 360 – 327 BC) which places Bardylis' realm between Molossis and Macedonia, well determines the position of that Illyrian kingdom in the area of Dassaretis.[64] Bardylis' expansion in Upper Macedonia and Molossis, and his son Cleitus' revolt at Pelion in Dassaretis against Alexander the Great make this localization of the core of their realm even more plausible.[65][66][67] The exact extension of the kingdom of Bardylis and Cleitus is not known, as it could have included other regions besides Dassaretis.[68]

The Illyrian Royal Tombs were built on a hill located in Selca e Poshtme, near the western shore of Lake Ohrid, Albania.
Royal tomb III, Selca e Poshtme.

The establishment of a tribal realm centered in the rich region of the Illyrian Dassaretii seems supported also by numismatic and epigraphic evidence.[69][70][71][44] The Illyrian Royal Tombs of Selca e Poshtme are located in the Illyrian Dassaretan region.[34] The site of Selcë was in the past a flourishing economical centre more developed than the surroundings because it occupied a predominant position inside the region currently called Mokër, and because it controlled the road which led from the Adriatic coasts of Illyria to Macedonia.[72]

A helmet reporting the inscription of the name of the Illyrian king Monunius was found in the area of lake Lychnidus in the territory of the Illyrian tribe of Dassaretii. It has been interpreted as a possible component of the equipment of a royal special force, suggesting also a financial activity of this king.[70] Dating back to the 3rd century BC, the inscriptions of Monunius are considered the oldest known in the area.[73]

Before the year 229 the Illyrian tribe of Dassaretii had been under the rule of the Illyrian kingdom of the Ardiaei, and they controlled the mountain passes eastwards over the Pindus on the border with Macedon.[74] The retreat to the north and in later times the destruction of the Illyrian kingdom highlighted numerous communities in southern Illyria – including the Dassaretii – that were organized in koina, as evidenced by historical sources, coins and epigraphic material.[75]

Illyrian dynasty

The following is a list of the members of Bardylis' Illyrian dynasty recorded as such in ancient sources, whose realm was centered in the territory of the Dassaretii as claimed by a number of modern scholars:[9]

Grabos I (fl. c. 5th century BC) and Grabos II (fl. c. 357 – 356 BC), who most likely was the son of the former, should also have ruled in the same region of southern Illyria,[76] however there are not enough historical elements to determine whether or not they were of the same dynasty as Bardylis I.[77] The same observation applies in the case of Monunius I (fl. c. 280 BC) and Mytilus (fl. c. 270 BC).[78]

Roman times institutions
Illyrian tribes in the 1st-2nd centuries CE.

Ancient historian Polybius (fl. 2nd century BC) describes peoples of Illyria, like the Dassaretae and the Ardiaei, using the term ethnos, with the meaning of "tribes" within wider national units.[79] After defeating the Macedonians in 196 BC, Roman consul Titus Quinctius Flamininus assigned to the Illyrian (Labeatan) king Plauratus, son of Skerdilaidas, the regions of the Parthini and Lychnis, which were previously occupied by Philip V of Macedon, and the territory of the Dassaretii was also likely detached from Macedon.[80] Thus, after the Roman campaigns in Macedonia the Dassaretii were declared independent as Roman allies, like the Orestae, and they established autonomous political entities under the Roman protectorate.[17]

The Dassaretioi were mentioned in Imperial times in many inscriptions as either having an executive power or as dedicants. The official of the highest rank was, most likely, the strategos, whose seat seems to have been located in Lychnidos.[81] However, the Dassaretioi were not mentioned in a single inscription together with the polis of Lychnidos. This indicates that from the Hellenistic period they seem to have been separate political entities. It has been suggested that the tribe of Dassaretioi and the city of Lychnidos might have formed some kind of political confederation (similar to a koinon) based on the unification of various tribes or various towns and villages. This type of political organisation were quite widespread in the Balkans during the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Some of these confederations survived until Imperial times, such as that of the Bylliones.[17]

Stephanus of Byzantium (fl. 6th century AD) describes the Dassaretai as an Illyrian ethnos and does not associate them with a city. He seems to have used the term ethnos to describe the Dassaretan community in conformation to Anthony Snodgrass' definition: "In its purest form the ethnos was no more than a survival of the tribal system into historical times: a population scattered thinly over a territory without urban centres, united politically and in customs and religion, normally governed by means of some periodical assembly at a single centre, and worshipping a tribal deity at a common religious centre". Snodgrass presents indeed the ethnos as the prehistoric precursor of the polis describing it "no more than a survival of the tribal system into historical times".[82]

Economy

The region of the Illyrian tribe of Dassaretii bordered the regions of Macedonia and Molossia. Including the valleys of Osum and Devoll rivers, stretching to the east into the Korçë Plain, and comprising the area around lake Ohrid, the Illyrian Dassaretan region was rich in natural resources and was located in a strategic geographical position that aroused the political wishes of the neighbours and the interest of the Greek merchants.[69] In antiquity, as the authors of that time informs, the Dassaretan territory was known for its very fertile countryside, with a developed agricultural economy. An example is the account about the Roman consul Sulpicius, who during the Second Macedonian War in 199 BC, passed through the territory of the Dasaretii and supplied his army with the products offered by that region, without the resistance of the locals.[83] The prosperous site of Selcë was important in the region, because it occupied a prominent military and commercial position and predominated in the area near Via Egnatia, which was established in Roman times. Some of its natural resources were the stone quarries. The area was likely also close to the silver mines of Damastion.[34] The Dassaretii minted coins in Hellenistic times. Coins bearing the inscription ΔΑΣΣΑΡΗΤΙΩΝ (DASSARETION) have been found in the region of Lake Lychnidus.[15] In Roman times the Dassaretii may have practiced transhumance in southern Illyria.[24]

Notes
  1. The Dassaretii are alternatively known as Dassaretes, Dassaretae, Dassaretai, Dassaretioi or Dassareti
  2. There is also another historical reconstruction that considers Bardylis a Dardanian ruler, who during the expansion of his dominion included the region of Dassaretis in his realm, but 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.[56][61][62][63]

References
  1. Shehi 2023, p. 183; Lippert & Matzinger 2021, pp. 12–13; Pettifer & Vickers 2021, pp. 15, 18; Gavoille 2019, p. 7; Jaupaj 2019, pp. 78–80; Verčík et al. 2019, pp. 44, 46; Castiglioni 2018, p. 330; Zindel et al. 2018, p. 280; Gruen 2018, p. 29; Mesihović & Šačić 2015, p. 47; Mesihović 2014, p. 219; Fasolo 2009, p. 606; Eckstein 2008, pp. 53, 412; Šašel Kos 2005b, p. 913; Eichner 2004, p. 100; Siewert 2003, p. 55; Haebler 2002, p. 475; Winnifrith 2002, pp. 46, 214; Ujes 2002, p. 106; Cabanes 2002, pp. 27, 195; McInerney 1999, p. 24; Theodossiev 1998; Erdkamp 1998, p. 144; Katičić 1995, p. 215; Hatzopoulos 1993, p. 84; Stipčević 1989, p. 28; Weber 1989, p. 81; Garašanin 1988, p. 140; Papazoglu 1988, pp. 74, 75; Kunstmann & Thiergen 1987, p. 112; Polomé 1983, p. 537.
  2. Cabanes 1988, p. 49; Castiglioni 2007, p. 174; Eckstein 2008, p. 53; Erdkamp 1998, p. 144; Jaupaj 2019, p. 80.
  3. Fasolo 2009, p. 606; Šašel Kos 2005b, p. 913; Eichner 2004, p. 100; Ujes 2002, p. 105.
  4. Castiglioni 2010, pp. 93–94; Garašanin 1976, pp. 278–279
  5. Hatzopoulos 2020, p. 214: "Dassaretis (Dassaretai), region and ethnic state in southern Illyria"; Kunstmann & Thiergen 1987, p. 112: "Die Dassaretae waren einer der bedeutendsten illyrischen Stämme, dessen Siedelgebiet sich von der Stadt Lychnidos am gleichnamigen See bis zur Stadt Antipatria am unteren Apsos erstreckte."; Castiglioni 2007, p. 174: "Bardyllis, the king of the Dassaretii, one of the most powerful Illyrian tribes established on the border between Macedonia and Epirus.".
  6. Polomé 1983, p. 537; Šašel Kos 2002, p. 117; Mesihović 2014, p. 219; Weissová et al. 2017, p. 130.
  7. Šašel Kos 2004, p. 500.
  8. Castiglioni 2010, pp. 93–95.
  9. Toynbee 1969, p. 116; Mortensen 1991, pp. 49–59; Cabanes 2002, pp. 50–51, 56, 75; Šašel Kos 2002, p. 106; Castiglioni 2010, p. 58; Lane Fox 2011, p. 342; Mesihović & Šačić 2015, pp. 129–130; Parisot 2015, p. 477; Vujčić 2021, p. 503; Shehi 2023, p. 183.
  10. Papazoglu 1988, p. 75.
  11. Stocker 2009, p. 66
  12. Vujčić 2021, p. 497.
  13. Šašel Kos 2005a, p. 258.
  14. Papazoglu 1988, p. 74: "Sur la frontière occidentale de la Macédonie, les grandes tribus illyriennes des Dassarètes et des Pénestes, situées entre les royaumes de Macédonie et d'Illyrie, avaient souvent changé de maître."
  15. Verčík et al. 2019, p. 44: "in the Hellenistic period when they were responsible for coin emissions bearing the name of the Dassaretioi (ΔΑΣΣΑΡΗΤΙΩΝ)." p. 46: "Dassaretioi, an Illyrian tribe that minted coins in Hellenistic times"
  16. Šašel Kos 1997, p. 332.
  17. Verčík et al. 2019, pp. 44–45.
  18. Kunstmann & Thiergen 1987, p. 112.
  19. Ujes 2002, p. 106: "Les noms des souverains des mines sont tant d'origine illyrienne (Dassarètes ou Sessarèthes) que thrace (Périsadyes). Si l'on admettait que ces noms tribaux fournissent un indice de la position géographique des tribus en question, cela pourrait indiquer que les mines se trouvaient dans une zone de contact entre des tribus d'origine illyrienne et d'autres d'origine thrace".
  20. Weber 1989, p. 81: "The spelling of Dassarentii resembles two known Illyrian names, Dassaretae and Daesitiates. Of the two, Dassaretae is probably the tribe Livy meant to describe...
  21. Kunstmann & Thiergen 1987, pp. 110–112.
  22. Theodossiev 1998, p. 347.
  23. Theodossiev 1998, p. 348.
  24. Winnifrith 2002, p. 46: "Among Illyrian tribes, apart from the Enchelidae we find the Taulantii, Bylliones, Parthini and Bryges; other Illyrian tribes lived north of the River Shkumbin, as indeed did some of the Taulantii, since they were the barbarians who threatened Epidamnus. There is also a rather mysterious tribe called Sesarethi; they too may give their name to Dassaretis, although in what may be another case of transhumance the Dassaretae in Roman times are found near Berat." p. 214: "Dassaretae, Illyrian tribe"
  25. Šašel Kos 1993, pp. 118, 120.
  26. Toynbee 1969, pp. 107–108: "For instance, the description of a Chaonian as being a Peukestos, and the mention of another subdivision of the Khaones named the Dexaroi, are evidence that the Khaones had been Illyrian-speakers originally, since the name 'Peukestos' is identical with that of the Apulian Peuketioi, while the name 'Dexaroi' looks like a variant of the name 'Dassaretioi', which was borne by an Illyrian people whose territory extended from the shores of Lake Okhrida (Lykhnidos) south-south-westwards to the upper valley of the River Uzúmi, which joins the Devol to form the Semeni (Apsos). Above all, the most prominent mountain in Epirus, Mount Tomaros or Tmaros, which overhangs the Yannina basin, bears the same name as the most prominent mountain in southern Illyria, the Mount Tomaros that divides the Uzúmi valley from the Devol (Eordaïkos) valley."
  27. Kaljanac 2010, p. 56
  28. Papazoglu 1978, p. 213: "The tribes which took their names from the first generation of Illyrius' descendants belong mostly to the group of the so-called South-Illyrian tribes: the Taulantii, the Parthini, the Enchelei, the Dassaretii".
  29. Šašel Kos 2004, p. 502.
  30. Mesihović & Šačić 2015, pp. 23–24.
  31. Cabanes 1988, p. 49: "ce sont les Dassarètes qui sont le premier ethnos illyrien qui avoisine avec les Orestes" p. 64: "Entre Parthins et Atintanes, vers l'Est s'étend le pays des Dassaretes, dont l'étendue paraît considérable, puisqu'il comprend toute la région comprise entre l'Osum et le Devoll, dont la réunion forme l'Apsus (l'actuel Seman), le plateau de Korça verrouillé par la forteresse de Pélion et, vers le Nord la Dassarétide s'étend jusqu'au lac l'Ohrid (121). C'est certainement une zone centrale de l'Illyrie méridionale, celle qui est aussi la plus directement en contact avec les régions de Haute-Macédoine, notamment avec l'Orestide et la Lyncestide."
  32. Kunstmann & Thiergen 1987, p. 112: "Die Dassaretae waren einer der bedeutendsten illyrischen Stämme, dessen Siedelgebiet sich von der Stadt Lychnidos am gleichnamigen See bis zur Stadt Antipatria am unteren Apsos erstreckte."
  33. Erdkamp 1998, p. 144: "In the spring of 199 B.C., the Roman army, led by consul Sulpicius, marched into the fertile land of the Dassaretii, an Illyrian people who occupied the region bordering western Macedonia."
  34. Castiglioni 2010, pp. 93–94: "Selcë appartenait géographiquement, au IIIe siècle av. J.-C., à la région illyrienne appelée Dassarétide, territoire comprenant les vallées de l'Osum et du Devoll et s'étendant vers l'est dans les plateaux de Kolonje et de Korçe, et dans la zone autour du lac de Pogradec... Il ne fait aucun doute que cette localité devait correspondre à une agglomération d'une certaine importance, en vertu à la fois desa position stratégique (du point de vue militaire et commercial puisqu'elle occupaitune place prédominante près du parcours de la future Via Egnatia) et de ses ressources naturelles (les carrières de pierre et la proximité des mines d'argent du Damastion). La richesse de sa nécropole ne fait du reste que confirmer cette impression. En particulier, la profusion d'objets précieux de la sépulture n°3 reflète une position sociale très élevée du défunt, qui fut sans doute un notable de la cité. Les reliefs représentant des armes sur la façade monumentale du tombeau, ainsi que le combatfiguré sur le fermoir de ceinture, affichent un caractère explicitement militaire: il devait donc s'agir d'un chef aux fortes prérogatives guerrières, orgueilleux de sa préé-minence et désireux d'en faire un généreux étalage."
  35. Jaupaj 2019, p. 80: "Les spécialistes sont aujourd'hui d'accord pour situer les Dassarètes entre les Parthins au nord-ouest et les Atintanes au sud-ouest, dans la région des lacs où se situe le noyau fondateur des Enchéléens, avec la Macédoine sur la frontière orientale. Ce vaste territoire comprend le plateau de Korça, les vallées de l'Osum et du Devoll qui se rejoignent ver l'ouest pour former l'Apsos, l'actuel Seman."
  36. Stocker 2009, p. 66
  37. Pettifer & Vickers 2021, p. 15.
  38. Pettifer & Vickers 2021, p. 18.
  39. Palazzo 2010, p. 285.
  40. Palazzo 2010, pp. 286–287.
  41. Fasolo 2009, p. 606: "La via proseguiva verso Ohrid, la città sul sito del-l'antica Lychnidòs, antica capitale della tribù illirica dei Dassareti."; Šašel Kos 2005b, p. 913: "Lychnidus (Λυχνιδός, Λυχνίς, Lychnidós, Lychnís), Capital city of the Illyrian Dassaretae (→ Dassaretia) on the → via Egnatia (Str. 7,7,4; It. Ant. 318), modern Ohrid in Macedonia on Lake Ohrid."; Eichner 2004, p. 100: "Periegesis ad Nicomedem regem (Pseudo-Skymnos) ist der Abschnitt 415–444 dem Land der Illyrer (Ἰλλυρίς) gewidmet, von denen es heisst, dass sie viele Stämme sowohl im Binnenland als auch an der adriatischen Meeresküste umfassen. Ihr Siediungsgebiet lässt er im Norden an die hylleische Halbinsel (...) anschliensen und auf der Höhe der Insel Pharos beginnen. Darauf folgt Schwarzkorkyra (...) und unvermittelt die Erwähnung des „recht großen“ Sees Lychnitis (...) dem nach der Hauptstadt des Stämme der Dassaretai Lychnis (...) oder Lychnidos (...) benannten Ohridsee (...)."; Ujes 2002, p. 105: "Les Dassarètes sont bien attestés dans la région du lac Lychnitis (lac d'Ohrid); Lychnidos, située au bord du lac, était leur ville principale." p. 106: "origine illyrienne (Dassarètes ou Sessarèthes)".
  42. Cabanes 1988, p. 64: "Selon Polybe, (122), en dehors de Pélion, les Dassarètes possèdent, au début du IIe siècle avant J.-C., plusieurs villes, Antipatreia (généralement identifiée avec la position privilégiée de la forteresse de Bérat, mais l'unanimité des chercheurs n'est pas réalisée sur cette identification), Chrysondyon, Gertous ou Gerous, Créônion, mais leur localisation reste à établir."
  43. Zindel et al. 2018, pp. 278, 280: "Unmittelbar westlich von Berat fließt der Osum zwischen fast 200m hohen felsigen Erhebungen und bildet eine Engstelle, womit das bergige Hinterland von der größten Ebene Albaniens, der Muzeka, abgetrennt wird. Die strategische Lage der an der höchsten Stelle auf 187 m ü. M. liegenden Siedlung wurde schon seit der Antike genutzt und die beiden Felshöhen wurden befestigt, wobei der nördliche. Hügel besondere Bedeutung erlangte. Keramikfunde des 7. Jh. v. Chr. bezeugen zunächst eine Besiedlung des Felshügels durch die in den Quellen genannten illyrischen Dassareten. Erstmals wird Berat unter dem Namen Antipatros von Polybios 216 v. Chr. erwähnt.""
  44. Zindel et al. 2018, pp. 375–376: "Der Hija e Korbit ist eine Erhebung (ca. 1200 m ü. M.) am Rande der Korça-Ebene, wo sich der Devoll-Fluss in einer Schlucht seinen Weg durch das Randgebirge bahnt. Das rund 20 ha große Hochplateau des Hügels südlich der Schlucht ist von antiken Befestigungsmauern umgeben, die aus grob zugehauenen Kalksteinblöcken in unregelmäßigen Scharen gebildet sind. Eingänge und mögliche Türme sind mangels archäologischer Forschungen und Planaufnahmen noch nicht erfasst. Im Innern lassen sich Reste antiker Bauten, die durch Keramikfunde in hellenistische Zeit datierbar sind, zu erkennen. Bei der Umfassungsmauer wurde erst kürzlich ein Münzdepot aus 618 Prägungen gefunden, die dem ausgehenden 4. und frühen 3. Jh. v. Chr. angehören. Vielleicht handelt es sich um einen in Kriegszeiten versteckten Münzschatz. Jedenfalls konnte von diesem strategisch günstig gelegenen Platz der von > Apollonia an der Adria nach Osten führende Passweg kontrolliert werden. Möglicherweise befand sich am Hija e Korbit eine der militärisch und handelsmäßig wichtigen Städte der illyrischen Dassareten.
  45. Garašanin 1976, pp. 278–279.
  46. Polomé 1983, p. 537: "The old kingdom of Illyria, south of Lissos, covered the territory of several tribes who shared a common language, apparently of Indo-European stock: the Taulantii, on the coast, south of Dyrrachium; the Parthini, north of this town; the Dassaretae, inland, near Lake Lychnidos and in the Drin valley; north of them were the Penestae; in the mountains, an older group, the Enchelei, lingered on." [footnote 84:] "In the oldest sources, the term 'Illyrian' appears to be restricted to the tribes of the Illyricum regnum (PAPAZOGLU, 1965). Linguistically, it can only legitimately be applied to the southeastern part of the expanded Roman Illyricum; the Delmatae and the Pannonii to the northwest mus have constituted an ethnically and linguistically distinct group (KATIČIĆ, 1968: 367-8)."
  47. Šašel Kos 2002, p. 117: "The Illyrian peoples, mentioned in the sources in which the events concerning the Illyrian kingdom are narrated – to name the most outstanding – are the Taulantii, Atintani, Parthini, Enchelei, Penestae, Dassaretii, Ardiaei, Labeates, and the Daorsi. All of these peoples were conceivably more or less closely related in terms of culture, institutions and language. Many of them may have had their own kings, some of whom attained great power and actively took part in the struggle for power in the Hellenistic world. The name "Illyrian" must have carried enough prestige at the time of the rise of the Ardiaean dynasty within the Illyrian kingdom that it was imposed at a later date, when the Romans conquered Illyria and the rest of the Balkans, as the official name of the future provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia."
  48. Haebler 2002, p. 475: "To be cautious, only that language, which was spread along the south-eastern Adriatic coast northward and southward from Dyrrhachium (today Durrës) and inland to Lake Lychnidos (today Ohrid) in the settlement area of the Illyrian tribes of the Parthini, Taulanti, Dassaretae and Penestae, must be considered as Illyrian at present."
  49. Wilkes 1995, p. 217: "...Hatzopoulos presumes... Along with the Chaones, the Atintanes will have been the most northerly of the Epirote communities. Beyond these but yet south and west of the real Illyrian Dassaretae, Parthini and Taulantii was a mixed zone, generally reckoned as a part of Illyria but culturally an extension of Greek-speaking Epirus."
  50. Hatzopoulos 1993, p. 84: "...il serait, entre autres, susceptible de nous livrer des informations précieuses sur l'origine des populations (et de leur culture) de la zone intermédiaire et peut-être bilingue, entre la Chaonie indubitablement épirote et le pays des Dassarètes et des Parthins non moins indubitablemente illyrien."
  51. Hatzopoulos 1997, p. 144: "...bilingual populations, amongst whom Strabo includes not only the Bylliones, but also the Taulantioi, the Parthinoi, the Bryges and the Encheleis and, all probability, the Dassaretioi." p. 155: "The phenomenon of the intermingling of Greek and non-Greek elements, with the latter on occasion not being Illyrian but belonging to earlier population strata, is even more pronounced in the regions assigned by Strabo to the Illyrian ethne of the Bryges, Encheleis and Dassaretioi."
  52. Šašel Kos 2005a, p. 110
  53. Anamali 1992, pp. 135–136.
  54. Mesihović 2014, p. 219.
  55. Weissová et al. 2017, p. 130: "The grave offerings, especially the fibulae, demonstrate a strong connection to the sites in eastern Albania (i.e. Selce, Irmaj) which were a part of the Dassareatean Kingdom at that time"
  56. Cabanes 2002, pp. 50–51, 56, 75.
  57. Castiglioni 2007, p. 174: "Bardyllis, the king of the Dassaretii, one of the most powerful Illyrian tribes established on the border between Macedonia and Epirus.".
  58. Mesihović & Šačić 2015, pp. 129–130.
  59. Shehi 2023, p. 183: "Alternatively, a larger, tribal confederation may have been controlled by a single leader, sometimes referred to as a "king," as in the case of Bardylis (393—359/358 BC), who is often associated with the Illyrian tribe of the Dasaretoi, in southeastern Albania"
  60. Lane Fox 2011, p. 342: "Bardylis was king of a realm along Lake Ohrid and east to the two Prespa Lakes, the "Dassaretis" of later topography"; Cabanes 2002, pp. 50–51, 56, 75; Šašel Kos 2002, p. 106: "However, the fact that Bardylis II is the only attested Illyrian king after Glaucias (Plut., Pyrr. 9.2) does not necessarily mean that he succeeded Glaucias on the throne, but rather that at that time he was the most powerful king in Illyria who could unite the largest number of Illyran tribes under his authority. P. Cabanes thus plausibly suggested that he may have, through his father Clitus, continued the line of Bardylis I, reigning nearer the Macedonian border somewhere in Dassaretia, while the centre of Glaucias' kingdom lay in the Taulantian regions. In one way or another Bardylis II succeeded in his struggle against Macedonia and temporarily brought this part of Illyria, where he prevailed over rivals, to the front."; Toynbee 1969, p. 116: "The two Illyrian rulers Kleitos son of Bardyles, who was perhaps the king of the Dassaretioi, and Glaukias, the king of the Taulantioi, who went to war with Alexander III of Macedon in 335 b.c." [note 3]: "Eventually Kleitos was more powerful of the two allies; it was he who took initia-tive on this occasion (Arrian, Book I; chap. 5, § 1). It is also evident, from the sequel, that Kleitos' country was nearer to the western frontier of Macedon than Taulantia was (ibid., chap. 5, § 4-chap. 6 inclusive). Kleitos had seized the Macedonian frontier fortress Pelion on the upper reaches of the Eordaikos (Devol) River. All this points to Dassaretia's having been Kleitos' country."; Mortensen 1991, pp. 49–59; Mesihović & Šačić 2015, pp. 129–130; Jaupaj 2019, p. 80: "...évolution politique et ethnique de la Dassarétie qui apparaît comme une région riche et vaste, fondatrice de la dynastie de Bardylis, roi du premier royaume illyrien au IVème siècle. M. B. Hatzopoulos soutient la thèse que ce royaume est situé en Dassarétie et plus précisément dans la région des lacs, et il est suivi par F. Papazoglou qui range les Dassarètes parmi les peuples illyriens.".
  61. Mortensen 1991, pp. 49–59.
  62. Lane Fox 2011, p. 342: "Their own king Bardylis was king of a realm along Lake Ohrid and east to the two Prespa Lakes, the "Dassaretis" of later topography, not "Dardania", as Hammond postulated"
  63. Vujčić 2021, pp. 501–504.
  64. Cabanes 2002, p. 56.
  65. Cabanes 2002, pp. 50–51, 73–75.
  66. Toynbee 1969, p. 116: "The two Illyrian rulers Kleitos son of Bardyles, who was perhaps the king of the Dassaretioi, and Glaukias, the king of the Taulantioi, who went to war with Alexander III of Macedon in 335 b.c." [note 3]: "Eventually Kleitos was more powerful of the two allies; it was he who took initia-tive on this occasion (Arrian, Book I; chap. 5, § 1). It is also evident, from the sequel, that Kleitos' country was nearer to the western frontier of Macedon than Taulantia was (ibid., chap. 5, § 4-chap. 6 inclusive). Kleitos had seized the Macedonian frontier fortress Pelion on the upper reaches of the Eordaikos (Devol) River. All this points to Dassaretia's having been Kleitos' country."
  67. Šašel Kos 2002, p. 106: "However, the fact that Bardylis II is the only attested Illyrian king after Glaucias (Plut., Pyrr. 9.2) does not necessarily mean that he succeeded Glaucias on the throne, but rather that at that time he was the most powerful king in Illyria who could unite the largest number of Illyran tribes under his authority. P. Cabanes thus plausibly suggested that he may have, through his father Clitus, continued the line of Bardylis I, reigning nearer the Macedonian border somewhere in Dassaretia, while the centre of Glaucias' kingdom lay in the Taulantian regions. In one way or another Bardylis II succeeded in his struggle against Macedonia and temporarily brought this part of Illyria, where he prevailed over rivals, to the front."
  68. Vujčić 2021, p. 503.
  69. Castiglioni 2010, p. 58: "L'apparition sur la scène diplomatique, à partir de 357, de Grabos II dans les ins-criptions que nous venons d'évoquer, encourage à considérer ce dernier comme le successeur de Bardylis et à établir donc le profil d'un solide « royaume » tribal hé-réditaire que les arguments convaincants de M. A. Hatzopoulos situent en Dassarétide, riche région aux frontières avec la Macédoine et la Molossie. La souverainetéd'une seule famille se serait étendue pendant au moins trois quarts de siècle sur unerégion dont les ressources naturelles et l'emplacement stratégique ont suscité lesconvoitises des voisins et l'intérêt des marchands grecs: ce détail, joint au voisinage géographique avec l'un des théâtres de la guerre du Péloponnèse, expliquerait l'im-plication militaire illyrienne et les amitiés athéniennes avec Grabos."
  70. Siewert 2003, p. 55: "Ein Helm aus Lychnidos (Ochrid), dem Gebiet der illyrischen Dassareten, mit der Inschrift, gleich lautend wie auf den Münzen, βασιλέως Μονουνίου, lässt sich als Ausrüstungsteil einer königlichen Spezialtruppe interpretieren, was zu den finanziellen Aktivitäten dieses Königs passt."
  71. Picard 2013, p. 82: "Kjo veçanti sjell një argument të rëndësishëm në tezën e historianëve modernë, të cilët në kërkimet për Basileis (mbretërit) ilirë, dallojnë qartë midis mbretërisë së Bardhylit kundërshtar i Filipit të II, të vendosur në malet në lindje dhe mbretërisë së Glaukias dhe asaj të Monunit në bregdet, për të cilat do të flasim sërish."
  72. Castiglioni 2010, pp. 88–89: "Le premier de ces deux témoignages est un fermoir de ceinture retrouvé dans un tombeau monumental de la localité albanaise de la basse Selce (Selcë e Poshtme) située dans le district de Pogradec, dans la partie orientale du pays, à quelques kilomètres du lac d'Ohrid et à 1010 m au-dessus du niveau de la mer. Ce centre a bénéficié dans le passé d'un essor économique plus florissant par rapport aux plus modestes agglomérations des alentours, grâce à la position centrale et prédominante qu'il occupe à l'intérieur de la contrée actuellement appelée Mokër, et grâce au contrôle de la route qui conduisait des côtes adriatiques de l'Illyrie à la Macédoine, route qui longeait le cours du fleuve Shkumbin (Genusus) et qui passait autrefois par les Gorges de Çervenake. La ville s'étendait sur les terrasses naturelles de la col-line de Gradishte ou Qyteze, dont la partie ouest descend abruptement vers le cours du fleuve Shkumbin."
  73. Verčík et al. 2019, p. 43.
  74. Eckstein 2008, p. 53: "Nor did Rome establish connections with the Dassareti, who had been under Ardiaean domination before 229 and who controlled the strategic high passes eastwards over the Pindus Range into Macedon" p. 412: "Dassaretii (Illyrian people)"
  75. Buora & Santoro 2003, p. 28: "La ritirata verso nord e in seguito la distruzione del Regno illirico mise in evidenza un numero considerevole di koinà di cittadini testimoniate dalle iscrizioni (come quelli dei Byllini, dei Balaiti e degli Amanti), dalle monete (come quelli degli Olympi, dei Lisiani, dei Labiati e dei Daorsi) oppure da fonti storiche (come qelli dei Parthini, dei Dassareti e dei Penesti). Questo sistema fu mantenuto in seguito, come struttura politica autonoma funzio-nante sulla base di un'economia autarchica, anche durante l'amministrazione romana (nell'ambito della IV provincia macedone, in seguito Illyricum) fino all'anno 30 a.C."
  76. Cabanes 2002, pp. 49–55.
  77. Cabanes 2002, pp. 49–55, 84–90.
  78. Cabanes 2002, pp. 84–90.
  79. Gruen 2018, p. 29: "The historian further utilizes the word ethnos to denote peoples normally understood as "tribes", within larger national units. That would hold for peoples like the Ardiaeans and the Dassaretae of Illyria, the Gallic Insubres, Boii, Senones, and others, the Spanish Olcades, Carpedani, Balearics, Vaccaei, and others, the tribes of Media, those settled along the Euxine, the tribes of Macedonia and of Thrace, those of Libya, and a variety of Italian peoples like the Brutii, Lucanians, and Samnites."
  80. Papazoglu 1988, p. 74
  81. Verčík et al. 2019, p. 44
  82. McInerney 1999, p. 24: "Even so, despite the use of ethnos to describe communities that resided in poleis, there are also instances where Stephanus seems to use ethnos to describe communities that seem to conform to Snodgrass's definition. The Dassaretai are called an Illyrian ethnos, while the Datuleptoi are Thrakian, neither of which is associated with a city. What these tribes share with ethne that also exist as poleis is that each has an identity not tied to a specific set of institutions." p. 19: "The definition suggested by Snodgrass is a good example of such an approach: "In its purest form the ethnos was no more than a survival of the tribal system into historical times: a population scattered thinly over a territory without urban centres, united politically and in customs and religion, normally governed by means of some periodical assembly at a single centre, and worshipping a tribal deity at a common religious centre." Here the ethnos is presented as the prehistoric precursor of the polis ("no more than a survival of the tribal system into historical times..."
  83. Shpuza 2009, p. 92

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