Illyrians

“ Indeed, the very name seems originally to have been an ethnological rather than a geographical term; the older Greek historians usually wrote of “the Illyrians” (οἰ Ἰλλυρίοι) , while the names Illyris (Ἰλλυρίς) or less commonly Illyria (Ἰλλυρία) came subsequently to be used of the indeterminate area inhabited by the Illyrian tribes, i.e. a region extending eastward from the Adriatic between Liburnia on the N. and Epirus on the S., and gradually shading off into the territories of kindred peoples towards Thrace. ”

“ But the Illyrians lashed their galleys four together, and, caring nothing for any damage that might happen to them, grappled with the enemy by throwing their galleys athwart their prows and encouraging them to charge; when the enemies’ prows struck them, and got entangled by the lashed-together galleys getting hitched on to their forward gear, the Illyrians leaped upon the decks of the Achaean ships and captured them by the superior number of their armed men. ”

“ No sooner did the Illyrians learn the approach of the Romans than they hurriedly broke up the siege and fled. The Romans, taking the Epidamnians under their protection, advanced into the interior of Illyricum, subduing the Ardiaei as they went. The Roman settlement of Illyricum. They were met on their march by envoys from many tribes: those of the Partheni offered an unconditional surrender, as also did those of the Atintanes. Both were accepted: and the Roman army proceeded towards Issa, which was being besieged by Illyrian troops. ”

“ The Illyrians depart.the Epirotes turned to the despatch of ambassadors to the Aetolians and Achaeans, earnestly begging for their assistance. Moved by pity for their misfortunes, these nations consented; and an army of relief sent out by them arrived at Helicranum. Meanwhile the Illyrians who had occupied Phoenice, having effected a junction with Scerdilaidas, advanced with him to this place, and, taking up a position opposite to this army of relief, wished at first to give it battle. But they were embarrassed by the unfavourable nature of the ground ”

“ The ships that were engaged with the Acarnanians, seeing the success of the Illyrians, and trusting to their speed, made sail with a fair wind and escaped home in safety. The Illyrian forces, highly elated by their success, continued the siege with more security and confidence, and the Corcyreans, whose hopes were crushed by the repulse of their allies, after enduring the siege for a short time longer, came to terms with the Illyrians, receiving a garrison under the command of Demetrius of Pharos. ”

“ Appian and others consider the Liburnians and Istrians as Illyrian, and Herodotus even includes under that name the Eneti or Veneti at the extremity of the Adriatic Gulf. ... The Illyrians generally were poor, rapacious, fierce and formidable in battle. They shared with the remote Thracian tribes the custom of tattooing their bodies and of offering human sacrifices: moreover, they were always ready to sell their military service for hire, like the modern Albanian Schkipetars, in whom probably their blood yet flows, though with considerable admixture from subsequent immigrations. ”

“ According to Aulus Gellius, the ancient inhabitants of Illyria had two eyelids to each eye, and with their looks, when angered, they were able to kill those whom they beheld stedfastly. The Greeks hence called them serpents and basilisks; and, it is not unlikely, that when Cadmus retired among them, they said that he had become one of the Illyrians, otherwise a dragon, or a serpent. All the ancient writers who mention his history agree that Cadmus really did retire into Illyria, where he first assisted the Enchelians in their war against the Illyrians. ”

“ Therefore I naturally feel an interest in getting to know what they are.”
“And what are they, Maurice?” asked Zoe. “I thought these men all came from Thracia or Dardania.”
“No, they are nearly all Illyrians—the Christian kind, such as it is. They are Emathians born, though they are under foreign direction; there’s no doubt of that. And very few of them seem to have become brigands for the fun of the thing. Most of them are pretty sick of the life, but they have made their own villages too hot to hold them.”
“But that was their own fault,” objected Eirene. ”

“ Greek writers of the fourth century speak of the Celts as practising justice, of having nearly the same manners and customs as the Greeks, and they notice their hospitality to Grecian strangers. [13] Their war with the Etruscans in North Italy completed the ruin of an hereditary enemy of [Pg 7] the Greeks, [14] and their war with the Illyrians no doubt largely strengthened the hands of Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, and enabled him to throw off the tribute which the Illyrians had imposed upon Macedonia. ”

“ And Hermippus, in his account of the Seven Wise Men, says Periander did the same thing. But in the second book of his History of the Exploits of Philip he says, "The Illyrians both eat and drink in a sitting posture; and they take their wives to their entertainments; and it is reckoned a decorous custom for the women to pledge the guests who are present. And they lead home their husbands from their drinking-parties; and they all live plainly, and when they drink, they girdle their stomach with broad girdles, and at first they do so moderately ”

“ After the first Stone Age, of which there are fewer indications than might be expected [1275] , the whole land was thickly settled by dark long-headed Mediterranean peoples in neolithic times. These were later joined by Pelasgians of like type from Greece, and by Illyrians of doubtful affinity from the Balkan Peninsula. Indeed C. [Pg 529] Penka [1276] , who has so many paradoxical theories, makes the Illyrians the first inhabitants of Italy, as shown by the striking resemblance of the terramara culture of Aemilia with that of the Venetian and Laibach pile-dwellings. ”

“ The Romans had hitherto turned a deaf ear to the complaints made against the Illyrians, but now when a number of persons approached the Senate on the subject, they appointed two envoys, Gaius and Lucius Coruncanius, to proceed to Illyria, and investigate the matter. Teuta, on the return of the flotilla from Epirus, was so struck with admiration by the quantity and beauty of the spoils they brought back (Phoenice being then far the wealthiest city there) , that she was twice as eager as before to molest the Greeks. ”

“ Illyria, the name anciently given to a broad stretch of mountainous country of varying extent lying E. of the Adriatic Sea. The Illyrians were the last Balkan people to be civilised; becoming a Roman province 35 B.C., Illyria furnished several emperors, among them the notorious Diocletian. Constantine extended the province to include all the country S. of the Danube; at the division of the empire, Greece and Macedonia went to the East, the rest to the West; the name was revived by Napoleon, but has since been dropped. ”

“ The learned have spent much time in discovering their origin, have written many books about them, and have come to no very definite results after all. Some say they are descendants of the Illyrians, the original inhabitants of the Western Peloponese, and try to prove their theory by philology. ”

“ They drew up the greater part of their hoplites and cavalry in front of their lines on the level ground, and with a portion of their cavalry and their light infantry they hastened to occupy some rising ground in front of their camp, which nature had made easily defensible. A single charge, however, of the Illyrians, whose numbers and close order gave them irresistible weight, served to dislodge the light-armed troops, and forced the cavalry who were on the ground with them to retire to the hoplites. ”

“ IV Lucius Posthumius Albinus and Cnaeus Fulvius Centumalus, when consuls, conducted a war against the Illyrians; and, having taken many of their towns, reduced their kings to a surrender, and it was then for the first time that a triumph was celebrated over the Illyrians. ”

“ Hellas, as above seen, has recovered itself, and the Albanians [1305] , direct descendants of the ancient Illyrians, still hold their ground and keep alive the last echoes of the old Illyrian language, which was almost certainly a proto-Aryan form of speech probably intermediate, as above-mentioned, between the Italic and Hellenic branches. They even retain the old tribal system, so that there are not only two main sections, the northern Ghegs and the southern Toshks, but each section is divided into a number of minor groups [1306] , such as the Malliesors (Klementi, Pulati, Hoti, etc.) ”

“ Then again, the city on the Bosporus which is named after the family of the Constantii, though she does not assert that she is your native place, but acknowledges that she became your adopted land by your father's act, will think she is cheated of her rights if any orator should try to deprive her of at least this claim to kinship. Thirdly, the Illyrians, on whose soil you were born, will not tolerate it if anyone assign you a different fatherland and rob them of the fairest gift of fortune. ”

“ The Illyrians were barbarians in the eyes of the Greeks. They are now considered as an independent branch of the Aryan family. Herodotus refers the Veneti to the Illyrians (i. 196) ; and the Veneti, according to Polybius (ii. 17) , who knew them, spoke a language different from that of the Celts. He adds that they were an old race, and in their manner and dress like the Celts. Hence many writers have mistaken them for Celts, neglecting the criterion of language, on which Polybius lays such proper stress. The Illyrians were a widely extended race ”

“ But news being brought them that Scerdilaidas with five thousand Illyrians was marching overland by way of the pass near Antigoneia, they detached some of their forces to guard that town; while the main body gave themselves over to an unrestrained indulgence in all the luxuries which the country could supply; and among other signs of demoralisation they neglected the necessary precaution of posting sentries and night pickets. The division of their forces, as well as the careless conduct of the remainder, did not escape the observation of the Illyrians ”

“ I am aware, too, that Hellanicus says, in his treatise on the Names of Races, that "Some of the Libyan nomades have no other possessions than a cup, and a sword, and a ewer, and they have small houses made of the stalks of asphodel, merely just to serve as a shade, and they even carry them about with them wherever they go." There is also a spot amongst the Illyrians, which has been celebrated by many people, which is called Κύλικες, near to which is the tomb of Cadmus and Harmonia, as Phylarchus relates in the twenty-second book of his Histories. ”

“ For this she had the ambassadors murdered, whereupon the Romans sent a fleet and army over to Illyria. The Illyrians, who now began to spread their rule, were just besieging Corcyra, which before the Peloponnesian war was a paradise guarded by a fleet of several hundred galleys, but owing to incessant wars, was now all but a desert. The island was obliged to surrender before the Romans arrived. These however landed from Brundusium before Dyrrhachium near Apollonia, and rescued it, as they also did Epidamnus and Dyrrhachium. The neighbouring tribes submitted ”

“ This body consisted of sixteen thousand men, the prime strength of the army, and of the kingdom. Besides these, he had two thousand targeteers, called Peltastae; of Thracians, and Illyrians of the tribe called Trallians, the like number of two thousand; and of hired auxiliaries, collected out of various nations, about one thousand; and two thousand horse. With this force the king waited for the enemy. The Romans had nearly an equal number; in cavalry alone they had a superiority, by the addition of the Aetolians. ”

“ He thus swiftly occupied the ground abandoned by his mercenaries, and at once cut off the pursuers61 from returning, and got on higher ground than the enemy’s right wing. He exhorted the men to keep up their courage, and remain where they were, until he gave the word for a general advance; and he ordered Polybius of Megalopolis21 to collect such of the Illyrians and body armour men and mercenaries as remained behind and had not taken part in the flight, and form a reserve on the flank of the phalanx, to keep a look-out against the return of the pursuers. The fight at the dyke. ”

“ Verily, I ween, thou hopest in thy heart, glorious Achilles, on this day to sack the city of the lordly Trojans. Thou fool! in sooth many be the woes that shall yet be wrought because of her. Within her are we, many men and valiant, that in front of our dear parents and wives and sons guard Ilios; nay, it is thou that shalt here meet thy doom, for all thou art so dread and so bold a man of war. ”

“ THE ILIAD.—The Iliad is the story of the wrath of Achilles, of his retreat far from his friends who were endeavouring to capture Troy and of his return to them.
It is the poem of patriotism. It is filled with the spirit that when a people is divided against itself, all misfortunes fall on and overwhelm it. Achilles, unjustly offended, deprived his fellow-countrymen of his support; they are all on the point of perishing ”

“ It was no wonder then that the Illyrian, in the full vigor of manhood, should also be seized with ardent love for the beautiful creature who had fallen into his hands and, without really having any evil design, wanted to keep her in his power until either from affection or obedience the captive should yield to her master. ”