Bardylis
He united many southern Illyrian tribes under his realm and defeated the Macedonians and Molossians several times, expanding his dominion over upper Macedonia, including Lynkestis, and ruling over Macedon through a puppet king.
[11] Bardylis' son Cleitus revolted with the help of Taulantian king Glaukias against Alexander the Great in the siege of Pelium undertaken in 335 BC.
The name Bardylis/Bardulis contains the same root as the Albanian adjective i bardhë "white", ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰór(h₁)ǵos < *bʰreh₁ǵ- ("to gleam, shine").
A charcoal-burner and coal miner,[17] he gained power by force and enjoyed the sympathy of the Illyrian warriors because he divided the spoils of war fairly and impartially.
Bardylis did not succeed Sirras, but rather the previous Illyrian king who had entered into a peace treaty with Amyntas II over the control of Lynkestis.
Bardylis succeeded in bringing the various Illyrian tribes together and soon made his kingdom a formidable power in the Balkans, resulting in a change in relations with Macedon.
No ancient sources identify Bardylis with any tribe or regime other than Illyrians and nothing is recorded about the center of his power, except that Philip's victory against him in 358 BC gained control of Lyncestis and the territory as far as Lake Ohrid.
[18] According to a historical reconstruction, Bardylis founded a powerful Illyrian dynasty among the Dassaretii in the 5th century BC,[5][19][20][21] 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.
[22] 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.
[23] 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.
The distribution of the coins suggest that Bardylis built up trade within the central Balkans and northwards to the Danube, which was far from the areas dominated by the Greek traders.
In 370 BC, the Macedonian king Amyntas III died, having restored the fortunes of his kingdom after the Illyrian disasters from earlier in his reign.
Perdiccas III, king of Macedonia, humiliated by the indignity of having to pay tribute to the Illyrians, marched north in the spring of 359 BC with the Macedonian army to resolve the issue by battle.
Both sides were interested in the benefits of such an alliance as it would secure Illyrian power and weaken the influence of the Spartans and Macedonians in Epirus.
In 359 BC, Macedon was able to return to the field of battle against the Illyrians, after it had overcome the internal state of political chaos and removed the risk of attack from other opponents.
When Philip II assumed the Macedonian throne, substantial areas of upper Macedonia remained under the control of Bardylis.
In order to concentrate on the internal struggle necessary to secure his crown, Philip reaffirmed the treaty the Illyrians had imposed on Macedonia by force of arms and sealed the alliance by his marriage to Audata, great-granddaughter of Bardylis.
Diodorus Siculus[45] (1st century BC) writes of the event: And at first for a long while the battle was evenly poised because of the exceeding gallantry displayed on both sides, and as many were slain and still more wounded, the fortune of battle vacillated first one way then the other, being constantly swayed by the valorous deeds of the combatants; but later as the horsemen pressed on from the flank and rear and Philip with the flower of his troops fought with true heroism, the mass of the Illyrians was compelled to take hastily to flight.When the pursuit had been kept up for a considerable distance and many had been slain in their flight, Philip recalled the Macedonians with the trumpet and erecting a trophy of victory buried his own dead, while the Illyrians, having sent ambassadors and withdrawn from all the Macedonian cities, obtained peace.
The Illyrian princess Bircenna, who married the Molossian king Pyrrhus of Epirus (c. 290 BC), was the daughter of Bardylis II.
