List of ancient tribes in Illyria

The Albani (Latinized form of Ancient Greek: Ἀλβανοί, Albanoi) were an Illyrian tribe whose first historical account appears in a work of Ptolemy.

[5] They were the citizens of Albanopolis (Ἀλβανόπολις), located in the center of modern Albania, in the Zgërdhesh hill fort, near the city of Krujë.

[10] The toponym has a connection with the modern Albanian term amë/ãmë ("river-bed, fountain, spring")[11] The Ardiaei or Ouardaioi (Ancient Greek: Ἀρδιαῖοι, Οὐαρδαῖοι; Latin: Vardiaei, Vardaei)[12] were an Illyrian people, originally residing inland,[13] and eventually settling on the Adriatic coast.

The political entity of the Ardiaei, which expanded in the south-eastern Adriatic, came to be identified with the Illyrian kingdom in the 3rd century BCE.

In Roman times the Ardiaei had 20 decuriae The Autariatae or Autariates (Ancient Greek: Αὐταριᾶται) were an Illyrian tribe that became prominent between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.

After their defeat during the Celtic invasions of the Balkans in the 4th century, a part of the Autariatae who remained in Bosnia gradually adopted Celtic culture, while another part moved southwards and after an agreement with the Kingdom of Macedonia, 20,000 settled in the Parorbelian mountain range, in an area between modern south-eastern North Macedonia, northern Greece and south-western Bulgaria.

They were the most stable and conservative ethnic element among the peoples of the central Balkans, retaining an enduring presence in the region for several centuries.

Subgroups of the Dardani included the Galabri and the Thunatae, whose tribal names have been, respectively, connected to the Messapic Kalabroi/Calabri and Daunioi/Daunii in Apulia (south-eastern Italy), of Palaeo-Balkan provenance.

The Dassaretii (Ancient Greek: Δασσαρῆται, Δασσαρήτιοι) were an Illyrian people who lived in the inlands of southern Illyria, between present-day south-eastern Albania and south-western North Macedonia.

[31] The Dyestes or Dyestae (Ancient Greek: Δυέσται)[32] were an Illyrian tribe[33] located around the silver mines of Damastion.

According to E. Hamp, a connection with Albanian ngjalë makes it possible that the name Enchele was derived from the Illyrian term for eels[37] Cadmus and Harmonia ruled over them.

[54] They were composed of parts of the Taulantii, the Pleraei or Pyraei, Endirudini, Sasaei, Grabaei, Labeatae[30] that came together after the Great Illyrian revolt.

Pleraei, Plarioi, Pyraei, Pleraioi, Plaraioi or Palarioi (Ancient Greek: Παλάριοι) was the name of an Illyrian tribe.

[30] The Grabaei or Kambaioi (Ancient Greek: Καμβαῖοι)[56] were a minor Illyrian group that lived around Lake Scutari.

The Abroi, a northern subgroup of the Taulantii, were known to the ancient Greek writers for their technique of preparing mead from honey.

[65][66] Julius Pokorny believed the name Pannonia is derived from Illyrian, from the Proto-Indo-European root *pen-, "swamp, water, wet" (cf.

Early archaeology and onomastics show that they were culturally different from southern Illyrians, Iapodes, and the La Tène peoples commonly known as the Celts, though they were later Celticized.

Ancient sources (Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Appian of Alexandria) mention few of the Pannonian[69] tribes by name, and historians and archaeologists have located some of them.

The Pannonians were not definitely subdued within the province of Illyricum until the Great Illyrian Revolt, which started in 6 AD when the Pannonians, together with the Dalmatians and other Illyrian tribes, revolted, and engaged the Roman Empire in a hard-fought campaign that lasted for three years, when they were finally overcome by the future emperor Tiberius and Germanicus in 9 AD.

[citation needed] They lived in the central and southern White Carniola, along the Kupa river, and were mentioned by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy.

[79] The archeologists Jaro Šašel and Dragan Božič have attributed the Vinica material culture to Colapiani,[80] but opinions are divided.

[81] The Daesitiates were an Illyrian tribe that lived in what is today central Bosnia and Herzegovina[82] during the time of the Roman Republic.

Evidence of their daily activities can be found in literary sources, as well as in the rich material finds that belong to the Central Bosnian cultural group.

[84] The Pirustae or Pyrissaei[85] (Ancient Greek: Πειροῦσται[86] or Πυρισσαῖοι)[56] were a Pannonian Illyrian[87] tribe that lived in modern Montenegro.

Ceraunii (Ancient Greek: Κεραύνιοι, romanized: Keraunioi) was the name of an Illyrian tribe that lived close to the Pirustae[91] in modern Montenegro.

[93] The Segestani (Ancient Greek: Σεγεστανοί, romanized: Segestanoi) were a Pannonian Illyrian tribe who inhabited the area around Segestica, later known as Siscia (modern-day Sisak in Croatia).

[94] In the 2nd century BCE, the Segestani were attacked without lasting success by consuls Lucius Aurelius Cotta and an unidentified Cornelius.

The Andizetes, also referred to as Andisetes (Ancient Greek: Ἀνδιζήτιοι), were a small Pannonian[96][97] tribe that lived in the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[74] The Azali (Ancient Greek: Ἄζαλοι) were a tribe that inhabited Brigetio (now Szőny) in Noricum, transported there during the Roman conquest from southern Pannonia.

Later, in the 3rd century BCE, Callimachus mentioned Mentores, Hymanes, Enchealae and Peucetias as those who once had been a part of them, Ismeni were also recorded as one of their communities.