The ancient Greeks and Romans, for the Illyrian affiliation of Himara

Despite today's Greek historians that Epirus was part of Greece, many evidences show that it was a province of Illyria and the Epirotes were an Illyrian tribe.

Rami Memushaj

In ancient times, the region that is now called Labëri and two centuries ago Himare, was called Kaoni and its inhabitants Kaoni. The Kaons were one of the tribes of Southwest Illyria, mentioned for the first time by Hekateus, a Greek scholar of the last century. VI–beginning of the century V BC, in his book "Journey around the world" and from Skylax, a contemporary of Hecateus, who says that "after the Illyrians come the Kaons... after Kaonia comes the tribe of Thesprots". After them, the kaons are mentioned by Tuqididi in the last quarter of the century. V BC as allies of the Spartans and Ambracas against Athens.

The name of Kaonia and the kaons appear in all later Greek and Roman authors, ending with Stefan Byzantini, author of the c. VI AD, which gives the ethnic map of Epirus before the tribes disappear forever. After that, the name of Kaonia no longer appears in medieval documents. We encounter it only once in Kritobuli, the 1459th century Greek historian, who, when describing the 1759 campaign of Sultan Mehmet II against the Albanians of the Visi in front of Corfu, says that "in the beginning the Illyrians of this region were called Mahaons". In the mouths of the inhabitants of the province, the name Kaoni will have been preserved longer, as can be judged from written evidence and from the folklore of the province. Thus, in 1878, in a local information about the province of Himara, it is said that "the province that is today called Himara, or the Himarjo peoples, are the old Western Epirus, which was known as Haoni and people of Haonia". Evidence from folklore is even more numerous, even popular Laban songs that mention Kaonia have been preserved to this day. For example, the verses of an old song of Himara say: "They know how brave we are/ from the village of Haonia". In the collection of folk songs by Thimi Mitkos, published in XNUMX, the name Kaoni appears twice: as the beginning of a tale: "In Haoni, between Hormova and Tepelena..."; and as title: "Song of Gjikë Thanasi from Borshi i Haonia".

THE TRIBES OF EPIRUS

Kaonia was part of the community of Illyrian tribes to the left of Vjosa, which there from the second half of the century. IV was called by Theopompus Epirus (ipeirotika ethni), the name by which this unit was called for a long time. The word "epirus" was not originally a geographical term. It derives from the old Greek apeiros, which in the Doric dialect had the meaning "stere, continent". This word comes from Homer, who, according to Strabo, "with the word Epirus means the countries among the islands, wanting to include after Leukada also the other Acarnania". Later, this general name became a geographical designation for the provinces opposite Corfu and then to mark that part of Illyria which extended from the western slopes of the Pindis mountains to the Ionian Sea and between Vjosa in the north and northeast and the gulf of Ambrakia (of Arta) in the south.

The tribes of Epirus were numerous and it is difficult to give an exact number of them, even if different sources give different data, even if some tribes may have remained unmarked, even if we are talking about a whole millennium, when internal and external wars and invasions have caused the fusion and disappearance of tribes. The number of Epirote tribes given by ancient Greek and Roman authors varies from one to the other. Strabo tells us that Theopompi mentions 14 tribes of Epirus, but from other sources and from inscriptions discovered a greater number emerges. N. Hamondi says that there were about 60 tribes in Epirus, but only some of them could achieve such a development as to enter history. We find the names of some of the tribes of Epirus for the first time in Hekateu, author of the last century. VI BC, on which Strabo is thought to have relied. From the old Greek authors, from Hecataeus to Strabo, the Kaons, Thesprotes and Kas(i)ops are mentioned as tribes of Epirus along the banks of the Ionian; further inland, the Orestes, Pelagones, Elimiots, Paraevites and Molossians, who were in the area of ​​Ioannina, where the famous temple of Dodona was located; in the east, the Perrebeis, the Etikis, the Tymfeys and the Talars; in the south the Amfilohs, with Arta as the capital, and the Atamans to the east of Arta, where even today a mountain range is called the Ataman mountains.

Later Greek and Roman authors also give other names. Thus, Pliny (c. AD), in addition to the Kaons, Thesprotes, Molossians, Perrebi and Cassopians, also mentions the Antigonas, the Kestrians, the Dryopians, the Selians and the Helopians. Ptolemy, geographer of the c. II AD, speaks of the Kaons, Thesprotes, Kassops, Paraevians, Amphilochians and Atamans, as the easternmost branch of the Amphilochians. He does not mention the molos, he is adding the dolopis, which he says are above the butchers. Of interest are the records of Stephen the Byzantine (XNUMXth century AD), which reflect the ethnic map of Epirus before the tribes disappeared forever to give way to territorial provinces. In his geographical dictionary, some of the names of the Epirote tribes given by the older authors are missing and, on the other hand, we find new names of tribes or their branches.

From the tribes given by the authors before him, here we find the Kaons, the Molos, the Thesprots, the Kassop, the Prasaibs and the Tymphai. But there the Trauls, Arktans, Amymns, Argyrins, Dexars, Mardons, Mylaks, Sylions and Plarays are mentioned for the first time as Epirote tribes. for some of which additional notices are given regarding their scope. Kaonia occupied the northwestern part of Epirus, from the shores of the Ionian Sea in the west to Vjosa in the east and with a longitudinal extension north-south from Akrokeraunet to the river Thyamis (Kallama), which separated it from Thesprotia. Being located on the northern border of Epirus with South Illyria, Kaonia was bordered to the north and northeast by Illyrian tribes. It came immediately after the tribes that lived to the right of Vjosa: from the north, the mountains of Vetetimave (Akrokeraune) separated it from the lands of the Amants; in the northeast, Vjosa separated it from the Atintans and other Illyrian tribes. Kaonia was a province known for its many bays, rich pastures, horses, and large herds of fine cattle. It belonged to a number of flourishing cities, such as Butrinti, Finiqi, Gitan(i)a (Delvina), Antigoneja (Lekli), etc., which had reached a high level of development.

Along its coast were the port towns of Palesta (Palasa), Himara, Panormi (Porto-Palermoja), Onkezmi (Saranda), etc., through which this province traded with the Greek and Roman world. In the province of Kaonia, not a single tribe lived, but several tribes, which were called by the general name of Kaonia. The names of some of these are attested by written sources and their extent can be determined starting from the data on the borders of Kaonia and its neighboring tribes. They were the Prasaibs, who lived in the lands around Butrint, whom Pliny calls Kestrina, after the name of the field of Kestrina (the field of Vrína); the Antigonas, with the capital Antigonena (Lekli e Tepelena), which lay in the Drino valley; the Omfals, who occupied the territory of Zagoria; the Argyrians, whose name is related to the name of their capital, Argyropolis (Gjirokastra); and the Dexarei and Sylioni, whose extent Stephen Byzantini does not give. As for today's territories of Labëria, it is not known by which Kaon tribe they were inhabited.

Skylax says that the kaons lived in katundes. This statement, even if it is taken in the sense that the Kaons at that time did not have cities, still means that they had overcome the phase of the nomadic life after the cattle and had passed to the sedentary life, settling in residential centers. Yes, this process will not have happened at the same time in the entire territory of Kaonia. There is no doubt that its highlands have moved to a sedentary lifestyle later than other areas due to the very nature of their main economic activity. The growth of sheep, goats, cows and pack animals was favored by the rich flora.

On the plateau and in the surrounding mountains there were good summer pastures for the sheep, which in the winter they traveled to the lowlands of Kaonia, in the direction of Delvina and Saranda. Forests rich in oak, fir, hazel, hazel, etc. constituted very good pastures for breeding goats, the keeping of which has not been without consequences for the forests of this province. They traded livestock products throughout Epirus, exchanging them for grain, salt, weapons and ceramic vessels. They made some of the furniture themselves from wood. To dress and wear, they used woolen clothes that they prepared themselves, and skins of cattle and wild animals. But animal husbandry was not the only economic activity of the Kaons. There is no doubt that the inhabitants of the coast were engaged in fishing and trade and led their lives as sailors. Whereas the inhabitants of the fertile fields of the Drino valley, Delvina and Vrina engaged in agriculture. Urban centers were also in these areas.

SOME OF THE DEVELOPED CITIES OF KAONIA

Kaonia had developed cities and the population that lived in them practiced crafts that met the needs of their inhabitants, but also of farmers and herders. These cities have given the tone to the economic, political and cultural life of Kaonia. Of these cities, the most famous were Finiqi, the capital of Epirus, and Butriniti, its cultural and commercial center; while in the Drino valley, Antigoneja, Fanotja (Tepelena), etc. After the Molossians, the Kaons were the largest tribe of Epirus. Theopompi, according to Strabo, says that these two tribes were "the most famous, because they once ruled over all of Epirus - the Kaons first and then the Molossians". Thucydides states that, of their Epirote and Hellenic neighbors, the Kaons "were counted as the most warlike population." In war campaigns they had a special fighting tactic and were irresistible in attack. They descended upon the field of war with shouts and lightning speed, and, after routing the bewildered enemy, returned to the mountains laden with booty. Like other Epirote tribes, since the 429th century AD, the Kaons are united in a koinon, a political association of several tribes with common borders and traditions. Ancient Greek authors note that the kaons "ruled without kings", which means that they did not recognize the power of the king, but were governed by two elected functionaries, who were called prostates. Thus, in the year XNUMX BC, according to Tuqidid, at their head "were like Photius and Nikanor, who came from the first tribe, as prostates for a year", that is. from the high families of the tribe that headed the koinon.

Over time, the form of government was reformed, but not towards the concentration of power in as few hands as could be expected, but increasing the degree of democracy. From the inscriptions discovered in the region, it appears that in the c. II pK in Kaoni, as before, there were two functionaries who were elected every year: the strategist and the prostate, each with certain powers of a military and civil character. But these co-governed with the community council, a new institution that Sami calls plakoni. The federal organization and the democratic form of government were preserved in Kaonia for a very long time, they were extinguished only after the Roman occupation of Epirus.

Early on, the Kaons and other smaller tribes were involved in a military and political union with the Molossians, which at first took the name of the Molossian League, because of the leading role played by the Molossian kings. With the inclusion in the League of Thesprotia, there from the middle of the century. AD IV, the koinon of the Molossians was replaced by the alliance of the three main tribes of Epirus, known as simahi (co-war bond). This was a kind of federation, where the tribes had equal rights, except that the military departments of the three largest tribes always had their own commanders even when they fought as part of the Alliance. The democratic system of governance of the Epirotes was replaced
with the monarchical system during the rule of Pyrrhus (307–272 AD), but from the end of the century BC III, the Epirote League was created as a republican state union, whose capital was Phenicia. The Kaons are involved in internal wars alongside the Molossians, in the Molossian League and the Epirote League or as allies of the neighboring Hellenic tribes, but they do not appear to have fought the wars themselves.

During the reign of Alexander Moloss and, especially of Pyrrhus, they participated with their units in the Epirote army, fighting in Sicily, Italy, Greece and Macedonia. Pyrrhus, whom Hannibal ranked among the greatest strategists of the time after Alexander of Macedonia, greatly expanded the boundaries of the state of Epirus, putting parts of Macedonia and Greece under his rule. He organized a strong army and fought many wars in our peninsula and even in Southern Italy, where he encountered the armies of Rome. In the period 280–275 AD, Pyrrhus fought three battles with the Roman army, siding with the citizens of Tarentum and Sicily. In these battles, the molos, kaons and thesprots were in the center of the battle line, where the main attack of the enemy was expected.

In the third battle, fought in AD 275, the Romans defeated him and forced him to leave Italy. But Pyrrhus did not give up the conquering campaigns, turning this time to Macedonia and the Peloponnese, until in the battles of 272 AD he was killed in the streets of Argos in the Peloponnese by a woman whose son he had killed. As Samius says, apart from the great fame he gained by defeating the Romans, Greeks and Carthaginians, Epirus did not benefit from these victories of Pyrrhus. After his death, the state of Epirus plunged into internal fratricidal wars, which greatly weakened it. In addition, his lands were trampled and became a battleground between the Roman and Macedonian armies, which plundered and deserted him. As if these were not enough, in AD 230, the armies of Queen Teuta attacked from sea and land and occupied Finiq, the capital of Epirus, desolating and plundering the entire country.

ILLYRIAN RELIGION OF THE CAONS

Despite the teachings of modern Greek historians that Epirus was part of Greece, numerous evidences show that Epirus was a province of Illyria and the Epirots were an Illyrian tribe. This is supported, first, by the writings of ancient Greek scholars. Thucydides in any case distinguishes between the Hellenes and the Epirote tribes, whom he calls "barbarians", the name by which the ancient Greeks called the non-Hellenic tribes. Thus, when he describes the Peloponnesian War in AD 429, he says that with the Ambrasai "there were a thousand chaons of the barbarians", together with a troop of Thesprotes and Molossians, and that "in the center of the army marched the chaons and other barbarians". According to Strabo, Ephorus, a Greek author of the XNUMXth century BC, says that, "if we start from the western parts (of Greece-RM), Acarnania is the beginning of Greece; because, he adds, Acarnania is the first to border the Epirote tribes".

Skymni, a Greek geographer of the III-II century BC, speaking about the populations of the Adriatic and Ionian coasts, says that after Apollonia "come the populations of the Thesprotes and the Kaons, barbarians who do not occupy much space". Two centuries later, according to Strabo, "... the parts above Acarnania and Aetolia (held) by the Thesprotes, Cassiopes, Amphiloks, Molossians and Atamans - Epirote tribes". Even more valuable is Strabo's other statement regarding the Illyrian, Epirote and Macedonian tribes. Speaking about the connections of Illyria and Epirus with Macedonia, he writes: "Some go so far as to call the whole country Macedonia up to Corfu, citing at the same time as reasons from the way they cut their hair, from the language , short guna, and other things of that kind, the habits of the inhabitants are the same (ie, with those of the Macedonians), though, they add, some speak both languages."

The ethnic composition of Epirus remained unchanged even in the XNUMXth century AD, if we rely on the statement of Stephen Byzantium, who in his geographical lexicon calls the Atamans, who occupied the southernmost edge of Epirus, Illyrians. In addition to the above evidence, other evidence brought by foreign and Albanian researchers about the Illyrian character of the Epirote tribes, such as archaeological findings, language, customs, clothing, names of places and people, etc. From the field of clothing, among today's elements of Illyrian origin are: linen, shirt in the form of the ancient dalmatic; the generation, which the Roman authors find among the Illyrians; guna, llabania etc. Boots made of cowhide, which were used in Labëri until the dawn of the century. XX, are another element of Illyrian origin.

Albanian ethnographers have noticed that some objects from Labëria, as well as the motifs and decorations on them, coincide with the old Illyrian culture. Thus, the decorations with concentric circles, suns, rhombuses and parallel and crossed lines, like those of the furka of Kurveles, resemble the geometric motifs of the Illyrians. Finally, the Illyrian affiliation of the Epirote tribes is also proven by data from the field of onomastics. N.Hamondi, taking into consideration the suffixes of the names of the tribes, shows that most of the ethnic names of Epirus are not related to Greece, but to Illyria. Thus, the names with the suffix -anes (arktanes, atintanes) are related to Enkleanes and Agrianes in the north, as well as to Euritanes and Kefalanes in the south; ethnonyms with -īni (elini, kestrini, amantini) are related to the Illyrian names parthini, kaloecini, etc. of the upper valley of Shkumbin; those with -ōpi (kasopi, kar(i)opi) and -i (amymni, kartoni, onoperni, parori, etc.) are rare; those with -esti or -estae (enkesti, peucesti, orestae, ethnestae) are like lyncestae, ie. Characteristic for Illyrian place names; neither are the ethnonyms in -aebi (prasaebi, peraebi) and -ales (omfales, peiales) found elsewhere.

Of all the ethnic names of Epirus, only those with -aei, -ii and -ones are found even beyond the borders of the Illyrian world. The names of rivers are not of Greek origin, such as aeas (Hekateus)/aous for Vjosa, Chelydnus for Shushica, Drilon for Drino, Thyamis for the Kallama river, etc.; names of mountains, such as Aerop, Asnau, Merop, Tomar (Tmar), etc.; names of islands and cities, such as Dodona, Gitana for Delvina, Sybota (group of islands), Ephyra (thesprot city), Codrion, etc.

Also, many personal names, which appear in ancient Greek and Roman authors or discovered in inscriptions, are of Illyrian-Epirote origin. In the inscriptions discovered in Dodona, about 50 names of Illyrian origin appear, while in the amphitheater of Butrint there are 40 more. Such are Admet (in Finiq Admat) Amynta, Annia, Apoita, Artemo(n), Dasos, Falakr, Nona, Genth, etc. To these we can add other names of Butrint, such as: Ammia (in Durrës Ammiha, among the Dardanians Amma), Leida (in Durrës Laida), Derdas (also in Dodona and in Macedonia). In the ancient authors we find many other names, such as: Alket, Hyll, Pirro, Roksana, Brikena, Gelon, Karop, Harop, Makata, Likon, Menon, Deina, Adma(tos), Paroron, etc., which also do not they can be Greek anyway.

So, the onomastic data of Epirus, which have not yet been fully analyzed by our linguists and historians, serve as another proof that its territories were inhabited by Illyrian tribes. In the ancient times before Homer and Hesiod, there may have been movement from the south of the Balkan Peninsula to its north, but none of the ancient authors speak of Greek colonies in the lands of Epirus. Even if there was a Hellenic substrate or a Greek colony in these lands in the XNUMXth century. XI–VIII BC, as Hammond tries to prove, this substrate could not have been assimilated by the local element early on, just as it was assimilated in the other colonies of the Illyrian coast. Had there been such traces, it would not have escaped the notice of the ancient Greek authors. However, during the historical period from Hecataeus to Stephen the Byzantine, none of the Greek and Roman scholars talk about the influx of peoples in Epirus.

Strabo, from whom we have the most detailed description of Epirus, when he talks about Butrint, says that "there are foreign inhabitants, who are Roman". If there were Hellenic settlements or Hellenic inhabitants in the cities of Epirus, he would not leave them without mentioning them, knowing that he regularly does this for cities outside Greece that were inhabited by Hellenes. All that was said above, proves that the ethnicity of Epirus, at least for the period from c. VI BC to the century VI of the new wind, remained unchanged, Illyrian.