View source for Dardani

{{Short description|Ancient tribe in the Balkans}}
{{About|the ancient tribe in the Balkans|the Trojan allies|Dardanoi|other uses|Dardania (disambiguation){{!}}Dardania}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = <!-- (defaults to {{PAGENAME}}) -->
| native_name      =
| native_name_lang =
| image            = Dardania kingdom.png
| image_caption    = By the 3rd century the location of the Dardani had resolved itself into the Kingdom of Dardania, which is shown in yellow. The solid lines give modern borders: Republic of Kosovo in the center, Serbia across the north, Macedonia across the south, Albania to the SW, and Montenegro to the NW.
| image_alt        =
| image_upright    = 1.5
| total            = <!-- total population worldwide -->
| total_year       = <!-- year of total population -->
| total_source     = <!-- source of total population; may be ''census'' or ''estimate'' -->
| total_ref        = <!-- references supporting total population -->
| genealogy        =
| regions          = <!-- e.g., a list of regions (countries), especially if regionN etc below not used -->
| languages        = Palaeo-Balkan language group
| religions        =
| related_groups   =
| footnotes        =
}}
The '''Dardani''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɑr|d|ə|n|aɪ}}; {{langx|grc|Δαρδάνιοι, Δάρδανοι}}; {{langx|la|Dardani}}) or '''Dardanians''' were a [[Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkan]] people, who lived in a region that was named [[Kingdom of Dardania|Dardania]] after their settlement there.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0073%3Aentry%3D%232163 "Δαρδάνιοι, Δάρδανοι, Δαρδανίωνες"] Dardanioi, Georg Autenrieth, "A Homeric Dictionary", at Perseus</ref><ref>[http://www.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/lookup.pl?stem=dardani&ending= Latin Dictionary]</ref> They were among the oldest Balkan peoples, and their society was very complex.{{sfn|Šašel Kos|2010|p=626}} The Dardani 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.{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|p=144}}<ref name="Papazoglu131"/>
Ancient tradition considered the Dardani as an [[Illyrians|Illyrian people]].<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/7E*.html Strabo's geography - Illyria] - 'The Bessi live in huts and lead a wretched life; and their country borders on Mount Rhodope, on the country of the Paeonians, and on that of two Illyrian peoples — the Autariatae, and the Dardanians'</ref><ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/7E*.html Strabo: The Geography - Illyria] - 'The Ardiaei were called by the men of later times "Vardiaei." Because they pestered the sea through their piratical bands, the Romans pushed them back from it into the interior and forced them to till the soil. But the country is rough and poor and not suited to a farming population, and therefore the tribe has been utterly ruined and in fact has almost been obliterated. And this is what befell the rest of the peoples in that part of the world; for those who were most powerful in earlier times were utterly humbled or were obliterated, as, for example, among the Galatae the Boii and the Scordistae, and among the Illyrians the Autariatae, Ardiaei, and Dardanii, and among the Thracians the Triballi; 316that is, they were reduced in warfare by one another at first and then later by the Macedonians and the Romans'</ref><ref name=Papazoglu218>{{harvnb|Papazoglu|1978|p=218|ps=: "This statement is not without importance for our problem, for it too confirms that in mid-fifth century the lands north of Macedonia were considered to be Illyrian. There is, however, another statement in Herodotus, which N. Vulić insists on as clear evidence that in Herodotus' time the territory of the Dardanians was reckoned as Illyrian . It is a passage from the well - known section on the tributaries of the Danube , in which Herodotus says that the river Angrus flows " from the land of the Illyrians " 267 As the Angrus could be either the Southern Morava or the Ibar , and both rivers in their upper courses flowed through Dardania , Vulić's conclusion looks very reasonable . From all we have said above , the evidence of the ancient writers as to the ethnic origin of the Dardanians seems pretty unanimous and its interpretation offers no special difficulties The tradition according to which the Dardanians , like their neighbours the Autariatae and the Ardiaei , were Illyrians , is preserved in Strabo and Appian . It must be an old tradition , from the times when the three tribes were neighbours . In historians before Strabo ( Polybius , Livy ) and in historians who copied from earlier sources ( Justin , Pompeius Trogus ) , there is nothing to contradict that tradition . The mention of the Darda- nians alongside the Illyrians only shows that the name Illyrian , in addition to its wider ethnic sense , very early acquired a narrower political one . According to Herodotus indeed , for whom the name Illyrian could only have its general meaning , the lands north of Macedonia , round the sources of the Southern Morava and Ibar , were inhabited by Illyrians . This fact shows that ancient tradition considered the Dardanians to be Illyrians ."}}</ref><ref name=Zahariade>{{harvnb|Zahariade|2009|p=81|ps=; p. 92: "Dardania was an Illyrian land by tradition. Dardanians were considered Illyrians by Strabo and Appian and so a number of modern scholars, while others believe that at a later date the Dardanians were “Thracisized”... Most of the place-names especially in eastern Dardania turn out to be Thracian. The Thracian element in majority presumably following an expansion westwards seems to have intermingled with the Illyrian one. The ethnic frontier between Thracians and Dardanians was traced on the Morava (Margus) River until the Danube to the north splitting in two the Dardanian lands, with the eastern part significantly “thracisized”."}}</ref><ref name=Malcolm>Kosovo: A Short History p. 363  'As Papazoglu notes, most ancient sources classify Dardanians as Illyrians. Her reasons for rejecting this identification in a later essay, ‘Les Royaumes’, are obscure. There were Thracian names in the eastern strip of Dardania, but Illyrian names dominated the rest; Katicic has shown that these belong with two other Illyrian “‘onomastic provinces’ (see his summary in Ancient Languages, pp. 179-81, and the evidence in Papazoglu, ‘Dardanska onomastika’).'</ref><ref name=Wilkes>{{harvnb|Wilkes|2012|p=414|ps=: "'''Dardani''', an Illyrian people (their name may derive from the same root as ''dardhë'', the Albanian for 'pear') but also linked with Thracians and with Asia Minor, inhabited the upper Vardar valley and the Kosovo region in the southern Balkans."}}</ref><ref name="Vujcic2021">{{harvnb|Vujčić|2021|p=505|ps=: "Regardless of this episode, some sources clearly distinguish the Dardani from the rest of Illyrians, and Dardanian land from Illyria (Polyb. 2.6.4, 28.8.3; Liv. 43.20.1), and some take for granted that they are but one of the Illyrian tribes (Strab. 7.5.6, 12; App. Ill. 1.2). This is not the place to analyze this topic in detail, but, while the Dardani are obviously ethnically and linguistically a part of the Illyrian world, they seem to be separated from other Illyrian peoples by their geography and peculiar socio-political development."}}</ref> [[Strabo]], in particular – also mentioning [[Galabri]] and [[Thunatae]] as Dardanian tribes – describes the Dardani as one of the three strongest Illyrian peoples, the other two being the [[Ardiaei]] and [[Autariatae]].<ref name="perseus.tufts.edu">Strabo's geography - http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0239</ref>{{sfn|Hammond|1966|pp=239–241}} As Dardanians had followed their own peculiar geographical, social and political development in [[Kingdom of Dardania|Dardania]], some ancient sources also distinguish them from those Illyrians dwelling in the central and southern coast of the eastern [[Adriatic Sea]] and its hinterland, who had constituted their own socio-political formation, referred to as '[[Illyrian kingdom]]' by ancient authors.<ref name="Vujcic2021"/><ref name=Papazoglu218/>{{sfn|Šašel Kos|2005|p=122}} The Dardani were also related to their [[Thracians|Thracian]] neighbors.{{sfn|Wilkes|2012|p=414}}{{sfn|Šašel Kos|2010|p=625}}{{sfn|Shukriu|1996|p=20}} In Roman times, there appear [[Thracian language|Thracian]] names in the eastern strip of Dardania, and several Thracian and [[Dacians|Dacian]] placenames also appear there, such as [[Dardapara]] and [[Quemedava]],<ref>Vladimir Georgiev (Gheorghiev), Raporturile dintre limbile dacă, tracă şi frigiană, "Studii Clasice" Journal, II, 1960, 39-58.</ref> but Illyrian names dominated the rest.<ref>Kosovo: A Short History p. 363 'As Papazoglu notes, most ancient sources classify Dardanians as Illyrians. Her reasons for rejecting this identification in a later essay, ‘Les Royaumes’, are obscure. There were Thracian names in the eastern strip of Dardania, but Illyrian names dominated the rest; Katicic has shown that these belong with two other Illyrian “‘onomastic provinces’ (see his summary in Ancient Languages, pp. 179-81, and the evidence in Papazoglu, ‘Dardanska onomastika’).'</ref> Nevertheless, ancient authors have not identified Dardanians with Thracians, and Strabo explicitly makes a clear distinction between them.{{sfn|Shukriu|1996|p=41}}<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/7E*.html Strabo: The Geography - Illyria] - 'The Ardiaei were called by the men of later times "Vardiaei." Because they pestered the sea through their piratical bands, the Romans pushed them back from it into the interior and forced them to till the soil. But the country is rough and poor and not suited to a farming population, and therefore the tribe has been utterly ruined and in fact has almost been obliterated. And this is what befell the rest of the peoples in that part of the world; for those who were most powerful in earlier times were utterly humbled or were obliterated, as, for example, among the Galatae the Boii and the Scordistae, and among the Illyrians the Autariatae, Ardiaei, and Dardanii, and among the Thracians the Triballi; 316that is, they were reduced in warfare by one another at first and then later by the Macedonians and the Romans'</ref>
The [[Kingdom of Dardania]] was attested since the 4th century BC in ancient sources reporting the wars the Dardanians waged against their south-eastern neighbor – [[Macedon]] – until the 2nd century BC.{{sfn|Wilkes|2012|p=414}} The historian [[Justin (historian)|Justin]], a main source about the history of the Macedonian kings, refers to an 'lllyrian war' between 346 and the end of 343 BC, fought by 'Dardani and other neighbouring peoples' against [[Philip II of Macedon]], who won the conflict.{{sfn|Wilkes|1996|pp=120-121}}{{sfn|Vujčić|2021|p=504}} After the [[Celtic invasion of the Balkans]] weakened the state of the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonians]] and [[Paeonians]], the political and military role of the Dardanians began to grow in the region. They expanded their state to the area of [[Paeonia (kingdom)|Paeonia]] which definitively disappeared from history, and to some territories of the southern Illyrians. The Dardanians strongly pressured the Macedonians, using every opportunity to attack them. However the Macedonians quickly recovered and consolidated their state, and the Dardanians lost their important political role. The strengthening of the Illyrian ([[Ardiaei|Ardiaean]]–[[Labeatae|Labeatan]]) state on their western borders also contributed to the restriction of Dardanian warlike actions towards their neighbors.{{sfn|Stipčević|1989|pp=38–39}}
Dardanians fought against [[Roman Republic|Roman]] proconsuls, and were finally defeated probably by [[Marcus Antonius]] in 39 BC or by [[Marcus Licinius Crassus (consul 30 BC)|Marcus Licinius Crassus]] in 29/8 BC.{{sfn|Wilkes|2012|p=414}} They were included in the Roman province of [[Moesia]]. After the Roman emperor [[Domitian]] divided the province of Moesia into [[Moesia Superior]] and [[Moesia Inferior]] in 86 AD, the Dardani were located in southern Moesia Superior.{{sfn|Petrović|2019|pp=23–24}}{{sfn|Wilkes|2012|p=414}} A [[Roman colony]] was established at [[Scupi]] in Dardanian territory under the [[Flavian dynasty]]. In the 2nd century AD Dardanians were still notorious as [[Brigandage|brigands]] (''latrones dardaniae)''. During the late [[Roman Empire|Imperial period]] their territory was the homeland of many [[Roman emperors]], notably [[Constantine the Great]] and [[Justinian I]].{{sfn|Wilkes|2012|p=414}}
== Name ==
The ethnonym of the ''Dardani'' has been attested in ancient Greek literature as {{transliteration|grc|Dardaneis}}, {{transliteration|grc|Dardanioi}} and {{transliteration|grc|Dardanoi}}, and in Latin as ''Dardani''.{{sfn|Papazoglu|1969|p=201}} The term used for their territory was {{transliteration|grc|Dardanike}} ({{lang|grc|Δαρδανική}}).<ref name="Papazoglu 1978 523">{{harvnb|Papazoglu|1978|p=523}}</ref> The root ''Dard-'' is attested outside the Dardanian region and the Trojan-Dardanian area in several other ancient ethnonyms, personal names, and toponyms: ''Dardas'', an ''opraetor epiratrum''; {{lang|grc|Δερδιενις}}, name of Macedonian-Elimiot princes; {{lang|grc|Δερδια}} in [[Ancient Thessaly|Thessaly]]; {{lang|grc|Δερδενις}} in [[Lesbos]]; in ancient [[Apulia]] ''Dardi'', a [[Dauni]]an tribe, ''Derdensis'' a region and {{lang|grc|Δαρδανον}}, a Daunian settlement. The suffix ''-ano'' in ''Dard-'' was common to many Indo-European languages.{{sfn|Baliu|2012|p=69}}
The names of the two main Dardanian tribes – ''Galabri/Galabrioi'' and ''Thunatae/Thunatai'' – have been respectively connected to the [[Messapic language|Messapic]] ''[[Iapygians#Name|Kalabroi/Calabri]]'' and ''[[Daunians|Daunioi/Daunii]]'' in [[Apulia]] (south-eastern [[Italy]]), of Palaeo-Balkan provenance.{{sfn|Baliu|2012|p=68}}{{sfn|Šašel Kos|2010|p=625}}
===Etymology===
The name ''Dardan-'' (ethnonym: {{lang|grc|Δάρδανοι}}/{{transliteration|grc|Dardani}}; toponym: {{lang|grc|Δαρδανική}}/{{transliteration|grc|Dardania}}) is traditionally connected to the same root as {{lang|sq|dardhë}}, the [[Albanian language|Albanian]] word for 'pear',{{sfn|Wilkes|2012|p=414}}{{sfn|Demiraj|1997|p=121}} as well as Alb. {{lang|sq|dardhán}}, {{lang|sq|dardán}}, 'farmer'.{{sfn|Demiraj|1997|p=121}} The ethnonym ''[[Pirustae]]'', which is attested since Roman times for a tribe close to the Dardani or living in Dardania, is considered to be the [[Latin]] translation of ''Dardani'' (cf. Latin ''pirus'' "pear"),{{sfn|Baliu|2012|pp=81}} which would confirm the link with the Albanian {{lang|sq|dardhë}}.{{sfn|Darlishta|2019|p=65}}
In 1854, [[Johann Georg von Hahn]] was the first to propose that the names ''Dardanoi'' and ''Dardania'' were related to the Albanian word {{lang|sq|[[wikt:dardhë|dardhë]]}} ("pear, pear-tree"). This is suggested by the fact that toponyms related to fruits or animals are not unknown in the region (cf. Alb. {{lang|sq|dele, delmë}} "sheep" supposedly related to Dalmatia, [[Ulcinj]] in Montenegro < Alb. {{lang|sq|ujk, ulk}} "wolf" etc.).<ref name="Wilkes244">{{cite book|last=Wilkes|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l8q0QgAACAAJ&q=Wilkes%20the%20illyrians|title=The Illyrians|publisher=Wiley|year=1992|isbn=9780631146711|page=244}} "Names of individuals peoples may have been formed in a similar fashion, Taulantii from 'swallow' (cf. the Albanian tallandushe) or Erchelei the 'eel-men' and Chelidoni the 'snail-men'. The name of the Delmatae appears connected with the Albanian word for 'sheep' delmë) and the Dardanians with for 'pear' (''dardhë'')."</ref>{{sfn|Elsie|2015|p=310}} Albanian typical toponyms formed with the same root as ''dardhë'' have been attested: ''Dardhan-i'' (in 1467 CE), ''Dardhanesh-i'' (1431), ''Dardhasi'' (1431), ''Dardas'' (1467), ''Dardhë-a'' (1417), ''Darda'', ''Dardhicë-a'' (1431).{{sfn|Darlishta|2019|p=38}} Several modern toponyms are found in various parts of [[Albania]], including Dardha in [[Berat]], [[Dardhë|Dardha]] in [[Korça]], Dardha in [[Librazhd]], Dardha in [[Pukë|Puka]], [[Dardhas]] in [[Pogradec]], Dardhaj in [[Mirdita]], and Dardhës in [[Përmet]]. Dardha in Puka is recorded as ''Darda'' in a 1671 ecclesiastical report and on a 1688 map by a Venetian cartographer. Dardha is also the name of an [[Albanian tribes|Albanian tribe]] in the northern part of the [[District of Dibra]].{{sfn|Elsie|2015|p=310}}{{sfn|Demiraj|1997|p=121}}
Opinions differ on the etymon of the root in [[Proto-Albanian language|Proto-Albanian]], and eventually in [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]. On the basis of an alleged connection between Albanian ''dardhë'' and [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|ἄχερδος, ἀχράς}} "wild pear", a common Indo-European root has been tentatively reconstructed by scholars: {{lang|ine-x-proto|*ĝʰor-d-}} "thorn bush"; {{lang|ine-x-proto|*(n)ĝʰ∂rdis}}; {{lang|ine-x-proto|*ĝʰerzd⁽ʰ⁾-}} "thorny, grain, barley". However it has been suggested that this connection is only conceivable assuming an ancient common Balkano-Aegean substrate word for Albanian and Greek.{{sfn|Demiraj|1997|pp=121–122}}{{sfn|Elsie|1998|p=71}}{{sfn|Baliu|2012|pp=77–78}} A proposed Indo-European root {{lang|ine-x-proto|*dʰeregh-}} "a thorny plant", with the Proto-Albanian form reconstructed as {{lang|ine-039|*dʰorĝʰ-eh₂-}}, is not clear.{{sfn|Demiraj|1997|pp=121–122}}{{sfn|Baliu|2012|pp=77–78}} More recently for the Albanian ''dardhë'' the [[Proto-Albanian]] {{lang|ine-039|*dardā}} has been reconstructed, itself a derivative of {{lang|sq|[[wikt:derdh|derdh]]}} "to tip out, pour, spill, secrete, cast (metals)" < PAlb {{lang|ine-039|*derda}}. In [[Old Albanian]] texts the root is recorded not [[Umlaut (linguistics)|umlautized]]: {{lang|sq|dardh}}. It continues Proto-Albanian {{lang|ine-039|*darda}}, which is close to onomatopoeic [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] {{lang|lt|dardĕti}} "to rattle" [[Latvian language|Latvian]] {{lang|lv|dàrdêt}} "to creak", [[Welsh language|Welsh]] {{lang|cy|go-dyrddu}} "to mumble, to gumble" (the semantic development of "pear" that occurs in Albanian can also be seen in the [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] parallel {{lang|sla|gruša}}, {{lang|sla|kruša}} "pear, pear tree" < {{lang|sla-x-proto|*grušiti}}, {{lang|sla-x-proto|*krušiti}} "to crumble, to break", and also in the Indo-European parallel {{lang|ine-x-proto|*peisom}} "pear" < {{lang|ine-x-proto|*peis-}}).{{sfn|Orel|1998|pp=56, 60}} Slavic toponyms with "Kruševo" (from Proto-Slavic kruša, "pear") and other related toponyms particularly found in the area of the ancient Dardani have been proposed as South Slavic translations of ''Darda-'' toponyms.<ref>Baliu, Begzad (2012). Onomastika e Kosoves: Ndermjet miteve dhe identiteteve [Onomastics of Kosovo: Between Myth and Identity] (PDF). Era. p. 73. ISBN 978-9951040556.</ref>
Other roots have been connected to the name ''Dardan-'' by some scholars. It has been proposed a possible link to ''darda'' "bee", maybe originally with the meaning of "noise", "chatter", compared with Sanskrit ''dardurá-'' "frog", "pipe", Lithuanian ''dardėt́i'' "to rattle", "chatter" (which however is regarded by Orel{{sfn|Orel|1998|pp=56, 60}} as an onomatopoeic form connected to Albanian ''derdh'', hence to ''dardhë'', see above), Gkreek δάρδα · μέλισσα "bee", sometimes interpreted as μόλυσμα "stain", δαρδαίνει · μολύνει "to stain", both late antique attestations from [[Hesychius of Alexandria|Hesychius]] (5th century CE) and with aberrant semantics.{{sfn|Savić|2022|p=}} Another link has been made with the PIE root ''*dhereĝh-'' "to hold", "strong", which would have evolved to ''dard-'' in consistency with the phonetic change of voiced palatal velars that are a characteristic trait of Albanian.{{sfn|Crăciun|2023|pp=79–80}}
The opinion criticising the etymologies based on roots that originally included ''*g̑h'' because in the earliest form of Albanian PIE ''*g̑h'' turned into ''*dʑ'' and correspondingly later into ''*dz'', which should have been spelled in Greek/Latin documents with /z/, /s/, or a similar letter, instead of /d/, is refutable by the attestation of the Proto-Albanoid term ''diellina'' "[[henbane]]".{{sfn|Crăciun|2023|pp=79–81}} This term was mentioned as a "Thracian-Dacian" phytonym by the Ancient Greek pharmacologist [[Pedanius Dioscorides]] (1st century AD), and it has a clear etymological connection with the Albanian word ''diell'' "sun" (''diellina'' "[[henbane]]" belongs to the genus called ''solanum'' with the Latin root ''sol'' "sun", being so named because of its yellow leaves), displaying a characteristic Albanian phonetic change in which the voiced palatal velar ''*ĝ(h)-'' turned into the interdental ''dh'' or the dental ''d'', passing through intermediate stages represented by the palato-alveolar affricate voiced ''ȷ́'' [dʑ], dental affricate ''dz'' and further through a final stage ''dð'' (i.e. ''*ĝ(h)-'' > ''ȷ́'' [dʑ] > ''dz'' > ''dð'' > ''dh/d'': Alb. ''dielli'' < PAlb. ''*dðiella'' < ''*dziella-'' < EPAlb. ''*ȷ́élu̯a-'' < PIE ''*ǵʰélh₃u̯o-'' "yellow, golden, bright/shiny").{{sfn|Crăciun|2023|pp=77–81}} This phenomenon reflects the uncertainty of the Ancient Greek and Roman authors in transcribing the Proto-Albanian affricates, which were unfamiliar to them. Indeed, many similar examples of Palaeo-Balkan names with alternating spellings in ancient literature using both dentals and sibilants can be connected to an earlier stage of Albanian and furthermore provide strong support for [[Eric Hamp]]'s thesis about the Proto-[[Albanoid]] dialects, spoken in the central-western Balkans including the historical regions of Dardania, Illyria proper, Paeonia, Upper Moesia, western Dacia and western Thrace.{{sfn|Crăciun|2023|pp=77–81}}
=== The name in the ancient sources ===
The name of the Dardani is mentioned for the first time in the [[Iliad]] in the name of [[Dardanus (son of Zeus)|Dardanus]] who founded [[Dardanus (city)|Dardanus]] on the Aegean coast of [[Anatolia]] and his people the [[Dardanoi]], from which the toponym ''[[Dardanelles]]'' is derived. Other parallel ethnic names in the Balkans and Anatolia, respectively include: ''[[Illyrian Eneti|Eneti]]'' and ''[[Paphlagonian Eneti|Enetoi]]'', ''[[Bryges]]'' and ''[[Phrygians|Phryges]]''. These parallels indicate closer links than simply a correlation of names. According to a current explanation, the connection is likely related to the large-scale movement of peoples that occurred at the end of the [[Bronze Age]] (around 1200 BC), when the attacks of the '[[Sea Peoples]]' afflicted some of the established powers around the eastern [[Mediterranean]].<ref>{{harvnb|Wilkes|1992|p=145}}; {{harvnb|Crossland|1982|p=849}}; {{harvnb|Papazoglu|1969|pp=101–104}}; {{harvnb|Stipčević|1989|pp=22–23}}.</ref>
In ancient historiography, the Dardani of the Balkans are mentioned as a people in the second century BCE by [[Polybius]] who describes their wars against [[Macedon]] in the third century BC.{{sfn|Buqinca|2021|pp=522–524}} Historians of Hellenistic and Roman antiquity who mention the Dardanians are [[Diodorus Siculus]], [[Marcus Terentius Varro]], [[Strabo]], [[Sallust]], [[Appian]], [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] and others. {{sfn|Buqinca|2021|p=216}} According to a mythological tradition reported by [[Appian]] (2nd century AD), ''Dardanos'' (Δάρδανος), one of the sons of ''[[Illyrius]]'' (Ἰλλυριός), was the [[eponymous]] ancestor of the ''Dardanoi'' (Δάρδανοι).{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|p=92}} In ancient sources the Dardani are mentioned as one of the [[Illyrians|Illyrian people]] and/or as a distinct grouping in the region of Dardania. As such, the Dardani were Illyrians from an ethno-linguistic perspective, but they had followed their own peculiar geographical, social and political development in [[Kingdom of Dardania|Dardania]].{{sfn|Vujčić|2021|p=505}}
In the late 1st century BCE, in Rome a new ideological discourse was formed. Propagated by poets like [[Horace]] and [[Ovid]], it constructed a glorious Trojan past for the Romans, who were claimed to be descendants of Trojan Dardanians. In the years before the Trojan origin story became the official Roman narrative about their origins, the Romans came into conflict in the Balkans with the Dardani.{{sfn|Boteva|2021|p=410}} In public discourse this created the problem that the Roman army could be seen as fighting against a people who could be related to the ancestors of the Romans. The image of the historical Dardani in the 1st century BC was that of Illyrian barbarians who raided their Macedonian frontier and had to be dealt with. In this context, the name of a people known as the ''[[Moesi]]'' appeared in Roman sources. The ''Moesi'' are mentioned only in three ancient sources in the period after the death of Emperor Augustus in 14 CE. The name itself was taken from the name of the [[Mysians]] in Asia Minor.<ref name="Boteva411">{{harvnb|Boteva|2021|p=411}}</ref>  The choice seems to be related to the fact that the Trojan-era Mysians lived close to the Trojan-era Dardanians. As the name of the ''Dardani'' in Roman discourse became linked to the ancestors of the Romans, the actual Dardani began to be covered in Roman literature by other names. After the death of Augustus, their name in connection to the Balkans became a political problem. After the death of Augustus, the new emperor was [[Tiberius]], his stepson and the most senior Roman general in the Balkans. As Tiberius had played a key role in the Roman conquest of the Balkans, as emperor he couldn't be portrayed as the conqueror of ''Dardanians'', whose name had been constructed as the name of the mythical progenitors of the Romans. Thus, the decision to create a new name for Dardania and the Dardani was made. Despite this decision and the administrative use of the names ''Moesia'' and ''Moesi'' for the ''Dardani'' and ''Dardania'', the original use of the name persisted by authors like Appian.<ref name="Boteva411"/> The name ''Dardania'' was not used for several hundred years after this period in an administrative context. It was only recreated by Emperor [[Diocletian]] in the 3rd century CE.{{sfn|Rama|2021|p=114}}
== History ==
=== Emergence ===
The territory of present-day [[Kosovo]] which formed the core area of the Dardani has been inhabited since the [[Neolithic Europe|Neolithic era]]. [[Runik]] and [[Vlashnjë]] are two of the most significant sites in the Neolithic period. During the late 3rd millennium BCE, [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Proto-Indo-European]] tribes migrated and settled in the region alongside the existing Neolithic population. New practices in agriculture and cattle breeding appear in this period and new settlements formed in Kosovo. Co-existence and intermingling of the Neolithic population and the PIE-speakers gave rise to the [[Copper, Bronze and Iron Age sites in Kosovo|material culture]] which developed in the Bronze Age (2100-1100 BCE) in settlements including Vlashnjë, Korishë, Pogragjë, Bardhi i Madh and Topanicë.
Archaeological research in the territory of Dardania greatly expanded since 2000. In contemporary research, a periodization of four phases of development of pre-Roman Dardania is being utilized:{{sfn|Alaj|2019|p=18}}
#11th-9th century BCE, a transitory period between the Bronze and the Iron Age
#8th-7th century BCE, Iron Age I phase
#6th-4th century BCE, Iron Age II phase, during which contacts with the Mediterranean and imports from Greece increase
#4th-1st century BCE, Hellenistic period.
In the Iron Age habitation further developed with the emergence of the [[Glasinac culture|Glasinac-Mat culture]], an [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] material culture which developed in the Iron Age western Balkans.{{sfn|Alaj|2019|p=14}} The Dardani - as they became known in classical antiquity - were one of the particular groups of the Glasinac-Mat culture.<ref name="Alaj15">{{harvnb|Alaj|2019|p=15}}</ref>
The [[Brnjica culture|Brnjica]] cultural group was a Late Bronze Age cultural manifestation in what was to become Dardania, closely connected to the Balkan-Danubian complex.{{sfn|Drançolli|2020|pp=4311–4312}}{{sfn|Vranić|2014a|p=35}}<ref name="SCIN">{{cite web|url=http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-0241/2006/0350-02410656073S.pdf |title=Regional characteristics of the Brnjica cultural group|year=2006|accessdate=2010-08-03|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723055300/http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-0241/2006/0350-02410656073S.pdf|archivedate=2011-07-23 |last=Stojic|first=Milorad}}</ref> It dates between the 14th and 10th centuries BCE,{{sfn|Drançolli|2020|pp=4311–4312}} and appears in Kosovo, Morava valley, Sandzak, Macedonia and South-East Serbia.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110723055300/http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-0241/2006/0350-02410656073S.pdf REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BRNJICA CULTURAL GROUP ] MILORAD STOJI]
Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade</ref> In [[Yugoslavia]]n historiography, starting from Milutin Garašanin in the 1970s and 1980s, the Brnjica culture came to be interpreted as the "[[Daco-Moesian]]" and non-"[[Illyrian language|Illyrian]]" linguistic component of the later Dardani.{{sfn|Vranić|2014a|p=35}}{{sfn|Stojic|2006|p=73|ps=: "Until recently, our knowledge of the Brnjica cultural group (or cultural group Donja Brnjica – Gornja Stra`ava) was based on the research results from fifteen or so sites, mainly necropolises.1 There were no data on settlements and habitations.2 The total archaeological collection of the Brnjica community amounted to less than three hundred objects, mostly ceramic vessels.3 This cultural group was characterized as the final phase, »… of a long evolution to be followed with certainty through the entire Bronze Age, while closely connected to the Balkan–Danube complex and elements the linguists mark as Dako–Moesian. Therefore, this group’s finds could be identified with the non-Illyrian component in the Dardanian ethnogenesis.«4"}} Before that change, Yugoslavian scholars had regarded the Dardani as of Illyrian origin. The narrative of a distinct "Daco-Moesian" concept developed as a response to Albanian and Bulgarian researchers, and especially to changes inside Yugoslavia due to increasing local nationalisms.{{sfn|Vranić|2014b|p=169}}
=== Classical antiquity ===
[[File:Illyrians in the 7th-4th centuries BC.png|thumb|250px|right|Illyrian tribes in the 7th–4th centuries BCE.]]
In Dardania tribal aristocracy and pre-urban development emerged from the 6th–5th centuries BC. The contacts of the Dardanians with the [[Mediterranean world]] began early and intensified during the Iron Age. Trade connections with the [[Ancient Greek world]] were created from the 7th century BC onwards.{{sfn|Shukriu|2008|p=9}} The proto-urban development was followed by the creation of urban centers and the emergence of craftsmanship, and a Dardanian [[polity]] began to develop from the 4th century BC.{{sfn|Shukriu|2008|p=9}} Material culture and accounts in classical sources suggest that Dardanian society reached an advanced phase of development.{{sfn|Šašel Kos|2010|p=626}}{{sfn|Gavrilović Vitas|2021|p=3}}
The Dardani are referred to as one of the opponents of [[Macedon]] in the 4th century BC, clashing with [[Philip II of Macedonia|Philip II]] who managed to subdue them and their neighbors, probably during the early period of his reign.{{sfn|Vujčić|2021|p=504}} The Dardani have remained quiet until Philip II's death, after which they were planning [[defection]]. However an open war have not been caused by their riots, since [[Alexander the Great]] managed to have the full control of the kingdom and its army after succeeding his father to the Macedonian throne. Indeed, the Dardani have not been mentioned in the ancient accounts concerning the events of [[Alexander's Balkan campaign]].{{sfn|Vujčić|2021|pp=504–505}} It appears that the Dardani evaded the Macedonian rule during the [[Wars of the Diadochi]] between 284 BC and 281 BC, at the time of [[Lysimachus]]'empire. Thereafter the Dardani became a constant threat to Macedon on its northern borders.{{sfn|Petrović|2006|p=8}}
In 279 BC, at the times of the [[Celtic settlement of Eastern Europe|great Celtic invasion]], Dardania was raided by several Celtic tribes on their campaigns that were undertaken to plunder the treasuries of Greek temples.{{sfn|Petrović|2006|p=8}} During these events an unnamed Dardanian king offered to help the Macedonians with 20,000 soldiers to counteract the invading Celts, but it was refused by the Macedonian king [[Ptolemy Keraunos]] who, underestimating the Celtic strength, died fighting them.<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert Malcolm Errington|title=A History of Macedonia|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PYgkqP_s1PQC|year=1990|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-06319-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PYgkqP_s1PQC/page/n173 160]}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hammond|1988|p=253}}</ref>{{sfn|Petrović|2006|p=8}} Only at the oracle of [[Delphi]] the Celts eventually arrested and were defeated. Afterwards they withdrew in the north passing through Dardania, however they were completely destroyed by the Dardani.{{sfn|Petrović|2006|p=9}} Further references to the Dardani are provided in the ancient sources describing Dardanian constant wars against Macedonians from the second half of the 3rd century BC.{{sfn|Petrović|2006|p=9}}
[[File:Dardanian Kingdom (late 3rd century BC).png|thumb|250px|Kingdom of the Dardanians, late 3rd century BC, prior to their conquest of Paeonia and Macedonia.]]
After the Celtic invasion of the Balkans weakened the state of the Macedonians and [[Paeonians]], the political and military role of the Dardanians began to grow in the region. They expanded their state to the area of [[Paeonia (kingdom)|Paeonia]] which definitively disappeared from history.{{sfn|Stipčević|1989|pp=38–39}} In 230 the Dardani under [[Longarus]]<ref>{{harvnb|Hammond|1988|p=338}}</ref> captured [[Bylazora]] from the Paeonians.{{sfn|Errington|1990|p=185}} Taking advantage of Macedonian weakness, in 229 the Dardani attacked Macedonia and defeated [[Demetrius II of Macedon|Demetrius II]] in an important battle.<ref>A history of Macedonia Volume 5 of Hellenistic culture and society, Robert Malcolm Errington, University of California Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-520-06319-8}}, {{ISBN|978-0-520-06319-8}} [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PYgkqP_s1PQC/page/n187 <!-- quote=bardylis. --> p. 174]</ref> After obtaining a great victory over the Macedonian army the Dardani invaded Macedon proper. The Dardanian expansion in Macedon, similar to the [[Ardiaei|Ardiaean]] expansion in Epirus around the same years, may have been part of a general movement among the Illyrian peoples.{{sfn|Eckstein|2008|pp=34–35}}
In this period Dardanian influence on the region grew and some other Illyrian tribes deserted [[Teuta]], joining the Dardani under Longarus and forcing Teuta to call off her expedition forces in Epirus.<ref>{{harvnb|Hammond|1988|p=335}}</ref> When [[Philip V of Macedon|Philip V]] rose to the Macedonian throne, skirmishing with Dardani began in 220-219 BC and he managed to capture Bylazora from them in 217 BC. Skirmishes continued in 211 and in 209 when a force of Dardani under Aeropus, probably a pretender to the Macedonian throne, captured Lychnidus and looted Macedonia taking 20.000 prisoners and retreating before Philip's forces could reach them.<ref>{{harvnb|Hammond|1988|p=404}}</ref>
{{Further|Dardanian-Bastarnae war}}
In 201 [[Bato of Dardania]] along with Pleuratus the Illyrian and Amynander king of Athamania, cooperated with Roman consul Sulpicius in his expedition against Philip V.<ref>{{harvnb|Hammond|1988|p=420}}</ref> Being always under the menace of Dardanian attacks on Macedonia, around 183 BC [[Philip V of Macedon|Philip V]] made an alliance with the [[Bastarnae]] and invited them to settle in Polog, the region of Dardania closest to Macedonia.<ref>{{harvnb|Hammond|1988|p=470}}</ref> A joint campaign of the Bastarnae and Macedonians against the Dardanians was organized, but Philip V died and his son [[Perseus of Macedon]] withdrew his forces from the campaign. The Bastarnae crossed the Danube in huge numbers and although they didn't meet the Macedonians, they continued the campaign. Some 30,000 Bastarnae under the command of Clondicus seem to have defeated the Dardani.<ref>{{harvnb|Hammond|1988|p=491}}</ref> In 179 BC, the [[Bastarnae]] conquered the Dardani, who later in 174 pushed them out, in a war which proved catastrophic, with a few years later, in 170 BC, the Macedonians defeating the Dardani.{{sfn|Mócsy|2014|p=10}} Macedonia and Illyria became Roman protectorates in 168 BC.{{sfn|Papazoglu|1978|p=173}} The [[Scordisci]], a tribe of Celtic origin, most likely subdued the Dardani in the mid-2nd century BC, after which there was no mention of the Dardani for a long time.{{sfn|Mócsy|2014|p=12}}
=== Roman era ===
[[File:Map of the roman province of Moesia (250).jpg|thumb|300px|After the division of Roman [[Moesia]] into two provinces in 86 AD, the Dardani were located in southern Moesia Superior.]]
{{See also|Dardania (Roman province)}}
Illyria and Macedonia became Roman protectorates in 168 BC.{{sfn|Papazoglu|1978|p=173}} In 97 BC, the Dardani are mentioned again, defeated by the Macedonian Roman army.{{sfn|Mócsy|2014|p=15}} In 88 BC, the Dardani invaded the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] province of [[Macedonia (Roman province)|Macedonia]] together with the [[Scordisci]] and the [[Maedi]].<ref>{{harvnb|Wilkes|1992|p=140}} {{blockquote| ... Autariatae at the expense of the Triballi until, as Strabo remarks, they in their turn were overcome by the Celtic Scordisci in the early third century}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=May 2016}}
The Romans found an ancient formed economy in Dardania, based on agriculture and animal husbandry, mining and metallurgy, in different handicrafts and in trade. The Romans focused especially in exploitation of mines, same as in other provinces, and in road construction.<ref>Michael Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire (Oxford 1957), 242-243</ref><ref name=":0">Prehistory and Antique History of Kosova, Edi Shukriu, p. 18</ref>
It seems quite probable that the Dardani actually lost independence in 28 BC thus, the final occupation of Dardania by Rome has been connected with the beginnings of [[Augustus]]' rule in 6 AD, when they were finally conquered by Rome. Dardania was conquered by [[Gaius Scribonius Curio (consul 76 BC)|Gaius Scribonius Curio]] and the Latin language was soon adopted as the main language of the tribe as many other conquered and Romanized.<ref name="balkaninstitut.com">http://www.balkaninstitut.com/pdf/izdanja/B_XXXVII_2007.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> After the Roman emperor [[Domitian]] divided the province of [[Moesia]] into Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior in 86 AD, the Dardani were located in southern Moesia Superior.{{sfn|Petrović|2019|pp=23–24}}
[[File:Balkans 6th century.svg|thumb|right|300px|Dardania and the Balkans during the 6th century AD.]]
At first, Dardania was not a separate Roman province, but became a region in the province of [[Moesia Superior]] in 87 AD.<ref name="Wilkes-1992-210">{{harvnb|Wilkes|1992|p=210}} {{blockquote|Here the old name of Dardania appears as a new province formed out of Moesia, along with Moesia Prima, Dacia (not Trajan's old province but a... Though its line is far from certain there seems little doubt that most of the Dardanians were excluded from Illyricum and were to become a part of the province of Moesia)}}</ref> Emperor [[Diocletian]] later (284) made Dardania into a separate<ref name="Wilkes-1992-210"/> province with its capital at [[Naissus]] ([[Niš]]). During the [[Byzantine]] administration (in the 6th century), there was a Byzantine province of Dardania that included cities of [[Ulpiana]], [[Scupi]], [[Justiniana Prima]], and others.
==Polity==
{{See also|Kingdom of Dardania}}
===History of the tribal government===
A Dardanian [[polity]] began to develop from the 4th century BC.{{sfn|Shukriu|2008|p=9}} The [[Kingdom of Dardania]] was attested since the 4th century BC in ancient sources reporting the wars the Dardanians waged against their south-eastern neighbor – [[Macedon]] – until the 2nd century BC.{{sfn|Wilkes|2012|p=414}}{{sfn|Stipčević|1989|pp=38–39}} The Dardanian kingdom was made up of many tribes and tribal groups, confirmed by [[Strabo]],<ref>{{harvnb|Papazoglu|1978|p=445}} {{blockquote|The assumption that the Dardanian kingdom was composed of a considerable number of tribes and tribal groups, finds confirmation in Strabo's statement about}}</ref> who mentions the [[Galabri]] and [[Thunatae]] as Dardanian tribes, and describes the Dardani as one of the three strongest Illyrian peoples, the other two being the [[Ardiaei]] and [[Autariatae]].<ref name="perseus.tufts.edu"/>{{sfn|Hammond|1966|pp=239–241}}
The Dardanians, in all their history, always had separate domains from the rest of the [[Illyrians]].<ref>{{harvnb|Papazoglu|1978|p=216}}</ref> The term used for their territory was ({{lang|grc|Δαρδανική}}),<ref name="Papazoglu 1978 523"/> while other tribal areas had more unspecified terms, such as ''Autariaton khora'' ({{lang|grc|Αὐταριατῶν χώρα}}), for the "land of [[Autariatae]]." The term was used to describe the Dardanian political status as a semi-independent country in the later [[Roman Republic]].{{sfn|Dzino|2008|p=188}} Little data exists about the territory of the Dardani prior to Roman conquest, especially on its southern extent which has been contested with Macedon, so scholars use information provided in Roman times to define the bounds of Dardanian territory.<ref>{{harvnb|Papazoglu|1978|p=187}}</ref>
An unnamed Dardanian king is mentioned in ancient sources describing the events of the region of the early 3rd century BC. He offered the [[Macedon]]ian king [[Ptolemy Ceraunos]] 20,000 soldiers to counteract the [[Celtic settlement of Southeast Europe|invading Celts]], but Ceraunos declined the offer.{{sfn|Petrović|2006|p=8}} Tribal chiefs [[Longarus]] and his son [[Bato (Dardanian chieftain)|Bato]] took part in the wars against [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] and [[Macedon]]ians.<ref name="Wilkes-1992-85">{{harvnb|Wilkes|1992|p=85}} {{blockquote|Whether the Dardanians were an Illyrian or a Thracian people has been much debated and one view suggests that the area was originally populated with Thracians who then exposed to direct contact with Illyrians over a long period. [..] The meaning of this state of affairs has been variously interpreted, ranging from notions of Thracianization' (in part) of an existing Illyrian population to the precise opposite. In favour of the latter may be the close correspondence of Illyrian names in Dardania with those of the southern 'real' lllyrians to their west, including the names of Dardanian rulers, Longarus, Bato, Monunius and Etuta, and those on later epitaphs, Epicadus, Scerviaedus, Tuta, Times and Cinna.}}</ref>
=== Dardanian rulers ===
*Unnamed Dardanian king (early 3rd century BC), who offered the [[Macedon]]ian king [[Ptolemy Ceraunos]] 20,000 soldiers to counteract the [[Celtic settlement of Southeast Europe|invading Celts]], but Ceraunos declined the offer.{{sfn|Petrović|2006|p=8}}
*[[Longarus]];<ref name="Wilkes-1992-86">{{harvnb|Wilkes|1992|p=86}} {{blockquote|... including the names of Dardanian rulers, Longarus, Bato, Monunius and Etuta, and those on later epitaphs, Epicadus, Scerviaedus, Tuta, Times and Cinna. Other Dardanian names are linked with...}}</ref>
**[[Bato (Dardanian chieftain)|Bato]]<ref name="Wilkes-1992-86"/>
**[[Monunius II]]
[[Etuta]] (Etleva){{sfn|Buqinca|2021|p=133}} was the daughter of [[Monunius II]] of Dardania and the [[Etuta|illyrian queen]] of [[Ardiaei]].{{sfn|Buqinca|2021|p=133}} Some scholars believe that Illyrian rulers [[Bardylis]],<ref name="Harding-1985-93">{{cite book|author=Phillip Harding|title=From the End of the Peloponnesian War to the Battle of Ipsus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfZhWwdtiH4C|date=21 February 1985|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-29949-7|page=93|quote=Grabos became the most powerful Illyrian king after the death of Bardylis in 358.}}</ref> [[Audata]],<ref>{{harvnb|Heckel|2006|p=64}}</ref> [[Cleitus (Dardania)|Cleitus]] (son of Bardylis),<ref name="Wilkes 1996 120">{{harvnb|Wilkes|1996|p=120}}</ref> [[Bardylis II]],<ref name=Heckel86>{{harvnb|Heckel|2006|p=86}}</ref> [[Bircenna]] (daughter of Bardylis II),<ref>{{harvnb|Hammond|1988|p=47}}</ref> and [[Monunios]] were Dardanian, however 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.{{sfn|Cabanes|2002|pp=50–51, 56, 75}}{{sfn|Mortensen|1991|pp=49–59}}{{sfn|Lane Fox|2011|p=342}}{{sfn|Vujčić|2019|p=115}}{{sfn|Vujčić|2021|pp=501–504}} Nevertheless, [[Bardylis]], if not Dardanian, probably had some kind of hegemony on Dardanians during his reign.{{sfn|Buqinca|2021|pp=131, 133}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Buqinca |first=Arianit |title=Dardanët e Ilirisë (VI - I p.e.s.) |publisher=Instituti Albanologjik |year=2022 |isbn=978-9951-24-155-7 |edition=1st |location=Prishtina |page=48 |language=Albanian |trans-title=The Dardanians of Illyria}}</ref>
==Foreign relations==
===Bad press===
Unlike their [[Thracians|Thracian]] neighbors, in pre-Roman times the Dardani were not Hellenized.{{sfn|Petrović|2019|p=24}} From the Greek point of view, they were barbarians. Because of this prejudice they received some bad press in the Ancient Greek and Roman historiography. The tribe was viewed of as "extremely barbaric".<ref>{{cite book|author1=Aelian|author2=Diane Ostrom Johnson|title=An English translation of Claudius Aelianus' Varia historia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SFAXAQAAIAAJ|date=June 1997|publisher=E. Mellen Press|isbn=978-0-7734-8672-0}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2014}}<ref name="Papazoglu-1978-517">{{harvnb|Papazoglu|1978|p=517}} {{blockquote|There must have been some reason why it was said of the Dardanians, and not of any other people, that they only bathed three times in their lives ...like the Dardanians', which was applied not to dirty folk, as might be expected, but to the miserly (ἐπὶ τῶν φειδωλῶν)! For the Greeks, obviously, to bathe or not was only a question of expense and financial means.}}</ref> [[Claudius Aelianus]] and other writers{{who|date=October 2011}} wrote that they bathed only three<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:entry=balneae-cn&highlight=bathed%2Cdardanians Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)] "...whence it is said of the Dardanians, an Illyrian people, that they bathe only thrice in their lives—at birth, marriage, and after death."</ref> times in their lives. At birth, when they were wed and after they died. [[Strabo]] refers to them as wild<ref>{{cite book|author=James Oliver Thomson|title=History of Ancient Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rQipbjusDyQC&pg=PA249|year=1948|publisher=Biblo & Tannen Publishers|isbn=978-0-8196-0143-8|pages=249–}}</ref> and dwelling in dirty caves under dung-hills.<ref name=Strabo>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0198:book=7:chapter=5&highlight=dardanians Strabo,7.5], "The Dardanians are so utterly wild that they dig caves beneath their dung-hills and live there, but still they care for music, always making use of musical instruments, both flutes and stringed instruments"</ref> This however may have had to do not with cleanliness, as bathing had to do with monetary<ref name="Papazoglu-1978-517"/> status from the viewpoint of the [[Ancient Greeks|Greeks]].
===Enslavement===
Dardanian slaves or freedmen at the time of the Roman conquest were clearly of [[Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkan]] origin, according to their personal names.{{sfn|Papazoglu|1978|p=224}} It has been noted that personal names were mostly of the "Central-Dalmatian type".{{sfn|Papazoglu|1978|p=245}}
==Culture==
=== Language ===
{{Infobox language
| name        = Dardanian
| states      = [[Kingdom of Dardania]]
| region      = central [[Balkans]]
| fam2        = (?) [[Albanoid]]
| familycolor = indo-european
| iso3        = none
| glotto      = none
}}
The Dardanians had their own language.{{sfn|Buqinca|2021|p=133}} An extensive study based on [[onomastics]] of the Roman era has been undertaken by [[Radoslav Katičić]] which puts the Dardanian language area in the Central Illyrian area (''"Central Illyrian"'' consisting of most of former Yugoslavia, north of southern Montenegro to the west of Morava, excepting ancient Liburnia in the northwest, but perhaps extending into Pannonia in the north).<ref>Katičić, Radoslav (1964b) "''Die neuesten Forschungen über die einhemiche Sprachschist in den Illyrischen Provinzen''" in Benac (1964a) 9-58 Katičić, Radoslav (1965b) "''Zur frage der keltischen und panonischen Namengebieten im römischen Dalmatien''" ANUBiH 3 GCBI 1, 53-76</ref><ref>Katičić, Radoslav. Ancient languages of the Balkans. The Hague - Paris (1976)</ref> Another extensive study based on onomastics in Thrace, eastern Macedonia, Moesia, Dacia and Bithynia has been carried out by Dan Dana in the 2010s, also taking into consideration current Balkan historical linguistics. Dana concludes that the Illyrian character of Dardanian onomastics is unquestionable and that it is appropriate to definitively rule out the idea of a Thracian origin or participation (at least appreciable) in the ethnogenesis of the Dardani.{{sfn|Dana|2014|p=LXXXII}} Since the Dardani were neighbored to the east by the Thracians, the eastern parts of Dardania were at the Thraco-Illyrian contact zone. As shown by archaeological research Illyrian names are predominant in western Dardania (present-day Kosovo), and occasionally appear in eastern Dardania (present-day south-eastern Serbia), while Thracian names are found in the eastern parts, but are absent from the western parts.<ref name="Vujcic2021"/><ref name=Malcolm/><ref name=Zahariade/><ref name="Papazoglu131">{{harvnb|Papazoglu|1978|p=131}} {{blockquote|the Dardanians ... living in the frontiers of the Illyrian and the Thracian worlds retained their individuality and, alone among the peoples of that region, succeeded in maintaining themselves as an ethnic unity even when they were militarily and politically subjected by the Roman arms [...] and when, towards the end of the ancient world, the Balkans were involved in far-reaching ethnic perturbations, the Dardanians, of all the Central Balkan tribes, played the greatest part in the genesis of the new peoples who took the place of the old}}</ref> The correspondence of Illyrian onomastics in Dardania – including those of the Dardanian ruling dynasty – with those of the southern Illyrians suggests "thracianization" of parts of Dardania at a later date.<ref name=Zahariade/><ref name="RoismanWorthington2011">{{cite book|author1=Joseph Roisman|author2=Ian Worthington|title=A Companion to Ancient Macedonia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QsJ183uUDkMC|date=7 July 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-5163-7|page=301}}</ref><ref name="Wilkes-1992-85"/> The linguistic relationship between '[[Illyrian language|Illyrian]]' and '[[Thracian language|Thracian]]' is uncertain due to the paucity of the available written material of those languages, consisting only of onomastic and toponymic evidence in the case of Illyrian, and the same for Thracian except for a few short inscriptions of difficult interpretation. Dardanian in the context of a distinct language is considered in recent decades as potentially significant for the history of the [[Albanian language]].{{sfn|Rusakov|2017|pp=555–556}}
===Religion===
Graves from the 6th and 5th centuries BCE in [[Romajë]] contain long iron bars which were placed in the tombs are a means of payment to the afterlife. They indicate that the tribe of the Dardani had developed a concept about the afterlife as shown later in other archaeological material like the votive monument of [[Smirë]].{{sfn|Shukriu|2008|p=11}} The weapons included double-edged axes ([[Labrys]]), which might have been used in a ritualistic manner related to [[sun worship]] which was prevalent in the northern Illyrian tribes {{sfn|Shukriu|2008|p=10}}
Among the characteristic Dardanian deities were [[Andinus]], considered to have been the indigenous god of [[Vegetation deity|vegetation]] and [[soil fertility]],{{sfn|Zeqo|2016|p=14}}{{sfn|Ferri|2006|p=229}} and [[Dea Dardanica]] ("Dardanian Goddess"). They are attested in votive inscriptions of the Roman period in Dardania.
[[File:Arkeologji - Periudha Romake - Kllokot.JPG|thumb|[[Dea Dardanica]] represented an ancient deity in [[Kingdom of Dardania|Dardania]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shukriu |first=Edi |year=2004 |title=Dea Dardane - Ikonografia dhe funksionet |trans-title=Dea Dardania - Iconography and functions |url=https://www.academia.edu/1787800 |journal=Kosova}}</ref>]]
A monument representing a round labyrinth that was dedicated to the "Dardanian Goddess" was found in Smira. This monument provides evidence for cosmogonic and cosmologic knowledges among the Dardani.{{sfn|Shukriu|2008|pp=22–23}} The labyrinth was realized based on the concept of the [[trinity]]. There is used a numerological and geometric approach through a multidimensional holographic field, which illustrates the Dardanian perception of the cosmic order and the interconnection between the material world and the higher realm.{{sfn|Shukriu|2008|p=23}}
Dardanian funerary stelae portray representations of their mourning practice, which accurately mirrors the Albanian traditional lamentation of the dead – [[gjâma]]. The lamentation of the dead is represented on the stelae through the depiction of the mourners with raised hands, grabbing their heads and beating their chests.{{sfn|Joseph|Dedvukaj|2024|pp=1–3}}
===Music===
Strabo writes that Dardanians cared about music, always using musical instruments, both of the [[wind instruments|wind]] and [[string instruments|string]] type.<ref name=Strabo/>
== See also ==
*[[List of ancient Illyrian peoples and tribes]]
*[[List of ancient tribes in Illyria]]
*[[Illyrians]]
*[[Thracians]]
== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
== Bibliography ==
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
<!-- A -->
*{{cite thesis|last=Alaj|first=Premtim|year=2019|title=Les habitats de l'Age du fer sur le territoire de l'actuel Kosovo|publisher=Université de Lyon|url=https://hal.inria.fr/tel-02503916/}}
<!-- B -->
*{{cite book|last=Baliu|first=Begzad|title=Onomastikë dhe identitet|trans-title=Onomastics and Identity|year=2012|publisher=Era|isbn=978-9951-04-071-6|language=sq|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikibooks/sq/9/9d/Begzad_Baliu._Onomastike_dhe_identitet_paust.pdf}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Boteva |first1=Dilyana |editor1-last=Mitthof |editor1-first=Fritz |editor2-last=Cenati |editor2-first=Chiara |editor3-last=Zerbini |editor3-first=Livio |title=Society and Myths: How was the Name of Moesia Invented? |journal=Ad Ripam Fluminis Danuvi: Papers of the 3rd International Conference on the Roman Danubian Provinces, Vienna, 11th–14th November 2015 |date=2021 |url=https://www.academia.edu/48895776 }}
*{{cite thesis|last=Buqinca|first=Arianit|year=2021|title=Recherche sur les Dardaniens : VIe- Ier siècles av. J.- C.|publisher=Université de Lyon|url=http://www.theses.fr/2021LYSE2007|language=French|oclc=1254025622}}
<!-- C -->
*{{cite book|last=Cabanes|first=Pierre|title=Iliri od Bardileja do Gencia (IV. – II. stoljeće prije Krista)|trans-title=The Illyrians from Bardylis to Gentius (4th – 2nd century BC)|year=2002|orig-year=1988|language=Croatian|translator=Vesna Lisičić|publisher=Svitava|editor1=Dinko Čutura|editor2=Bruna Kuntić-Makvić|isbn=953-98832-0-2}}
*{{cite journal|last=Crăciun|first=Radu|title=Diellina, një bimë trako-dake me emër proto-albanoid|trans-title=Diellina, a Thracian-Dacian plant with a Proto-Albanoid name|journal=[[Studime Filologjike]]|issn=0563-5780|publisher=[[Centre of Albanological Studies]]|number=1–2|year=2023|pages=77–83|doi=10.62006/sf.v1i1-2.3089 |doi-access=free}}
*{{cite book|last=Crossland|first=R. A.|chapter=Linguistic problems of the Balkan area in late prehistoric and early classical periods|title=The Cambridge Ancient History: The Prehistory of the Balkans; and the Middle East and the Aegean world, tenth to eighth centuries B.C.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=III (part 1)|year=1982|edition=2|editor1=J. Boardman|editor2=I. E. S. Edwards|editor3=N. G. L. Hammond|editor4=E. Sollberger|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vXljf8JqmkoC|isbn=0521224969}}
<!-- D -->
*{{cite book|last=Dana|first=Dan|title=Onomasticon Thracicum (OnomThrac): Répertoire des noms indigènes de Thrace, Macédoine Orientale, Mésies, Dacie et Bithynie|publisher=Centre de recherche de l'antiquité grecque et romaine, Fondation nationale de la recherche scientifique|volume=70|series=Meletēmata / Kentron Hellēnikēs kai Rōmaïkēs Archaiotētos|year=2014|lang=fr|isbn=9789609538244|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OchGrgEACAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Drançolli|first=Jahja|chapter=Kosova: Archaeological Heritage|title=Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology|pages=4308–4319|editor=Claire Smith|publisher=Springer International Publishing|year=2020|isbn=9783030300166|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i7vPxwEACAAJ}}
*{{cite thesis|last=Darlishta|first=Hana|title=Овоштарската лексика на албанските говори во Македонија|year=2019|publisher=[[Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje]]}}
*{{cite book|last=Demiraj|first=Bardhyl|title=Albanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz|series=Leiden Studies in Indo-European|volume=7|year=1997|language=de|place=Amsterdam, Atlanta|publisher=Rodopi|isbn=9789042001619|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xZftQtCaYE0C}}
*{{cite journal|last=Dzino|first=Danijel|title=Strabo 7, 5 and imaginary Illyricum|journal=Athenaeum|volume=96|number=1|publisher=Edizioni New Press|year=2008|pages=173–192}}
<!-- E -->
*{{cite journal|last=Elsie|first=Robert|year=1998|title=Dendronymica Albanica: A survey of Albanian tree and shrub names|journal=Zeitschrift für Balkanologie|number=34|pages=163–200|url=http://www.elsie.de/pdf/articles/A1998DendronEngl.pdf}}
*{{cite book|last=Elsie|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Elsie|title=The Tribes of Albania: History, Society and Culture|publisher=I.B.Tauris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i2IpDAAAQBAJ|year=2015|isbn=9780857739322}}
*{{cite book|last=Eckstein|first=Arthur M.|author-link=Arthur Eckstein|title=Rome Enters the Greek East From Anarchy to Hierarchy in the Hellenistic Mediterranean, 230–170 BC|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-1-4051-6072-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Czk_jxbHEDQC}}
*{{cite book|last=Errington|first=Robert Malcolm|title=A History of Macedonia|series=Hellenistic culture and society|volume=5|location=Berkeley, CA|publisher=University of California Press|year=1990|isbn=0-520-06319-8|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PYgkqP_s1PQC}}
<!-- F -->
*{{cite journal|last=Falileyev|first=Alexander|title=The Silent Europe ''La Europa silenciosa''|journal=Palaeohispanica|year=2020|issn=1578-5386|doi=10.36707/palaeohispanica.v0i20.372|number=20|pages=887–919|s2cid=230710587|doi-access=free}}
*{{cite book|last=Ferri|first=Naser|title=Kosova Archeologica - Kosova Arkeologjike|chapter=Simpoziumi ndërkombëtar mbi Dioklecianin dhe epokën e tij (i mbajtur në Split më 18-22 shtator 2005)|trans-chapter=International Symposium on Diocletian and his period (held in Split from 18-22 September 2005)|publisher=Instituti Arkeologjik i Kosovës [Archaeological Institute of Kosova]|year=2006|editor-last=Drançolli|editor-first=Jahja|pages=222–230}}
<!-- H -->
*{{cite journal|last=Hammond|first=Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière|title=The Kingdoms in Illyria circa 400-167 B.C.|journal=The Annual of the British School at Athens|publisher=British School at Athens|volume=61|year=1966|pages=239–253|doi=10.1017/S0068245400019043|jstor=30103175|s2cid=164155370}}
*{{cite book|last=Hammond|first=Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière|title=Epirus: the Geography, the Ancient Remains, the History and Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kEFoAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1967|isbn=0198142536}}
*{{cite book|last=Hammond|first=Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière|title=A History of Macedonia: 336-167 B.C|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qpb3JdwuDQIC|year=1988|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-814815-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Heckel|first=Waldemar|title=Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JJ4K1wFZkrsC|year=2006|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-1-4051-1210-9}}
<!-- J -->
{{cite journal|last1=Joseph|first1=Brian D.|last2=Dedvukaj|first2=Lindon|title=Turning night into day: Milieu and semantic change in Albanian|journal=Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America|publisher=[[Linguistic Society of America]]|doi=10.3765/plsa.v9i1.5681|volume=9|number=1|year=2024|page=5681 |doi-access=free}}
<!-- L -->
*{{cite book|last=Lane Fox|first=R.|author-link=Robin Lane Fox|chapter=Philip of Macedon: Accession, Ambitions, and Self-Presentation|title=Brill's Companion to Ancient Macedon: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 BC – 300 AD|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill|year=2011|isbn=978-90-04-20650-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjLPBsB2dIkC|editor-last1=Lane Fox|editor-first=R.|pages=335–366}}
*{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=D. M.|last2=Boardman|first2=John|title=The Cambridge Ancient History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vx251bK988gC|year=1994|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-23348-4}}
*{{cite book|last1=Lippert|first1=Andreas|last2=Matzinger|first2=Joachim|title=Die Illyrer: Geschichte, Archäologie und Sprache|publisher=Kohlhammer Verlag|year=2021|isbn=9783170377103|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0N9SEAAAQBAJ}}
<!-- M -->
*{{Cite book|last=Mócsy|first=András|title=Pannonia and Upper Moesia: A History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman Empire|year=2014|orig-year=1974|location=New York|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317754251|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LP9RAwAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Mortensen|first=Kate|chapter=The Career of Bardylis|title=The Ancient World|volume=22|year=1991|publisher=Ares Publishers|pages=49–59|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=khAiAQAAIAAJ}}
<!-- O -->
*{{cite book|last=Orel|first=Vladimir|title=Albanian etymological dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJQYAQAAIAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-11024-0}}
<!-- P -->
*{{cite book|last=Papazoglu|first=Fanula|author-link=Fanula Papazoglu|title=Srednjobalkanska plemena u predrimsko doba. Tribali, Autarijati, Dardanci, Skordisci i Mezi|volume=30|series=Djela - Akademija nauka i umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine. Odjeljenje društvenih nauka|place=Sarajevo|publisher=Akademija nauka i umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine|year=1969|language=hr|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fr3iAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{Cite book|last=Papazoglu|first=Fanula|title=The Central Balkan Tribes in pre-Roman Times: Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians|year=1978|location=Amsterdam|publisher=Hakkert|isbn=9789025607937|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Up4JAQAAIAAJ}}
*{{cite journal|last=Petrović |first=Vladimir P. |title=Pre-roman and Roman Dardania historical and geographical considerations |journal=Balcanica |year=2006 |issue=37 |pages=7–23 |doi=10.2298/BALC0637007P |doi-access=free |hdl=21.15107/rcub_dais_4231 |hdl-access=free }}
*{{cite book|last=Petrović|first=Vladimir P.|title=Les voies et agglomérations romaines au cœur des Balkans: Le cas de la Serbie|publisher=Ausonius Éditions|year=2019|series=Scripta Antiqua|isbn=9782356133243|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mnStDwAAQBAJ}}
<!-- R -->
*{{cite journal |last1=Rama |first1=Zana |title=Dardania in late antiquity: An overview of 4th-6th century fortification in the territory of Kosovo |journal=Archaeologia Adriatica |date=2021 |volume=14 |issue=1 |doi=10.15291/archeo.3392 |s2cid=244293507 |url=https://morepress.unizd.hr/journals/index.php/adriatica/article/view/3392 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite book|last=Rusakov|first=Alexander|editor=Mate Kapović|title=The Indo-European Languages|chapter=Albanian|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8i0lDwAAQBAJ|date=2017|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-315-67855-9}}
<!-- S -->
*{{cite book|last=Šašel Kos|first=Marjeta|title=Appian and Illyricum|date=2005|publisher=Narodni muzej Slovenije|isbn=961616936X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=opBpAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Šašel Kos|first=Marjeta|chapter=Peoples on the northern fringes of the Greek world: Illyria as seen by Strabo|title=L'Illyrie méridionale et l'Épire dans l'Antiquité V: Actes du Ve colloque international de Grenoble (8–11 octobre 2008)|series=L'Illyrie méridionale et l'Épire dans l'Antiquité (V)|volume=2|year=2010|editor=Jean-Luc Lamboley, Maria Paola Castiglioni|publisher=De Boccard Editions|pages=617–629|isbn=9782951943339|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78WSAQAACAAJ}}
*{{cite journal|last=Savić|first=Danilo|title=Some Illyrian Ethnonyms and Their Supposed Albanian Cognates|doi=10.18485/belida.2022.1.ch18|journal=Belgrade Linguistics Days|volume=1|year=2022|pages=449–463|doi-access=free|hdl=21.15107/rcub_dais_13349|hdl-access=free}}
*{{cite journal|last=Savić|first=M. M.|year=2015|title=Material culture of Dardan's in pre-roman period|journal=Baština|issue=39|pages=67–84|language=sr}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Shukriu |first1=Edi |title=Prehistory and Antique History of Kosova |journal=Thesis Kosova |date=2008 |volume=1 |url=https://dspace.aab-edu.net/bitstream/handle/123456789/6/01-2008-EN-03-Edi_Shukriu-anglisht.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=13 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013175840/https://dspace.aab-edu.net/bitstream/handle/123456789/6/01-2008-EN-03-Edi_Shukriu-anglisht.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=dead }}
*{{cite book |last=Shukriu |first=Edi |title=Dardania paraurbane: studime arkeologjike të Kosovës |trans-title=Pre-urban Dardania: Archaeological Studies of Kosova |place=Pejë |publisher=Dukagjini |year=1996 |volume=13 |series=Biblioteka "Fryma" |language=sq |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T-4LHQAACAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Stipčević|first=Aleksandar|author-link=Aleksandar Stipčević|title=Iliri: povijest, život, kultura|trans-title=The Illyrians: history and culture|year=1989|publisher=Školska knjiga|language=hr|isbn=9788603991062|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=56ZmAAAAMAAJ}}
<!-- V -->
*{{cite book|last=Gavrilović Vitas|first=Nadežda|title=Ex Asia et Syria Oriental Religions in the Roman Central Balkans|series=Archaeopress Roman Archaeology|volume=78|publisher=Archaeopress Publishing LTD|year=2021|isbn=978-1-78969-914-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DdsfEAAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Vranić|first=Ivan|editor=Staša Babić, Marko Jankovic|chapter=The "Hellenization" process and the Balkan Iron Age archaeology|title=The Edges of the Roman World|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|year=2014a|pages=33–47|isbn=9781443861540|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pcgxBwAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Vranić|first=Ivan|editor1-last=Popa|editor1-first=Catalin|editor2-last=Stoddart|editor2-first=Simon|title=Fingerprinting the Iron Age: Approaches to identity in the European Iron Age: Integrating South-Eastern Europe into the debate|chapter='Hellenisation' and Ethnicity in the Continental Balkan Iron Age|publisher=Oxbow Books|year=2014b|isbn=978-1782976783|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i4FiBwAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite journal|last=Vujčić|first=Nemanja|title=The Army of Lysimachus after Corupedium|journal=Antiquité Vivante / Živa antika|volume=69|number=1–2|year=2019|pages=109–122|doi=10.47054/ZIVA19691-2109v|s2cid=245589829|issn=0514-7727|url=https://www.academia.edu/41478983|doi-access=free}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Vujčić |first1=Nemanja |title=The City of Pelion and the Illyrian War of Alexander |journal=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies |date=2021 |volume=61 |url=https://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/download/16601/7421 }}
<!-- W -->
*{{cite book|last=Wilkes|first=John|title=The Illyrians|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Nv6SPRKqs8C|year=1996|orig-year=1992|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0-631-19807-9}}
*{{cite encyclopedia|last=Wilkes|first=John|editor-last1=Hornblower|editor-first1=Simon|editor-last2=Spawforth|editor-first2=Antony|editor-last3=Eidinow|editor-first3=Esther|dictionary=The Oxford Classical Dictionary|date=2012|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-954556-8|entry-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVWcAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA414|entry=Dardani|page=414}}
<!-- Z -->
*{{cite book|last=Zahariade|first=Mihail|title=The Thracians in the Roman Imperial Army: From the First to the Third Century A.D|volume=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9sp0oAEACAAJ|series=The Center for Roman Military Studies|publisher=Mega Publishing House|year=2009|editor=Ovidiu Țentea, Florian Matei-Popescu}}
*{{cite journal|last=Zeqo|first=Moikom|title=Zef Mirdita, dijetari i madh shqiptar i formatit evropian|journal=Studime Albanologjike|volume=13|year=2016|issn=1857-6958|publisher=Instituti i Trashëgimisë Shpirtërore e Kulturore të Shqiptarëve – Shkup|pages=13–20}}
{{Refend}}
==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Dardani (Balkans)}}
{{Illyrians}}
{{Late Roman Provinces|state=collapsed}}
{{Tribes of Serbia}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Dardanians| ]]
[[Category:Illyrian tribes]]
[[Category:Thraco-Illyrian]]
[[Category:Ancient tribes in Macedonia]]
[[Category:Ancient tribes in North Macedonia]]
[[Category:Ancient tribes in Kosovo]]
[[Category:Moesia]]
[[Category:Ancient tribes in Serbia]]
[[Category:Indo-European peoples]]
[[Category:Tribes conquered by Rome]]
[[Category:Tribes conquered by the Roman Republic]]
[[bg:Дардания (провинция)]]
[[bs:Dardanija]]
[[de:Dardanien]]
[[es:Dardanios]]
[[hr:Dardanija]]
[[sq:Dardania]]
[[sv:Dardanien]]