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In classical history, Illyria or Illyricum or Illyrikon was a region of the western Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the tribes and clans of Illyrians, an ancient people who probably spoke an Indo-European language (the Illyrian languages) and who are believed to be the main ancestral group of modern Albanians. The main cities of Illyria were Lissus and (probably) Epidamus.
The Illyrians may have appeared in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula about 1000 BC, a period coinciding with the end of the Bronze Age and beginning of the Iron Age. For at least the next millennium, they occupied lands extending from the Danube, Sava, and Morava rivers to the Adriatic Sea and the ar Mountains.
| This article is part of the History of Albania series |
| Illyria |
| Middle Ages |
| Ottoman domination |
| Birth of Albania |
| Between wars |
| World War II |
| Communism and later |
In the 19th and early 20th century, archaeologists associated the Illyrians with the Hallstatt cultureHallstatt is a village in the Austrian Salzkammergut where a large prehistoric cemetery of 1045 graves was excavated by Ramsauer in the second half of the 19th century. The community at Hallstatt exploited the salt mines from the 8th to 5th century BC., an Iron Age people noted for production of iron and bronze swords with winged-shaped handles (Ha C) and for horse breeding. Nowadays, the equation of material culture with linguistic and political groups is seen as problematic, as neither the rate of culture change nor of linguistic change is well known.
The area had initially been settled by two groups that would later be known as the Pannonians and the Dalmatians in Roman Empire60 and 400 with major cities. During this time only Dacia and Mesopotamia were added to the Empire but were lost before 300. The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman state in the centuries following its reorganization under t times, but modern ideologies of racial nationalism tend to minimize the amount of tribal mixing that has taken place over the last three millennia.
The Illyrians carried on commerce and warfare with their neighbors. The ancient MacedoniansAlexander the Great, king of ancient Macedon, on the waterfront at Thessaloniki, capital of Greek Macedonia Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in south-eastern Europe with an area of around 67,000 square kilometres a probably had some Illyrian roots, but under Philip of Macedon their ruling class adopted Greek cultural characteristics. The Illyrians also mingled with the Thracians in adjoining lands on the east. In the south and along the Adriatic coast, the Illyrians were heavily influenced by the Greeks, who founded trading colonies there. The present-day city of Durrės evolved from a Greek colony known as Epidamnos, which was founded at the end of the 7th century BC Another famous Greek colony, Apollonia, arose between Durrės and the port city of Vlorė.
The Illyrians produced and traded cattle, horses, agricultural goods, and wares fashioned from locally-mined copper and iron. Feuds and warfare were constant facts of life for the Illyrian tribes, and Illyrian pirates plagued shipping on the Adriatic Sea. Councils of elders chose the chieftains who headed each of the numerous Illyrian tribes.
From time to time, local chieftains extended their rule over other tribes and formed short-lived kingdoms. During the 5th century BC, a well-developed Illyrian population center existed as far north as the upper Sava River valley in what is now Slovenia. Illyrian friezes discovered near the present-day Slovenian city of Ljubljana depict ritual sacrifices, feasts, battles, sporting events, and other activities.
At various times, groups of Illyrians migrated over land and sea into Italy.