26 Facts About Illyrians

Illyrians were a group of Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times.

Territory the Illyrians inhabited came to be known as Illyria to later Greek and Roman authors, who identified a territory that corresponds to most of Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, much of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, western and central Serbia and some parts of Slovenia between the Adriatic Sea in the west, the Drava river in the north, the Morava river in the east and in the south the Aous river or possibly the Ceraunian Mountains.

Illyrians seems to be the name of a specific Illyrian tribe who were among the first to encounter the ancient Greeks during the Bronze Age.

The label Illyrians was first used by outsiders, in particular Ancient Greeks, at the beginning of the 8th century BC.

Scholarly debates have been waged to find an answer to the question whether the term 'Illyrians' derived from some eponymous tribe, or whether it has been applied to designate the indigenous population as a general term for some other specific reason.

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Illyrians emerged from the fusion of PIE-descended Yamnaya-related population movements ca.

Out of the nine Y-DNA samples retrieved, which coincide with the historical territory where Illyrians lived, almost all belonged to the patrilineal line J2b2a1-L283 with the exception of one R1b-L2.

Illyrians eventually ruled Illyria and became the eponymous ancestor of the whole Illyrian people.

The Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on the Dalmatian islands.

The Medionians joined the action by sallying out of the town and charging the Aetolians, thus, after killing a great number, and taking a still greater number prisoners, and becoming masters of their arms and baggage, the Illyrians, having carried out the orders of Agron, conveyed their baggage and the rest of their booty to their boats and immediately set sail for their own country.

Illyrians was succeeded by his wife Teuta, who assumed the regency for her stepson Pinnes following Agron's death in 231 BC.

Depictions of the Illyrians, usually described as "barbarians" or "savages", are universally negative in Greek and Roman sources.

The Romans came nevertheless into a series of conflicts with the Illyrians, equally known as the Illyrian Wars, beginning in 229 BC until 168 BC as the Romans defeated Gentius at Scodra.

Term Illyrians last appears in the historical record in the 7th century AD, in the Miracula Sancti Demetrii, referring to a Byzantine garrison operating within the former Roman province of Illyricum.

Illyrians were a notorious seafaring people with a strong reputation for piracy especially common during the regency of king Agron and later queen Teuta.

Illyrians were regarded as bloodthirsty, unpredictable, turbulent, and warlike by Greeks and Romans.

The Illyrians were subject to varying degrees of Celticization, Hellenization, Romanization and later Slavicization which possibly lead to the extinction of their languages.

However, this did not occur at the same level on both sides, with the Illyrians being more willing to adopt the more prestigious Greek language.

Illyrians were exposed not only to Doric and Epirote Greek but to Attic-Ionic.

The southern Illyrian or south-eastern Dalmatian province was the area of the proper Illyrians and includes most of Albania, Montenegro and their hinterlands.

Symbols are depicted in every variety of ornament and reveal that the chief object of the prehistoric cult of the Illyrians was the Sun, worshipped in a widespread and complex religious system.

Illyrians believed in the force of spells and the evil eye, in the magic power of protective and beneficial amulets which could avert the evil eye or the bad intentions of enemies.

Archaeogenetic studies have shown that a major Y-DNA haplogroup among Illyrians, J-L283 spread via Cetina culture across the eastern Adriatic from the Cetina valley in Croatia to Montenegro and northern Albania.

The cult of the dead played an important role in the lives of the Illyrians, which is seen in their carefully made burials and burial ceremonies, as well as the richness of the burial sites.

The Illyrians were influenced by the Celts in many cultural and material aspects and some of them were Celticized, especially the tribes in Dalmatia and the Pannonians.

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Illyrians adds that the language and religion of this culture remain uncertain.