Ardiaei


The Ardiaei were an Illyrian tribe, residing on territory of present-day Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina between Adriatic coast on the south, Konjic on the north, along the Neretva river and its right bank on the west, extending to Lake Shkodra to the southeast. From the 3rd century BC to 168 BC Scodra was the Ardiaean capital. Polybius writes that they were subdued by the Romans at events that occurred at 229 BC. Appian writes that they were destroyed by the Autariatae and that in contrast to the Autariatae had maritime power. In the Epitome of Livy they are said to have been subdued by the consul Fulvius Flaccus.

Name

The tribal name Ardiaei may be related to the Latin ardea meaning "heron", a symbol of animal totemism.

Location

Accounts in ancient sources create much confusion about the location of the Ardiaean original homeland.
They were located in the area of southern Illyria, somewhere in present-day Montenegro, most likely around the gulf of Rhizon, although Strabo places them in the right bank of the Neretva. Their initial inland residence was located along the Naro River up to the Konjic region, in present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The name of the town Čapljina is another feature suggesting that the original homeland of Ardiaei might indeed have been the Neretva valley region. Specifically, there is a town in Bosnia and Herzegovina situated in the wider Neretva valley region, called Čapljina, and its name derives from čaplja, which in modern Bosnian language means 'heron'. The Latin word for heron is ardea, a word that bears striking similarity with the name of Ardiaei, and should not be excluded altogether as its potential cognate.
This hypothesis opens up many possibilities for the interpretation of the original homeland of the Ardiaei and the etymology of their name. For example, heron might have had totemic pagan value among the Illyrians inhabiting that region, due to its presence in this area, and it is not implausible to conclude that one of those Illyrian peoples named itself after a heron, the Ardiaei. The Latin word ardea might be a Latin translation of some original Illyrian word for 'heron' that Romans found when they settled in this area, or the 'ardea' itself could have been an Illyrian word taken by Romans, who might have slightly altered it and integrated it into their language, Latin. Indeed, the word Ardiaei is found in ancient Greek sources predating the arrival of Romans and their language to the Illyrian lands. It is also possible that ancient Illyrians or Romans named this place the place of heron, and the Slavic settlers, who settled in the former Illyrian lands around 6th century A.D. translated the name of this place into their language, which in turn gave Čapljina, "the place of heron".

History

Due to widespread piracy perpetrated in the Adriatic by the Ardiaei and other Illyrian tribes, the Romans campaigned against them in the events of the Illyrian Wars. They were viewed as heavy drinkers in comparison, by the Greeks.
The Ardiaei were enemies of the Autariatae for a long time over salt source.
The Ardiaei had briefly attained military might, during 230 B.C. under the reign of king Agron. His widow, Queen Teuta attempted to gain a foothold in the Adriatic but failed due to Roman intervention. Historic accounts hold that King Agron was hired by king Demetrius of Macedonia repel the invasion of Macedonia by the invading Aetolians. The Ardiaei had 20 decuriae.
The ancient geographer, Strabo, lists the Ardiaei as one of the three strongest Illyrian peoples – the other two being the Autariatae and the Dardani. Strabo writes;
King Agron, son of Pleuratus who belonged to the ruling house of the Ardiaei, disposed of the most powerful force, both by land and sea, of any of the kings which had reigned in Illyria before him.

Ardiaean dynasty

The following is a reconstruction of the Ardiaean dynasty by N. G. L. Hammond :
The branch of Scerdilaidas is generally considered a Labeatan dinasty, that emerged after the fall of Agron and Teuta. The following list reports the members of the Ardiaean dinasty documented as such in ancient sources: