Po redaktohet Illyrians (paragraf)

==  Terminology and attestation ==
The terms 'Illyrians', 'Illyria' and 'Illyricum' have been used throughout history for ethnic and geographic contextualizations that have changed over time. Re-contextualizations of these terms often confused ancient writers and modern scholars. Notable scholarly efforts have been dedicated to trying to analyze and explain these changes.{{sfn|Dzino|2014|pp=45–46}}

The first known mention of Illyrians occurred in the late 6th and the early 5th century BC in fragments of [[Hecataeus of Miletus]], the author of Γενεαλογίαι (''Genealogies'') and of Περίοδος Γῆς or Περιήγησις (''Description of the Earth'' or ''Periegesis''), where the Illyrians are described as a [[barbarian]] people.{{sfn|Matijasić|2011|p=293}}{{sfn|Dzino|2014|pp=47–48}}{{Refn|Hecataeus' works can only be analyzed indirectly since the fragments have been preserved in the works of other ancient authors. The majority of the fragments are transmitted in the geographical lexicon (Ἐθνικά, ''Ethnica'') of [[Stephanus of Byzantium]] (6th century AD), of which we possess only a later abridgment (''epitome'' by Hermolaos). On the other hand, Stephanus is regarded by modern scholars a reliable source in general.{{sfn|Matijasić|2011|p=295–296}}{{sfn|Matijasić|2015|p=132}}|group=note}} In the [[Macedon]]ian history during the 6th and 5th century B.C., the term 'Illyrian' had a political meaning that was quite definite, denoting a kingdom established on the north-western borders of [[Upper Macedonia]].{{sfn|Katičić|1976|pp=154–155}} From the 5th century B.C. onwards, the term 'Illyrian' was already applied to a large ethnic group whose territory extended deep into the Balkan mainland.{{sfn|Katičić|1976|p=156}}{{Refn|According to Borza due to the fact that the Illyrian tribes moved constantly there are no precise borders of 'Illyris' by Ancient Greek authors. Illyris approximately consisted an area located north of Epirus and western Macedonia,<ref>Borza, 1991, p. 191: "Illyrian tribes moved about constantly, and there are no fixed land borders to the area known by the Greeks as 'Illyris'. Rouphly speaking, Illyris consisted of the large region north of Epirus and western Macedonia..."</ref> and covered northern and central Albanian down to the mouth of the Aous.<ref>{{harvnb|Hammond|1994|p=438}}: Illyris', a geographical term which the Greeks applied to a territory neighbouring their own, covers more or less the area of northern and central Albania down to the mouth of the Aous.</ref> According to Crossland (1982), Greeks of the 5th century B.C. recognized the ''Illyrii'' (Ἰλλυριοί) as an important non-Greek people living to the north of the [[Aetolians]] and the [[Acarnanians]] and further north in the territory of modern-day central and northern [[Albania]], where [[Durrës|Epidamnus/Dyrrhachium]] and [[Apollonia (Illyria)|Apollonia]] were founded by [[Greek colonisation|Greek colonists]].{{sfn|Crossland|1982|p=839|ps=: "Greeks of the fifth century B.C. knew the Illyrii as an important non-Greek people living to the north of the Aetolians and the Acarnanians and further north in the territory which now forms central and northern Albania, where Greek colonists had founded Epidamnus (Dyrrhachium) and Apollonia."}}

The Aous river, traditionally seen as a  border region between Illyria and Epirus has been challenged as having such a status in contemporary research. Rather a transboundary area existed between Illyrians and tribes of Epirus which included the land of the [[Atintanians]] in the north and [[Tymphaea]] to the south. More recent scholarship places the [[Ceraunian Mountains]] as the barrier between Illyrians and the tribes of Epirus. But this mountainous barrier did not act as a border but rather as an area of cultural meeting.{{sfn|Dausse|2015|p=28|ps=:"La cartographie récente de Lauriane Martinez-Sève41 fait apparaître une vaste zone entre Illyrie, Épire et Macédoine, constituée du nord au sud de l'Atintanie, de la Paravée et de la Tymphée. (..) De celle-ci dépend la frontière entre Illyriens et Épirotes. Elle s'applique en revanche moins bien au fleuve Aoos pour définir une frontière entre Épire et Illyrie. Pour les zones de montagnes, nous pouvons citer les monts Acrocérauniens qui pourraient marquer le passage entre la partie chaone de l'Épire et l'Illyrie. Mais la plupart du temps, la montagne est le lieu de vie de nombreuses populations de la Grèce du Nord. À ce titre, elle constitue plus un lieu de rencontre qu'une barrière."}}{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|p=97}}|group=note}} [[Ancient Greeks]] clearly considered the Illyrians as a completely distinct ''[[Ethnic group|ethnos]]'' from both the [[Thracians]] (Θρᾷκες) and the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonians]] (Μακεδόνες).{{sfn|Crossland|1982|p=841}}

Most scholars hold that the territory originally designated as 'Illyrian' was roughly located in the region of the south-eastern [[Adriatic]] (modern [[Albania]] and [[Montenegro]]) and its hinterland, then was later extended to the whole Roman [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]] province, which stretched from the eastern Adriatic to the [[Danube]].{{sfn|Dzino|2014|pp=45–46}} After the Illyrians had come to be widely known to the Greeks due to their proximity, this ethnic designation was broadened to include other peoples who, for some reason, were considered by ancient writers to be related with those peoples originally designated as Illyrians (Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi'').{{sfn|Katičić|1976|p=156}}{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|pp=81, 183}}

The original designation may have occurred either during the Middle/Late [[Bronze Age]]{{sfn|Campbell|2009|p=120}} or at the beginning of the 8th century BC.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=280}} According to the former hypothesis, the name was taken by traders from southern Greece from a small group of people on the coast, the ''Illyrioi/Illyrii'' (first mentioned by [[Pseudo-Skylax]] and later described by [[Pliny the Elder]]), and thereafter applied to all of the people of the region; this has been explained by the substantial evidence of [[Minoan]] and [[Mycenaean civilization|Mycenaean]] contact in [[Mat (river)|the valley]] where the Illyrioi/Illyrii presumably lived.{{sfn|Campbell|2009|p=120}} According to the latter hypothesis the label Illyrians was first used by outsiders, in particular [[Ancient Greeks]]; this has been argued on the basis that when the Greeks began to frequent the eastern Adriatic coast with the colonization of [[Corcyra]], they started to have some knowledge and perceptions of the indigenous peoples of western Balkans.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=280}}

It has been suggested that the Illyrian tribes evidently never collectively identified themselves as Illyrians and that it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature at all.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=280}} Most modern scholars are certain that all the peoples of western Balkans that were collectively labeled as 'Illyrians' were not a culturally or linguistically [[Homogeneity and heterogeneity|homogeneous]] entity.{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|p=38}}{{Sfn|Elsie|2015|p=2}} For instance, some tribes like the [[Bryges]] would not have been identified as Illyrian.<ref name="RoismanWorthington2011">{{cite book|first1=Joseph|last1=Roisman|first2=Ian|last2=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=280}}</ref> What criteria were initially used to define this group of peoples or how and why the term 'Illyrians' began to be used to describe the indigenous population of western Balkans cannot be said with certainty.{{sfn|Dzino|2014|p=47}} Scholarly debates have been waged to find an answer to the question whether the term 'Illyrians' (Ἰλλυριοί) 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.{{sfn|Dzino|2014|p=46}}

===''Illyrii proprie dicti''===
{{Main|Illyrii proprie dicti}}
Ancient Roman writers [[Pliny the Elder]] and [[Pomponius Mela]] used the term ''Illyrii proprie dicti'' ('properly called Illyrians') to designate a people that was located in the coast of modern Albania and Montenegro.{{sfn|Dzino|2014|p=46}} Many modern scholars view the 'properly called Illyrians' as a trace of the Illyrian kingdom known in the sources from the 4th century BC until 167 BC, which was ruled in Roman times by the [[Ardiaei]] and [[Labeatae]] when it was centered in the [[Bay of Kotor]] and [[Lake Skadar]]. According to other modern scholars, the term ''Illyrii'' may have originally referred only to a small ''ethnos'' in the area between [[Epidaurum]] and [[Lissus (Illyria)|Lissus]], and Pliny and Mela may have followed a literary tradition that dates back as early as [[Hecataeus of Miletus]].{{sfn|Matijasić|2011|p=293}}{{sfn|Dzino|2014|p=46}} Placed in central Albania, the ''Illyrii proprie dicti'' also might have been Rome's first contact with Illyrian peoples. In that case, it did not indicate an original area from which the Illyrians expanded.{{sfn|Garašanin|1982|pp=585–586}} The area of the ''Illyrii proprie dicti'' is largely included in the southern Illyrian onomastic province in modern linguistics.<ref name="Wilkes92"/>