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'Dardania' (Albanian: ''Dardania''; Serbian and Macedonian: Дарданија, ''Dardanija'', ) was an ancient country encompassing southern parts of present-day Serbia (including the area of the modern-day province of Kosovo, since 1999 under UN administration), mostly, but not entirely, western parts of the present-day Republic of Macedonia, and parts of present-day north-eastern Albania.

Contents

History

Origin of the name

Rulers

Later usage of the term

References

Literature

External links

History

Its native Dardani people were an Illyrian tribe. They seem to have often been a threat to the kingdom of Macedon. Dardania's largest towns were those of Naissus (Niš), Therranda (Prizren), Vicianum (Vučitrn), Skopi (Stoc, Skopje), and its capital was Damastioni.
During the ancient times, the Dardanians were made from two larger groups: Galabri and Thunaki. ^[1]
The area was conquered by the Romans in 28 BC and became part of the Roman province of Illyricum, on the border with Macedonia. Emperor Diocletian later c. 284 made Dardania into a separate province with its capital at Naissus (Niš).
During the Aurelian Dardanorum and Trajan, in Dardanian mines was producted Metalli Vlpiani and Metalli Dardanici. ^[2]

Origin of the name

Austrian geologist Ami Boue [1] has proposed that the name Dardania comes from the Albanian word ''dardhë'' which means "pear". However the most possible source is the ancient Greek mythology: Δάρδανος (''Dardanus''), one of the sons of Illyrius (the others being Enchelus, Autarieus, Maedus, Taulas, and Perrhaebus) was the eponymous ancestor of the Δάρδανοι (''Dardanoi'') .^[3]

Rulers

List of the rulers of Dardania:

★ Longarus, king, 3rd century BC

★ Bato, king, 3rd and 2nd century BC

★ Monunius, king, 2nd century BC

★ Teuta, queen, 2nd century BC

Later usage of the term

Today, Dardania is sometimes used as a synonym for Kosovo and there are many places in Kosovo called Dardania. The individual name Dardan is very common among Albanians. There are also some proposals that a new Kosovan state should be called the "Republic of Dardania" instead of Kosovo.
This derived from a Slavic translation of ancient name of the silver mine in west Dardania, called ''Kosmaj argentariae''. ^[4]

References

1. Strabo: Books 1‑7, 15‑17 in English translation, ed. H. L. Jones (1924), at LacusCurtius
2. Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt /Page.80
3. Appian, ''The Foreign Wars, III, 1.2''
4. Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt

Literature

★ Grace Harriet Macurdy. 'The Wanderings of Dardanus and the Dardani', Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 46 (1915), pp. 119-128

★ 'Ilirians and Iliria at the antic writers' ISBN 99927-1-639-8

External links

★ Map of Dardania

★ Maps of Ancient Dardania