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Albanoi
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Albanoi
The Albanoi (also Albani; Ancient Greek: Ἀλβανοί, Albanoi; Latin: Albani) were an Illyrian tribe. They were possibly first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (550-476 BCE) under the name Abroi. Ptolemy (100–170 CE) is the first author who mentions them under the name Albanoi. Their central settlement was called Albanopolis (Ἀλβανόπολις) and was located roughly between the Mat and Shkumbin rivers, in central Albania. The archaeological site of Zgërdhesh has been identified as the likely location of Albanopolis. Stephanus of Byzantium who reproduced Hecataeus added an entry for another settlement named Arbon in Illyria whose inhabitants were called Arbonioi or Arbonites. Another Arbon was recorded by Polybius. John of Nikiû wrote in the 7th century CE about a people known as Arbanitai in the Greek translation of the manuscript.
In the Middle Ages, the names Albanoi and Arbanitai/Albanitai referred to medieval Albanians as an ethnic group. The equivalent terms in Latin are Albanenses/Arbanenses, in Slavic Arbanasi and later in Turkish Arnaut. These names reflect the Albanian ethnic endonym Arbëreshë/Arbëneshë, which itself derives from Albanoi. In the archaeological record, the Albanoi are mentioned on a funeral inscription in Stobi and Albanopolis is mentioned on another funeral inscription near Scupi. Another ethnonym, Arbaios found in Phoenice is likely linked to them.
The Albanoi were possibly first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (550-476 BCE) under the name Abroi, who lived around the same area. Abroi may have been produced via a metathesis of Arboi, another linguistic process or a common misassociation by Hecataeus of the indigenous name with the ancient Greek term abros to better adapt it to Greek. Ptolemy (100–170 CE) is the first author who mentions them under the name Albanoi.
The name of this Illyrian tribe – Abroi/Arboi and Albanoi – gave rise to the ethnonym Аrbёn / Arbёr, Albanians, early generalized to all the Illyrian tribes speaking the same idiom. The process was similar to the spread of the name Illyrians from a small group of people on the Adriatic coast, the Illyrioi. It occurred also in the spread of the ethnonym Greeks / Hellenes from Graeci and Hellenes.
The Albanoi may have likely first appeared under the name Abroi in ancient literature. The Abroi may have been a constituent tribe of the larger group of the Taulantii. They are first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (550-476 BCE) in fragment 69 of Periodos Ges. Hecataeus places them near the Taulanti who lived along the Adriatic and the Enchelei. In 19th century and 20th century cartographies, they are variously placed in the upper Devoll or the coastal area between Mat and Shkumbin rivers. Their name may have actually been Arboi as Abroi may have been produced via a metathesis, another linguistic process or a common misassociation by Hecataeus of their name with the ancient Greek term abros to better adapt it to Greek. The name Arboi directly connects them to the later Albanoi who lived in the same region. Stephanus of Byzantium who copied much of the work of Hecataeus in the 6th century CE added another entry about a city named Arbon in Illyria per Polybius and identified its demonyms as Arbonios and Arbonitis.
Polybius (200-118 BCE) mentions a location named "Arbon" in his description of the Illyrian Wars. "Arbon" in a series of mistranslations has been named an "island" or a "city" even though Polybius never mentions it as such. The place has not been identified, and it is unlikely that it refers to the northern Adriatic island of Rab (attested for the first time as Arba by Pliny). An interdisciplinary reading of the passage indicates that "Arbon" might actually have been in central Albania, roughly in the same location as the later Albanopolis (Ptolemy) and Arbanon (Anna Komnene). Wilhelm Tomaschek (1841-1901) considered Arbon to be the "first attestation of the modern name of Albania".
Ptolemy (100-170 CE) is the first author who mentions the ethnonym of the Albanoi in Geographia. The Albanoi are mentioned in the third book of Geographia. They were a people who lived in the region between Mat and Shkumbin and held the settlement Albanopolis. Johann Georg von Hahn first noted that the suffix -polis ("city") was probably added at a later date by other authors as in other editions it is mentioned as "Albanos polis" or "Albanos". Zgërdhesh has been identified as the likely location of Albanopolis. It is not certain if its location corresponds to the region mentioned as Arbanon mentioned by Anna Komnene in the Alexiad about events related to the First Norman invasion of the Balkans (1081). An indication of movement from higher altitudes in a much earlier period has been detected in the distribution of Albanian place names ending in -esh, derives from the Latin -ensis (Vulgar Latin -ēsis), between the Shkumbin and the Mat rivers, with a concentration between Elbasan and Krujë.
John of Nikiû (7th century), a Coptic bishop mentions in the French translation of a manuscript titled Chronicle that barbarians, foreign peoples and Illyrians, ravaged the cities of the Christians and took the inhabitants alive in the Byzantine Empire. Hermann Zotenberg who translated the Chronicle from Geʽez to French rendered with the term Illyrians, a term which in the original manuscript corresponded to Alwerikon. Alwerikon in the Byzantine Greek translation of the Chronicle corresponded to the term Albani(k/t)on (genitive of Albanitai). Constantine Sathas (1842-1912) who first recorded the discrepancy between different translations considered the mention of Alwerikon an attestation of the same population as the Illyrian Albanoi.
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Albanoi
The Albanoi (also Albani; Ancient Greek: Ἀλβανοί, Albanoi; Latin: Albani) were an Illyrian tribe. They were possibly first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (550-476 BCE) under the name Abroi. Ptolemy (100–170 CE) is the first author who mentions them under the name Albanoi. Their central settlement was called Albanopolis (Ἀλβανόπολις) and was located roughly between the Mat and Shkumbin rivers, in central Albania. The archaeological site of Zgërdhesh has been identified as the likely location of Albanopolis. Stephanus of Byzantium who reproduced Hecataeus added an entry for another settlement named Arbon in Illyria whose inhabitants were called Arbonioi or Arbonites. Another Arbon was recorded by Polybius. John of Nikiû wrote in the 7th century CE about a people known as Arbanitai in the Greek translation of the manuscript.
In the Middle Ages, the names Albanoi and Arbanitai/Albanitai referred to medieval Albanians as an ethnic group. The equivalent terms in Latin are Albanenses/Arbanenses, in Slavic Arbanasi and later in Turkish Arnaut. These names reflect the Albanian ethnic endonym Arbëreshë/Arbëneshë, which itself derives from Albanoi. In the archaeological record, the Albanoi are mentioned on a funeral inscription in Stobi and Albanopolis is mentioned on another funeral inscription near Scupi. Another ethnonym, Arbaios found in Phoenice is likely linked to them.
The Albanoi were possibly first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (550-476 BCE) under the name Abroi, who lived around the same area. Abroi may have been produced via a metathesis of Arboi, another linguistic process or a common misassociation by Hecataeus of the indigenous name with the ancient Greek term abros to better adapt it to Greek. Ptolemy (100–170 CE) is the first author who mentions them under the name Albanoi.
The name of this Illyrian tribe – Abroi/Arboi and Albanoi – gave rise to the ethnonym Аrbёn / Arbёr, Albanians, early generalized to all the Illyrian tribes speaking the same idiom. The process was similar to the spread of the name Illyrians from a small group of people on the Adriatic coast, the Illyrioi. It occurred also in the spread of the ethnonym Greeks / Hellenes from Graeci and Hellenes.
The Albanoi may have likely first appeared under the name Abroi in ancient literature. The Abroi may have been a constituent tribe of the larger group of the Taulantii. They are first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (550-476 BCE) in fragment 69 of Periodos Ges. Hecataeus places them near the Taulanti who lived along the Adriatic and the Enchelei. In 19th century and 20th century cartographies, they are variously placed in the upper Devoll or the coastal area between Mat and Shkumbin rivers. Their name may have actually been Arboi as Abroi may have been produced via a metathesis, another linguistic process or a common misassociation by Hecataeus of their name with the ancient Greek term abros to better adapt it to Greek. The name Arboi directly connects them to the later Albanoi who lived in the same region. Stephanus of Byzantium who copied much of the work of Hecataeus in the 6th century CE added another entry about a city named Arbon in Illyria per Polybius and identified its demonyms as Arbonios and Arbonitis.
Polybius (200-118 BCE) mentions a location named "Arbon" in his description of the Illyrian Wars. "Arbon" in a series of mistranslations has been named an "island" or a "city" even though Polybius never mentions it as such. The place has not been identified, and it is unlikely that it refers to the northern Adriatic island of Rab (attested for the first time as Arba by Pliny). An interdisciplinary reading of the passage indicates that "Arbon" might actually have been in central Albania, roughly in the same location as the later Albanopolis (Ptolemy) and Arbanon (Anna Komnene). Wilhelm Tomaschek (1841-1901) considered Arbon to be the "first attestation of the modern name of Albania".
Ptolemy (100-170 CE) is the first author who mentions the ethnonym of the Albanoi in Geographia. The Albanoi are mentioned in the third book of Geographia. They were a people who lived in the region between Mat and Shkumbin and held the settlement Albanopolis. Johann Georg von Hahn first noted that the suffix -polis ("city") was probably added at a later date by other authors as in other editions it is mentioned as "Albanos polis" or "Albanos". Zgërdhesh has been identified as the likely location of Albanopolis. It is not certain if its location corresponds to the region mentioned as Arbanon mentioned by Anna Komnene in the Alexiad about events related to the First Norman invasion of the Balkans (1081). An indication of movement from higher altitudes in a much earlier period has been detected in the distribution of Albanian place names ending in -esh, derives from the Latin -ensis (Vulgar Latin -ēsis), between the Shkumbin and the Mat rivers, with a concentration between Elbasan and Krujë.
John of Nikiû (7th century), a Coptic bishop mentions in the French translation of a manuscript titled Chronicle that barbarians, foreign peoples and Illyrians, ravaged the cities of the Christians and took the inhabitants alive in the Byzantine Empire. Hermann Zotenberg who translated the Chronicle from Geʽez to French rendered with the term Illyrians, a term which in the original manuscript corresponded to Alwerikon. Alwerikon in the Byzantine Greek translation of the Chronicle corresponded to the term Albani(k/t)on (genitive of Albanitai). Constantine Sathas (1842-1912) who first recorded the discrepancy between different translations considered the mention of Alwerikon an attestation of the same population as the Illyrian Albanoi.
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