THE EARLY AGE OF GREECE VOL.I by W.Ridgeway 1901

advance southwards of tribes
WHENCE CAME THE ACHEANS ? 343
from higher up the coast, either
Illyrians driven down under the pressure of the Celts, or Celts
who had forced their way down south.
The statement of Thucydides^ is fully borne out by Strabo,
who gives an invaluable account, brief though it be, of this
district and its
contiguous region : " The Amphilochi are
Epirotes, and so also are those nations wdiich inhabit a rugged
country above them and close to the lUyrian mountains, the
Molotti, the Athamanes'-, the Aethices, the Tymphaei, the
Orestae, the Paroraei, and the Atintanes, some of whom
approach near to Macedonia, others to the Ionian Gulf.... With
these people are intermixed Ilh-rian nations, some of which are
situated on the southern part of the mountain region, and
others above the Ionian Gulf. Far above Epidanmus, and
Apollonia, as far as the Cerauniau mountains, live the
Bulliones, the Taulantii, the Parthini, and the Brygi. Somewhere
in their neighbourhood are the silver mines of Damastium.
" Here the Dyestae had established their sway, and the
Enchelii and Dasarethii, who are also called Sesarethii. Then
came the Lyncestae, the territory of IX'uriopus, Pelagonia,
Tripolitis, the Eordi, Elimia, and Eratyra
;
formerly each of
these nations was under its own prince.
"The chiefs of the Enchelii^ were descendants of Cadmus
'
I. 24.
-
Tlio Athamanes, Aethices, and Talares were reckoned as Thessahans ;
tlie
Orestae, the I'ehif^ones, and Elimiotae as Mac'cdoniaiis (Strabo, 481). It is
perhaps worth snj:t,'estini,' tliat in tlie iiatne 'OpfVrai we have the Macedonian
trihe wlio struck ahout ")()() ii.c. a well-known series of coins inscribed
OPPEIKION, OPPHIKION, ilPHIKION, flPHIKinN. I- Illyrians. They dwelt in the country
,i,l i;}r.) like
north of
I-'-pidamnus ali.uit lake i,yehnidia, now /.iiitu Sl.iituri (i'oiyb. s. l(isi. The story
344 WHENCE CAME THE ACBEANS ?
and Harmonia, and scenes of the legends representing these
personages are shown in the land.
" This nation therefore was not governed by native princes.
The Lyncestae were under Arrhabaeus, who was of the race
of the Bacchiadae. Sirrha was his daughter, and his granddaughter
was Eurydice, the mother of
Philip, son of Amyntas.
" The Molossians were likewise Epirotes, and were subjects
of Pyrrhus, son of Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, and of his
descendants, who were Thessalians. The rest were governed
by native princes. Some tribes were continually endeavouring
to obtain the mastery over the others, but all were finally
subdued by the Macedonians, except a few situated above the
Ionian Gulf. They gave the name of Upper Macedonia to the
country about the land of the Lyncestae, Pelagonia, Orestias,
and Elimia. Later writers call it
Independent j\Iacedonia, and
some extend the name of Macedonia to all the country as far
as Corcyra, at the same time assigning as their reasons that in
the cutting of their hair (Kovpd), their speech (S/aXe/cro?), their
cloaks (xXa/jivSe';),
and other such things they resemble the
Macedonians
;
some of them however speak two languages.
On the dissolution of the Macedonian empire they
fell under
the power of the Romans. The Egnatian Way from Epidamnus
and Apollonia passes through the territory of these peoples'."
In another passage to be (pioted presently Strabo tells us
that Illyria in his time did not include the region occupied by
the Taulantii, the Brygi, and the other tribes mentioned in
their compmy. For the southern limit of the lllyrian coast is
marki.'d by the Bay of Rhi/C(jn. Appai'ently thi're had not been
much shifting of population in the borderland between the
Chaones and Rhizon in the lapse of the previous four centuries
as we have just seen. Thucydides
tells us that the tribe of
Taulantii wci'o the neighbours of E])idamnus.
We thus tiiid tiibes of lllyi'ian stock long (lomieilcd jn a
district which in Roman times was not included in
Illyria.
went that tliey liad invited Cadnms to aid them against the other Illyrians,
that lie liad done so, and aftei' great successes led a host against Delphi, and
plundered the tenijjle, hut disaster overtook him on his return (Eurip. Barrluie,
1.3Hf>; Apollod. iii. .">, 4).
1
32t;.