Situated on the eastern coast of the adriatic, durrës was the first greek settlement established in illyria. the area was settled at the end of the 7th century bce by people from corinth and corcyra (modern day corfu ). the ancient polis ( city state) known at the time as epidamnos, flourished during the 4th and 2nd centuries bce and became a. Illyrian tribes in the 1st–2nd centuries ad. the illyrians ( ancient greek: Ἰλλυριοί, illyrioi; latin: illyrii) were a group of indo european speaking people who inhabited the western balkan peninsula in ancient times. they constituted one of the three main paleo balkan populations, along with the thracians and greeks .
The name albania is derived from the name of an illyrian tribe called the arber, or arbereshë, and later albanoi, that lived near durrës. the illyrians were indo european tribesmen who appeared in the western part of the balkan peninsula about 1000 b.c., a period coinciding with the end of the bronze age and beginning of the iron age. The enchele's polity was the earliest to emerge among illyrians. the earliest known illyrian king – bardylis – emerged in southern illyria around 400 bc, most likely centered in dassaretis, a region along lake ohrid and east to the prespa lakes, located on the border between macedon and epirus. he aimed to make illyria a regional power. Pinnes (r. 228 218) – young king who had to pay tribute to the romans and obey the rules imposed by the roman republic. demetrius of pharos (r.228 219) – ruled as regent king on behalf of infant pinnes by marrying his mother triteuta and acting as a vassal of the romans. scerdilaidas (r. 218 206) – adept illyrian commander, apparently. Internally, illyrian instability brewed as dynastic feuds sparked civil wars, further exposing frontiers. encounters with outside civilizations. at their territorial peak around 230 bce, the illyrian realms stretched from the adriatic eastern coast to inland lakes, loosely unified through an alliance system headed by queen teuta of the ardiaei.
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