Ancient tribe in the Balkans
The
Triballi
(
Ancient Greek
:
Τριβαλλο?
,
romanized
:
Triballoi
,
Latin
:
Triballi
) were an ancient people who lived in northern
Bulgaria
in the region of Roman
Oescus
up to southeastern
Serbia
, possibly near the territory of the
Morava Valley
in the late Iron Age. The Triballi lived between Thracians to the east, Illyrians the west and Celts to the north and were influenced by them. As such in contemporary sources, they are variably described as an independent, Thracian, Illyrian or Celtic tribe. As an existing people, the Triballi are mentioned for the last time by Roman historian
Appian
(2nd century CE). According to Appian, the Triballi were reduced in numbers through their wars against the
Scordisci
and fled among the
Getae
, north of the Danube before they went extinct as a distinct people.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
The Triballi (
Ancient Greek
:
Τριβαλλο?
,
romanized
:
Triballoi
) are mentioned first in history by ancient Greek authors of the
Classical period
: by
Aristophanes
in his play
Birds
(414 BC) in which Triballos, a barbarian Triballian god of Thrace, accompanies
Poseidon
and
Herakles
as a diplomatic embassy, who are quite starving, meant to persuade the play's hero, Peisetairos, to end his blockade (
Nephelokokkygia
) preventing sacrifices – the sustenance of gods – from reaching them on
Olympos
; by
Aristotle
and
Demosthenes
, both of whom lived in the 4th century BC. Among ancient Greeks, the Triballi had a reputation of being a "wild people" and Greek authors write in a similar vein about them. Aristotle writes that among the Triballi "it is honorable to sacrifice one’s life in a battle", while Demosthenes notes the gangs of "lawless youths" of ancient Athens were known as
Triballoi
.
[2]
[3]
In 424 BC, they were attacked by
Sitalkes
, king of the
Odrysae
, who was defeated and lost his life in the engagement.
[4]
They were pushed to the east by the invading
Autariatae
, an Illyrian tribe; the date of this event is uncertain.
[5]
In 376 BC, a large band of Triballi under
King Hales
crossed
Mount Haemus
and advanced as far as
Abdera
; they had backing from
Maroneia
and were preparing to besiege the city when
Chabrias
appeared off the coast, with the Athenian fleet,
[5]
and organized a reconciliation.
[4]
In 339 BC, when
Philip II of Macedon
was returning from his expedition against the
Scythians
, the Triballi refused to allow him to pass the Haemus unless they received a share of the booty. Hostilities took place, in which Philip was defeated
[5]
and wounded by a spear in his right thigh, but the Triballi appear to have been subsequently subdued by him.
[6]
[5]
After the death of Philip,
Alexander the Great
passed through the lands of the
Odrysians
in 335-334 BC, crossed the Haemus ranges and after three encounters (
Battle of Haemus
,
Battle at Lyginus River
,
Battle at Peuce Island
) defeated and drove the Triballians to the junction of the
Lyginus
at the
Danube
.
[5]
3,000 Triballi were killed, the rest fled. Their king
Syrmus
(
eponymous
to
Roman
Sirmium
) took refuge on the Danubian island of
Peuke
, where most of the remnants of the defeated Thracians were exiled. The successful Macedonian attacks terrorized the tribes around the Danube; the autonomous Thracian tribes sent tributes for peace, Alexander was satisfied with his operations and accepted peace because of his greater wars in Asia.
They were attacked by Autariatae and Celts in 295 BC.
[7]
The punishment inflicted by
Ptolemy Keraunos
on the
Getae
, however, induced the Triballi to sue for peace. About 279 BC, a host of
Gauls
(
Scordisci
[8]
) under
Cerethrius
defeated the Triballi with an army of 3,000 horsemen and 15,000 foot soldiers. The defeat pushed the Triballi further to the east.
[9]
Nevertheless, they continued to cause trouble to the
Roman
governors of
Macedonia
[5]
for fifty years (135 BC?84 BC).
Pliny the Elder
(23-79 AD) registers them as one of the tribes of
Moesia
.
[10]
In the time of
Ptolemy
(90?168 AD), their territory was limited to the district between the
Ciabrus
(Tzibritza) and
Utus
(Vit) rivers, part of what is now
Bulgaria
; their chief town was Oescus.
[5]
Under
Tiberius
, mention is made of Triballia in Moesia; and the Emperor
Maximinus Thrax
(reigned 235?237) had been a commander of a squadron of Triballi. The name occurs for the last time during the reign of
Diocletian
, who dates a letter from
Triballis
.
[5]
[11]
Archaeology
[
edit
]
The research of the Triballi began with
Fanula Papazoglu
's book
The Central Balkan Tribes in Pre-Roman Times
(1968 in Serbian, 1978 in English). Other historians and archaeologists who wrote on the Triballi include
Milutin Gara?anin
[
sr
]
,
Dragoslav Srejovi?
, Nikola Tasi?, Rastko Vasi?, Milo? Jevti? and, especially, Milorad Stoji? (
Tribali u arheologiji i istorijskim izvorima
, 2017).
[12]
Based on the work of Fanula Papazoglou, several archeological findings in the
Morava Valley
(
Great Morava
and
South Morava
) region in the Iron Age have been linked to the Triballi.
[13]
In 2005, several possibly Triballi graves were found at the
Hisar Hill
in
Leskovac
, southeastern
Serbia
.
[14]
In June 2008, a Triballi grave was found together with ceramics (urns) in
Po?arevac
, central-eastern Serbia.
[15]
A tomb labeled as "Triballian" was unearthed at
Ljuljaci
, west of
Kragujevac
, central Serbia.
[16]
In Bulgaria, a male grave at
Vratsa
dated to the 4th century BC has been unearthed; the royal tomb contains beautiful
goldwork
, like pitchers and wreaths.
[12]
These findings are labeled as "Triballian" in Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav archaeology based on the definitions of Triballian territory by
Fanula Papazoglu
(1978) who constructed a Triballian area which in reality is undeterminable via available data. In turn, archaeologists of that era in Yugoslavia began to categorize all finds in the area defined as
Triballian
by Papazoglu as artifacts of the Triballi tribe.
Based on Papazoglu, a periodization of Triballian finds was proposed: Proto-Triballian (1300?800 BC), Early Triballian (800?600 BC), Triballian (600?335 BC) and period from 335 BC until Roman conquest.
[12]
Legacy
[
edit
]
Exonym of Serbs
[
edit
]
The term "Triballians" appears frequently in Byzantine and other European works of the Middle Ages, referring to
Serbs
, as the Byzantines sought to create an ancient name for the Serbs.
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23]
Some of these authors clearly explain that "Triballian" is synonym to "Serbian".
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
For example,
Niketas Choniates
(or Acominatus, 1155?1215 or-16) in his history about Emperor Ioannes Komnenos: "
... Shortly after this, he campaigned against the nation of Triballians (whom someone may call Serbians as well) ...
"
[29]
or the much later
Demetrios Chalkokondyles
(1423?1511), referring to an Islamized Christian noble:
"... This Mahmud, son of Michael, is Triballian, which means Serbian, by his mother, and Greek by his father."
[30]
or
Mehmed the Conqueror
when referring to the plundering of Serbia.
[31]
Mihailo Vojislavljevi?
succeeded as
Knez
of "
Duklja
" in 1046, or as his realm was called by contemporary
Cedrenus
:
"Triballorum ac Serborum principatum"
.
[32]
According to
George Kedrenos
(fl. 1050s) and
John Skylitzes
(fl. 1057), he was the
Prince of Triballians and Serbs
(Τριβαλλ?ν και Σ?ρβων...αρχηγ??
[33]
/ Τριβαλλ?ν κα? Σ?ρβων...?ρχηγ??).
[34]
In the 15th century, a coat of arms of "Tribalia", depicting a wild boar with an arrow pierced through the head (see
Boars in heraldry
), appeared in the supposed coat of arms of Emperor
Stefan Du?an
'the Mighty' (r. 1331?1355).
[35]
The motif had, in 1415, been used as the coat of arms of the
Serbian Despotate
and is recalled in one of
Stefan Lazarevi?
's personal Seals, according to the paper
Сабор у Констанци
.
[36]
Pavao Ritter Vitezovi?
also depicts "Triballia" with the same motif in 1701
[37]
and
Hristofor Zhefarovich
again in 1741.
[38]
Marin Barleti
(1450?1513), wrote in his biography of
Skanderbeg
(published between 1508 and 1510), that father of Skanderbeg's mother
Voisava
was a "Triballian nobleman" (
pater
nobilissimus
Triballorum princeps
).
[39]
In another chapter, when talking about the inhabitants of Upper
Debar
that defended Svetigrad, he calls them "Bulgarians or Triballi" (
Bulgari sive Tribali habitant
).
[40]
With the beginning of the
First Serbian Uprising
, the Parliament adopted the Serbian coat of arms in 1805, their official seal depicted the
heraldic emblems of Serbia
and Tribalia.
[41]
Even though the two names were used as synonyms by some Byzantine sources and certain heraldic inheritance, Serbian official historiography does not equalate the Serbs and the Triballi, nor does it fabricate a cultural continuity between the two.
[12]
Tribals and Tribalia are often identified in a historical context with Serbs and Serbia, as these interpretations refer only to
Laonikos Chalkokondyles
of the 15th century, who often resorted to archaisms in his historical writings that have come down to us (Mizi, Illyrians, etc.) to indicate the subjects of the individual rulers, without attaching ethnic meaning to their content.
Romanian geographic name
[
edit
]
In
Romania
, "Tribalia" refers to the
Timok Valley
region split between Serbia and Bulgaria in which the Romanian-speaking
Vlachs
live.
[42]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Appian, Roman History 9.2. The Illyrian Book LCL 3: 304-305
- ^
Demosthenes, Orations 54. Ariston against Conon, an Action for Assault, LCL 351: 156?157
- ^
Aristotle, Topica, LCL 391: 378?379
- ^
a
b
The Greek Settlements in Thrace Until the Macedonian Conquest
at
Google Books
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911). "
Triballi
".
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 261.
- ^
Interpreting a Classic: Demosthenes and His Ancient Commentators
at
Google Books
- ^
The Thracians by Ralph F. Hoddinott, 1981,
ISBN
0-500-02099-X
, Chapter "South and para-Dunavian Thrace", "Thracian art in the valley of the Lower Danube", page 197
- ^
Appianus
- ^
"Theodossiev"
(PDF)
. Retrieved
2015-09-13
.
- ^
The Cambridge Ancient History
at
Google Books
- ^
Encyclopædia Britannica: a new survey of universal knowledge, Volume 22, (1956)
p. 465
- ^
a
b
c
d
Sofija Petkovi?, Milorad Stoji? (20 January 2018). "Tribali - najstariji stanovnici Srbije" [Triballi - the oldest inhabitants of Serbia].
Politika
-Kulturni dodatak
(in Serbian). pp. 06?07.
- ^
"Archived copy"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2010-07-05
. Retrieved
2010-07-05
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
"Praistorijska kop?a"
. b92.net
. Retrieved
2015-09-13
.
- ^
"www.jasatomic.org.yu - Katastrofalna poplava u mestu Ja?a Tomi? op?tina Se?anj (BANAT)"
. Archived from
the original
on 2009-02-08
. Retrieved
2015-09-13
.
- ^
Srejovi?, D (1989). "Tribalski grobovi u Ljuljacima" [Tribal graves in Ljulaci].
Starinar
(in Croatian) (40?41): 141?153.
INIST
6505462
.
- ^
Stuck Whilhelm (Guilielmus Stukius Tigurinus),
Comments on Arriani historici et philosophi Ponti Euxini et maris Erythraei Periplus
, Lugduni, 1577, p. 51
- ^
John Foxe
(1517?1587)
Acts and Monuments
,
Published by R.B. Seeley & W. Burnside, London, 1837, vol. 4, p. 27
- ^
"Balkan history - Thracian tribes"
. eliznik.org.uk
. Retrieved
2015-09-13
.
- ^
The letters of Manuel II Palaeologus
at
Google Books
- ^
Fanula Papazoglu (1978).
The Central Balkan Tribe in Pre-Roman Times: Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians
. Hakkert.
ISBN
978-90-256-0793-7
.
The Triballi lived deep in the interior of the Balkan Peninsula, between the lower course of the Southern Morava and the ... many centuries later, learned Byzantine writers, seeking the ancient name for the Serbs, chose the term Triballi as the ...
- ^
Zbornik radova Vizantolo?kog instituta
. Vol. 44. Nau?no delo. 2007.
The Serbs were often called Triballi by Byzantine authors.
- ^
Potter, G. R. (1938). "Reviews of Books".
The English Historical Review
.
53
(209): 129?131.
doi
:
10.1093/ehr/LIII.CCIX.129
.
JSTOR
554790
.
- ^
Mehmed II the Conqueror and the fall of the Franco-Byzantine Levant to the Ottoman Turks
Page 65, 77: "Triballians = Serbs"
- ^
The letters of Manuel II Palaeologus
, p. 48, at
Google Books
: "The Triballians are the Serbs"
- ^
The Journal of Hellenic studies
Page 48: "Byzantine historians [...] calling [...] Serbs
Triballians
"
- ^
Studies in late Byzantine history and prosopography
, p. 228, at
Google Books
: "Serbs (were) Triballians"
- ^
Historia ed J. van Dieten, Nicetae Choniatae historia ..., Berlin, DeGruyter, 1975, chapter "
Reign of Lord Ioannes Komnenos
", pp. 4-47
(in medieval Greek language)
- ^
D. Chalkocondyles (Chalkondyles) cited in
C. Paparrigopoulos
History of the Greek nation
, Athens, 1874, vol. 5, p. 489, in Greek language.
- ^
History of Mehmed the Conqueror
, p. 115, at
Google Books
- ^
Cedrenus II, col. 338
- ^
Georgius (Cedrenus.); Jacques Paul Migne (1864).
Synopsis histori?n
. Migne. p. 338.
Τριβαλλ?ν και Σ?ρβων
- ^
Skylitzes 475.13-14
- ^
The first Serbian uprising and the restoration of the Serbian state
,
p. 164
- ^
"- О грбу Града :: Званичан са?т града Крагу?евца"
. kragujevac.rs
. Retrieved
2015-09-13
.
- ^
Stemmatographia sive armorum Illyricorum delineatio, descriptio et restitutio, 1701
- ^
Balkanika, Issue 28,
p. 216
- ^
Noli 1947
, p. 189: "writes: "Uxori Voisavae nomen erat, non indignam eo viro, tum pater nobilissimus Tribalorum princeps ...""; Barletius, l. I, fo 2: "... Triballorum princeps"
- ^
Barletius (1537).
De vita, moribus ac rebus
. pp. 139?140.
; Barletius, l. V, fo. 62: "Superior Dibra montuosa est et aspera, ferax tarnen et Macedoniam tum ipsa loci vicinitate, tum similitudine morum contingens. Bulgari sive Tribali habitant"
- ^
East European quarterly, Volume 6,
p. 346
- ^
Sandu Timoc, Cristea (2007).
Poezii populare de la romanii din Timoc: nord-estul Serbiei ?i nord-vestul Bulgariei
(in Romanian). Editura Ager.
ISBN
9789737961426
.
Sources
[
edit
]
Primary
[
edit
]
Modern
[
edit
]
- Bouzek, J. and Ond?ejova, I., 1990. The Rogozen treasure and the art of the Triballoi. Eirene, 27, pp. 81?91.
- Jevtic, Milos (2006).
"Sacred groves of the tribali on Miroc mountain"
.
Starinar
(56): 271?290.
doi
:
10.2298/STA0656271J
.
- Jevtic, Milos; Pekovic, Mirko (2007).
"Mihajlov ponor on Miroc: Tribal cult places"
.
Starinar
(57): 191?219.
doi
:
10.2298/STA0757191P
.
- Mihailovi?, Vladimir (2014). "Tracing Ethnicity Backwards: the case of the "Central Balkan Tribes"
". In Popa, Catalin; Stoddart, Simon (eds.).
Fingerprinting the Iron Age: Approaches to identity in the European Iron Age: Integrating South-Eastern Europe into the debate
. Oxbow Books. pp. 97?107.
ISBN
978-1782976783
.
- Noli, Fan S.
(1947),
George Castrioti Scanderbeg (1405?1468)
, New York: International Universities Press,
OCLC
732882
- Papazoglu, Fanula
(1978).
The Central Balkan Tribes in pre-Roman Times: Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians
. Amsterdam: Hakkert.
ISBN
9789025607937
.
- Stoji?, M. (2001). "Kulturne tradicije na prostoru na kome ?e se formirati i razvijati Tribali".
Zbornik Radova Filozofskog Fakulteta u Pri?tini
.
31
: 253?264.
- Vasi?, Rastko (1972). "Notes on the Autariatae and Triballi".
Balcanica
(III).
- Vasi?, Rastko (1992). "Pages from the history of the Autoriatae and Triballoi".
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Triballi
.