Bato (see alternatives below) is an
Illyrian name.
History
Bato is one of the most characteristic Illyrian names. It appears both as a male (Bato, Batas, Baton, Batun) and a female (Bateia, Batuia, Batea) name. It is attested from the southern Illyrian to the northern Illyrian (Delmato-Pannonian) region. Outside Illyria, it is found among Roman Illyrians soldiers from the Balkans in Europe, the Illyrian community in
Alburnus Maior
''Alburnus'' is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae, the carps and minnows. They are known commonly as bleaks. A group of species in the genus is known as shemayas. The genus occurs in the western Palearctic realm, and the center of divers ...
(
Dacia
Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...
), the
Iapygian
The Iapygians or Apulians (; el, Ἰάπυγες, ''Ĭāpyges''; la, Iāpyges, Iapygii, Umbrian ''Iabuscer'') were an Indo-European-speaking people, dwelling in an eponymous region of the southeastern Italian Peninsula named Iapygia (modern Ap ...
lands of southern Italy and the wider Hellenistic Mediterranean. In the form Baton (Βάτων) it must have reached Hellenistic Greece quite early, as it is already embedded in typically local anthroponymy in that era.
The female name ''
Batea'' appears twice in Greek mythology: as the name of
Batea of Troad
In Greek mythology, the name Batea or Bateia (; Ancient Greek: Βάτεια) was the daughter or (less commonly) the aunt of King Teucer.Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Dardanus
Mythology
Batia's father was the ruler of a tribe known as the Teuc ...
, daughter of
Teucer
In Greek mythology, Teucer (), also Teucrus, Teucros or Teucris ( grc, Τεῦκρος, Teûkros), was the son of King Telamon of Salamis Island and his second wife Hesione, daughter of King Laomedon of Troy. He fought alongside his half-broth ...
and wife of
Dardanus and as the name of a nymph who married
Oebalus
In Greek mythology, Oebalus, also spelled Oibalus or Oibalius, (; Ancient Greek: Οἴβαλος, '' Oíbalos'') was a king of Sparta.
Family
Oibalus was the son of either Cynortas or Argalus. He was the second husband of Princess Gorgophone a ...
of Sparta.
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
*Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
*Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...
(2nd century CE) mentions a sanctuary to ''Baton'' near
ancient Argos
Argos (; el, Άργος ; grc, label=Ancient and Katharevousa, Ἄργος ) is a city in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and the oldest in Europe. It is the largest city in Arg ...
. His depiction of Baton is that of the charioteer of Amphiaraus.
Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...
names ''Baton'' as the cup-bearer of the mythical hero
Amphiaraus
In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus or Amphiaraos (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιάραος, Ἀμφιάρεως, "very sacred") was the son of Oicles, a seer, and one of the leaders of the Seven against Thebes. Amphiaraus at first refused to go with Adra ...
. ''Baton'' was buried in ''Harpyia'', a city in Illyria in the territory of the
Enchelei
The Enchelei were an ancient people that lived around the region of Lake Shkodra and Lake Ohrid,Strabo, Geography (ed. H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A.), book 7, chapter 7: "...had established their sway, and Enchelii, who are also called Se ...
. Indo-Europeanist
Radoslav Katičić
Radoslav Katičić (; 3 July 1930 – 10 August 2019) was a Croatian linguist, classical philologist, Indo-Europeanist, Slavist and Indologist, one of the most prominent Croatian scholars in the humanities.
Biography
Radoslav Katičić was born ...
proposes that the name spread in Illyria and ancient Greece as a
nomen sacrum
In Christian scribal practice, nomina sacra (singular: ''nomen sacrum'' from Latin ''sacred name'') is the abbreviation of several frequently occurring divine names or titles, especially in Greek manuscripts of the Bible. A nomen sacrum consists ...
used in cults and religious practices of the ancient Balkan peninsula.
People
*
Bato (Breucian chieftain)
Bato the Breucian or Bato of the Breuci was the chieftain of the Breuci, an Illyrian tribe that fought against the Roman Empire in a war known as ''Bellum Batonianum''. Bato joined his rebel forces with those led by Bato of the Daesitiates. A ...
(fl. 8 CE), chieftain of the
Breuci
This is a list of ancient tribes in the ancient territory of Illyria ( grc-gre, Ἰλλυρία; la, Illyria). The name ''Illyrians'' seems to be the name of a single Illyrian tribe that was the first to come into contact with the ancient Greek ...
in the
Bellum Batonianum
The (Latin for 'War of the Batos') was a military conflict fought in the Roman province of Illyricum in the 1st century AD, in which an alliance of native peoples of the two regions of Illyricum, Dalmatia and Pannonia, revolted against the Ro ...
(war of the Batos).
*
Bato (Daesitiate chieftain)
Bato the Daesitiate (also known as Bato of the Daesitiates) was a chieftain of the Daesitiates, an Illyrian tribe which fought against the Roman Empire between 6 and 9 AD in a conflict known as ''Bellum Batonianum'' ("Bato's War").
Biography
...
(fl. 35 BCE – 9 CE), chieftain of the
Daesitiates
Daesitiates were an Illyrian tribe that lived on the territory of today's central Bosnia, during the time of the Roman Republic. Along with the Maezaei, the Daesitiates were part of the western group of Pannonians in Roman Dalmatia. They were pr ...
in the ''Bellum Batonianum''.
*
Bato (Dardanian chieftain)
Bato (ruled c. 206 – 176 BC) was an Illyrian king of the Dardanian State. Bato was the son of Longarus whom he succeeded and the brother of Monunius II who ruled after him. Bato fought alongside the Romans against Macedon during the Sec ...
(fl. 206–176 BCE), chieftain of the
Dardani
The Dardani (; grc, Δαρδάνιοι, Δάρδανοι; la, Dardani) or Dardanians were a Paleo-Balkan people, who lived in a region that was named Dardania after their settlement there. They were among the oldest Balkan peoples, and their ...
.
References
Sources
*{{cite book, last=Katičić, first=Radoslav, title=Illyricum mythologicum, year=1995, publisher=Antibarbarus, isbn=9789536160327, place=Zagreb, language=hr, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6HviAAAAMAAJ
Illyrian culture