The Eneti or Enetoi were an Illyrian

people A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

dwelling inland of

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

, in an area located to the north or north-west of Macedonia in classical antiquity. They were neighbors 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 ...

and the

Triballi The Triballi ( grc, Τριβαλλοί, Triballoí, lat, 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 A ...

.; ; ; ; ; ; . The Eneti, along with the

Taulanti Taulantii or Taulantians ('swallow-men'; Ancient Greek: , or , ; la, Taulantii) were an Illyrian people that lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania). They dominated at various times much of the plain between the rivers ...

, are the oldest attested peoples expressly considered Illyrian in early Greek historiography. The Eneti are mentioned by

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

(5th century BC) in the

Classical era Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

; ; . and

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Hadr ...

(2nd century AD) in the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

.; . Also

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 ...

(6th century AD) most likely mentioned them in his ''Ethnica'', as suggested by

Eustathius of Thessalonica Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; el, Εὐστάθιος Θεσσαλονίκης; c. 1115 – 1195/6) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica. He is most noted for his contemporary account of the sa ...

(12th century AD) in his ''Commentaries on Homer's Iliad''.

Name

The Illyrian Eneti are mentioned by early Greek ethnographic historian

(''Hist.'' I, 196, 5th century BC) in the

as Ἰλλυριῶν Ενετούς, ''Illyrion Enetous''.

(''Mith.'' 8.55, 2nd century AD) mentioned them in his accounts of the early 1st century BC

Mithridatic Wars The Mithridatic Wars were three conflicts fought by Rome against the Kingdom of Pontus and its allies between 88 BC and 63 BC. They are named after Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus who initiated the hostilities after annexing the Roman provinc ...

of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

. Also the toponymic dictionary ''Ethnica'' (Εθνικά) of

(6th century AD) provided information about them, which was consulted by

(12th century AD) and reported in his ''Commentaries on Homer's Iliad''.

History

The Eneti, along with the

, are the oldest attested peoples expressly considered Illyrian in early Greek historiography. Herodotus' account (''Hist.'' I, 196) of the 5th century BC is one of the earliest concerning the

Illyrian peoples The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, al ...

. Explaining the

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

ian custom of the annual sale of young girls ready to get married, the ancient historian remarks that the same custom was practiced by the Illyrian Eneti. Appian (''Mith.'' 8.55) reports that in the

(88 – 63 BC) between the

and the

Kingdom of Pontus Pontus ( grc-gre, Πόντος ) was a Hellenistic kingdom centered in the historical region of Pontus and ruled by the Mithridatic dynasty (of Persian origin), which possibly may have been directly related to Darius the Great of the Achaemeni ...

under

Mithridates VI Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator ( grc-gre, Μιθραδάτης; 135–63 BC) was ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an e ...

, during an interval that arose when

Roman consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had t ...

was awaiting Mithridates' reply to the offered peace terms, Sulla marched against the Eneti, the

, and the

Sinti The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today o ...

, three tribes neighboring Macedonia who were continually invading this Roman province, and he devastated their territory. Eustathius of Thessalonica (''ad'' Hom. ''Il.'' 2.852, I) reports that the ''Ethnica'' of Stephanus of Byzantium recorded the Eneti as a tribe beside the

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{Illyrians Illyrian tribes Ancient tribes in Albania Ancient tribes in Kosovo Ancient tribes in North Macedonia Illyrian Albania Illyrian Kosovo