Bardyllis

Bardyllis of the Illyrians (also attested as "Bardylis" in Ancient Greek: Βάρδυλις, [Diodorus Siculus. "Library". Book [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+16.4.1 16.4.4.1] .] Βάρδυλιν, [Libanius. "Rhetorics". Orations 1–64, Oration 57.52.9.] Βάρδυλλις, [Polybius. "Historiae". Book 38.6.4.2.] and Latin language "Bardulis" [Cicero De off.II 40,"Bardullis Illyrius" ] ) was an Illyrian king who ruled from 385 to 358 BC and founded the Bardyllis Dynasty. He was initially a charcoal burner. [Wilkes, J. J. "The Illyrians", 1992, p. 120, ISBN 0631198075.] He was by origin a charcoal burner and would become king of the Dardanians, an Illyrian tribe. [Borza, Eugene N. "In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon", 1990, p. 180, ISBN 0691008809. "Amyntas had barely seized the throne in 394/3 when he found his kingdom under attack by a powerful Illyrian force, probably led by Bardylis, king of the Dardanii."]

Bardyllis took land [Buckley, Terry. "Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC: A Sourced-Based Approach", 1996, p. 469, ISBN 0415099579. "A decisive victory over the Illyrians and their king Bardylis led to their total withdrawal from Macedonian territory."] from the Macedonians, killing Perdiccas [Orrieux, Claude. "A History Of Ancient Greece", 1999, p. 256, ISBN-10: 0631203095. "Perdiccas III (368–359) tried to reconquer upper Macedonia from the Illyrians under Bardylis, but the expedition ended in disaster, with the king killed."] [Buckley, Terry. "Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC: A Sourced-Based Approach", 1996, p. 468, ISBN-10: 0415099587. "King Perdiccas and 4,000 Macedonians had been killed in battle by the Illyrians under their king Bardylis."] and expelling Amyntas. [Whitehorne, John. "Cleopatras", 2001, p. 27, ISBN-10: 0415261325. "...only to see his newly won kingdom invaded by a powerful group of Illyrian tribes led by Bardylis. Chased from Macedon and lacking the necessary strength to expel the Illyrians unaided, it is surely no coincidence that Amyntas..."] In 385 BC, the Molossians were attacked by Illyrians allied with and aided by Dionysius [Hammond, N. G. L. "A History of Greece to 322 B.C.", 1986, p. 479, ISBN-10: 0198730950. "...Molossi, Alcetas, who was a refugee at his court, Dionysius sent a supply of arms and 2,000 troops to the Illyrians, who burst into Epirus and slaughtered 15,000 Molossians. Sparta intervened as soon as they had learned of the events and expelled the Illyrians, but Alcetas had regained his..."] of Syracuse to place Alcetas that was a refugee in his court to the throne. Dionysius planned to control all the Ionian Sea. Sparta had intervened [Hammond, N. G. L. "A History of Greece to 322 B.C.", 1986, p. 470, ISBN-10: 0198730950. "Sparta had the alliance of Thessaly, Macedonia, and Molossia in Epirus, which she had helped to stave off an Illyrian invasion."] as soon as the events became known and expelled [Diodorus Siculus. "Library", Book [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+15.13.1 15.13.1] .] the Illyrians who were led by Bardyllis. [Boardman, John. "The Cambridge Ancient History", 1923, p. 428, ISBN 0521233488. "Bardyllis who seize power and set himself up as king of the Dardani...Forming and alliance with Dionysius tyrant of Syracuse he killed 15,000 Molossians."] Despite being aided by 2000 Greek hoplites and five hundred suits of Greek armour, the Illyrians were defeated by the Spartans led by Agesilaus but not before ravaging the region and killing 15,000 Molossians.

Grabos became the most powerful Illyrian king after the death of Bardyllis in 358 BC. [Harding, Philip. "From the End of the Peloponnesian War to the Battle of Ipsus", 1985, p. 93, ISBN-10: 0521299497. "Grabos became the most powerful Illyrian king after the death of Bardylis in 358."] Bardyllis had a grandson named Cleitus the Illyrian, a daughter named Bircenna, [ [http://ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0472.html The Ancient Library — Bardyllis] ] and a son named Bardyllis II. ["The Journal of Hellenic Studies by Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies (London, England)", 1973, p. 79. "Cleitus was evidently the son of Bardylis II the grandson of the very old Bardylis who had fallen in battle against Phillip II in 385 BC."] Bardyllis was ultimately killed by Phillip of Macedon [Woodward, B. B. "Encyclopedia of Great Events, Places and Personalities", 1993, p. 175, ISBN-10: 8185066574. "BARDYLIS, king of, defeated and killed by Philip of Macedonia, 359 — CLEITUS, his son, revolts from Alexander and is subdued."] in battle after he offered peace [Borza, Eugene N. "In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon", 1990, p. 202, ISBN 0691008809. "The Illyrian king Bardylis offered peace based upon a status quo, but Philip insisted on an Illyrian withdrawal from the region."] based on retaining conquered lands (this was rejected by Phillip).

Polybius calls him "Βάρδυλλις ο των Ίλλυριων" [Polybius. "Historiae". Book 38.6.4.2.] and Cicero calls him "Bardullis Illyrius" [Cicero De off.II 40,"Bardullis Illyrius"]

References

ee also

*Illyrian warfare
*Baraliris
*Cleitus the Illyrian
*Bircenna
*Bardyllis II

External links

* [http://ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0472.html The Ancient Library — Bardyllis]