''Andis'' and its variants ''Andio'', ''Andes'', etc., was a personal name popular among the

Illyrians The Illyrians (, ; ) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan populations, alon ...

of Dardania,

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

, and

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

. The god

Andinus Andinus is an Illyrian god worshipped among the Dardanians, in the Roman province of Moesia Superior., ; ; . He is considered to have been the indigenous god of vegetation and soil fertility. The god is attested in votive inscriptions from Koso ...

– considered to have been the

Dardani The Dardani (; ; ) or Dardanians were a Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan people, who lived in a region that was named Kingdom of Dardania, Dardania after their settlement there. They were among the oldest Balkan peoples, and their society wa ...

an indigenous deity of

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

and

soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.

– is also attested in

votive A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

inscriptions from the Roman province of

Moesia Superior Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballia ...

. The personal names are considered to be derived from the name of the Dardanian god. Due to a widespread distribution of personal names like Andio, Andis, etc., and female versions Andia, Andena, etc., as well as the theonym Andinus, which are found throughout the territory inhabited by Illyrians, a presumable root word would be ''*and-''. The name may also be connected to the root of the tribal name

Andizetes This is a list of ancient tribes in the ancient territory of 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 Greeks, causing the name Illyrians to be ap ...

, a small Illyrian community of Pannonia.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Illyrians Illyrian culture