The Balaites were an ancient tribe in southern
Illyria
In classical and late antiquity, Illyria (; , ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; , ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyrians.
The Ancient Gree ...
, modern-day
Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
. The tribe is known from a number of Greek
inscriptions, otherwise unmentioned among ancient written sources.
Location
It has been suggested that the Balaites probably were a subdivision or local district of
Apollonia, located on the fringes of its territory, and that they were not one of its citizen communities.
Neritan Ceka raised the likelihood that the ancient fortifications near the modern-day
Gurëzeza or
Klos
KLOS (95.5 FM broadcasting, FM, "95-5 KLOS") is a commercial radio station City of license, licensed to Los Angeles, California, and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Meruelo Group, Meruelo Media. KLOS airs a mainst ...
might have been belonging to the Balaites.
M.B. Hatzopoulos based on observations by
N.G.L. Hammond proposes a location at Treport on the
Bay of Vlorë.
Organization and Onomastics
The political organization and institutions of the Balaites were inspired either from
Apollonia or
Corfu
Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...
.
The most important archaeological finding related to them is a public memorial carved of
chalkstone (so-called ''chalkoma'') that conveys the thankful message to a certain
poliperarchon Aristen of Parmenon on behalf of the
koinon
''Koinon'' (, pl. Κοινά, ''Koina''), meaning "common thing", in the sense of "public", had many applications, some societal, some governmental. An abstract noun formed from the neuter of the adjective, koinos, "common", the koinon could mean ...
of the Balaites. The text provides a list of the Hellenistic political institutions of the Balaites, the
ecclesia and the
presbyter
Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros'', which means elder or senior, although many in Christian antiquity understood ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as overseer ...
s, whereas the
prytaneis and the tamia (tax collector) are even mentioned by name. The social organization of the Balaites suggests a developed Hellenistic community which, according to the scholars, might have been located within the radius of cultural influence of
Apollonia, most likely close to the territories of the
Amantes or
Bylliones territory.
Neritan Ceka and Olgita Ceka (2017) concluded that the ethnic features of the Balaites were similar to the nearby Illyrian
Bylliones, while some personal names were similar to the nearby Corinthian colony of Apollonia, suggesting an affiliation of the Balaites to a political community in the town of
Gurëzeza. The honorary decree of the Balaites displays their onomastics, political institutions and calendar features which are written in the Greek language with the use of Greek technical terms (Epirote and Corinthian), perhaps under the influence of nearby Corinthian colony of Apollonia. Balaites formed a
koinon
''Koinon'' (, pl. Κοινά, ''Koina''), meaning "common thing", in the sense of "public", had many applications, some societal, some governmental. An abstract noun formed from the neuter of the adjective, koinos, "common", the koinon could mean ...
(league). The offices of the Balaties were of mixed character and displayed
Corinthian,
Epirote
Epirus () is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë and the Acroceraunian Mountains in ...
and
Macedonian features.
Based on the specific inscriptions Hatzopoulos (1997) concluded that the koinon of the Balaites had a Greek identity.
The text of the decree includes two forms of ethnicons: Βαλαιειταί (''Balaieitai'') and Βαλαιιταί (''Balaiitai''). The latter are indicated as the recipients of Aristen's philanthropic actions and later of the thanksgivings of the ''peripolarchos'', while the former are indicated as the political subject issuing the decrees and as the political community that was official recipient of the crown mutually conferred by Aristen. The difference between these two terms, the ethnos with its territory on one hand, and the tribal polis, which was the capital of the ethnos on the other hand, seems to be observed in other epigraphy and numismatic material of the area, including the cases of the Hellenized Illyrian city-states of
Dimale (''Dimallitan/Dimalla'') and
Byllis (''Byllionon/Byllis'').
See also
*
List of ancient tribes in Illyria
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 ...
Citations
General bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{Albania topics
Ancient tribes in Albania
Illyrian Albania