Autariatae

The Tara River canyon at Đurđevića Tara in Montenegro. The name Tara is thought to be related to the Autariatae, whose territory included the river valley in classical antiquity.[1]

The Autariatae or Autariatai (alternatively, Autariates; Ancient Greek: Αὐταριᾶται, Autariatai; Latin: Autariatae) were an Illyrian people that lived between the valleys of the Lim and the Tara, beyond the Accursed Mountains, and the valley of West Morava. Their territory was located inland from the Ardiaei and the Lake Skodra, extending east to the Dardani and north or northeast to the Triballi.[2]

Along with the Ardiaei and the Dardani, the Autariatae are mentioned by Strabo in his Geographica as one of the three strongest Illyrian peoples in the pre-Roman Balkans.[3][4] Following defeat during the Celtic invasions of the Balkans in the 4th century, a part of the Autariatae who remained in Bosnia adopted Celtic culture later in their history.[5] Another part moved southwards and after an agreement with the Kingdom of Macedonia, 20,000 settled in the Parorbelian mountain range, in the borderlands between modern southeastern North Macedonia, northern Greece and southwestern Bulgaria.[6]

  1. ^ Papazoglu 1978, pp. 106, 127
  2. ^ Wilkes 1992, pp. 99, 139
  3. ^ Hammond 1966, pp. 239–241.
  4. ^ Papazoglu 1978, p. 110: "According to Strabo, "the Autariatae were at one time the greatest and most powerful Illyrian people""
  5. ^ Dalmatia Tome 2 of History of the provinces of the Roman Empire by J. J. Wilkes, 1969, page 400
  6. ^ Yardley, Wheatley & Heckel 2011, p. 233.