Abroi

TheAbroi(Ancient Greek:Ἄβροι) were anIllyrian tribe.They may have been a constituent northern tribe of the larger group of theTaulantii,on theAdriaticcoast of southernIllyria(present-dayAlbania).

Name

The tribe is mentioned solely byHecataeus of Miletus(6th century BCE), in fragment 69 ofPeriodos ges,cited byStephanus of Byzantium(6th century CE). The name of the tribe is recorded inAncient GreekasἌβροιAbroi.

Their name may have actually beenArboiasAbroimay have been produced via ametathesis,another linguistic process or a common misassociation by Hecataeus of their name with the ancient Greek termabrosto better adapt it to Greek. The nameArboiwould link them to the IllyrianAlbanoi,who are attested in the same area in the 2nd century CE.

N. G. L. Hammondhas pointed out that the nameAbroiandAlbanoigave rise to the nameAlbania/Albanians,similar to the spread of the nameIllyria/Illyriansfrom a small group of people on the Adriatic coast, theIllyrioi.This process can also be seen in the case ofGraeciandHellenes.

Geography

Illyrian tribes in the 7th–4th centuries BCE.

Hecataeus places them near theTaulantiiwho lived along the Adriatic and theEnchelei.In modern scholarship the Abroi are generally placed near theMatandDrinvalleys. The Abroi may have been a constituent northern tribe of the larger group of theTaulantii.

Cuisine

They could preparemead,a wine from honey, and were known to theAncient Greekwriters for that method.

See also

• List of ancient tribes in Illyria

Bibliography

• Campbell, Duncan R. J. (2009).The so-called Galatae, Celts, and Gauls in the Early Hellenistic Balkans and the Attack on Delphi in 280–279 BC(Thesis). University of Leicester.
• Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière (1994). "Illyrians and North-west Greeks". In Lewis, David Malcolm; Boardman, John; Hornblower, Simon; Ostwald, M. (eds.).The Cambridge Ancient History: The Fourth Century B.C.Vol. VI (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 422–443.ISBN0-521-23348-8.
• Plasari, Aurel (2020)."The Albanians in attestations from late antiquity until the early Middle Ages".Albanian Studies.2.Academy of Sciences of Albania.
• Wilkes, John J.(1992).The Illyrians.Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing.ISBN0-631-19807-5.