The Dassaretae, or Dexaroi, were an ancient Greek tribe of Epirus living from Mount Amyron to Lake Lychnitis on the border with Illyria. They were the northernmost tribe that belonged to the Chaonian group, one of the three major tribes in Epirus. In Roman antiquity their territory was considered as part of Upper Macedonia.
Classification and organisation
Dassaretae initially recorded as Dexari were the northern-most subtribe of the Chaonians, based on the testimony of the ancientGreek geographer Hecataeus of Miletus, which is accepted by the modern scholars G.F. Edson, Wilkes, Sakellariou, Hammond, T. Winnifrith and the Oxford Classical Dictionary. The Dessaretae were initially recorded as Dexaroi by Hecataeus of Miletus in the 6th century BC. He describes them as the most northern tribe of the Chaonians, as a Greek-speaking people residing next to the Illyrian tribe of the Encheleae. The term Dexaroi is an variant form of Dessaroi since the x is the phonetic equivalent of ss in ancient Greek literature. The stem Dassa/Dessa- is also found in the name Dassaretae. The name Dexari retains more archaic features compared to Dassaretae in Greek spelling. The clearest sources provided by ancient authors for the variant Dassaretae date to the period of Roman conquest. It appears that the chief magistrate of the Dassaretae bore the title "Strategos", a title typically given to the chief magistrates of northern Greek tribes during Roman antiquity. As for their administrative structure an inscription of the Dassaretae epigrammatically lists the main organs of their state Δασσαρητίων άρχοντες, βουλή και δήμος. The name Dassaretae is connected to Διός όρος-ορείται with a certain degree of barbarization.
History
The Dassaretae were initially part of the wider tribal state of the Chaonians during the 6th century BC. The burials of Tumulis II in Kuci zi in the Korce-Maliq plain that time belonged to their leaders. At a later period the Dassaretae formed their own independent association. It is likely that before the reign of Philip II of Macedon, Illyrian tribes had occupied Dassaretis since no more information about Dexari is recorded and the siege of Pelium was described as a campaign of Alexander in Illyria. During the reign of Philip II the Macedonians managed to terminate the Dardanian rule in the land of the Dassaretae. As such the Dassaretae became not only independent again but Philip also managed to create a Macedonian buffer zone on their northern border with the Dardanians. The destruction of Pelium in 335 BC by Dardanian Cleitus came probably due to the fact that the local Dassaratean inhabitants were not friendly towards the Dardanian raiders. Macedonian control was re-established in Dassaretis that year and remained as such during the era of Macedonian domination. In 319-317 B.C an Epirote army under Polyperchon and Olympias marched against the local settlement of Euia during their struggle against Cassander of Macedon. Antipatrea was founded by the regent of Macedon, Antipater. During the reign of Pyrrhus of Epirus Dassaretis came possibly into Epirote control. In 217 BC Illyrian Scerdilaidas advanced against Philip V of Macedonia through the region of Pelagonia and the Dassaretian territory capturing Antipatreia, Chrysondyon, and Gertus. He penetrated further with raids into the nearby Macedonian areas like Orestis. However, before the end of autumn of the same year, Philip V recaptured the three Dassaretian cities and expelled the Illyrian raiders from Dassaretis. Military interventions as well as relations with Macedon from 217 B.C to 199 B.C kept the area under Dassaretean control and the borders of the Dassaretae controlled area reached their greatest extent. In 199 B.C. a Roman expedition under Servius Sulpicius Galba was harassing the Dassaretae population and pillaging their stored grain and harvest.
Geography
The area inhabited by the Dassaretae was called Dassaretis. This area remained the same in terms of geography from the period of Hecateus to the Roman conquest. In terms of Roman-era geography recent research accepts that Dassaretis was part of Upper Macedonia. They inhabited a region that stretched from mount Amyron up to the southern coast of lake Lychnitis, and they also lived around Korçë and around modern Berat and Dassaretis stretching from modern Skrapar to the southwest shores of Ohrid. According to Ptolemy, the city of Lychnidos, on the northern part of lake Ohrid, was also a Dassaretae town for a time though it appears that Dassaretae control was not permanent there. However the territory around this city is recorded as at least a marginal territory of Dassaretis. Their cities were Pellion, Antipatrea, Chrysondyon, Gertus, Creonion, Kellion, Euia and Megara. The main river in the area was the Eordaikos. The Encheles neighboured with the Dassaretae in the area directly south of Ohrid. They also neighboured the Orestae tribe of the Molossian group, while the regions of Chaonia and Parrhaeuaea were located on their southern border. Various Illyrian tribes were located in the area north of the Dassaretae, in the region north of the mines of Damastion.
Strategic value
Dassaretis, being economically poor, could not be the centre for a strong polity, but at the same time it was strategically valuable. Any military operations in what is now central Albania would hinge on hilly Dassaretis, because the coastal plains were swampy. It was also important for Macedonia, because the Tsangon pass allowed access between the plain of Florina and Lake Ohrid. Local states at their height of power tended to control the area, as did Bardylis' Illyrian kingdom, Pyrrhus' Molossian kingdom, and Philip II's Macedon.
In Greek mythology
, according to Appian of Alexandria, had a daughter called Dassaro, from whom sprang the Illyrian tribe of Dassaretae. This genealogy is probably associated with a tribe that lived further north from the Chaonian Dassaretae of the Korce-Maliq region and bore a similar name with the later. In general various accounts about the Dassaretae by ancient authors were supposedly based on prehistorical events and mythical allusions.
Tribes of similar names
According to N. G. L. Hammond an Illyrian tribe of the same or similar name laid further north between the Dardani and the Ardiaei and next to the Dalmatian coast, which is often confused with that of the Dassaretae of the Chaonian group. Moreover, Livy keeps a clear distinction between those tribes. It has been also argued that a similar spelling is shared in the names of two Illyrian tribes. A possible Illyrian link of the Dassaretae faces many allegedly impenetrable issues in terms of epigraphic and archaeological evidence. Roman era historians Strabo, Livy and Polybius make a clear distinction between the Dexari/Dassaretae and the Illyrians.
