Who were the Chaones?
It’s really becoming boring to read articles in Wikipedia that are poisoned and twisted by the nationalist Greek propaganda. This does not surprise us much because it is a known fact that Greece sponsors these kinds of campaigns to promote the ‘Hellenic’ past of Macedonia and Epirus, both non-Greek regions that were conquered by Greece in 1913. As a matter of fact, the Greek government, as per their revelations, spent over 130 million US dollars from 1989 to 1993 in buying reporters who will promote the “Hellenism” of Macedonia abroad and the “macedonization” of Greece at home. This case was first reported by Athens based Eleftherotypia in 1994.
Most commonly they prefer to quote N.G.L. Hammond as source to prove the ‘Hellenic’ Epirus. Our renowned hero called N.G.L. Hammond (who is accredited in British circles as specialist on Epirus matters) many times makes mistakes that would shame even a first grade student. At first to strengthen the idea that Epirotes were archaic Greeks, Hammond artfully selects a quotation of Ps-Scylax to assume that he (Ps-Scylax) distinguishes Illyrians from Chaones (one of the major Epirotic tribes). This is sufficient for him to proclaim the Hellenism of Chaones. Let us take a look at Hammond’s nonsense:
“Inscriptional evidence of the Chaones is lacking until the Hellinistic period; but Ps-Scylax, describing the situation of c. 380-360 put the Southern limit of the Illyrians just north of the Chaones, which indicates that the Chaones did not speak Illyrian, and the acceptance of the Chaones into the Epirote alliance in the 330s suggest strongly that they were Greek-speaking” (1).
To have a clear image as to what Ps-Scylax is saying let us quote the original phrase in Greek:
[Ps-Scylax, Europe 1.28]: “ΧΑΟΝΕΣ. Μετὰ δὲ Ἰλλυριοὺς Χάονες. Ἡ δὲ Χαονία ἐστὶν εὐλίμενος· οἰκοῦσι δὲ κατὰ κώμας οἱ Χάονες. Παράπλους δ’ ἐστὶ Χαονίας ἥμισυ ἡμέρας.”
Translation:
”CHAONES. After the Illyrians, Chaonians. Chaonia has good harbours: the Chaonians live in villages. And the coastal voyage of Chaonia is a half of a day”.
If we take just a piece of the text, then maybe we come to conclusions similar to those of Hammond, but if we take a look in another paragraph, we completely change our mind:
[Ps-Scylax, Europe 1.28]: “ΑΜΒΡΑΚΙΑ. Μετὰ δὲ Μολοττίαν Ἀμβρακία πόλις Ἑλληνίς· ἀπέχει δὲ αὕτη ἀπὸ θαλάττης στάδια π. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ θαλάττης τεῖχος καὶ λιμὴν κλειστός. Ἐντεῦθεν ἄρχεται ἡ Ἑλλὰς συνεχὴς εἶναι μέχρι Πηνειοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ Ὁμολίου Μαγνητικῆς πόλεως, ἥ ἐστι παρὰ τὸν ποταμόν
”AMBRAKIA. And after Molottia, Ambrakia, a Hellenic city: and this is distant from sea 80 stades. And there is also upon the sea a fort and an enclosed harbour. From here Hellas begins to be continuous as far as Peneios river and Homolion, a city of Magnesian territory, which is beside the river”.
According to Ps-Scylax, Greece starts from Ambracia and does not include Epirus. Not to anger our southern neighbors, we will bring two more quotations that prove just that:
[Strabo book 8/1/1]: “After the Epeirotes and the Illyrians, then, come the following peoples of the Greeks: the Acarnanians, the Aetolians, and the Ozolian Locrians; and, next, the Phocians and Boeotians; and opposite these, across the arm of the sea, is the Peloponnesus, which with these encloses the Corinthian Gulf”.
[Strabo book 8/1/3]: “Ephorus says that, if one begins with the western parts, Acarnania is the beginning of Greece; for, he adds, Acarnania is the first to border on the tribes of the Epeirotes”.
Point of interest:
* Strabo distinguishes Epeirotes and Illyrians from Greeks (Acarnanians, Aetolians, Locrians, Phocians and Boetians).
* Strabo marks Acarnania as the beginning of Greece which implies that Epirus was never part of Greece.
Ancient literary sources are more than enough to reinforce the fact that Chaones (Χάονες) were part of the Illyrian family (2). According to Virgil, “Chaon” (an obvious Trojan name) was the eponymous ancestor of the Chaones (Virgil. Aeneid, 3.295). John Buckler stresses out that “The Chaones were Illyrians who bordered Epeiros on the north and the Molossians on their west, all three peoples being Kerkyra’s closest mainland neighbours…(3)”.
Therefore if we sum up all the evidences provided to us by ancient writers, we notice that most of them prove the non-Greek identity of Chaones. They were frequently referred with various terms as Pelasgians, Thracians or as close relatives to Illyrians (4). An another decisive proof for Illyrian being of Chaones comes from Hecataeus of Miletus of the 6th century BC describing “Dexaroi” as the most northern Chaonian tribe. Hammond deliberately tries to reject the Illyrian being of this Chaonian sub-tribe, although there are a plethora of literary and archeological evidences enlightening the very fact that Dexaroi were nothing but a duplicate of the Illyrian tribe of Dassaretae. This become more conclusive from a legend (transmitted to us by Appian), who portray “Dassaro” (the female eponym of Dassareates) as one of the daughters of Illyrius. Their various cities like Pellion, Antipatrea, Chrysondyon, Gertous (or Gerous) and Creonion are archeologically ascertained to have been Illyrian centres.
In addition with the above mentioned proofs, it should be pay attention to an another striking fact: “Suliones” were a Chaonian tribe, named by the poet Rhyanus who is quoted by Steph. Byzantinus (v. Συλίονες). Their name recall to mind the famous Suliotes during the wars for Greek independence (6). This become conclusive not only with the strict resemblance between the name of Albanian Suliotes (Suliote = Συλίονες) but even their geographical extension is almost the same, which make us to believe for a lineal continuity of old Chaones to the modern Albanians of Chameria region.
Footnotes:
(1) The Cambridge Ancient History – The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries B.C., Part 3: Volume 3″ by P Mack Crew, 1992, p. 284
(2) The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Volume 1, Encyclopaedia Britannica, inc – 1987, p.212: “They were divided into many tribes of which the best known are, from north to south: Dalmatae, Ardaei, Dardani, Albani, Taulantii, Labeati, Orestes, Molossi, Chaones, and Thesproti. At one stage of their incursions the Illyrians crossed…”
(3) Aegean Greece in the fourth century BC, John Buckler, 2003, p.256.
(4) Researches into the physical history of mankind: Volume 2, James Cowles Prichard, 1826, p. 54: “…the Chaones in Epirus, are, by some authors, termed Thracians, while by others they are set down as Pelasgi“.
(5) Appian’s History of Rome: The Illyrian Wars §§1-5: “Illyrius had six sons, Encheleus, Autarieus, Dardanus, Maedus, Taulas, and Perrhaebus, also daughters, Partho, Daortho, Dassaro, and others, from whom sprang the Taulantii, the Perrhaebi, the Enchelees, the Autarienses, the Dardani, the Partheni, the Dassaretii, and the Darsii. Autarieus had a son Pannonius, or Paeon, and the latter had sons, Scordiscus and Triballus, from whom nations bearing similar names were derived”.
(6) A geographical and historical description of ancient Greece, Volume 1, John Anthony Cramer,1828, p. 106
Source:
www.albpelasgian.com/uncategorized/who-were-the-chaones.html
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