Peresadyes

Dardania,tribes and Environs

Peresadyes, (Greek: Περεσάδυες^[1]) were a tribe that lived in the ancient region of Illyria and ruled^[2] over, or with the Encheleans, or the Sesarethi, and were part of the Taulantii group^[3] of tribes. About their classification they had been identified as Illyrian tribe,^[1] however, recent research has strengthened the possibility that they were Thracians.^[4]

The name itself is very close to Thracian Berisades^[2] (Greek: Bηρισάδης), suggesting a possible Thracian origin. The Peresadyes also seem to have had contact with Thracians.^[5] It has been suggested theat they weren't a distinct Illyrian tribe, but a part of the Dardani.^[6] They gave birth to what later became the Bardyllis dynasty, eventually ruling the Dardanii themselves.^[7] Strabo^[8] recorded what most likely Hecataeus wrote about them, saying that they joined the dynasty of the Encheleans^[1] and the term Sesarethii is used as a synonym for Peresyades, but at the same time for Encheleans by Strabo.^[9] They ruled the area of modern Trebeništa near lake Ohrid around the 7th century BC, in Macedonia, but declined heavily by 475 BC.

See also

• Illyrian warfare
• Thracian warfare
• List of rulers of Illyria
• List of rulers of Thrace

References

1. Epirus: the geography, the ancient remains, the history and topography of ...by Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, 1967, page 467, "The Enchelae then cannot be the Sesarethii. The Peresyades, we conclude, were chiefs of a Taulantian tribe from Sesarethus and were also called Sesarethii. I should then punctuate the text as follows:.. Βρύγοι πλησίον δέ που καί τά αργυρεία τά έν Δαμαστίω. Περεσάδυές τε συνεστήσαντο τήν δυναστείαν τών Εγχελέων..."
2. Epirus: the geography, the ancient remains, the history and topography of ...by Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, 1967, page 466, "Περεσάδύες τε συνεστήσαντο τήν δυναστείαν καί Έγχελέους καί Σεσαρηθίους καλούσι. The Peresadyes are evidently Illyrians; the name is not known elsewhere but the royal name Berisades in Thrace is very close to it. These Peresadyes joined the dynasty... συνεστήσαντο τήν δυναστείαν; cf. LSJ συνίστημι, B. III, which..."
3. The Cambridge ancient history,Tome 6 by John Boardman, ISBN 0521850738, 1994, page 423
4. The Cambridge ancient history: The fourth century B.C. p. 427: "The name suggests that they were Thracians, and the placing of gold foil on the face of a corps to form either a mask or just a mouthpiece is known to have been practiced in Thrace. This suggestion has been recently strengthened by the discovery of such death-masks..."
5. Hammond, Nicholas (1967). Epirus: the geography, the ancient remains, the history and topography of Epirus and adjacent areas. Clarendon P. p. 466.
6. A History of Macedonia: 550-336 B.C by Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond,Guy Thompson Griffith, 1978, ISBN 0198148143, page 93, "The Peresadyes, then, were the rulers of Trebenishte, and Hecataeus wrote of them when they were at the height of their power. It is likely, as we have, seen, that they came from the north; they may have been Dardanii, forerunners of the fourth-century dynasty of Bardyllis, and they had contact with the Thracians,..."
7. The Macedonian State: origins, institutions, and history by Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, 1989, page 39,"The Peresadyes were rulers probably of an Illyrian-speaking people, called Dardanians,"
8. VII.7.5, "...περί α Δυέσται συνεστήσαντο την δυναστείαν και Εγχέλειοι ους και Σεσαρέθιους καλούσι..."
9. Strabo, Geography (ed. H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A.), 7.7, "...had established their sway, and Enchelii, who are also called Sesarethii."