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Διάλεκτος, γράμματα, signum Illyrian Rulers Official Communications According to Classical Writers Reports
Bruna Kuntić-Makvić
; Odsjek za povijest Filozofskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
Classical writers wrote most comprehensively about the public and official diplomatic speech. In the 19th century and thanks to Dimitrije Demeter, the often quoted dialogue between the Illyrian queen Teuta and the Roman emissary (Polyb. II, 8, 6-13, Appendix 1) entered from the Polybius' report into the Croatian literature to remain productive there until today. The Polybius' report about the Illyrian and the Macedonian kings' joint embassy to the island of Rhodes show that the Illyrian emissaries were accepted there with particular attention (Polyb. XXIX, 11, 1-3; 5-6, App. 2). Titus Livy (Livius) reports that spies in Rome tried presenting themselves as diplomats (Liv. XLII, 26, 2-6, App. 3). Selected texts from the period 230 - 170 BC describe movements of emissaries between the Illyrian kingdom and various political entities in the Mediterranean. Polybius opened the question of the language that could have been used to enable proper understanding between the individuals speaking different languages. He refers to the world languages of the contemporary Mediterranean, Phoenician, Greek and Latin, as the διάλεκτος. (Polyb. I, 67, 7-9; 80, 1; 80, 5-6; III, 22, 3; XXVII, 15, 2-4; XXXIX, 1, 1-4; Appendices 5-10). The same noun he applied to the Illyrian language recognising it thereby as a distinct
language (Polyb. XXVIII, 8, 1; 5; 7-9; Liv. XLII, 19, 13-14; 20, 2-3; App. 4). By recording that the Macedonian king requested that in his embassy to the Illyrian court there was also a person speaking the Illyrian language, Polybius confirmed that this language was strange to the Macedonian and Greek languages speakers.
The Polybius' dictionary makes difference between the emissaries-diplomas able and authorised to communicate orally (πρεσβευταί, πρέσβεις) in accordance with the king's instructions (ἐντολαί), the heralds conveying brief oral messages (κήρυκες) and the curriers (γραμματοφόροι) who carried letters (γράμματα or ἐπιστολαί). Polybius systematically used a developed terminology, wherefore his information that the Illyrian queen Teuta was giving orders to her general in letters (Polyb. II, 6, 3-5; App. 11) and that other persons in the Illyrian thnarchy were reading written messages (Polyb. V, 101, 6-7; 102,2; App. 12) are to be taken as reliable. In the Classical period Mediterranean the standard was set that money made a means
of communication. The coins presenting image, title and name of the king Gentius can be related to the Livy's report on the »Illyrian sign« with which the Gentius' emissaries marked the silver that the Macedonian king donated to their ruler (Liv. XLIV, 27, 8-12; App. 13) and on the »Illyrian silver« that the praetor Lucius Anicius Gallus carried in the triumph after the victory over Gentius in 167 BC (Liv. XLV, 43, 4, App. 14). Parts of the information provided by the Classical literary sources in the original form on the public and official communications have been lost in translations. When the originals are paid proper attention they show that, at least during the three wars with the Romans, the Illyrian rulers' domestic and international communications achieved a respectable level, adopted all the contemporary forms and included written communication of a volume that does not permit the Illyrian community of the époque to be considered in a generalised manner as agraphic.
Ključne riječi
Polybius; Livy; Classical literary sources; illyrian kingdom; communication; language; writing; sign; embassy
Hrčak ID:
186052
URI
Datum izdavanja:
8.9.2017.
Posjeta: 1.236 *