In the northwest of the Balkan peninsula, approximately in the territory limited by Epiros, the Istrian peninsula, the rivers Drava and Danube and, in the east, by a line drawn between present day Belgrade and Skopje (see map 4, p. 50), a large number of different tribes were living (between 80 and 100). These were designated by the name Illyrian by Greek and Roman authors. This may at an early age have been the name of one tribe with which the Greeks had contact, having later been extended to all populations living in the above mentioned area. AIllyrian@ is not a well-defined term, not even territorially and even less ethnically or linguistically. The Illyrian language is attested with certainty to have been spoken only along the coasts of the Adriatic Sea from northwestern Greece to the Istrian peninsula. No large political units existed among these tribes; they were, in fact, constantly at war with each other. They lived in villages and their main occupation was the raising of animals, especially of sheep. The cheese they produced was well known in antiquity: caseus Dalmaticus, Docleas, Dardanicus. A primitive agriculture contributed to their economy. Certain tribes along the coasts were fisherfolk, and the Illyrian pirates on the Adriatic Sea were feared by the Greeks.

East of the Illyrian territory, from the Aegean Sea to the peaks of the Haemus mountains, lived about 100 barbarian tribes called Qrhix, Qraix, or QraikeV by the Greeks. This name was Latinized as Thrax, Thraex, and the above-mentioned territory became known as Thracia. Thracians are, however, reported to have been living also in the western parts of Asia Minor (in Bitinia, Misia, etc.) as well as north of the lower Danube and of the Black Sea. Like the Illyrians, the Thracians were also mainly shepherds, but they did pursue some agriculture. They too, were living in villages; the building of houses of stone and of towns appeared later under Greek and Roman influence.

North of the lower Danube, on what is today known as the Valachian plain, lived a population called the Getae. The territory within the arch of the Carpathian mountains (Transylvania) was inhabited mainly by the Dacians. Around 80 BC, a Dacian leader, Burebista, extended his reign after warring against the Celts and occupying the Greek towns on the northern and western coast of the Black Sea. Dacia had now common frontiers with the Roman Empire and a series of battles with the Roman army followed. The centre of the Dacian empire was in the mountainous area south of present day Or|-AÕtie (Hungarian Szászváros), at Sarmizegetusa, near present day Gr|diÕtea Muncelului. Fortifications of stone built on Greek patterns, dwelling places, store rooms, workshops; vessels, pieces of pottery, tools used in agriculture, smithwork, woodwork, etc. have been unearthed there. Another strong Dacian leader, Decebal, was temporarily successful in fighting the Romans, but finally, in 106 AD, he was defeated by Emperor Trajan, and Dacia was made a Roman province. Unfortunately, very little has been preserved from the languages spoken by the groups of population designated by the names Illyrian, Thracian, Getian and Dacian (cf. below, p. 55).

Along the frontiers, many fierce battles were fought against different barbarian tribes. The resistance of the Illyrians and the Moesians was broken during the first century BC; by the end of this century, the Roman army reached the lower Danube. At that time, all the territory conquered was called the province of Illyricum but at the beginning of the first century AD it was divided into Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Moesia; Moesia was soon thereafter divided into Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior. In 106 AD, the Dacian kingdom was defeated and part of Dacia (present day Oltenia, part of the Banat and of Transylvania) was occupied (Dacia Traiana). During the following 165 (or 169) years, the frontiers of the Empire reached to the north of the lower Danube, as far as to the northern part of Transylvania. After the abandonment of this province, two new provinces of Dacia were founded south of the Danube (Dacia Ripensis and Dacia Mediterranea). Emperor Diocletian (284B305) introduced a major reform in the organization of the Empire, dividing it into 4 Prefectures, 13 Dioceses and 116 provinces.

Around the camps of the Roman army divisions, canabae (marketplaces) were built. Giving an example of the long time span a legion may have remained in the same place, Jire…ek mentions the Legio VII Claudia, which stayed in the area of Viminacium for about 400 years. The settlements of the veterans of this legion extended as far to the south as the region of Skopje and Prizren. The veterans received, after 20B25 years of service, ground plots, draught animals, slaves and seeds, and settled down on the land as farmers.

Besides the legions, there were auxiliary contingents, composed of soldiers from many different nations living in the Empire. At the beginning of the 4th century, the organization of the army was reformed and the cavalry was strengthened. To the Roman army in this period belonged also Afoederati@, army units formed by different barbarian peoples, led by their own chiefs.

The villages of the Thracians and of the Illyrians were organized in communities called civitas. The chiefs of these were civil clerks or soldiers, chosen from the native population as well as from the Roman colonists. These communities evolved successively from the period of Vespasian on (69B79 AD) into towns.

The Latin language was introduced in a comparatively short time in the coastal low-lands and in the valleys, along the Roman roads; especially in the military zone of the Danube. In the region of Naissus and Remesiana, many names of towns of military origin are preserved from this period and the Latin names also of small communities are still in use. Roman veterans settled down in the lower part of the Drina-valley and in the lower Narenta region as well. The Romanization of the mountainous districts took a much longer time. Two or three centuries had to pass until most areas became Romanized : AIn der Hauptsache war die sprachliche Umw-Aälzung zu Ende des 3. Jahrhunderts abgeschlossen.@ In certain regions, the Illyrian population survived at least until the 4th century and the Thracian, until the 6th: lingua bessica (probably a Thracian dialect) was still spoken in the 6th century. Thus, Thracian was probably still spoken in the time of the Slavic colonization.

Christianity was introduced first in the southern provinces (Apostle Paul taught in Macedonia, Philippi, Thesssaloniki, and Berrh-Aöa). It spread successively northward; there are records about persecution of Christians in the Danubian regions in the late third century. The persecution of Christians was ended by Emperor Constantine the Great in 313. There are records of rivalry between Orthodox and Arian members of the Church in Serdica, Sirmium, and Singidunum in the 4th century. AIm 5. bis 6. Jahrhundert hielten es die lateinisch redenden Provinzialen des Donaugebietes oft mit der Kirche von Rom gegen die Konstantinopler Kaiser, vor allem gegen Anastas und Justinian.@ Illyricum was, until 731 AD, subordinated to the Pope.

Vestiges of the Christian culture in the Roman age of the Balkan peninsula are old-Christian cemeteries found at Niš and at Sofia, a funerary monument in Belgrade with sculptures showing scenes from the life of Prophet Jonas, a Latin inscription found at Remesiana which invokes the Apostles Peter and Paul in favour of a local church, as well as ruins of FORTY FIVE CHURCHES.

In 325 AD, Constantine the Great made Byzantium the residence of the emperor. In 395, the Roman Empire was definitively divided into two halves. Moesia, Dardania, and Praevalis belonged thereafter to the Eastern Empire. The Latin language, however, maintained its influence until the early 7th century. It was used by the army (Latin commands: cede, sta, move, transforma, torna, largiter ambula, etc.), by the administration, the tribunals and by the Church. In 397 it was ordered that all judgments of the courts be written in Latin or in Greek. At the high school of Constantinople, founded in 425, half of the professors lectured in the Latin language. It is recorded that Ioannes, the praefectus praeterio, tried to introduce Greek into the European parts of the Empire but his efforts were without success because the inhabitants of the Balkan provinces spoke Latin and did not understand Greek. It was as late as during the reign of Emperor Heraklios (610B641) that Latin was replaced by Greek as the official language of the Eastern Empire. On the basis of a careful study of the Roman inscriptions found in the territory of the former province of Moesia Superior, the Hungarian historian A. M-Aócsy concluded that A...es im spätantiken Obermösien eine soziale Schicht gab die das Latein B das Spätlatein freilich B als Muttersprache sprach.@

Map 1. The Roman provinces in southeastern Europe between 106B275 AD, according to general consensus (cf., for example, IR Compendiu 1974, p. 45).

In reality, the area of Roman domination north of the lower Danube was smaller. It is not quite certain that the entire area was occupied in 106 AD. The organization of Dacia Superior and Inferior in 119 and the further division of the province into Dacia Porolissensis, Apulensis, and Malvensis in 158B168 may suggest a gradual extension of the frontiers during several decades. The limes Trans-alutanus was built as late as about 200 AD and the area between the limes and the Olt was dominated by the Empire only from that year to 245 AD (cf., for example, D. Tudor, ARomanizarea Munteniei@, Apulum, XII, 1974, p. 114). Eastern Transylvania was evacuated several years before the abandonment of the entire province in 275 AD. Only part of the Banat belonged to the Empire: the Roman military stations and civil settlements end along the border between the mountainous region and the plains (cf. Tudor, D., Ora-AÕe, tîrguri Õi sate în Dacia roman|, 1968, p. 55). On the basis of frequent finds of epigraphic material with the name Legio IV Flavia in the mountainous area, it is assumed that this part of the Banat was connected to Moesia Superior (Tudor OraÕe 1968, p. 55).

Map 2. The Roman provinces in southeastern Europe in the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries AD. C The northeastern frontiers of the Empire were the same (the Danubian limes) also in the first century AD but the organization of the provinces was different.

The Goths, pushed westward by the expansion of the Huns, attacked the Empire towards the end of the 4th century; in 382, they were permitted to settle down as Afoederati@ in the provinces south of the Danube. In 471, the East Gothic prince Theodorich conquered Singidunum (present day Belgrade). From there, the Goths conducted several incursions into the Roman provinces and also occupied Dyrrhachion; at last (in 483), Emperor Zeno settled them in Dacia Ripensis and Moesia Inferior. Some years later, Zeno succeeded in inciting Theodorich against Odovacar, the emperor of Italy. The Goths conquered Italy and founded the Eastern Gothic Empire, which comprised Italy, Dalmatia, Pannonia, and the Alp countries. This empire, in which the Goths were the dominating military class who subjugated the Roman population, was annihilated by Justinian in the middle of the 6th century.

In the middle of the 5th century, the Huns devastated about 70 towns of the Balkan peninsula, from the Danube towards the south, as far as to Serdica and Philippopolis. As a result of the frequent wars waged with the attacking barbarian peoples, as well as of the smaller skirmishes, in which the barbarians collected slaves, the population of the Balkan provinces decreased considerably during the 5thB6th centuries. To defend the empire, Emperor Justinian organized the building of fortifications. Procopius recorded about 80 fortified places along the Danube and 370 castles in other parts of the Balkans. However, as Jire…ek remarked:

This was a very powerful Roman diocese and it possessed, through the new prefecture, also political power. Friedwagner concluded that in the above mentioned provinces, especially in Dardania, Athe starting point for the development of a specific Romance language was created.@

G. Stadtm-Aüller showed that the district of Mati and the region of the high mountains in northern Albania are the only areas in the western parts of the Balkan peninsula where Latin placenames are absent. Stadtmüller considered this district a AReliktgebiet@, comparable to the mountains of Wales in Great Britain and the region of the Basque population in the Pyreneans. There, and in some adjacent areas, as Dukagjin and Merdita, as well as in the mountainous region of the Drin, lived the ancestors of the Albanians during the Roman age in the Balkans. The shepherds living in these areas during the summer used adjacent, mostly Romanized areas of lowland as grazing places during the winter season: the lowlands of western Albania, the valley of the Black Drin and some parts of Old Serbia. In these areas, they were exposed to Romanization.

The oldest elements of Greek origin in the Albanian language show the sound pattern of Old Greek, for example Albanian (Tosc) mok-Aërë ´millstone´, from Greek mhcanh. Greek c corresponds in this word to Alb. k which shows that the word was borrowed by Albanian in an ancient period; in the Byzantine period, this sound was pronounced as a fricative. Another example of Alb. k (not h ) for Greek c is Alb. bretëkë ´frog´, from Greek brwtacoV ´frog´. This indicates that the ancestors of the Albanians lived in contact with the Greeks, in the southern parts of the Balkan peninsula.

The development of the sound pattern of certain placenames in the province of Dardania, in Old Serbia, and in western Bulgaria, seems to indicate an Albanian influence. Thus, there are in Macedonia: Oxrid, from Greek AnciV, showing the n > r change after a velar consonant, typical of Albanian, Štip, from Greek -A´AstiboV, showing the s > sh change as well as the deletion of initial a. In eastern Serbia, there is Niš, from Latin Naissus, Greek NaissoV, which shows ai > ei > i and s > sh; in western Bulgaria, Štiponje, from Greek _toponion with the s > sh change, and several others. The name of Dardania is, most probably, also of Albanian origin, connected with Alb. dardhë ´pear-tree´. It is not impossible that Shqipëtar, the name of the Albanians in their own language, derives from Scupi, Alb. Shkup, Macedonian Skopje.

The Latin influence on Albanian started as early as in the 1st century BC, as indicated by Latin words showing the sound pattern of classical Latin. Albanian qing-Aëlë < Lat. cingula, Alb. vjetër < Lat. vetus, veteris, etc. The Romance languages have instead forms based on Vulgar Latin, e.g., *cingla > Rumanian ching|, veteran > Rum. b|trân, etc.

The first historical accounts about invasions of Slavic tribes across the Danube are given by Procopius. These invasions started during the first half of the 6th century. The Roman emperors from Justinian (527B565) to Heraklios (610B641) have the title AAnticus.@ In the second half of the 6th century, the number of incursions of the Slavs in the Balkan provinces increased and Slavs reached the Mediterranean coast at Rhodope. Slavic soldiers are mentioned in the Roman army as early as in 538. After the devastations by the Slavs and the Avars, large areas of the Balkans became depopulated.

The migrations of the Slavs were frequently led by nomadic Turks. This is shown by archaeological finds (the oldest pieces of Slavic pottery and art objects of metal were borrowed from Turk peoples) as well as by numerous loanwords of Turk origin concerning state organization and cultural life. The area adjacent to the lower Danube was probably the first to be occupied by the Slavs. Theophanes and Nikephoros mention that in 679, seven Slavic tribes (geneai)) were living between the Danube and the highest peaks of the Haemus mountains; these tribes came from what is today Valachia. One of the main streams of Slavic colonization went through Moesia Superior and Dacia Ripensis to the interior of Macedonia and Lakonia. Dalmatia was heavily colonized, as well as the region of the eastern Alps along the valleys of the Sava and the Drava. It is generally considered that most of the Balkan peninsula north of Greece was already inhabited by Slavs in the mid-seventh century .

Of course, alongside the borrowing of old placenames and geographical names, the Slavs created names of their own, ... Amit hunderten von neuen Fluss- und Bach-namen und Tausenden von Dorf- und Flurnamen.@

Of great interest are the traditions concerning circumstances during the Roman period which were preserved until modern times by the Slavs. Thus, the Roman roads, still present at many places, are often called ATrajan-A´s road@ (Trojanov Put or Trojanski Put), old ruins of towers are called ATrajan´s tower@ (Trojanj Grad), certain canyons ATrajan´s door@ (Trojanova Vrata). Moreover, the legend of Emperor Trajan was absorbed into the Slavic popular mythology: in medieval apocryphal texts, God Trajan is mentioned.

The new state of Bulgaria soon emerged as a unifier of the Slavic tribes in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula.Thus in 688 it subjugated most Slavic tribes in Macedonia and at the beginning of the 8th century it annexed Sagorie. Khan Telerig (772B777) had plans to conquer Bersitia, in northern Macedonia, but the Byzantine Emperor Konstantin Kopronimos attacked and defeated him. In 789, Bulgaria extended as far as to the valley of the river Struma.

During the period of Khan Krum (802B814), Bulgaria started a still more offensive policy. Krum subjugated those Avars who some years earlier, after the defeat of the Avar empire at the end of the 8th century, sought refuge east of the river Tisza (German Theiss). He occupied what are today the Banat and southern Transylvania. The Slavic tribes living there recognized the sovereignty of Krum. After these successes, Bulgaria had common frontiers with the Frankish Empire. In 808, Krum attacked the region of Struma and in 809, he occupied Serdica (present day Sofia) which until then belonged to Byzantium. The way to Macedonia was open. The Byzantine emperor Nikiphoros attacked the Bulgars but was defeated and killed in a battle (811 AD). Krum led several attacks into Thracia and Macedonia and transferred many Greeks from the occupied regions. Thus, in 813, 10.000 Greeks were settled in what is today southern Moldavia or northeastern Muntenia, north of the lower Danube. The cause of these resettlements was that Krum wanted to weaken the Greek population of Macedonia, because he planned to occupy it. In 813, Krum led a large army of Slavs and Avars against Byzantium and besieged Constantinople without success. He died in the following year.

The Slavic tribes who lived along the river Timok under Bulgarian rule (the Timocians), recognized in 818 the hegemony of the Franks. Their example was soon followed by other Slavic tribes living in what is now the Banat. The successor of Krum, Omurtag (814B831) attacked these territories and in 827 succeeded in disposing the Slavic princes (voivodes) in the Banat who were on the side of the Franks. This success of the Bulgarians was, however, shortlived; they were driven away by the Franks in 829 and could only keep Sirmium with the city of Singidunum, which from that time on was called Belgrade.

Khan Pressian (836 - 853) took advantage of the weakness of Byzantium, at war with the Arabs. THE BULGARIAN FRONTIERS WERE NOW EXTENDED TO THE REGION OF THE VARDAR, THE BLACK DRIN, PRILEP, OCHRIDA, AND PART OF THE STRUMZI REGION. This expansion brought the Bulgarians into contact with the Serbs, who in that period used to live in small principalities. In face of the increasing power of the Bulgarians they now united and defended their territories.

Boris (853B888) also waged wars against the Serbs. It was during his reign that the Bulgarians adopted Christianity (the Greek Church of Byzantium). Boris was baptized in 865 and tok the name of Michael and the title of ACzar@ instead of the heathen AKhan@. Bulgaria came for centuries under the cultural influence of Byzantium. The new Church, using the Slavic language, contributed effectively to the Slavization of the Bulgarian ruling class.

Czar Simon the Great (893B927) waged wars with the Hungarians and with Byzantium. As a consequence of these wars, Bulgaria was forced to leave the territories north of the lower Danube. Most of these were then occupied by the Patzinaks and the Hungarians. Simeon seems to have had little interest in these territories, as his aim was to expand towards the southwest. During his reign, Bulgaria reached its largest territorial expansion, dominating the Serbs and including part of the Adriatic coast within its frontiers.

Simeon-A´s successor, Peter (927B969) was a weak ruler. During his reign, the

Byzantine influence increased, the representatives of the Church became increasingly corrupt and the population was discontented. Several uprisings are recorded from this period, for example that led by the prince of the Bersites in Macedonia in 963. In 968, the Russians invaded Bulgaria, the Byzantine emperor drove them away but Byzantium occupied somewhat later (during the reign of Boris II, 969B972) the eastern part of Bulgaria.

Another son of Nikola, Samuil, reigned between 980 and 1014. His aim was to unite all Slavs in the Balkan peninsula. He occupied Larisa, the capital of Thessaly, and reached as far as to the Peloponnesos, from which he removed a large number of people and settled them in Macedonia. At that time, Byzantium was weakened by civil wars, and Samuil succeeded to occupy Dyrrachium (Durr-Aës, Durazzo) and extended his power to the Adriatic coast as far as to the estuary of the Drin. He devastated Dalmatia and subjugated the Serbs. In 996, he appeared in the Peloponnesos but was defeated by the Byzantine army. This started the decline of western Bulgaria. In 1014, Samuil was defeated again; in the following year, he was succeeded by his nephew, Johannes Wladislaff (1015B1018). The year 1019 marks the total subjugation of Bulgaria by Byzantium, celebrated in Constantinople by Emperor Basileos II with great triumph.

Basileos divided Bulgaria into four autonomous provinces. He removed all princes of some importance and settled them mostly in Asia Minor.The Byzantine army exercised a strong control over the population. However, Bulgaria was considered a separate country and retained its unity, its own laws and customs. The Church also preserved full autonomy. The chief of the Bulgarian Church was called the Aautokephal archbishop of entire Bulgaria@. The emperor ordered in 1020 that Aall [Christian] believers living in the territories recently subdued by Byzantium in the Balkan peninsula, including -A´the Vlachs from entire Bulgaria´ be subordinated to the archbishop of Ochrida. The Annals of Bari recorded that in 1027 Vlachs were fighting in the Byzantine army in Sicily against the Arabs. During the reign of Basileos´ successors the situation of the people of Bulgaria deteriorated and already in the time of Konstantin VIII (1025B 1028), revolts started. The Bulgarian population was exposed to the frequent incursions of the Patzinaks from the plains north of the Danube and the Vlachs conducted, from their dwelling places in the mountains, expeditions of ravage among them. In 1040, an uprising conducted by Peter Deljan started in Belgrade and soon spread over large parts of the peninsula. Finally, however, it was subdued by Byzantium.

Towards the end of the 11th century, Bulgaria successively lost its separate status and was no longer considered an autonomous country but a part of Byzantium. The social situation of the population deteriorated; taxes were high and many peasants lost their property to the owners of big farms. The Byzantine Empire collected soldiers from Bulgaria, who were needed in the wars against the Petchenegs and the Cumans in the north and against the Turk-Seldjuks in the southeast. Many people fled to the forests especially when soldiers were sought. The situation worsened further in the first half of the 12th century, with the incursions of the Cumans (1124 AD), and the ravages of the Crusaders. A large part of the population of Bulgaria was forced into serfdom on the estates of rich noblemen or moved into the towns, where the masses of poor people increased. In Byzantine documents from this period, Bulgaria is called AMoesia@or ASagori@ and the Bulgarians are referred to as AMoesians@or AVlachs@. This indicates that there must have been a considerable number of Vlachs living among the Bulgarian population. Writing about the war between Byzantium and Hungary in 1161B1168, Kinnamos mentio ns Vlachs in the Byzantine army, Aof whom it is said that they are former colonists from Italy.@

During the reign of Emperor Andronikus I Komnenus (1184B1185), the power of Byzantium started to decline. In northern Bulgaria, where this power always was weakest, and where many people were accumulated as a result of the northward flight of the population in the preceding years, a revolt started led by two Vlach noblemen, Peter and Assan. It was probably provoked by new taxes imposed by the Byzantine emperor, which increased the burden of those who were making their living by the raising of animals, i.e., of the shepherds. This probably explains why the revolt started among the Vlachs, who were mainly shepherds. Peter and Assan made a declaration of independence in the church of St Demetrius (1185 AD). It began as follows (in German translation): AGott habe geruht, die Freiheit der Bulgaren und Walachen zur-Aückzuerstatten und beschlossen, das langjährige Joch ihnen abzunehmen...@ Although Peter and Assan were defeated by the Byzantine army and forced to flee to the Cumans, north of the Danube, they came back already in the following year, helped this time by the Cumans. They succeeded in a short time in establishing the second Bulgarian empire, the Vlacho-Bulgarian Empire (1187 AD). At the beginning, it comprised only the territory in the northeast, between the Danube and the Haemus mountains. Its capital was Tîrnovo.

The brothers Assan and Peter were murdered by some noblemen (boljars), who considered that they were too despotic (1196 and 1197, respectively). Their younger brother, Ioani-AÛa (also called Kaloian) became the Czar (1197B1207). He received the title KING OF THE BULGARIANS AND OF THE VLACHS (rex Bulgarorum et Blachorum) from the Pope in 1204. During the first years of the 13th century, Constantinople was besieged by the crusaders. Kaloian succeeded in re-conquering the Bulgarian territories in western Macedonia, around the towns Prizren, Skopje, and Ochrida. In 1205, in alliance with the Cumans, Kaloian defeated the crusaders. He waged many wars against the Greeks and was killed in 1207 by the Cuman leader Manaster at the siege of Saloniki. The legal successor of Kaloian, Ivan Assan, was at that time in Cumania, the present day Valachian plain. He was sent there by Kaloian with the purpose of trying to seize power there together with his brother, Alexander.

Kaloian-A´s nephew, Boril, used the absence of the legal successor to seize power (1207B1218). During his reign, the country declined. In 1217, Ivan Assan II came back with an army strengthened by Russian soldiers and in the following year defeated Boril and became the Czar of Bulgaria (1218B1241). During his reign, the power of the Vlacho-Bulgarian Empire increased again. In the battle at Klokotnitza (1230 AD), Ivan Assan II defeated Theodor, the king of Saloniki. This success made the expansion of the Bulgarian state possible and soon, all Bulgarians were united in the Vlacho-Bulgarian Empire.

The other main group of the Vlachs, the Arumanians, established themselves in the central and southern parts of the Balkan peninsula. They too succeeded in creating states of their own in the 11th and 12th centuries. In the mountainous parts of Thessaly, there was Great Valachia (Megalh Blacia), in Doris, the western parts of Locris, in Etolia and Acarnania, Little Valachia (Mikra Blacia) and in Dolopia, Upper Valachia (-A´Anw-Blacia).

This population, whom their neighbours called by the equivalents of the name Vlach (Serbian and Bulgarian vlah, Greek BlacoV, German Walach, Hungarian ol-Aáh), called themselves rumîni (sing. rumîn). The use of this word with an ethnic meaning is attested from the mid-sixteenth century on, beginning with the writings of deacon Coresi. (As regards its sound pattern, cf. above, p. 3).

In the Middle Ages, the equivalents of AVlach@ were used exclusively by all authors who wrote about the ancestors of the population called today Rumanian. Sometimes the word was used to designate shepherds in general, a phenomenon caused obviously by the fact that the early Vlachs were par excellence shepherds. In this monograph, the designation Vlach is used, since this is historically correct; but it is employed exclusively to define the specific Romance population who were the ancestors of the present day Rumanians. -A´Vlach´ and ´Rumanian´ are thus interchangeable.

The first known record on Vlachs is contained in a note from the 8th century, found in the monastery of Kastamunitu; it mentions Vlachs living in the valley of the Rhinos. The following record is not earlier than from 976 AD. It was written by the Byzantine historian Ioan Skylitzes and relates that David, the son of prince Nikola, had been murdered by some Vlach wayfarers in the region between lake Prispa and Kastoria, near a place called ABeautiful Oaks@ in northern Greece.

In Serbia, 40 documents (deeds of gift, Ahrišovs@) are known which mention Vlachs living in different parts of the country, but the deeds of gift of the largest monasteries which had Vlachs in their territories have not yet been found. These documents were written by Serbian kings and noblemen. From the 12th century, one is known, from the 13th, six, from the 14th, 27, and from the first half of the 15th, six. The oldest hri-AÕov dates from 1198B1199 AD and mentions, among other things, that the Vlachs who belonged to the monastery of Hilander were organized in jurisdictions (sudstvo). They lived in the region of Prizren.

A deed of gift from about 1220 AD, written by the first crowned king of Serbia, Štefan, was preserved on the walls of the monastery of -Aði…a, founded by Štefan. This document mentions the names of 200 Vlachs who were living west of Kosovo Polje along the upper course of the river Lim. Dragomir states that Anot one of these names has an Arumanian character, on the contrary, the pattern of ´Mic´ compells us to think of the dialects in the north.@ Many names found in this deed of gift are Slavic but only a few are Greek. Of the placenames in this document, three survived to this day: Batina, Bukorovac, and Bun.

A deed of gift given by king Štefan Milutin about 1230 AD to the monastery of Banjska in Kosovo Polje describes the Alaw of the Vlachs@. From the text of this law it is apparent that the Vlachs were shepherds and occupied themselves with agriculture to a limited extent. Some of them also followed the trade of wayfarers (kjelatori). In the same document, the frontiers of a territory in Kijevo, called zemlja vlaška (-A´Vlach territory´) are described in detail.

Three of the deeds of gift written by Štefan Dušan distinguish between Vlachs and Serbs. The two populations are named separately: AVlachs as well as Serbs.@ Several documents mention Vlachs together with Albanians, as two distinct populations, but living in the vicinity of each other.

The earliest mention of the Vlachs living in the region between the rivers Timok and Morava is from 1198 AD, in a report written by Ansbertus on the journey of Fredrik Barbarossa. This region was annexed by the Serbians in 1292, by King Milutin. In Serbian documents, it is not often mentioned. There are also records of Vlachs living northwest of Niš from the year 1382 and in the district of Ku…evo from 1428.

About 1521, the Turkish Sultan Soliman made a law (Canun name) in which the rights of the Vlachs living between Brani…evo and Vidin were defined. These Vlachs were enrolled in the Turkish army and, consequently, enjoyed special privileges.

The Vlach population recorded in the Serbian deeds of gift from the 12th to the 15th centuries left behind a large number of placenames and personal names which are still in use by the Serbians. Of these names we list those mentioned by Dragomir (table 2, pp. 30B31).

Although not complete, this list, as well as the map with several other names, showing the geographical distribution of the villages in question (see map 3, p. 32) gives a good idea about the nature and the importance of these vestiges of the Vlachs in the Balkan peninsula. They are names of mountains and of (usually small) villages, reflecting the living conditions of the Vlachs in the Middle Ages. As is also known from historical records, they were shepherds, living predominantly in the high mountains, in c|tun-s, and they pursued some agriculture. (This applies to the great majority, but it did not exclude rising socially for several members of this population to the status of noblemen, and reaching high posts as functionaries etc.).

Besides these names of Northern Rumanian origin, many of which certainly existed before the Slavic colonization of the areas in question, there is another group of geographical names connected with the presence of Vlachs: the names of mountains and placenames given by the Slavs and based on the Slavic name of the Vlachs. These are found all over the territories in which also names of Rumanian origin were preserved. Of such names of mountains, we mention Vlasiƒ, Vlaško Brdo, Stari Vlah, Vlasina, Vlaninja, Vlahinja Planina; and of placenames Vlahov Katun, Valakonje, Vlahoni, Vlaškido, Vlaški Do, Vlasiƒ, Vlase, Vlasi, Vlasotinƒe, Novovlase, Vlaška Draca, (of the following villages, there are more than one with the same name:) Vlaška, Vlahi, Vlahinja.

Alunoviƒ, Barbat, Drakuloviƒi, Durmiƒi, Meruliƒi, Merulja, Mican, Serbul, Surduljani, Valnise.

The exact ages of the placenames presented above have not yet been determined. Although part of them (for example Bani-AÕor) can probably be explained by a migration from the Danube valley in the 14th or 15th century, most of them are much older. Rosetti (referring to Weigand, Duridanov, and Zaimov) mentions 35 placenames in central Bulgaria and in the region of Sofia which must be considered of Northern Rumanian origin, the Arumanian names having been eliminated. All these date back to the period between the 10th and 14th centuries.

Relevant for the problem discussed here are the wanderings of the Vlachs. As shepherds, the Vlachs were used to a high degree of mobility. Part of them practised what in Rumanian is called transhuman-AÛ| i.e., they had a certain sommer grazing place in the mountains and moved with their animals each autumn to a winter grazing place in the lowlands.

(a) Documents. C King Uroš Milutin (1282B1298) disposed in a deed of gift given to the monastery of Hilander that everybody coming to the kingdom, Abe he parikoi, Vlach, or any foreigner, must belong to the holy Church.@ Also documents from Ragusa tell us about the migrations of the Vlachs in the 14th and 15th centuries. AIn 1332, a monk promised to the inhabitants of Ragusa to induce the Vlachs from fifty villages (c|tun-s) to settle in their territory. In Stagno, the Vlachs came not only in order to spend the winter with their flocks there, but some of them also settled in the area (in the 14th century).@

(b) The Jire…ek line (see map 4, p. 50). C All Vlach settlements south of the frontier between the Latin and Greek languages (in Rhodope, in the valley of the Marica, on the coasts of the Black Sea, etc.) must be the result of migratory movements.

(c) The placenames. C Vladimir Skariƒ showed that Athere existed, in fact, also before the Turkish invasion, a permanent migration from the east to the northwest, of not only of Serbs but also of Vlachs.@

This is evidenced by placenames in Montenegro and Bosnia which have their counterpart in Kosovo or in the vicinity of Prizren. For example, the name Drobnjaci in Montenegro corresponds to the name of a hill in Kosovo; not far from Gacko, there is a village named Nadiniƒi, a name probably derived from Nadih-nin-Laz, mentioned in a deed of gift by Štefan Dušan as a placename in the vicinity of the Vlach c|tun Golubovac, near Prizren.

Thus, the settlements of the Vlach population in the western parts of the Balkan peninsula are Athe result of a long historical process, the contours of which, however, may be deciphered.@ The paths of the shepherds also served as paths of migration, which explains this slow and protracted expansion.

The study of the placenames also suggests migration of Vlachs from the Balkan peninsula to Pannonia. On the basis of Northern Rumanian placenames in Pannonia, mentioned in medieval documents, Dr|ganu assumed that these Vlachs came from Moesia Superior, in an age from which no historical records exist. Thus, for example, documents mention a Avilla Vlach@ near Sirmium in 1295 and a river Valachyza in 1292. In 1406, Radulfalva is mentioned, and in 1395, in the same area, Ušurinc. This name calls to mind Ušur, the son of Ivan Borojeviƒ (Rumanian u-AÕure = uÕor ´light weight´). The placename UÕurei, for example, is found in Vîlcea and in MehedinÛi. The name Zemena in Pannonia is not rhotacized (the n is preserved rather than changed to r ) , which indicates that its inhabitants cannot have come from the region of RudnikBDrinjaca, but came probably from the area of the rivers Timok and Morava, where the dialect of the Vlachs is not rhotacized.

The causes of this prolonged and universal migration of the Vlach population are to be sought in their way of life and social situation: they were shepherds and belonged in Bulgaria as well as in Serbia to the lower classes, being mostly dependent on their landlords or the church. ABecause of this, they try to flee from one landlord to the other, using shepherds-A´ routes which they know very well. Good pastures and more favourable living conditions were always decisive.@

6. DOCUMENTS ON THE SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN VLACHS AND ALBANIANS

Many documents in Serbia, written in the 13th to 15th centuries, mention Albanians, Vlachs, and often also Serbians living in the same areas. Although no written record is known from earlier periods, certain cirumstances indicate that the VlachoBAlbanian symbiosis is of an ancient date:

Besides toponyms and personal names, some lexical elements were also transferred from the language of the Vlachs to the Albanian population living in the region mentioned above. Jokl described this Rumanian influence on the Albanian dialects spoken along the Drina. There are, for example: Albanian lemnj -A´reel´, cf. Rumanian lemne, the plural of lemn ´wood´; Alb. me trase ´to draw up´, cf. Rum. tras, the past participle of trag ´I draw´; Alb. fi…or ´boy who helps the shepherd making cheese´, cf. N. Rum. (dialectal) ficior ´boy, lad´; Alb. gjëndërë ´glandule´, cf. Rum. ghindur| ´tonsil, ganglion, glandule´ (this Rumanian word was also transferred to Serbo-Croatian: glindura).

Map 4. Southeastern Europe in the 9th century AD (after Atlas zur Welt-geschichte, Georg Westermann, Braunschweig.) B In the Carpathian Basin, Avars, Danubian Slovenes, Bavarian-Franks, Moravians, Bulgarians, and Gepidae were living.

THE ORIGINS OF THE RUMANIANS