Taulantii

Taulantii or Taulantians^[1] ('swallow-men'; Ancient Greek: Ταυλάντιοι, Taulantioi or Χελιδόνιοι, Chelidonioi; Latin: Taulantii) were an Illyrian people that lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania). They dominated at various times much of the plain between the rivers Drin (Drilon) and Vjosa (Aoös). Their central area was the hinterland of Epidamnos-Dyrrhachion, corresponding to present-day Tirana and the region between the valleys of Mat and Shkumbin (Genusus).^[2] The Taulantii are among the oldest attested Illyrian peoples, who established a powerful kingdom in southern Illyria.^[3] They are among the peoples who most marked Illyrian history, and thus found their place in the numerous works of historians in classical antiquity.^[4]