Strabo: The Geography - Illyria - 'The Ardiaei were called by the men of later times "Vardiaei." Because they pestered the sea through their piratical bands, the Romans pushed them back from it into the interior and forced them to till the soil. But the country is rough and poor and not suited to a farming population, and therefore the tribe has been utterly ruined and in fact has almost been obliterated. And this is what befell the rest of the peoples in that part of the world; for those who were most powerful in earlier times were utterly humbled or were obliterated, as, for example, among the Galatae the Boii and the Scordistae,
and among the Illyrians the Autariatae, Ardiaei, and Dardanii, and among the Thracians the Triballi; that is, they were reduced in warfare by one another at first and then later by the Macedonians and the Romans'
Strabo's geography - Illyria - 'The Bessi live in huts and lead a wretched life; and their country borders on Mount Rhodope, on the country of the Paeonians,
and on that of two Illyrian peoples — the Autariatae, and the Dardanians"
Strabo leaves no room for interpretation. According to Strabo Dardanians were Illyrian tribe.
Appian, The Roman History- The Illyrian Wars
"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. But I will leave these matters to antiquarians."
"Such was the punishment which the god visited upon the Illyrians and the Celts for their impiety. But they did not desist from temple robbing, for again, in conjunction with the Celts,
certain Illyrian tribes, especially the Scordisci, the Maedi, and the Dardani again invaded Macedonia and Greece together, and plundered many temples, including that of Delphi, but losing many men this time also."
Appian leaves no room for interpretation. According to Appian Dardanians were an Illyrian tribe.
Pliny the Elder: the Natural History
Epiros ipsa, ad Magnesiam Macedoniamque tendens, a tergo suo Dassaretas supra dictos, liberam gentem, mox feram Dardanos habet. Dardanis laevo Triballi praetendentur latere et Moesicae gentes, a fronte iunguntur Maedi ac Denselatae, quibus Threces ad Pontum usque pertinentes. ita succincta Rhodopes, mox et Haemi, vallatur excelsitas.
"Epirus itself, stretching towards Magnesia and Macedonia, has the free Dassaretes mentioned above, a nation at its rear, and the wild Dardanians at its rear. The Dardanians are flanked on the left by Triballus and the Moesian tribes, and the Maedi and Denselatae are joined at the front, to which the Thracians belong as far as Pontus. Thus the Rhodopes are enclosed, and soon also by the Haemians, and the heights are fenced off."
Pliny's reference is neutral as it does not specify if they were Illyrians or something else
Polybius: The Histories
"The Illyrians holding Phoenice at first united with Scerdilaïdas, and advancing to Helicranum encamped opposite the Achaeans the Aetoliansa who had come to the rescue, and were anxious to give battle. 4 But the ground was very difficult and unfavourable to them, and just at this time a dispatch came from Teuta ordering them to return home by the quickest route, as some of the Illyrians had revolted to the Dardanians."
"When he reached Pella in Macedonia,
the Dardani, hearing of his arrival from some Thracian deserters, took fright and at once dismissed their army, although they were now close to Macedonia. Philip, on learning that the Dardani had abandoned their project, sent home all his Macedonians to gather in the harvest and returning to Thessaly spent the rest of the summer at Larisa."
"Perseus sent Pleuratus the Illyrian, who had taken refuge with him, and Adaeus of Beroea, as envoys to King Genthius, with instructions to announce to him what had happened in the war he was engaged in against the Romans and
Dardanians, and for the present at least with the Epirots and Illyrians; and to solicit him to enter into an alliance with himself and the Macedonians. The envoys, crossing Mount Scardus, journeyed through the so‑called Desert Illyria, which not many years previously had been depopulated by the Macedonians in order to make it difficult for the
Dardanians to invade Illyria and Macedonia.
Polybius references leave room for interpretation. Some may interpret it as Dardanians being distinct from both Illyrians and Thracians, and some may interpret it as a separate political entity.
Polybius gave the opinion in the 2nd century BC
Strabo and Pliny the elder gave the references from 1st century AD
Appian gives an opinion from 2nd century AD
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