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The fact that has been touched on in this Compton Encyclopedia article is very monumental in the attributes of Albanians in the classical world. Accepting Albanians as the descendants of the Illyrian race brings to light many other historical and cultural achievements.
First of all, just the fact that Albanian roots go back to so long a time, more then 2000 years, and their heritage still stands strong is historical in itself. This depicts the Albanian people as a major contributor to the life in Antiquity, for they were one of the cultures that made up this world.
It has long been stated that the Illyrian people were a barbaric mountain race, uncultured in the eyes of the Ancient world. Yet, as early 384 B.C. the Illyrians or "northern people" contributed to the world of philosophy a man known as Aristotle. For as is stated in Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia Aristotle was "born in Stagira, on the northwest coast of the Aegean Sea".
The fact that the Illyrian people were not as civilized, as the ancient Greeks would put it, did not mean that Albanians were uncultured. They were mountain people that lived off the land and art, philosophy, and mathematics were not their fundamental interests. Yet the Illyrians knew war. They thrived on it and produced some of the greatest rulers, armies, and soldiers of all time. It has been said that the Illyrians drank from the skulls of their defeated enemies. War was life in Illirium.
This civilization has contributed immensely to modern culture, in leaders like Constantine, Dioclatian, and Justinian for the Roman and Byzantine Empires. And this mystical civilization was not forgotten in the pages of Shakespeare for Viola in "Twelfth Night" is stranded on the shores of Illirium. The Illyrians created an circle of power and strength in the Ancient world and revolved around it with their culture, customs, and people. Their legacy will always live on with the people of Albania.
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