Talk:Ballaios

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[edit] Bronze coin

I've seen a coin or two of his. One bronze issue (16 mm diameter) of note is the one where, on the reverse (on the observe appears his head/bust in profile), a male figure (probably meant to depict him) is holding what appears to be a large serpent in his right hand. This is interesting, because bala in Romanian means "monster" while balaur in Romanian means "dragon" (these words are among the Romanian words reckoned as Pre-Roman substrate words); bollë in Albanian means "large snake". Among the Thracians, we find the ethnonym Triballi, which at least one linguist that I know of (Paliga) interprets as "Three Dragons" (Tri + Balli), quite likely considering that a three-headed dragon is a known Thracian symbol. Ballaios, as far as I know, is only attested once among Illyrians. Maybe this is a name from Thracian, Paionian, or something else. Alexander 007 08:08, 7 December 2005 (UTC)