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Illyrians have been identified throughout Antiquity as combative people on land and sea.
But when the Illyrians had no war or quarrel with their neighbors, were prone to joys of life; they called close friends for lunch and dinner, which were made at a great expense, and where was the habit that friends drunk as long as they could and then get drunk.
Among these festivals were the women who accompanied their drunken men home. The Ardians once paid costly on food and drink.The Celts, who entered the Illyricum in 400 BC, knew this custom of the Ardians and used it perfectly for a lucid victory over them.
They prepared the "milestone", as a specialty of theirs, with food and drink, mixing in them herb that stimulate dizziness, thus putting the food and drink "friendly" at the door, supposedly they would not return again and on the other side they were waiting nearby.
The Ardians soon found that the Celts were gone, they fell prey to themselves and their cravement, as well as the enemy's intentions: they started to eat and drink, they were well-frustrated and immediately got drunk.
The Celts, then, came back, attacked them harshly
The Ardian kings usualy gave their submissive subjects a good example in the drinking custom: Agron and Gent are counted as leaders of this country; the first one died of excessive drinking and the second, when he had the cup in his hand, did not know what the mass was, so he made serious mistakes as a ruler.
The national drink of Illyrians was the beer, which was called sabaja, which was made of barley, millet, or wheat. But wine was also is drunk a lot. It is also worth mentioning the precious hospitality of the Illyrians.
A passage from the book of Karl Patsch - The Illyrians/Oculus News