Illyricum was a Roman province that existed from 27 BC to sometime during the reign of Vespasian (69–79 AD). The province comprised the regions of Illyria/Dalmatia in the south and Pannonia in the north. Illyria included the area along the east coast of the Adriatic Sea and its inland mountains. Pannonia included the northern plains that now are part of Serbia, Croatia and Hungary. Illyricum included part or all of the territories of today's Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia.
Name and etymology The term Illyrians was used to describe the inhabitants of the area as far back as the late 6th century BC by Hecataeus of Miletus.
Geography
Illyria/Dalmatia stretched from the River Drin (in modern northern Albania) to Istria (Croatia) and the River Sava in the north. The area roughly corresponded to modern northern Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and coastal Croatia (Dalmatiae). Pannonia was the plain which lies to its north, from the mountains of Illyria/Dalmatia to the westward bend of the River Danube, and included modern Vojvodina (in modern northern Serbia), northern Croatia and western Hungary. As the province developed, Salona (near modern Split, Croatia) became its capital.
Illyria stretched from the River Drilon (Drin) in modern northern Albania and the Danube in the north. It comprised the coastal plain, the mountains of the Dinaric Alps which stretch along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea for 645 kilometres (401 miles) with a width of about 150 kilometres) and, in the north-west, the Istrian Peninsula. There were numerous islands off the coast, but they lacked drinking water. The mountains were cultivated towards the coast, but for the most they were barren. Lack of water and poor or arid soil made much of Illyria poor agricultural area and this gave rise to piracy. The interior of the southern part of Illyricum (central and southern Albania) was more fertile. Illyria was inhabited by dozens of independent tribes and tribal groupings. Most of them were labelled as Illyrians. In the north there were also Celtic tribes.Wilkes, J. The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe), (1996) p. 208Chapot, V; Parker, E. E. The Roman World History of civilization (1997), p. 268Smith, W. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography The Pannonian (or Carpathian) plain in the north was more fertile. Its tribes were labelled as Pannonian. Archaeological finds and toponyms show that the Pannonians differed culturally from the Illyrians and the eastern Celts who lived to their west, in what is now Austria. They were later Celticised following a Celtic invasion of the northern part of the region at the beginning of the 4th century BC. Some tribes in the area (the Eravisci, Scordisci Cotini, Boii, and Anartii) were Celtic. The Pannonians also had cultural similarities with the Illyrians. Iron mining and production was an important part of their economy in the pre-Roman days.Mocsy, S. F, "Pannonia and Upper Moesia", in A History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman Empire, p. 152Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe), p. 203
Historical background Illyrian Wars
The Romans fought three Illyrian wars between 229 BC and 168 BC. The First Illyrian War (229–228 BC) broke out due to concerns about attacks on the ships of Rome's Italian confederates in the Adriatic Sea by Illyrian pirates and the increased power of the Ardiaei (an Illyrian tribe in today's Montenegro and northern Albania). With a powerful fleet the Ardiaei had invaded the Greek cities of Epidamnos (modern Durrës, Albania) Pharos (Stari Grad, Croatia), the island of Corfu and attacked Elis and Messenia in the Peloponnese and Phoenice in Epirus, a hub of Roman trade. Numerous attacks on Italian ships prompted Rome to intervene. The Romans freed the Greek cities and attacked the Ardiaei. Peace terms were agreed. In 220 BC the Ardiaei carried out attacks on the Greek coast in the west, south and southeast. They then attacked Roman allies in southern Illyria. This led to the Second Illyrian War (219–18 BC), which Rome won. In 168 BC, during the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) between Rome and the Kingdom of Macedon, the Ardiaei joined the fight against the Romans, but they were quickly defeated (Third Illyrian War, 168 BC). The Romans imposed a tribute equivalent to half the taxes paid to the now deposed king, excluding the cities and tribe which had allied with them.Livy, The History of Rome, 45.26.11-15
From the Illyrian Wars to the Roman Civil Wars
In 156 BC the Dalmatae made an attack of the Illyrian subjects of Rome (this source by Appian is considered ambiguous) and refused to see Roman ambassadors. The consul Gaius Marcius Figulus undertook a campaign against them. While he was preparing his camp the Dalmatae overpowered his guards and drove him out of the camp. He fled through the plain as far as the river Naro. He then hoped to catch the Dalmatae unawares as they went back home for the winter, but they had assembled because they had heard of his arrival. Still, he drove them into the city of Delminium. He could not attack this strongly fortified town. Thus he attacked other towns which were partly deserted because of the Dalmatae concentrating their forces at Delminium. He then returned to Delminium and catapulted flaming projectiles damaging and burning significant parts of the town.Appian, The Foreign Wars, The Illyrian Wars, 11 Livy's Periochae recorded the campaign of Gaius Marcius Figulus and noted that in the next year, 155 BC, the consul Scipio Nasica Corculum subdued the Dalmatae.Livy, Periochae, 47.9
In 135 BC two Illyrian tribes, the Ardiaei and the Palarii, raided Roman Illyria while the Romans were busy with the Numantine War in Hispania and the First Servile War in Sicily. The Romans sent ambassadors, but they refused to negotiate. The Romans levied an army of 10,000 infantry and 600 cavalry. The Illyrians sent ambassadors to plea for pardon. Rome asked for indemnities for the people who had been attacked. Since the Illyrians were slow to respond, the consul Servius Fulvius Flaccus marched against them. According to Appian this was only a minor expedition.Appian, The Foreign Wars, The Illyrian Wars, 10 It is likely that by Roman Illyria Appian meant four coastal towns which had a large Roman population.
In 129 BC the consul Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus and Tiberius Pandusa waged a war with the Iapydes who lived on the Alps (in the north of Illyria), and seemed to have subjugated them. However, according to Livy, Sempronius Tuditanus was at first unsuccessful, "but the defeat was compensated by a victory won through the qualities of Decimus Junius Brutus (the man who had subdued Lusitania)."Livy, Periochae, 59.20 Tuditanus was granted a triumph. He immortalized his victories with a dedication to the river god Timavus in Aquileia which bore a victory inscription in Saturnian verse, two fragments of which were found in 1906.Inscriptions from the time of the Roman Republic, translated by E.H.Warmington (1940) CIL I² 652
In a passage Appian wrote that in 119 BC the consul Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmaticus waged war against the Dalmatae even though they had not done anything wrong because he wanted a triumph. They received him as a friend and he wintered among them at the town of Salona. He returned to Rome and was awarded a triumph. In another passage he noted "Lucius Cotta (the other consul for that year) and Caecilius Metellus seemed to have subjugated the Segestani. He also noted that both the Iapydes and the Segestani revolted again shortly afterward. Caecilius Metellus was given the agnomen Dalmanticus,
In 115 BC the consul Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, conducted operations in Gallia Cisalpina against the Ligures in the west and against the Carni and Taurisci (two Gallic tribes which lived in today's Slovenia) in the east.Cornelius Nepos, De Viris Illustribus, 72.7
In 113 BC the consul Gnaeus Papirius Carbo was sent to face an invasion by the Cimbri (a Germanic tribe) which had entered into Illyricum and then into Noricum. He was defeated at the Battle of Noreia in Noricum.Appian, The Gallic Wars, 13Strabo, Geographia, V, 1.8
In 78–76 BC a certain Gaius Cosconius was sent into Illyricum as proconsul. He fought there for two years, reduced a great part of Dalmatia and seized Salona (near today's Solin, near Split, Croatia), one of the major towns in Dalmatia.Eutropius, Compendium of Roman History, 6.4Orosius, Seven Books of History Against the Pagans, 5.23 Later the Roman settlement of Colonia Martia Iulia Salona was founded, probably after the Roman civil wars.
Caesar's governorship In 59 BC the lex Vatinia assigned to the consul, Julius Caesar, the proconsulship of Gallia Cisalpina (in northern Italy) and Illyricum and the command of three legions based at Aquileia for a period of five years. When the proconsul of Gallia Narbonensis died, the senate also gave Caesar the proconsulship of that province and the command on a legion which was stationed there, also for five years.
Caesar took on his proconsulships in 58 BC. Only Gallia Narbonensis was a province in the sense of a formal administrative unit. The other two were provinces in the sense of areas of military command which were assigned to high military commanders in areas where there were rebellions or threats of attacks. In the past Liguria (which often rebelled), Bruttium (today's Calabria, where there was a chance of unrest) and Gallia Cisalpina (in case of rebellions or possible invasions) had been assigned as provinces in this sense. Aquileia was a Roman town in north-eastern Italy which was founded in 180/181 BC as an outpost to defend northern Italy against hostile and warlike peoples to the east: the Carni (Gauls who lived on the mountains of Noricum), the Taurisci (a federation of Gallic tribes which lived in today's Carniola, northern Slovenia), the Histri (a Venetic tribe, with ties with Illyrians which lived in the Istrian peninsula), and the Iapydes who lived east of Istrian Peninsula and inland from the Liburnians; the latter lived on a stretch of the Adriatic coast south of the Istrian peninsula and between the rivers Arsia (Raša) and Titius (Krka). The Carni settled in their area around 186 BC, invaded the plain on north-eastern Italy and founded the fortified town of Akileja. The Romans forced the Carni back to the mountains. They destroyed their settlement and founded Aquileia nearby, which was named after Akileja. It was also about 6 km from where an estimated 12,000 Taurisci had tried to settle in 183 BC. For the foundation of Aquileia 3,000 families were settled there. In 169 BC 1,500 more families were settled there. This settlement was grown into a sizable town and three legions were stationed there because of its strategic importance for the defence of northern Italy.