Illyria
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Illyria (Ancient Greek Ἰλλυρία; Latin: Illyria[1]; see also Illyricum) was in Classical antiquity a region in the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula, inhabited by the Illyrians, a heterogeneous coalition of tribes, about whom very little is known, but who are assumed to have been united by a common Illyrian language.[2][3][4]
Illyria and the Illyrians are prehistoric and known from archaeological evidence only prior to the Roman conquest in 168 BC. "Illyria" is thus a designation of a roughly defined region of the western Balkans as seen from a Roman perspective, just as Magna Germania is a rough geographic term not delineated by any linguistic or ethnic unity.
In the first decades under Byzantine rule (until 461), Illyria suffered the devastation of raids by Visigoths, Huns, and Ostrogoths. Not long after these barbarian invaders swept through the Balkans, the Slavs appeared. Between the 6th and 8th centuries they settled in Illyrian territories and proceeded to assimilate Illyrian tribes in much of what is now Albania,Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Polog valley in The Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia.
In Greek mythology, the name of Illyria is aitiologically traced to an Illyrius, the son of Cadmus and Harmonia, who eventually ruled Illyria and became the eponymous ancestor of the Illyrians.
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[edit] Illyrian kingdom
The Illyrian king Bardyllis[5] turned Illyria into a formidable local power in the 4th century BC. The main cities of the Illyrian kingdom were Scodra (present-day Shkodra, Albania) and Rhizon (present-day Risan, Montenegro). In 359 BC, King Perdiccas III of Macedon was killed[6] by attacking Illyrians.
But in 358 BC, Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, defeated the Illyrians[7] and assumed control of their territory north and west of Lake Ohrid. Alexander himself routed the forces of the Illyrian chieftain Cleitus the Illyrian in 335 BC, and Illyrian tribal leaders and soldiers accompanied Alexander on his conquest of Persia.
After Alexander's death in 323 BC, independent Illyrian kingdoms again arose. In 312 BC, King Glaukias seized Epidamnus. By the end of the 3rd century BC, an Illyrian kingdom based in Scodra (now a city in Albania) controlled parts of northern Albania, Montenegro, and Herzegovina. Under Queen Teuta[8], Illyrians attacked Roman merchant vessels plying the Adriatic Sea and gave Rome an excuse to invade[9] the Balkans. In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC and 219 BC, Rome overran the Illyrian settlements around its capital Shkodër and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe. In 180 BC, the Dalmatians declared themselves independent of the Illyrian king Gentius, who kept his capital at Scodra.
[edit] Roman Illyria
The Romans defeated Gentius, the last king of Illyria, at Scodra in 168 BC and captured him, bringing him to Rome in 165 BC. Four client-republics were set up, which were in fact ruled by Rome. Later, the region was directly governed by Rome and organized as a province, with Scodra as its capital.
The Roman province of Illyricum replaced the formerly independent kingdom of Illyria. It stretched from the Drilon river in modern Albania to Istria (Croatia) in the west and to the Sava river (Croatia) in the north. Salona (near modern Split in Croatia) functioned as its capital.
After crushing a revolt of Pannonians and Daesitiates, Roman administrators dissolved the province of Illyricum and divided its lands between the new provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south.
[edit] Legacy
After the province of Illyricum was divided into Dalmatia and Pannonia in 10, the terms "Illyria" and "Illyrian" would generally go out of use, but would still be used in some circles. The name Illyria was revived by Napoleon for the "Provinces of Illyria" that were incorporated into the French Empire from 1809 to 1813, and the Kingdom of Illyria was part of Austria until 1849, after which time it was not used in the reorganised Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The land of Illyria is the setting for William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Jean-Paul Sartre's Les Mains Sales and in Lloyd Alexander's The Illyrian Adventure ISBN 0-14-130313-1.
[edit] See also
- Illyrian warfare
- History of the Balkans
- Roman province of Illyricum
- Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum
- Diocese of Illyricum
- Illyrian provinces
- Kingdom of Illyria
[edit] Notes
- ^ Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary at Perseus, Illyria
- ^ Apollodorus, III, 61
- ^ Wilkes, J.J. (1992). The Illyrians. p. 183. ISBN 0631198075. "... We may begin with the Venetic peoples, Veneti, Carni, Histri and Liburni, whose language set them apart from the rest of the Illyrians. ..."
- ^ Wilkes, J.J. (1992). The Illyrians. p. 81. ISBN 0631198075. "... " In Roman Pannonia the Latobici and Varciani who dwelt east of the Venetic Catari in the upper Sava valley were Celtic but the Colapiani of the Colapis (Kulpa) valley were Illyrians ( ..."
- ^ Borza, Eugene N. (1990). In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon. p. 180. ISBN 0691008809. Amyntas had barely seized the throne in 394/3 when he found his kingdom under attack by a powerful Illyrian force, probably led by Bardylis, king of the Dardanii.
- ^ Orrieux, Claude (1999). A History Of Ancient Greece. p. 256. ISBN 0631203095. Perdiccas III (368-359) tried to reconquer upper Macedonia from the Illyrians under Bardylis, but the expedition ended in disaster, with the king killed.
- ^ Woodward, B.B. (1993). Encyclopedia of Great Events, Places and Personalities. p. 175. ISBN 8185066574. "BARDYLIS, king of, defeated and killed by Philip of Macedonia, 359 - CLEITUS, his son, revolts from Alexander and is subdued.
- ^ Wilkes, J.J. (1992). The Illyrians. p. 129. ISBN 0631198075. "... mainly because no coins are known to have been issued by Illyrian rulers of a later period such as Agron, Teuta, Scerdilaidas, etc. ..."
- ^ Wilkes, J.J. (1992). The Illyrians. p. 189. ISBN 0631198075. "... These were the true causes for the war, but for public consumption it was the insult to Roman ambassadors. This was not to be the only occasion a Roman army was sent across the Adriatic for battle practice. ..."
[edit] References
- Wilkes, John (1992). The Illyrians. Oxford: Blackwell Press. ISBN 0-631-14671-7.
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