Illyria

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Illyrian tribes.

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.

Illyrian kingdom

Map of the Illyrian wars.

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 Scodra 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.

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.

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.

See also

• Illyrian warfare
• History of the Balkans
• Roman province of Illyricum
• Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum
• Diocese of Illyricum
• Illyrian provinces
• Kingdom of Illyria

Notes

References

• Wilkes, John (1992). The Illyrians. Oxford: Blackwell Press. ISBN 0-631-14671-7. 

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