Illyro-Roman is a term used in historiography and anthropological studies for the
Romanized
Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
Illyrians
The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo ...
within the ancient
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
s of
Illyricum,
Moesia
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
,
Pannonia
Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...
and
Dardania. The term 'Illyro-Roman' can also be used to describe the Roman settlers who colonized Illyricum.
Before Rome
The Illyrian tribes were considered barbarians by both the Romans and the Hellenic peoples in the southern Balkans. The term Illyrian originally denoted one tribe that lived around Lake Scutari situated along the border of
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
and
Montenegro
)
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, capital = Podgorica
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. They were considered among the vast group of barbarian peoples such as the Gauls, Germans, and Dacians. The conquest of Illyria in 168 BC, along with that of Epirus, consolidated the Roman domain over the Adriatic Sea. The mountainous geography of the region meant that the region was hard to subdue, but by 9 CE the
Great Illyrian Revolt
The (Latin for 'War of the Batos') was a military conflict fought in the Roman province of Illyricum in the 1st century AD, in which an alliance of native peoples of the two regions of Illyricum, Dalmatia and Pannonia, revolted against the Roma ...
had been quelled and from then on the region would supply large numbers of non-citizen soldiers to the Roman
Auxilia
The (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of inf ...
.
During the Empire
The Romanization of these barbarian peoples eventually transformed them into the most valuable soldiers of the Late Roman Army, with a substantial portion of the officials and generals coming from a northern balkanic background, such as Illyria, Dalmatia, Pannonia and Moesia. One emperor,
Decius
Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius ( 201 ADJune 251 AD), sometimes translated as Trajan Decius or Decius, was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 249 to 251.
A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was procla ...
, several usurpers and during the reign of
Gallienus
Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; c. 218 – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empi ...
, who started the professionalization of the high command of the army, large numbers of soldiers achieved high rank within the army. They took the place which the Senatorial order had had the privilege of holding since the time of Augustus, 250 years earlier, the command of the legions and armed provinces.
Roman colonization
Illyricum was heavily colonized by the Romans beginning in the third century BC. The Romans founded the cities of
Acruvium
Kotor (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative c ...
,
Cibalae
Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city's registered population was 28,247 in the 2021 census, the total population of the city was 31,057, making it the largest town of the county. Surrounde ...
,
Mursa
Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
,
Narona
Narona ( grc, Ναρῶνα) was an Ancient Greek trading post on the Illyrian coast and later Roman city and bishopric, located in the Neretva valley in present-day Croatia, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see.
History
It was founded a ...
,
Siscia, and established colonies at
Salona
Salona ( grc, Σάλωνα) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Salona is located in the modern town of Solin, next to Split, in Croatia.
Salona was founded in the 3rd century BC and was mostly destroyed in t ...
,
Sirmium
Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrians an ...
,
Epidaurum Epidaurus ( el, Ἐπίδαυρος, la, Epidaurum) or Epidauros was an ancient Greek colony founded sometime in the 6th century BC, renamed to Epidaurum during Roman rule in 228 BC, when it was part of the province of Illyricum (Roman province), ...
,
Aequum,
Iader
Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian language, Venetian and Italian language, Italian: ); see also Zadar#Etymology and historical names, other names), is the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously in ...
,
Rhizon Rhizon ( grc, Ῥίζων; la, Risinium) was a city in classical and Roman antiquity. Rhizon is the oldest settlement in the Bay of Kotor and the modern town of Risan (modern Montenegro) stands near the old city. Originally it was an Illyrian sett ...
, and in many other cities. These cities were colonized by Roman war veterans.
The
Illyrian emperors
The ''Illyriciani'' or Illyrian emperors were a group of Roman emperors during the Crisis of the Third Century who were of Illyrian origins and hailed from the region of Illyricum (in the western Balkans), and were raised chiefly from the ranks ...
It was from this group that the most successful emperors of the time came from and it was they who brought the
Crisis of the Third Century
The Crisis of the Third Century, also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis (AD 235–284), was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed. The crisis ended due to the military victories of Aurelian and with the ascensi ...
to an end. Examples include
Claudius II Gothicus
Marcus Aurelius Claudius "Gothicus" (10 May 214 – January/April 270), also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Battle o ...
,
Aurelian
Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited t ...
, and
Probus. There was also the case of
Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
, who was noted for undertaking large-scale political and legislative reform that restructured the Roman empire. He was born in 483 near
Skopje
Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre.
The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...
to an obscure Illyro-Roman family and became an associate emperor to his uncle, Justin I, who adopted him .The creator of the Tetrarchy
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
and his fellow Tetrarchs
Maximian
Maximian ( la, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus; c. 250 – c. July 310), nicknamed ''Herculius'', was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his ...
,
Constantius Chlorus
Flavius Valerius Constantius "Chlorus" ( – 25 July 306), also called Constantius I, was Roman emperor from 305 to 306. He was one of the four original members of the Tetrarchy established by Diocletian, first serving as caesar from 293 t ...
(father of the first Christian emperor
Constantine
Constantine most often refers to:
* Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I
*Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria
Constantine may also refer to:
People
* Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
) and
Severus II
Flavius Valerius Severus (died September 307), also called Severus II, was a Roman emperor from 306 to 307. After failing to besiege Rome, he fled to Ravenna. It is thought that he was killed there or executed near Rome.
Background and early ...
were also of Illyro-Roman background.
There are scholars who note that the military spirit and Latin education of the Roman emperors with Illyrian stock often conflicted with the contemporary ideals of an ancient culture, which is based on classical Greek.
Middle Ages
During the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, the descendants of the Illyro-Romans have influenced the growth of the
Balkan peninsula
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
.
It is said that their wandering enterprise facilitated commerce and opened ancient trade routes. These people had access to old Roman road network, which seemed to be known only among themselves.
Artifacts excavated (e.g.
sepulchral slabs) in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
showed Illyro-Roman workmanship that favored decoration that were rude almost to grotesqueness.
It is believed that Illyro-Roman inhabitants of this particular site copied the style from their ancient Illyro-Roman predecessors.
Romance linguistical remnants
*
Dalmatian language
Dalmatian () or Dalmatic (; dlm, langa dalmata, link=no or simply ; it, lingua dalmatica, dalmatico; sh, dalmatski) was a Romance language that was spoken in the Dalmatia region of present-day Croatia, and as far south as Kotor in Monteneg ...
See also
*
Culture of Ancient Rome
The culture of ancient Rome existed throughout the almost 1200-year history of the civilization of Ancient Rome. The term refers to the culture of the Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, which at its peak covered an area from present-day Lo ...
*
Legacy of the Roman Empire
The legacy of the Roman Empire has been varied and significant, comparable to that of other hegemonic polities of world history (e.g. Persian Empire, ancient Egypt or imperial China).
The Roman Empire, itself built upon the legacy of other c ...
*
Arbëreshë people
The Arbëreshë (; sq, Arbëreshët e Italisë; it, Albanesi d'Italia), also known as Albanians of Italy or Italo-Albanians, are an Albanian ethnolinguistic group in Southern Italy, mostly concentrated in scattered villages in the region ...
*
Daco-Roman
The term Daco-Roman describes the Romanization (cultural), Romanized culture of Dacia under the rule of the Roman Empire.
Etymology
The Daco-Roman mixing theory, as an origin for the Romanian people, was formulated by the earliest Romanian schol ...
*
Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...
*
Thraco-Roman The term Thraco-Roman describes the Romanized culture of Thracians under the rule of the Roman Empire.
The Odrysian kingdom of Thrace became a Roman client kingdom c. 20 BC, while the Greek city-states on the Black Sea coast came under Roman contro ...
*
Tetrarchy
The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the '' augusti'', and their juniors colleagues and designated successors, the '' caesares' ...
References
Sources
*
Illyricum (Roman province)
Croatia in the Roman era
Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Roman era
Serbia in the Roman era
Albania in the Roman era
Roman assimilation
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