Dalmatia was a Roman province. Its name is derived from the name of an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae, which lived in the central area of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It encompassed the northern part of present-day Albania, much of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, thus covering an area significantly larger than the current Croatian and Montenegrin region of Dalmatia. Originally this region was called Illyria (in Greek) or Illyricum (in Latin).
| Provincia Dalmatia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province of the Roman Empire | |||||||||
| 32 BC–c. 640 AD | |||||||||
 Province of Dalmatia within the Empire | |||||||||
| Capital | Salona | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||
• 19–16 BC (first) | Publius Silius Nerva | ||||||||
• 480–481/2 (last) | Ovida | ||||||||
| Historical era | Antiquity | ||||||||
• Illyrian Wars | 220 BC–168 BC | ||||||||
• Established | 32 BC | ||||||||
• Disestablished | c. 640 AD | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The province of Illyricum was dissolved and replaced by two separate provinces: Dalmatia and Pannonia.
Conquest
The region which ran along the coast of the Adriatic Sea and extended inland on the Dinaric Alps was called Illyria by the Greeks. Originally, the Romans also called the area Illyria and later, Illyricum. The Romans fought three Illyrian Wars (229 BC, 219/8 BC and 168 BC) mainly against the kingdom of the Ardiaei to the south of the region. In 168 BC, they abolished this kingdom and divided it into three republics. The area became a Roman protectorate. The central and northern area of the region engaged in piracy and raided north-eastern Italy. In response, Octavian (who later became the emperor Augustus) conducted a series of campaigns in Illyricum (35–33 BC). The area became the Roman senatorial province of Illyricum probably in 27 BC. Due to troubles in the northern part of the region in 16–10 BC, it became an imperial province. The administrative organisation of Illyricum was carried out late in the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD) and early in the reign of Tiberius (14–37 AD).
Part of Illyricum
Due to Octavian having subdued the more inland region of Pannonia (along the mid-course of the River Danube), the Romans changed the name of the coastal area to Dalmatia. In 6–9 AD, there was a large scale rebellion in the province of Illyricum, the Bellum Batonianum (Batonian War).Velleius Paterculus describes Gaius Vibius Postumus as the military commander of Dalmatia under Germanicus in 9 AD; this is the earliest extant writing which indicates that the province of Illyricum comprised Dalmatia and Pannonia.
The province of Illyricum was eventually dissolved and replaced by two smaller provinces: Dalmatia (the southern area) and Pannonia (the northern and Danubian area). It is unclear when this happened. Kovác noted that an inscription on the base of a statue of Nero erected between 54 and 68 AD attests that it was erected by the veteran of a legion stationed in Pannonia and argues that this is the first epigraphic evidence that a separate Pannonia existed at least since the reign of Nero.[full citation needed] However, Šašel-Kos notes that an inscription attests a governor of Illyricum under the reign of Claudius (41–54 AD) and in a military diploma published in the late 1990s, dated July 61 AD, units of auxiliaries from the Pannonian part of the province were mentioned as being stationed in Illyricum. Some other diplomas attest the same. This was during the reign of Nero (54–68 AD). Therefore, Šašel-Kos supports the notion that the province was dissolved during the reign of Vespasian (69–79 AD).
Administrative changes
In 337, when Constantine the Great died, the Roman Empire was partitioned among his sons. The empire was divided into three praetorian prefectures: the Galliae; Italia, Africa et Illyricum; and Oriens. The size of the provinces had been decreased and their number doubled by Diocletian. The provinces were also grouped in dioceses. Dalmatia became one of the seven provinces of the diocese of Pannonia. Initially, it was under the praetorian prefecture of Italy, Africa and Illyricum. It seems that the three dioceses of Macedonia, Dacia and Pannonia were first grouped together in a separate praetorian prefecture in 347 by Constans by removing them from the praetorian prefecture of Italy, Africa and Illyricum (which then became the praetorian prefecture of Italy and Africa) or that this praetorian prefecture was formed in 343 when Constans appointed a prefect for Italy.
Romanization
German historian Theodor Mommsen wrote (in his The Provinces of the Roman Empire) that coastal Dalmatia and its islands were fully romanized and Latin-speaking by the 4th century.
The Croatian historian Aleksandar Stipčević writes that analysis of archaeological material from that period has shown that the process of romanization was rather selective. While urban centers, both coastal and inland, were almost completely romanized, the situation in the countryside was completely different. Despite the Illyrians being subject to a strong process of acculturation, they continued to speak their native language (Illyrian language), follow their own gods and traditions, and maintain their own social-political organization, which was adapted to Roman administration and political structure only in some necessities.
Collapse
In 454 Marcellinus, a military commander in Dalmatia, rebelled against Valentinian III, the Roman emperor in the West. He seized control of Dalmatia and governed it independently until his death in 468.Julius Nepos became the governor of Dalmatia even though he was a relative of the emperor of the East, Leo I the Thracian, and Dalmatia was under the western part of the Roman empire. Dalmatia remained an autonomous area. In 474, Leo I elevated Nepos as emperor of the western part of the empire in order to depose Glycerius, a usurper emperor. Nepos deposed the usurper, but was in turn deposed in 475 by Orestes, who made his son Romulus Augustus emperor in the west. Leo I refused to recognise him and still held Julius Nepos as the emperor of the west. Romulus Augustus was deposed in 476 by Odoacer, who proclaimed himself king of Italy. Nepos remained in Dalmatia and continued to govern it until he was assassinated in 480. Ovida, a military commander, was in charge of Dalmatia thereafter. However, Odoacer used Nepos' murder as a pretext to invade Dalmatia, defeated Ovida and annexed Dalmatia to his kingdom of Italy. In 488 Zeno, the new emperor of the east, sent Theodoric the Great, the king of the Ostrogoths, to Italy so as to depose Odoacer. Zeno also wanted to get rid of the Ostrogoths, who were Roman allies and were settled in the eastern part of the empire, but were becoming restless and difficult to manage. Theodoric fought a four-year war in Italy, killed Odoacer, settled his people in Italy and established the Ostrogothic Kingdom there. Dalmatia and the rest of the former diocese of Pannonia came under the Ostrogothic Kingdom.
List of governors of Dalmatia
- Publius Silius, son of Publius: between 19 and 16 BC
- Gaius Vibius Postumus: c.9 or 10 AD, first governor
- Marcus Servilius, son of Gaius, probably before 14 AD
- Publius Cornelius Dolabella: 14–20
- Lucius Volusius Saturninus: 20–37
- Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus: c. AD 41
- Gaius Calpetanus Rantius Sedatus: c. AD 48
- Aulus Ducenius Geminus: AD 67/68 or before
- Marcus Pompeius Silvanus Staberius Flavinus: 67/68—70
- Lucius Plotius Pegasus: 70/71–72/73
- Lucius Funisulanus Vettonianus: 79/80–81/82
- Gaius Cilnius Proculus: between 87 and 97
- Quintus Pomponius Rufus: 92/93–94/95
- Macer: 98/99–99/100
- Gaius Minicius Fundanus: after 107, probably 108/109–111/112
- Publius Coelius Balbinus Vibullius Pius: after 137
- Marcus Aemilius Papus: 147—150
- Titus Prifernius Paetus Rosianus Geminus: 153–156
- Sextus Aemilius Equester: 159–162
- : 164–169
- Pollienus Auspex: c. 173–175
- Marcus Didius Iulianus: c. 175–177
- Gaius Vettius Sabinianus Julius Hospes: c. 177–178
- Gaius Arrius Antoninus: c. 178–179
- : c. 179–182
- : c. 182–184
- Marcus Cassius Apronianus: after 185
- Marcus Nummius Umbrius Primus Senecio Albinus: 212–214
- : c. 214–216
- Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus: c. 223–225
- : between 222 and 235
- Lucius Domitius Gallicanus Papinianus: c. 238
Independent rulers in the 5th century
- Marcellinus: 454–468
- Julius Nepos: 468–480
- Ovida: 480–481/482
Notes
- Livy, The History of Rome, 45.26.11-15
- Appian, The Foreign Wars, The Illyrian Wars, 10.18-27
- Cassius Dio, Roman History, 48.11,, 49.37-38
- Cassius Dio, Roman History, 54. 24.3, 28.1-2 31.2-3, 36.2 3, 55.2.4
- Velleius Paterculus, Compendium of Roman History, 2.96.2‑3
- Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 2.25-26, 28
- Cassius Dio, Roman History, 55.29-32. 34.4
- Velleius Paterculus, Compendium of Roman History, 2.116.3
- [73][74]
- Dusanic, S., An Early Diploma Milirare, Starinar (1998) 51-62 = AE 1998, 1056 = M
- Holder R., P Roman Military Diplomas IV (2003), no. 202
- Šašel-Kos, Pannonia or Lower Illyricum? Tyche Beitrage zur Alten Geschichte, Paryrologie und Epigraphik, Band 25.2010, pp. 123-130
- Barnes, Constantine: Dynastyr, Religion and Power in the Later Roman Empire, p. 160, 2011
- Theodor Mommsen; William Purdie Dickson; Francis Haverfield (1886). The Provinces of the Roman Empire: From Caesar to Diocletian. Gorgias Press LLC. pp. 203–. ISBN 978-1-59333-025-5.
- A. Stipčević, Iliri, Školska knjiga Zagreb, 1974, page 70
- Damascius, Epitome Photiana, 91, fragments 158
- Bury, J. B., History of the Later Roman Empire, p. 408.
- Burns, T., (1984). A History of the Ostrogoths (1984), p. 44
- CIL III, 2973, CIL III, 10017
- Syme, Ronald (1989). The Augustan Aristocracy. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-814731-2.
- Dzino, Danijel (21 January 2010). Illyricum in Roman Politics, 229 BC-AD 68. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-19419-8.
- Unless otherwise stated, the names of the proconsular governors from 69 to 139 are taken from Werner Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", Chiron, 12 (1982), pp. 281–362; 13 (1983), pp. 147-237
- Unless otherwise stated, the names of the proconsular governors from 147 to 182 are taken from Géza Alföldy, Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antoninen (Bonn: Rudolf Habelt Verlag, 1977), pp. 224-227
- Unless otherwise stated, the names of the proconsular governors from 182 to 235 are taken from Paul Leunissen, Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander (Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben, 1989), pp. 240f
Bibliography
- Appian, the Foreign Wars, The Illyrian wars, Book 10, The Illyrian Wars; Loeb Classical Library, Vol II, Books 8.2-12, Harvard University Press, 1912; ISBN 978-0674990043 [1]
- Barnes, T., The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine, Harvard University Press, 1982; ISBN 978-0674280663
- Barnes, T., Constantine: Dynasty, Religion and Power in the Later Roman Empire (Blackwell Ancient Lives), Wiley-Blackwell, reprint edition, 2013; ISBN 978-1118782750
- Cassius Dio, Roman History, Vol 6, Books 51-65 (Loeb Classical Library), Loeb, 1989; ISBN 978-0674990920 [2]
- MacGeorge, P., Late Roman Warlords. Oxford University Press, 2002; ISBN 0-19-925244-0.
- Gračanin, Hrvoje (2015). "Late Antique Dalmatia and Pannonia in Cassiodorus' Variae". Povijesni prilozi. 49: 9–80.
- Gračanin, Hrvoje (2016). "Late Antique Dalmatia and Pannonia in Cassiodorus' Variae (Addenda)". Povijesni prilozi. 50: 191–198.
- Notitia Dignitarum, BiblioLife, 2009; ISBN 978-1113370082
- Papazoglu, Fanula (1978). The Central Balkan Tribes in pre-Roman Times: Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians. Amsterdam: Hakkert. ISBN 9789025607937.
- Wozniak, Frank E. (1981). "East Rome, Ravenna and Western Illyricum: 454-536 A.D." Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 30 (3): 351–382.
Sources and external links
- Map
- Map
Dalmatia was a Roman province Its name is derived from the name of an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae which lived in the central area of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea It encompassed the northern part of present day Albania much of Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro and Serbia thus covering an area significantly larger than the current Croatian and Montenegrin region of Dalmatia Originally this region was called Illyria in Greek or Illyricum in Latin Provincia DalmatiaProvince of the Roman Empire32 BC c 640 ADProvince of Dalmatia within the EmpireCapitalSalonaGovernmentGovernor 19 16 BC first Publius Silius Nerva 480 481 2 last OvidaHistorical eraAntiquity Illyrian Wars220 BC 168 BC Established32 BC Disestablishedc 640 ADPreceded by Succeeded byIllyricum Roman province Ostrogothic Kingdom The province of Illyricum was dissolved and replaced by two separate provinces Dalmatia and Pannonia ConquestThe region which ran along the coast of the Adriatic Sea and extended inland on the Dinaric Alps was called Illyria by the Greeks Originally the Romans also called the area Illyria and later Illyricum The Romans fought three Illyrian Wars 229 BC 219 8 BC and 168 BC mainly against the kingdom of the Ardiaei to the south of the region In 168 BC they abolished this kingdom and divided it into three republics The area became a Roman protectorate The central and northern area of the region engaged in piracy and raided north eastern Italy In response Octavian who later became the emperor Augustus conducted a series of campaigns in Illyricum 35 33 BC The area became the Roman senatorial province of Illyricum probably in 27 BC Due to troubles in the northern part of the region in 16 10 BC it became an imperial province The administrative organisation of Illyricum was carried out late in the reign of Augustus 27 BC 14 AD and early in the reign of Tiberius 14 37 AD Part of IllyricumDue to Octavian having subdued the more inland region of Pannonia along the mid course of the River Danube the Romans changed the name of the coastal area to Dalmatia In 6 9 AD there was a large scale rebellion in the province of Illyricum the Bellum Batonianum Batonian War Velleius Paterculus describes Gaius Vibius Postumus as the military commander of Dalmatia under Germanicus in 9 AD this is the earliest extant writing which indicates that the province of Illyricum comprised Dalmatia and Pannonia The province of Illyricum was eventually dissolved and replaced by two smaller provinces Dalmatia the southern area and Pannonia the northern and Danubian area It is unclear when this happened Kovac noted that an inscription on the base of a statue of Nero erected between 54 and 68 AD attests that it was erected by the veteran of a legion stationed in Pannonia and argues that this is the first epigraphic evidence that a separate Pannonia existed at least since the reign of Nero full citation needed However Sasel Kos notes that an inscription attests a governor of Illyricum under the reign of Claudius 41 54 AD and in a military diploma published in the late 1990s dated July 61 AD units of auxiliaries from the Pannonian part of the province were mentioned as being stationed in Illyricum Some other diplomas attest the same This was during the reign of Nero 54 68 AD Therefore Sasel Kos supports the notion that the province was dissolved during the reign of Vespasian 69 79 AD Administrative changesDalmatia in the 4th century In 337 when Constantine the Great died the Roman Empire was partitioned among his sons The empire was divided into three praetorian prefectures the Galliae Italia Africa et Illyricum and Oriens The size of the provinces had been decreased and their number doubled by Diocletian The provinces were also grouped in dioceses Dalmatia became one of the seven provinces of the diocese of Pannonia Initially it was under the praetorian prefecture of Italy Africa and Illyricum It seems that the three dioceses of Macedonia Dacia and Pannonia were first grouped together in a separate praetorian prefecture in 347 by Constans by removing them from the praetorian prefecture of Italy Africa and Illyricum which then became the praetorian prefecture of Italy and Africa or that this praetorian prefecture was formed in 343 when Constans appointed a prefect for Italy RomanizationGerman historian Theodor Mommsen wrote in his The Provinces of the Roman Empire that coastal Dalmatia and its islands were fully romanized and Latin speaking by the 4th century The Croatian historian Aleksandar Stipcevic writes that analysis of archaeological material from that period has shown that the process of romanization was rather selective While urban centers both coastal and inland were almost completely romanized the situation in the countryside was completely different Despite the Illyrians being subject to a strong process of acculturation they continued to speak their native language Illyrian language follow their own gods and traditions and maintain their own social political organization which was adapted to Roman administration and political structure only in some necessities CollapseIndependent Dalmatia Extent of Marcellinus Control 454 468 Julius Nepos Control 468 480 and Ovida 480 In 454 Marcellinus a military commander in Dalmatia rebelled against Valentinian III the Roman emperor in the West He seized control of Dalmatia and governed it independently until his death in 468 Julius Nepos became the governor of Dalmatia even though he was a relative of the emperor of the East Leo I the Thracian and Dalmatia was under the western part of the Roman empire Dalmatia remained an autonomous area In 474 Leo I elevated Nepos as emperor of the western part of the empire in order to depose Glycerius a usurper emperor Nepos deposed the usurper but was in turn deposed in 475 by Orestes who made his son Romulus Augustus emperor in the west Leo I refused to recognise him and still held Julius Nepos as the emperor of the west Romulus Augustus was deposed in 476 by Odoacer who proclaimed himself king of Italy Nepos remained in Dalmatia and continued to govern it until he was assassinated in 480 Ovida a military commander was in charge of Dalmatia thereafter However Odoacer used Nepos murder as a pretext to invade Dalmatia defeated Ovida and annexed Dalmatia to his kingdom of Italy In 488 Zeno the new emperor of the east sent Theodoric the Great the king of the Ostrogoths to Italy so as to depose Odoacer Zeno also wanted to get rid of the Ostrogoths who were Roman allies and were settled in the eastern part of the empire but were becoming restless and difficult to manage Theodoric fought a four year war in Italy killed Odoacer settled his people in Italy and established the Ostrogothic Kingdom there Dalmatia and the rest of the former diocese of Pannonia came under the Ostrogothic Kingdom List of governors of DalmatiaPublius Silius son of Publius between 19 and 16 BC Gaius Vibius Postumus c 9 or 10 AD first governor Marcus Servilius son of Gaius probably before 14 AD Publius Cornelius Dolabella 14 20 Lucius Volusius Saturninus 20 37 Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus c AD 41 Gaius Calpetanus Rantius Sedatus c AD 48 Aulus Ducenius Geminus AD 67 68 or before Marcus Pompeius Silvanus Staberius Flavinus 67 68 70 Lucius Plotius Pegasus 70 71 72 73 Lucius Funisulanus Vettonianus 79 80 81 82 Gaius Cilnius Proculus between 87 and 97 Quintus Pomponius Rufus 92 93 94 95 Macer 98 99 99 100 Gaius Minicius Fundanus after 107 probably 108 109 111 112 Publius Coelius Balbinus Vibullius Pius after 137 Marcus Aemilius Papus 147 150 Titus Prifernius Paetus Rosianus Geminus 153 156 Sextus Aemilius Equester 159 162 164 169 Pollienus Auspex c 173 175 Marcus Didius Iulianus c 175 177 Gaius Vettius Sabinianus Julius Hospes c 177 178 Gaius Arrius Antoninus c 178 179 c 179 182 c 182 184 Marcus Cassius Apronianus after 185 Marcus Nummius Umbrius Primus Senecio Albinus 212 214 c 214 216 Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus c 223 225 between 222 and 235 Lucius Domitius Gallicanus Papinianus c 238Independent rulers in the 5th century Marcellinus 454 468 Julius Nepos 468 480 Ovida 480 481 482NotesLivy The History of Rome 45 26 11 15 Appian The Foreign Wars The Illyrian Wars 10 18 27 Cassius Dio Roman History 48 11 49 37 38 Cassius Dio Roman History 54 24 3 28 1 2 31 2 3 36 2 3 55 2 4 Velleius Paterculus Compendium of Roman History 2 96 2 3 Pliny the Elder Natural History 2 25 26 28 Cassius Dio Roman History 55 29 32 34 4 Velleius Paterculus Compendium of Roman History 2 116 3 73 74 Dusanic S An Early Diploma Milirare Starinar 1998 51 62 AE 1998 1056 M Holder R P Roman Military Diplomas IV 2003 no 202 Sasel Kos Pannonia or Lower Illyricum Tyche Beitrage zur Alten Geschichte Paryrologie und Epigraphik Band 25 2010 pp 123 130 Barnes Constantine Dynastyr Religion and Power in the Later Roman Empire p 160 2011 Theodor Mommsen William Purdie Dickson Francis Haverfield 1886 The Provinces of the Roman Empire From Caesar to Diocletian Gorgias Press LLC pp 203 ISBN 978 1 59333 025 5 A Stipcevic Iliri Skolska knjiga Zagreb 1974 page 70 Damascius Epitome Photiana 91 fragments 158 Bury J B History of the Later Roman Empire p 408 Burns T 1984 A History of the Ostrogoths 1984 p 44 CIL III 2973 CIL III 10017 Syme Ronald 1989 The Augustan Aristocracy Clarendon Press ISBN 978 0 19 814731 2 Dzino Danijel 21 January 2010 Illyricum in Roman Politics 229 BC AD 68 Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 19419 8 Unless otherwise stated the names of the proconsular governors from 69 to 139 are taken from Werner Eck Jahres und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69 70 bis 138 139 Chiron 12 1982 pp 281 362 13 1983 pp 147 237 Unless otherwise stated the names of the proconsular governors from 147 to 182 are taken from Geza Alfoldy Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antoninen Bonn Rudolf Habelt Verlag 1977 pp 224 227 Unless otherwise stated the names of the proconsular governors from 182 to 235 are taken from Paul Leunissen Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander Amsterdam J C Gieben 1989 pp 240fBibliographyAppian the Foreign Wars The Illyrian wars Book 10 The Illyrian Wars Loeb Classical Library Vol II Books 8 2 12 Harvard University Press 1912 ISBN 978 0674990043 1 Barnes T The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine Harvard University Press 1982 ISBN 978 0674280663 Barnes T Constantine Dynasty Religion and Power in the Later Roman Empire Blackwell Ancient Lives Wiley Blackwell reprint edition 2013 ISBN 978 1118782750 Cassius Dio Roman History Vol 6 Books 51 65 Loeb Classical Library Loeb 1989 ISBN 978 0674990920 2 MacGeorge P Late Roman Warlords Oxford University Press 2002 ISBN 0 19 925244 0 Gracanin Hrvoje 2015 Late Antique Dalmatia and Pannonia in Cassiodorus Variae Povijesni prilozi 49 9 80 Gracanin Hrvoje 2016 Late Antique Dalmatia and Pannonia in Cassiodorus Variae Addenda Povijesni prilozi 50 191 198 Notitia Dignitarum BiblioLife 2009 ISBN 978 1113370082 Papazoglu Fanula 1978 The Central Balkan Tribes in pre Roman Times Triballi Autariatae Dardanians Scordisci and Moesians Amsterdam Hakkert ISBN 9789025607937 Wozniak Frank E 1981 East Rome Ravenna and Western Illyricum 454 536 A D Historia Zeitschrift fur Alte Geschichte 30 3 351 382 Sources and external linksMap Map
