The Roman conquest of Illyria

The Romans came into contact with the Illyrian tribes in the last third of the III century BC. e., at the very beginning of its penetration into the Balkans. As a result of the three Illyrian wars , the coastal region of Dalmatia south of Narenta ( Neretva ) was ruled by Rome. After the formation of the province of Macedonia in 146 BC. er these lands passed under the control of her governor. Subsequent military campaigns somewhat expanded Roman possessions. In 118 BC e., or in 59 BC. er a separate Illyric province was formed. By that time, the power of the Romans extended only to the coastal areas, the internal areas still had to conquer ^[1] .

The Dalmatians attacked the Illyrian allies of Rome, and the Senate embassy, ​​sent to settle the conflict, refused to accept. In 156 BC er the consul Gaius Marcius Figul was sent against them, who at first was defeated and retreated to Narenta itself, but then drove the main enemy forces into the city of Delminius . Since this city was highly located and well fortified, the consul first took possession of other Dalmatian cities and then bombarded Delminius with incendiary shells. The war was continued by the consul 155 BC. er Scipio Nazika ^{[2] [3]} .

The tribes of the Ardeans and Palarii, who lived at the mouth of Narenta, robbed the territory subordinate to the Romans. Not having achieved through negotiations the cessation of raids and compensation for damage, the Romans sent troops in 135 BC. er Consul Guy Fulvius Flaccus conquered the Ardeans ^{[4] [5]} .

With yapods living south of the Julian Alps , 129 BC er the consul Guy Sempronius Tuditan fought. At first he was defeated, then, thanks to the valor of the legate of Decimus Junius Brutus , the conqueror of the Lusitans , he won and achieved the formal submission of this tribe ^{[4] [6]} .

In 119 BC er the Romans declared war on the Dalmatians again. According to Appian , they did not do anything unjust, but Consul Lucius Cecilius Metell wanted to receive a triumph. The Dalmatians accepted Cecilia as a friend, he wintered at them in the Salon , and in 117 BC. er made a triumph for the victory in Dalmatia ^{[2] [7]} .

In 115 BC. er Consul Mark Emilius Skavr waged a war with the Karnes ^[8] .

In 78-76 BC. er the war in Dalmatia was waged by the prophet Guy Cosconius, who captured most of the coast and took Salon ^[9] .

Against the Pannonians (apparently Segestans ) the Romans took the first campaign back in the middle of the II century BC. er According to Appian, some Cornelius commanded the army ^[10] ; presumably either Gnei Cornelius Dolabella , consul 159 BC e., or Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Loop , consul 156 BC er ^[11] . It is possible that we are talking about Cornelius Scipio Nazik, who in 155 BC. er fought a war with the Dalmatians. The campaign was extremely unfortunate, “and for a long time the subsequent consuls were scared to go to the peons (Pannontsi)” ^[10] . It is believed that the fragment of Polybius preserved by Svida belongs to this war: “Having captured the fortification at the beginning of the war, the Pannonians built a strong point from it and adapted it to the storage of prey” ^[12] .

The second campaign against the Segestans took place in 119 BC. er Appian writes that it seemed as if the Segestans had obeyed the consuls Lucius Aurelius Cotte and Lucius Cecilius Metellus ^[4] , but this was an empty formality, since the Romans “did not achieve any hostages or any other success”, while the Segestans “very much thought of yourself ” ^[13] . Some historians believed that the Romans reached the city of the Segestans of Siskia ( Sisak ), advancing from the east, from Macedonia, while others believed that the Roman troops moved from the west, from Aquileia ^[14] .

As a result of the conquest of Macedonia in 148 BC. er the Romans came to the restless Illyrian border, and from 141 BC. er They began a long period of wars with the Celtic- Skordisk , who at that time were the strongest of the tribes of Illyria.

In 135 BC er praetor Mark Coskonius successfully acted against scordisk ^[5] . In 119 BC er scordisk began raids on Macedonia. In 118 BC er they defeated the Romans at the Stobes , in this battle the praetor Sextus Pompey, probably the grandfather of Pompey the Great, died. The investor Mark Annius, collecting reinforcements, threw the enemy back. The actions of the Romans were complicated by the fact that Macedonia was soon attacked by the Dardans and Thracians , who besieged in 117 BC. er Thessaloniki . In 114 BC. er the army of the consul Guy Portia Cato was ambushed and almost completely destroyed, the commander himself barely managed to escape ^[15] .

Mark Livy Druz , Consul 112 BC e., successfully fought the Scordisk, repelling their raids, then, being in 111-110 BC. er proconsul of Macedonia, went on the offensive and, according to Flora , threw the enemy over the Danube. 110 BC er he triumphed for the victory over the Skordisk ^{[16] [17]} . In 110-107 BC er the war was continued by Mark Minucius Rufus , who achieved success in the battle of Gebra ( Maritsa ), and received in 106 BC. er triumph for victory over scordisk and triballs ^{[18] [19]} .

A decisive victory was won only in 88 BC. er Taking advantage of the difficulties of the Romans due to the outbreak of war with Mithridates , the Scordiski, together with the Dardans and honey, launched a major raid on Macedonia, broke into Greece, where they robbed many temples, including Delphi. Praetor Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiatic opposed the Scordiscus, exterminated most of them, and drove the remaining ones to Istra . With dardans and honey, he made peace, having been bribed by gold stolen in the temples ^[20] .

Caesar , who received the governorship of Gaul and Illyric under the law of Vatinius 59 BC. e., visited the province in 56 BC. er ^[21] and in 50 BC er sent a detachment to help the liburns , from whom the Dalmatians and other tribes took the city of Promon. This unit was completely destroyed by the Illyrians, and Caesar could not punish them, since the war with Pompey began ^[22] .

The Yapods refused to recognize the Roman authorities, for 20 years they twice repelled the attacks of the Romans, raided Aquileia, and in 51 BC. er sacked the colony of Tergest ( Trieste ) ^{[23] [24]} .

The power of the Romans in Illyria significantly weakened during the civil wars of the 40s BC. er In the civil war, 49-45 BC. er Roman colonies on the Adriatic coast supported Caesar, and the Dalmatians and the allied Greek city of Issa sided with Pompey. To prevent the Pompeian invasion of Italy and to shield Cisalpine Gaul from the attacks of the Illyrian tribes, Caesar repeatedly sent his legates to Illyric. In 49 BC er Gaius Anthony was sent there, but the legates of Pompey Mark Octavius and Lucius Scribonius Libon blocked him on the Illyrian island of Kurikta and forced him to surrender ^{[25] [26] [27]} .

In the summer of 48 BC er in Illyric, the Quorne of Cornicius, a questor with praetor powers, was sent with two legions. He successfully acted against the fallen tribes, and took many mountain fortifications, but he could not capture a large booty in the war-ravaged province. After the defeat at Farsalus, Mark Octavius ​​with the fleet went to the Adriatic, where he entered the battle against Corniche. Caesar ordered Aulus Gabinius with legions of new recruits (15 cohorts and 3 thousand horsemen ^[22] ) to go from Italy to join the Corniche to fight the Pompei. The winter campaign of Gabinia ended in failure. Suffering from a lack of food, his troops were forced to attack Dalmatian settlements. Retreating after one of these raids to the Salon, the Romans were attacked by the Dalmatians and defeated, losing 2 thousand soldiers, 38 centurions and four stands. The Dalmatians captured several Roman banners. The remains of the Roman army took refuge in the Salon ^[28] .

Then Publius Vatinius arrived in Illyric from Brundisia with an army and navy. After a bitter struggle, he managed to defeat Octavius ​​and partially regain Roman control over the province ^[29] . When Caesar in 45 BC. er returned to Rome and began preparations for a campaign against the Dacians and Parthians, the Illyrians were afraid that he would deal with them along the way, and therefore apologized for past affairs, and offered friendship and alliance. Caesar set the conditions for the payment of taxes and the issuance of hostages. Vatini with three legions and a cavalry detachment was sent to Illyric. After the assassination of Caesar, the tribes again refused to obey, and when Vatinius tried to force them, they attacked the Romans and destroyed five cohorts led by the tribune Bebi. The viceroy with the remaining army took refuge in Epidamne ^[30] . In 44 BC. er Mark Brutus was appointed governor of Macedonia and Illyric, and Vatinius gave him his legions. In 43 BC er these troops were withdrawn from Illyric to participate in a new civil war , and the province was left devastated and defenseless. The Illyrians rebelled from Rome and attacked coastal colonies ^[31] .

During the Illyrian War, 35–33 BC er the Romans regained control of the Dalmatian coast, expanded their holdings in Illyria and captured part of southern Pannonia. As a result of the Pannonian campaigns , a significant part of Illyria and all of southern Pannonia were conquered, and the suppression of the Great Illyrian rebellion finally secured these territories for the Roman Empire. In the year 24, the Illyric province was divided into two parts: Upper Illyric ( Dalmatia ) and Lower Illyric ( Pannonia ) ^[32] .

• Kolosovskaya Yu. K. Pannonia in the I — III centuries. - M .: Nauka, 1973

• The reasons and results of the Octavian Illyrian campaigns