Information AboutIllyricum |
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The kingdom of Illyria was conquered in 168 BC , when the Romans defeated the army of the Illyrian king Gentius . From 167 BC , Illyria became a Roman colony, initially administered as four client republics called Illyria, Dalmatia, Iapydia, and Liburnia but soon amalgamated into a single province dubbed Illyricum. The province was subsequently enlarged as the Romans expanded their power in the region through a series of wars. Roman control was not fully established until 11 BC , when the Pannonians were finally defeated. In 10 AD , after a revolt of Pannonians and Dalmatians was crushed in 9 AD , the province of Illyricum was dissolved, and its lands were divided between the new provinces of Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south. The name continued to be used to refer to the region and was later applied by the emperor Diocletian to the Praetorian Prefecture Of Illyricum , one of four Prefecture s that he established, which encompassed Pannonia , Noricum , Crete , and the whole Balkan Peninsula except Thrace . Illyricum had considerable strategic and economic importance for the Romans. It possessed a number of important commercial ports along its coastline, and had Gold mines in its interior regions. The province was also the starting point of the Via Egnatia , the great Roman Road that ran from Dyrrachium (modern Durazzo ), on the Adriatic , to Byzantium in the east. The region's native peoples were renowned for their military prowess and they became an important source of manpower for the Roman Army . Several notable Roman Emperor s came from Illyria, including Aurelian , Claudius II , Constantine I and Diocletian . ''For the subsequent history of the region, see Dalmatia and Pannonia .'' SEE ALSO |