Page 36 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Croatia

34  INTRODUCING CRO A TIA

The Roman Conquest However, many Illyrians, still determined to
The Romans conquered Croatia at different fight, fled to inland forests not occupied by
times and in different ways. First, they want- the Romans. A few decades later, in 6 AD,
ed to put an end to attacks on their mer- the Illyrian people staged their greatest
chant ships, which were united rebellion yet, under the command
falling into the hands of of Batone. The first battles were won by the
the Liburnians or the Dal- Illyrians, who soon began to march towards
matians, so they subdued Italy. After three further years of war, the
the coastal towns by Romans managed to get the better of
landing Roman legions Batone’s exhausted, famished army, thanks
transported by the fleet. to better military organization.
Symbol of the Roman The first battle took place Over the years that followed, Caesar
Empire, Sisak in 229 BC, when Teuta, the Augustus made the Balkans part of the
queen of the Illyrians, put to death a Roman Roman Empire. After a military campaign
ambassador who had tried to persuade her waged by Tiberius and completed in AD 12,
to put an end to the acts of piracy. Roman the Illyrian defences were dismantled and
revenge was fierce and the towns of Epidau- cities were founded, linked by roads wide
rum, Lissa and Pharos were attacked, con- enough for marching armies. The
quered and forced to pay taxes to Rome. inhabitants became Roman citizens and
However, despite promises to the contrary, were allowed to stand for public office.
acts of piracy continued and Rome decided Indeed, Illyria produced several emperors,
to deploy its legions based in Aquileia, east including Septimius Severus, Aurelian,
of Venice, a fortified town founded in 181 BC. Claudius II, Probus, Valens, Valentinian and,
The legions succeeded in subduing Istria, a perhaps most famous of all, Diocletian.
process completed by 177 BC. Twenty years
later Publius Scipio Nasica inflicted the first Roman Roads
defeat on the Dalmatians at Delminium and The roads were the first great public works
again on the Dalmatians and the Japods built by the Romans. They allowed them to
who inhabited the area of the delta of the move legions quickly and in fact the Roman
River Neretva. In 107 BC the Romans
defeated the Scordisci and the Illyrians and
conquered the town of Segestica (Sisak). In
87 BC another war broke out between the
Romans and the Illyrians which lasted for
three years and was won by the Romans. In
48 BC the Illyrians sided with Pompey in the
fight against Caesar, providing ships and
men. Pompey’s defeat also at first appeared
to be the decisive defeat of the Illyrians. The Tabula Peutingeriana showing Roman roads

229 BC The Roman
army destroys Illyrian forts, 107 BC Decisive Roman victory
subdues the Greek colonies of over the Scordisci who are driven
Lissa and Pharos and forces from the region; Rome owes the
Illyrians to pay taxes victory to Quintus Minucius Rufus
300 BC 200 BC 100 BC
One of 119 BC The Dalmatian Lucius
177 BC The Roman fleet is the many Metellus defeats the Scordisci and
attacked by Istrians; Rome sends Roman Dalmatian tribes near Segestica
an army which defeats them fragments (Sisak); Romans settle in Salona and
and drives them out from the begin work on the Via Gabina from
city of Sisak Salona to Andretium

034-035_EW_Croatia.indd 34 17/10/2014 12:08
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
History Portrait template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.2)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm