Illyricum | |||||
Province of Roman Empire | |||||
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Province of Illyricum | |||||
Capital | Salona | ||||
Historical era | Antiquity | ||||
• | Established | 27 BC | |||
• | Dissolved during the reign of Vespasian
New provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia created |
69/79 AD |
New provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia created
Illyricum /ɪˈlɪrɪkəm/ was a Roman province that existed from 27 BC to sometime during the reign of Vespasian (69-79 AD). The province comprised Illyria/Dalmatia and Pannonia. Illyria included the area along the east coast of the Adriatic Sea and its inland mountains. With the creation of this province it came to be called Dalmatia. It was in the south. Pannonia was in the north. Illyria/Dalmatia stretched from the River Drin (in modern northern Albania) to Istria (Croatia) and the River Sava in the north. The area roughly corresponded to modern northern Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and coastal Croatia. Pannonia was the plain which lie to its north, from the mountains of Illyria/Dalmatia to the westward bend of the River Danube. It was in the modern Vojvodina (in northern Serbia), northern Croatia and western Hungary. As the province developed Salona (near modern Split, Croatia) became as its capital.
Illyricum derived its name from Illyria (Ἰλλυρία). These in turn are Latin names derived from the Greek Illyris (Ἰλλυρίς). A distinction was also made between Illyris Barbara or Romana, which comprised the Adriatic coast down to today's northern Albania, and Illyris Greaca, which was the rest of Albania, later called Epirus Nova. This latter area derived its name from the fact that, being close to Greece, it was influenced by the Greeks. It was part of the Roman province of Macedonia.