Provincia Dalmatia | |||||
Province of the Roman Empire | |||||
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Province of Dalmatia within the Empire | |||||
Capital | Salona | ||||
Historical era | Antiquity | ||||
• | Illyrian Wars | 220 BC - 168 BC | |||
• | Established | 32 BC | |||
• | Disestablished | 480 AD | |||
Today part of |
Croatia Albania Kosovo Montenegro Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Dalmatia was a Roman province. Its name is probably 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, Kosovo and Serbia, thus covering an area significantly larger than the current Croatian region of Dalmatia. Originally this region was called Illyria (in Greek) or Illyricum (in Latin).
When it became one of the two parts of the Roman province of Illyricum it was renamed Dalmatia, its counterpart province being Pannonia. Later the province of Illyricum was dissolved and replaced by two separate provinces: Dalmatia and Pannonia. It is not clear when this happened, but plausibly it occurred during the reign of the emperor Vespasian.
The region which run 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 it Illyria. Later they called it Illyricum. The Romans fought three Illyrian Wars (229 BC, 219/8 BC and 168 BC) mainly against the kingdom of the Ardiaei in the south of the region. In 168 BC they abolished this kingdom, 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 to this, Octavian (who later became the emperor Augustus) conducted a series of campaigns in Illyricum (35-33 BC). The area became the Roman province of Illyricum probably in 27 BC. It was a senatorial provinces. 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).