Illyro-Roman Wars
The Illyro-Roman Wars were a series of wars fought between the
The Second Illyrian War lasted from 220 BC to 219 BC. In 219 BC, the
In 171 BC, the Illyrian king
Prelude
Expansion under Agron
In the second half of the third century BC, the Ardiaei kingdom was transformed into a formidable power under the leadership of
That time a number of political events marked the adjacent Greek states. In 234 BC, the royal succession in Epirus came to an end, and a federal republic was instituted. In the south, the western part of
The Illyrian attack under Agron was mounted in either 232 or 231 BC. One hundred lembi, with 5000 men on board, sailed up to land at Medion. They then formed up in the order that was usual in their own country, and advanced in their several companies against the
Raid against Phoenice
Illyrian success continued when command passed to Agron's widow Teuta, who granted individual ships a license to universal plunder. In 231 BC, the fleet and army attacked Elis and Messenia in the Peloponnese. On the way home, Teuta sent her general Scerdilaidas to capture the city of Phoenice in Epirus. The city was captured and the ensuing battle was won. A truce was agreed and Phoenice was returned for a price, along with the release of prisoners. The continued Illyrian success was another shock for the Greeks.[21] The Epirotes signified their acceptance of the Illyrian victory by sending envoys to Teuta promising cooperation with them and hostility towards the Leagues of Greece. Phoenice was the most prosperous city in Epirus, and the centre for the growing commerce with Italy. It was Illyrian interference with that commerce that brought Roman forces across the Adriatic for the first time. Nevertheless, the Illyrians had to withdraw from Phoenice in order to deal with an internal rebellion.[22]
First Illyrian War
Even before the war with
Corcyra and Paxos (229 BC)
The Roman invasion of Illyria in 229 BC appears to have caught Teuta completely off guard. As soon as the weather permitted, Teuta had ordered south a naval expedition even larger than those of previous years, with most of the ships heading to attack Corcyra. Some landed at Epidamnos, entered the city, with weapons concealed, to procure food and water, almost capturing it; but were thrown out after a fight.
Roman offensive
The Roman consul
Peace treaty (228 BC)
Before the end of winter, Teuta's envoys appeared in Rome and a treaty was concluded. According to its terms, the queen would pay tribute (or perhaps an indemnity) to Rome, abandon Illyria, except for a few places, and promise not to sail south of
Second Illyrian War
Revival of power
The decade after 229 BC witnessed a revival of Illyrian power under Demetrius, who succeeded Teuta. Following the war, Demetrius married
Before then, when Rome was preoccupied with a war against the Celtic peoples of the Po Valley in northern Italy from 225 to 222 BC, Demetrius detached the Illyrian Atintani from their Roman alliance. In addition, he sailed south of Lissus, Lezhë in present-day Albania, and engaged in piracy in contravention of the settlement in 228 BC. In 221 BC, Demetrius also created an alliance with the Illyrian Histri at the head of the Adriatic, which tribe was interfering with Roman supply ships. A Roman fleet soon attacked the Histri.[38] Early in the summer of 221 BC, when tension was rising in Greece as Macedonia made an alliance with the Achaean League against the Aetolian League, the Illyrians attacked in their traditional manner.
In 220 BC, Demetrius and the Illyrian commander,
After returning to the Ardiaean Kingdom, Demetrius continued operations during the following winter, attacking and seizing Roman allied cities and communities in southern Illyria.
Surrender of Dimallum (219 BC)
Unlike Teuta in 229 BC, Demetrius was well prepared for the Roman invasion. He first placed a garrison in
In 219 BC, having decided that
Aftermath
The Romans destroyed the fortifications of Pharos and before the summer was over Aemilius was back in Rome receiving congratulations for a job well done. Any threat to Roman holdings in Illyria had been eliminated, all the gains of the First Illyrian War had been secured, and the old restrictions on movement imposed on Illyrian kings.
Third Illyrian War
Relations with Rome
By 181 BC, the loyal
In 180 BC, a Roman praetor responsible for coastal protection arrived in Brundisium with some of Gentius's ships that were said to have been caught in the act of piracy. An embassy to Illyria failed to locate the king; but the praetor discovered that Romans were being held for ransom at Corcyra Nigra. No outcome of the affair is reported and it may well be that the Senate accepted a claim by Gentius' envoys that the charges were false. Ten years later, when Rome was gripped with war fever against Perseus of Macedon, Issa accused Gentius of plotting war with the king and so the Illyrian envoys were denied a hearing before the Senate. Instead, the Romans seized 54 Illyrian lembi at anchor in the harbor of Epidamnus. On the eve of war, a Roman senator was sent to Illyria to remind Gentius of his formal friendship with the Roman Republic.
Alliance with Dardania and Macedonia
In 169 BC, Gentius arranged the murder of his brother,
Perseus of Macedon, having recaptured several Roman outposts in Roman occupied Illyria, controlled the route leading west to the Ardiaean State. At this point, Perseus sent his first embassy to Gentius, consisting of the Illyrian exile Pleuratus, for his command of the Illyrian language, and the Macedonians Adaeus and Beroea. They found Gentius at Lissus and informed him of Perseus' successes against the Romans and Dardanians and his recent victory against the Penestae. Gentius replied that he lacked not the will to fight the Romans, but only the money. No promises were made on this point either by this embassy or another sent from
The 300 talents were counted out of the royal treasure at Pella and the Illyrians were permitted to mark it with their own stamp. An advance of this money was forwarded to Gentius; and when this was passed over by Pantauchus, the king was urged to commence hostilities against the Romans. When Gentius imprisoned two Roman envoys sent by Appius Claudius at Lychnidus, Perseus recalled the rest of the subsidy in the belief that Gentius was now his ally, come what may.[53]
Anti-Roman policy
Gentius accompanied the new anti-Roman orientation in Illyrian foreign policy with a series of measures to strengthen the Ardiaean State. First, he concentrated the finances by establishing a single tax over all the subjects and by taking royal control of the monetary workshops, or mints, of Lissus and Scodra, the two cities where he resided. At this time, Gentius was issuing bronze coins. In the Selcë hoard, there are two coins of Gentius with Macedonian emblems. The other coins of Gentius have what is probably his head with a cap not unlike the petasos, and a torc around his head, and on the reverse in one case a thunderbolt and in the other a lembus, the typical Illyrian warship. Thus, according to an inventory made by the Romans, the state treasury had 27 pounds of gold, 19 of silver, 120,000 Illyrian drachmas and 13,000 Roman denarii on the eve of the war with Rome.
Gentius and Perseus sent a joined embassy to invite
Destruction of the Illyrian kingdom (168 BC)
Having mustered his force of 15,000 men and his fleet of lembi at
As a folio of Livy's text is missing, little is known of this campaign. It seems that Anicius's fleets engaged Gentius' lembi and captured a number of them. Next, the Illyrian forces were defeated on land, allowing the Romans to advance to the heart of the state, where they won over the cities by humane and clement methods. Gentius concentrated his forces in his capital
The fall of the Ardiaean State is transmitted by Livy in a ceremonial manner of the triumph of Anicius in Rome:
In a few days, both on land and sea did he defeat the brave Illyrian tribe, who had relied on their knowledge of their own territory and fortifications
This part of the campaign had only lasted 30 days. There were certainly further operations in the northern part of the Ardiaean State, for Anicius placed garrisons in some towns, citadels and fortresses. These include the cities of
Aftermath
Rome's triumph included the capture of many royal flags, other booty, the furniture of the king himself and the treasure mentioned above. Millions of sestercii were gained from the sale of the booty, in addition to the gold and silver that went to the state treasury.
By decision of the Senate, Gentius and his family were sent to Spoletum, to be kept under observation. The other captives were imprisoned in Rome. But the inhabitants of Spoletum refused to keep the royal family under watch, so they were transferred to
The Roman punishment of Illyria spared only those kingdoms that had backed Rome openly in the war. For those who had been enemies, their cities, buildings and public institutions were burned and thoroughly looted. Those spared retained their previous manner of administration, with officials elected every year, and paid Rome only half the taxes that they had previously paid to Gentius. The federation-based kingdoms were dissolved and each unit was recognized as a separate kingdom, enjoying local autonomy and often the right to mint its own coins.
While the southern Illyrian lands had been subjected once and for all, the Roman legions continued for about another hundred years with attempts to conquer the northern and eastern territories.
See also
Notes
References
- ISBN 0-631-19807-5, Page 160, "The Roman invasion of Illyria in 229 bc appears to have caught Teuta and the Illyrians completely off guard. As soon as the weather permitted, the queen had ordered south a naval expedition..."
- ISBN 0-631-19807-5., Page 177, "... who appears to have ruled after 168 BC at Queen Teuta's old stronghold Rhizon (Risan). His silver issues are rare, but bronze coins, without the royal title, occur on Hvar, both ..."
- ^ https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=App.+Ill.+2.7, Appian, The Foreign Wars (ed. Horace White) THE ILLYRIAN WARS, The Illyrian vessels attacked the ambassadors on their voyage and slew Cleemporus, the envoy of Issa, and the Roman Coruncanius; the remainder escaped by flight.
- ^ Zock, 99.
- ISBN 0-631-19807-5, page 161, "... Gulf of Kotor. The Romans decided that enough had been achieved and hostilities ceased. The consuls handed over Illyria to Demetrius and withdrew the fleet and army to Epidamnus, ..."
- ^ Eckstein, 46–59.
- ISBN 0-306-80654-1, 1995, Page 164, "... Hannibal was anxious to make his descent on Italy before the Romans had got through with the Gallic and Illyrian wars. He had made many preparations to this end, not only in men and material, but in reconnoitring..."
- ^ Polybius: The Rise of the Roman Empire, Book 6.16, "Demetrius of Pharos [...] had broken his treaty with the Republic by sailing beyond Lissus with fifty boats..."
- ISBN 0-631-19807-5., Page 163, "Unlike Teuta in 229 BC, Demetrius was prepared for the Roman invasion. He placed a garrison in Dimale (Dimallum), a fortress inland ..."
- ISBN 0-87169-176-0
- ^ Polybius: The Rise of the Roman Empire, Book 6.16, "...the Romans dispatched Lucius Aemilius with an army [to face Demetrius]
- ^ Polybius: The Rise of the Roman Empire, Book 6.18, "having accepted [Dimale's] submission [...] the consul then sailed to Pharos to attack Demetrius himself..."
- ^ Polybius: The Rise of the Roman Empire, Book 6.19, "Demetrius [...] arrived unexpectedly at the court of King Philip of Macedon, where he remained for the rest of his life"
- ISBN 1-85367-389-7, 2000, page 47
- ^ a b Appian Illyrike 7
- ^ Hammond 1968 (kingdom of Agron)
- ISBN 0-631-19807-5.
- ^ The Hellenistic world and the coming of Rome, Volume 1 by Erich S. Gruen
- ^ Polybius 2.3
- ^ Hammond 1967b, 591 & 595 f.
- ^ Polybius 2.6
- ^ Dell 1967b (Illyrian motives in 230 BC)
- ^ Polybius 2.8,1
- ^ Rickard, J (2008), First Illyrian War, 230-228 BC
- ^ Hammond 1968, 5-6
- ^ Polyius 2.9, 6
- ^ Polybius 2.9,10
- ^ Cassius Dio 12 frg.49
- ^ N. Ceka 1970 (Parthini)
- ^ Appian Illyrike 8
- ^ Polybius 2.11-12
- ^ Hmmond 1968 (geography of Roman settlement).
- ^ Dell 1967a, 1970b
- ^ Levi 1973
- ^ Wilkes, p. 162; Errington, p. 91.
- ^ Polybius, 2.65.
- ^ Polybius, 3.16.
- ^ Appian, Illyrike 8
- ^ Polybius, 3.16, 4.16, 4.19.
- ^ For the Rhodians, who made their living as maritime traders, piracy was a serious problem; with Macedon and Egypt having abandoned their control in the Aegean, it fell to Rhodes to police these waters. See: Walbank (1970), p. 109 and Strabo, 14.2.5.
- ^ Polybius, 4.19.
- ^ Hammond 1968
- ^ Dell 1967b
- ^ Polybius, 3.16.1.
- ^ Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 B.C. By A. E. Astin, F. W. Walbank, M. W. Frederiksen
- ^ Wilkes, p. 163.
- ^ Appian, (Illyrike 8)
- ^ Polybius, 3.18–19.
- ^ Polybius (3.18-19)
- ^ Cassiu Dio. 12 frg.53
- ^ Épire, Illyrie, Macédoine: mélanges offerts au professeur Pierre Cabanes by Danièle Berranger, Pierre Cabanes, Danièle Berranger-Auserve, page 134
- ^ The Illyrians to the Albanians by Neritan Ceka pg~122-123
- ^ The Illyrians by John Wilkes
- ^ Illyrians to the Albanians, Neritan Ceka 2005
- ^ Épire, Illyrie, Macédoine: mélanges offerts au professeur Pierre Cabanes
- ^ A History of Macedonia: Volume III: 336-167 B.C. by N. G. L. Hammond, F. W. Walbank
- ^ "LacusCurtius • Iguvium (Gubbio) — the Roman Mausoleum".
Sources
- Appian, The Foreign Wars (ed. Horace White), THE ILLYRIAN WARS
- Eckstein, Arthur. "Polybius, Demetrius of Pharus and the Origins of the Second Illyrian War." Classical Philology 89, no. 1 (1994): 46–59
- Gruen, Erich S. (1984). The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome: Volume II. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-04569-6(2 vols)
- Zock, Paul A. (1998). Ancient Rome: An Introductory History. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.