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The territory of the modern state ofSerbia was part of theRoman Empire and later theEastern Roman Empire. In particular, the region ofCentral Serbia was under Roman rule for about 800 years (with interruptions), starting from the 1st century BC, interrupted by thearrival of the Slavs into the Balkans during the 6th century, but continued after fall of theFirst Bulgarian Empire in the early 11th century and permanently ended with the rise of theSecond Bulgarian Empire in the late 12th century. The territories were administratively divided into the provinces ofMoesia (laterMoesia Superior),Pannonia (laterPannonia Inferior) andDardania. Moesia Superior roughly corresponds to modernSerbia proper; Pannonia Inferior included the eastern part of Serbia proper; Dardania included the western part of Serbia proper. After its reconquest from the Bulgarians by EmperorBasil II in 1018, it was reorganized into theTheme of Bulgaria.

TheDanube River influenced the extension of the Roman Empire; its confluents, such as Sava and Morava, affected the growth of frontier fortresses and towns. Many authors and explorers^{[by whom?]} wrote about traces of the Roman Empire on the Danube coast. One of the localities,Felix Romuliana, was ranked on the list of cultural heritage ofUNESCO in July 2007.

The location has been invaded by many peoples over the centuries. The northern Serbian city ofSirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) was among the top 4 cities of the lateRoman Empire, serving as its capital during theTetrarchy.^[1] Contemporary Serbia comprises theclassical regions ofMoesia,Pannonia, parts ofDalmatia,Dacia andMacedonia.

TheRoman Republic conquered the region ofIllyria in 168 BC in the aftermath of theIllyrian Wars. "Illyria" was a designation of a roughly defined region of the western Balkans as seen from a Roman perspective, just asMagna Germania is a rough geographic term not delineated by any linguistic or ethnic unity.

The later province ofIllyricum was to the west of what is now Serbia.

The Romans conquered parts of Serbia in 167 BC and established the province of Illyricum. What is now central Serbia was conquered in 75 BC when the province ofMoesia was established. Srem is conquered by 9 BC and Backa and Banat in 106 AD after the Dacian wars.

The city ofSirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) was among the top four cities of the lateRoman Empire, serving as its capital during theTetrarchy.^[1] Contemporary Serbia comprises theclassical regions ofMoesia,Pannonia, parts ofDalmatia,Dacia andMacedonia.

The chief towns ofUpper Moesia in the Principate were: Naissus (modernNiš),Viminacium (sometimes called municipium Aelium; modernKostolac),Singidunum (modernBelgrade), Remesiana (modernBela Palanka)

Many Roman noblemen and statesmen were born in present-day Serbia, including 17 or 18Roman Emperors (Vetranio was not universally recognized as an emperor, but was proclaimed acaesar).^[2][3]

The Byzantine era in the history Serbia refers to three distinctive periods. The territory of later Serbia was under control of theEastern Roman Empire up to the beginning of the 7th century. During that period, emperorJustinian I (527–565) oversaw reinforcement of defensive structures in the region, and founded the city ofJustiniana Prima, today aCultural Heritage of Serbia-listed archeological site (Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance). In 535, the city became center of theArchbishopric of Justiniana Prima, that had metropolitan jurisdiction over all provinces of theDiocese of Dacia. At the beginning of the 7th century, region was invaded byAvars andSlavs, thus ending the Byzantine rule. From that time, and up to the middle of the 10th century, the region was controlled by the newly created Slavic state - the early medievalPrincipality of Serbia. In 971–976, Byzantine rule was briefly restored, andCatepanate of Ras was established, but it was short lived. Only after 1018, the territory of Serbia came under the Byzantine rule, and it was included into twothemata: the Theme of Serbia and theTheme of Sirmium, that existed until 1071.^[5]

The Byzantines broadly grouped the numerous Slav tribes into two groups: theSklavenoi andAntes.^[6] Apparently, the Sklavenoi group were based along the middle Danube, whereas the Antes were at the lower Danube, inScythia Minor. Some, such as Bulgarian scholar Zlatarsky, suggest that the first group settled the western Balkans, whilst offshoots of the Antes settled the eastern regions (roughly speaking).^[6] From the Danube, they commenced raiding the Byzantine Empire from the 520s, on an annual basis. They spread about destruction, taking loot and herds of cattle, seizing prisoners and taking fortresses. Often, the Byzantine Empire was stretched defending its rich Asian provinces from Arabs, Persians and Turks. This meant that even numerically small, disorganised early Slavic raids were capable of causing much disruption, but could not capture the larger, fortified cities on the Aegean coast.

The Slavs invaded Balkans duringJustinian I rule (527–565), when eventually up to 100,000 Slavs raidedThessalonica. The Western Balkans was settled withSclaveni (Sklavenoi), the east withAntes.^[6]

The Sklavenoi plundered Thrace in 545.^[7]In 551, the Slavs crossedNiš initially headed for Thessalonica, but ended up inDalmatia. During the 6th and 7th century, Slavic tribes made eight attempts to take Niš and in the final attack in 615 the Slavs took the city.^[8]

Menander Protector mentions a King of the Sklavenoi,Daurentius (577–579) that slayed an Avar envoy of KhaganBayan I. The Avars asked the Slavs to accept the suzerainty of the Avars, he however declined and is reported as saying: "Others do not conquer our land, we conquer theirs [...] so it shall always be for us".^[9]

In 577 some 100,000 Slavs poured intoThrace andIllyricum, pillaging cities and settling down.^[10]By the 580s, as the Slav communities on the Danube became larger and more organised, and as the Avars exerted their influence, raids became larger and resulted in permanent settlement. In 586 AD, as many as 100,000 Slav warriors raided Thessaloniki. By 581, many Slavic tribes had settled the land around Thessaloniki, though never taking the city itself, creating aMacedonian Sclavinia.^[11] As John of Ephesus tells us in 581: "the accursed people of the Slavs set out and plundered all of Greece, the regions surrounding Thessalonica, and Thrace, taking many towns and castles, laying waste, burning, pillaging, and seizing the whole country." However, John exaggerated the intensity of the Slavic incursions since he was influenced by his confinement in Constantinople from 571 up until 579.^[12] Moreover, he perceived the Slavs as God's instrument for punishing the persecutors of theMonophysites.^[13] By 586, they managed to raid the westernPeloponnese,Attica,Epirus, leaving only the east part of Peloponnese, which was mountainous and inaccessible. InMaurice's Balkan campaigns, the final attempt to restore the northern border was from 591 to 605, when the end of conflicts with Persia allowed Emperor Maurice to transfer units to the north. However he was deposed after a military revolt in 602, and the Danubian frontier collapsed one and a half decades later.

Archaeological evidence in Serbia and Macedonia conclude that the White Serbs may have reached the Balkans earlier than thought, between 550 and 600, as much findings; fibulae and pottery found at Roman forts point at Serb characteristics and thus could have been either part of the Byzantinefoedorati or a fraction of the early invading Slavs who upon organizing in their refuge of theDinarides, formed the ethnogenesis of Serbs and were pardoned by the Byzantine Empire after acknowledging their suzerainty.^[7]

In ancient geographical sources, Moesia was bounded to the south by theBalkans (Haemus) andŠar mountain (Scardus,Scordus,Scodrus) mountains, to the west by theDrina river (Drinus), on the north by theDanube and on the east by theEuxine (Black Sea). The region was inhabited chiefly byThracian,Dacian andIllyrian peoples.

The region took its name from theMoesi, a Thraco-Dacian tribe that lived there before the Roman conquest 75 BC-c. 29 BC and formally became aRoman province of that name some years later (by 6 AD).

Cities and towns, in Moesia Superior (at times Macedonia/ Dardania):

• Ulpiana^[14] (modernLipljan)
• Municipium Dardanicum^[15]
• Dardapara
• Naissus,^[16] (modernNiš, Nysus in the Byzantine era)
• Theranda^[17] (modernPrizren)
• Vicianum (modernVučitrn)
• Vindenis
• Velanis

The cities and towns in Pannonia, located in modern Serbia, were:

• Acumincum (Stari Slankamen)
• Bassianae (Donji Petrovci)
• Bononia (Banoštor)
• Burgenae (Novi Banovci)
• Cusum (Petrovaradin)
• Rittium (Surduk)
• Singidunum (Beograd)
• Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica)
• Taurunum (Zemun)

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• List of Greek and Latin place names in Serbia
• Illyro-Roman
• Thraco-Roman

• Serbia in the Roman era
• Byzantine Serbia
• Roman Balkans
• Romanization of Southeastern Europe

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