| Provincia Dalmatia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province of theRoman Empire | |||||||||
| 32 BC–c. 640 AD | |||||||||
.svg) Province of Dalmatia within the Empire | |||||||||
| Capital | Salona | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||
• 19–16 BC(first) | Publius Silius Nerva | ||||||||
• 480–481/2(last) | Ovida | ||||||||
| Historical era | Antiquity | ||||||||
| 220 BC–168 BC | |||||||||
• Established | 32 BC | ||||||||
• Disestablished | c. 640 AD | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Dalmatia was aRoman province. Its name is derived from the name of anIllyrian tribe called theDalmatae, which lived in the central area of the eastern coast of theAdriatic Sea. It encompassed the northern part of present-dayAlbania, much ofCroatia,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Montenegro, andSerbia, thus covering an area significantly larger than the current Croatian and Montenegrin region ofDalmatia. Originally this region was calledIllyria (inGreek) or Illyricum (inLatin).
The province ofIllyricum was dissolved and replaced by two separate provinces: Dalmatia andPannonia.
The region which ran along the coast of the Adriatic Sea and extended inland on theDinaric Alps was calledIllyria by the Greeks. Originally, the Romans also called the area Illyria and later, Illyricum. TheRomans fought threeIllyrian Wars (229 BC, 219/8 BC and 168 BC) mainly against the kingdom of the Ardiaei to the south of the region. In 168 BC, they abolished this kingdom and divided it into three republics.[1] The area became a Romanprotectorate. The central and northern area of the region engaged in piracy and raided north-eastern Italy. In response, Octavian (who later became the emperorAugustus) conducted a series of campaigns in Illyricum (35–33 BC).[2][3] The area became the Romansenatorial province of Illyricum probably in 27 BC. Due to troubles in the northern part of the region in 16–10 BC,[4][5] it became animperial province. The administrative organisation of Illyricum was carried out late in the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD) and early in the reign ofTiberius (14–37 AD).[6]
Due to Octavian having subdued the more inland region ofPannonia (along the mid-course of the RiverDanube), the Romans changed the name of the coastal area to Dalmatia. In 6–9 AD, there was a large scale rebellion in the province of Illyricum, theBellum Batonianum (Batonian War).[7] First-century Roman historianVelleius Paterculus describesGaius Vibius Postumus as the military commander of Dalmatia under Germanicus in 9 AD;[8] this is the earliest extant writing which indicates that the province of Illyricum comprised Dalmatia and Pannonia.
The province of Illyricum was eventually dissolved and replaced by two smaller provinces: Dalmatia (the southern area) and Pannonia (the northern and Danubian area). It is unclear when this happened. Kovác noted that an inscription on the base of a statue ofNero erected between 54 and 68 AD attests that it was erected by the veteran of a legion stationed in Pannonia and argues that this is the first epigraphic evidence that a separate Pannonia existed at least since the reign of Nero.[9][full citation needed] However, Šašel-Kos notes that an inscription attests a governor of Illyricum under the reign ofClaudius (41–54 AD) and in a military diploma published in the late 1990s, dated July 61 AD, units of auxiliaries from the Pannonian part of the province were mentioned as being stationed in Illyricum.[10] Some other diplomas attest the same.[11] This was during the reign of Nero (54–68 AD). Therefore, Šašel-Kos supports the notion that the province was dissolved during the reign of Vespasian (69–79 AD).[12]
In 337, whenConstantine the Great died, the Roman Empire was partitioned among his sons. The empire was divided into threepraetorian prefectures: theGalliae;Italia, Africa et Illyricum; andOriens. The size of the provinces had been decreased and their number doubled byDiocletian. The provinces were also grouped indioceses. Dalmatia became one of the seven provinces of thediocese of Pannonia. Initially, it was under the praetorian prefecture of Italy, Africa and Illyricum. It seems that the three dioceses ofMacedonia,Dacia andPannonia were first grouped together in a separatepraetorian prefecture in 347 byConstans by removing them from the praetorian prefecture of Italy, Africa and Illyricum (which then became the praetorian prefecture of Italy and Africa) or that this praetorian prefecture was formed in 343 when Constans appointed a prefect for Italy.[13]
German historianTheodor Mommsen wrote (in hisThe Provinces of the Roman Empire) that coastal Dalmatia andits islands were fully romanized andLatin-speaking by the 4th century.[14]
The Croatian historianAleksandar Stipčević writes that analysis of archaeological material from that period has shown that the process ofromanization was rather selective. While urban centers, both coastal and inland, were almost completely romanized, the situation in the countryside was completely different. Despite the Illyrians being subject to a strong process ofacculturation, they continued to speak their native language (Illyrian language), follow their own gods and traditions, and maintain their own social-political organization, which was adapted to Roman administration and political structure only in some necessities.[15]
In 454Marcellinus, a military commander in Dalmatia, rebelled againstValentinian III, the Roman emperor in the West. He seized control of Dalmatia and governed it independently until his death in 468.[16]Julius Nepos became the governor of Dalmatia even though he was a relative of the emperor of the East,Leo I the Thracian, and Dalmatia was under the western part of the Roman empire. Dalmatia remained an autonomous area. In 474, Leo I elevated Nepos as emperor of the western part of the empire in order to deposeGlycerius, a usurper emperor. Nepos deposed the usurper, but was in turn deposed in 475 by Orestes, who made his sonRomulus Augustus emperor in the west.[17] Leo I refused to recognize him and still held Julius Nepos as the emperor of the west. Romulus Augustus was deposed in 476 byOdoacer, who proclaimed himself king of Italy. Nepos remained in Dalmatia and continued to govern it until he was assassinated in 480.Ovida, a military commander, was in charge of Dalmatia thereafter. However, Odoacer used Nepos' murder as a pretext to invade Dalmatia, defeated Ovida and annexed Dalmatia to hiskingdom of Italy. In 488Zeno, the new emperor of the east, sentTheodoric the Great, the king of theOstrogoths, to Italy so as to depose Odoacer. Zeno also wanted to get rid of the Ostrogoths, who were Roman allies and were settled in the eastern part of the empire, but were becoming restless and difficult to manage. Theodoric fought a four-year war in Italy, killed Odoacer, settled his people in Italy and established theOstrogothic Kingdom there.[18] Dalmatia and the rest of the former diocese of Pannonia came under the Ostrogothic Kingdom.
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