They are classified in some sources as aVenetic tribe, with some ties with theIllyrians,[5] or a purely Illyrian tribe.[1][6][7][2]The Histri are also described asThracians;[8][2]an orientation includes them in theLiburnian linguistic area.[9]
Since they inhabited the Istrian peninsula, they had more intensive trade and cultural contacts with the Mediterranean world, particularly central and southernItaly.[3]
TheRomans described the Histri as a fierce tribe of pirates, protected by the difficult navigation of their rocky coasts. An account stated that this tribe was first in the northernAdriatic area to be threatened by the Roman imperialism and to start a war.[10] It took two military campaigns for the Romans to finally subdue them in 177 BCE.[10]
In theAugustan age the most of Istria was then called, together with the Venetian part, theX Roman region ofVenetia et Histria: the ancient definition of the northeastern border of Italy.Dante Alighieri refers to it as well; the eastern border of Italy per ancient definition is the riverArsia.
^Wilkes 1992, p. 183: "... We may begin with the Venetic peoples, Veneti, Carni, Histri and Liburni, whose language set them apart from the rest of the Illyrians...."
Mesihović, Salmedin; Šačić, Amra (2015).Historija Ilira [History of Illyrians] (in Bosnian). Sarajevo: Univerzitet u Sarajevu [University of Sarajevo].ISBN978-9958-600-65-4.
