TheSiculotae (alsoSikoulotai) were anIllyrian people in antiquity.
The name of the Siculotae is related to the name of theSicels, a pre-Roman people ofSicily.[1] The toponymSicily derives from their name. The Sicels themselves seem to have settled from the Balkans to Italy in the same trans-Adriatic movements of the LBA which created theIapygian region in southern Italy.[2] The toponymShikjë (proposed older form: *Shikëlë) in northernAlbania may preserve the name. The fortSiklai placed byProcopius in Macedonia was likely located in this area of Epirus Nova.[1]
Pliny the Elder records a civitatum of the Siculotae with 24decuriae among the indigenous Illyrian communities in the region ofNarona.[3] The civitatum of the Siculotae was created by the Roman after theGreat Illyrian Revolt by breaking up larger Illyrian communities into smaller ones. Before the creation of the Roman civitatum, the Siculotae may have been part of theDelmatae and also the Pirustae, who lived further south. As such they may have been moved fromDalmatia to northern Montenegro aroundPlevlja with other Delmatae.[4] Other communities which were part of the people known as Pirustae as far south as northern Macedonia were the Glintidiones and the Scirtari. A settlement namedSiculi which has been identified withBijaći (Resnik) nearTrogir became amilitary colony in the Roman era. In theTabula Peutingeriana, the settlement is mentioned asSiclis.[5]
