Dalmatia (ancient world)
Dalmatia, located in the northwestern region of the Balkan Peninsula, has a rich history that dates back to ancient times. The area derives its name from the Delmatae, an Illyrian tribe influenced by Celtic culture. In the fourth century BC, Greek settlers established colonies along the coast and islands, leading to conflicts with the local tribes. Eventually, Dalmatia came under Roman control, becoming part of the province of Illyricum after a series of military campaigns. Notable events include the Illyrian revolt from AD 6 to 9, which led to the establishment of Dalmatia as an administrative region with Salonae as its capital.
Throughout late antiquity, Dalmatia gained strategic significance as a contested territory between Eastern and Western Roman empires. The region witnessed the rise of local leaders, such as Marcellinus and Julius Nepos, who navigated the complex political landscape of the time. Despite the fall of the Western Roman Empire marked by the abdication of Romulus Augustulus in 476, Julius Nepos continued to claim the title of Augustus, representing the last vestiges of Roman authority in the West. Today, Dalmatia is recognized not only for its historical significance but also for its cultural and geographical diversity, which continues to shape the identity of the region.
Dalmatia (ancient world)
The northwestern region of the Balkan peninsula, together with its islands (now forming the coastal territory of Yugoslavia), separated from the interior by the Dinaric Alps
The territory took its name from the Delmatae (Dalmatians), an Illyrian (Indo-European-speaking) tribe influenced by Celtic culture. In the fourth century BC the Greeks settled colonies on the coast and the islands, while the Dalmatians came under the control of the Illyrian kingdom (seeIllyricum). The Greek cities appealed to Rome against Dalmatian encroachments, and a long series of conflicts ensued, in the course of which the Romans destroyed the tribal capital Delminium (Županac).
Dalmatia was subsequently incorporated in the Roman province of Illyricum, though not with any effectiveness until after heavy fighting during the civil war between Caesar and the Pompeians (49–47), followed by major operations by Octavian (the future Augustus) in 34–33, and then further military action in 16 and 11–9 (when Tiberius was in command). Soon afterward, however, followed the great Illyrian revolt (AD 6–9), which although initiated in Bosnia, came to be known as the Dalmatian War. At its termination Illyricum was divided into two administrative parts; the upper province, with its capital at Salonae (Solin), was also known as Dalmatia.
In 42 one of its governors, Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus, persuaded his two legions to launch a rebellion against the emperor Claudius, which lasted four days. Two-and a-half-centuries later, under Diocletian, the south-eastern corner of Dalmatia was detached to form part of a new province of Praevalitana, forming part of what had now become the administrative diocese of Dacia. At the very end of antiquity Dalmatia assumed great importance as a fighting ground between military adventurers on the border between the western emperors and their often unfriendly eastern colleagues. About 461 Marcellinus, withdrawing his allegiance from the west, was appointed the eastern monarch Leo I's commander-in-chief in the region (magister militum Dalmatiae), but, according to Damascius, set himself up as an independent ruler. The title passed to his nephew Julius Nepos, who with Leo's support seized the western throne (474). Upon his ejection in the following year he returned to Salonae. In 476 his successor in Italy, Romulus Augustulus, abdicated and the country became a German kingdom. But Nepos, with the ostensible (though only passive) support of the new eastern emperor Zeno, continued to proclaim himself as Augustus, until his death six years later, so that Dalmatia, during this period, was harboring the last of all the Roman emperors in the west.