Illyrian History

""En Filipo II y el Arte de la Guerra tendremos la oportunidad de conocer en profundidad a uno de los más grandes reyes de la antigua Macedonia. Gracias a su habilidad como estratega, diplomático, político y soldado, heredó un reino pobre, débil y acosado por innumerables enemigos y lo transformó en el más poderoso de toda Grecia.

A lo largo de sus páginas podremos conocer la historia del reino Macedonio, desde sus orígenes míticos hasta la formación de un imperio, de la mano del que, a la postre, se convertiría en el padre del mítico Alejandro Magno y en el forjador de un nuevo ejército que cambiaria el devenir de la guerra en la Antigüedad. Filipo II fue el creador de la falange macedonia, formación que se demostraría como inigualable en el campo de batalla y que reportaría incontables victorias sobre poderosos enemigos, como los ilirios, los tesalios, los tracios, los beocios o los atenienses. Pero no sólo eso, logró integrar en el campo de batalla a la infantería y a la caballería para emplearlos en nuevas formaciones tácticas: armó a sus soldados con las míticas sarissas y apreció como pocos las posibilidades militares que la maquinaria de guerra podía proporcionarle, siendo el mecenas de numerosos avances en este campo. Soñó con conquistar el Imperio persa, cuando ya había logrado lo que nadie antes fue capaz: el control de Grecia.

Sólo la muerte le arrebató esa hazaña, pero sentó las bases de lo que más tarde conseguiría su propio hijo. Su figura levantó tanto odios como pasiones; se le conocía como mujeriego y bebedor, pero también por su habilidad para la oratoria, por sus astucia, determinación y valor. Siempre luchó en primera línea junto a sus soldados y nunca permitió que éstos le llamaran rey, sino solo "General".

Punimi i diplomës me temën Kultura e Komanit trajton kulturën e një populli që në shek. VI-VIII ishte në kapërcyell të dy epokave, nga ajo e vonë antike, në periudhën e hershme mesjetare, duke e dëshmuar kështu kontinuitetin iliro-arbëror të shqiptarëve. 
Është i ndarë në katër kapituj kryesorë, secili me nënkapituj që trajtojnë çështje të rëndësishme të cilat u zhvilluan gjatë kësaj periudhe. Kapitulli i parë është një mishërim me temën dhe shërben si një përshkrim i përgjithshëm i historisë së Ilirëve gjatë shekujve V-XI, duke filluar nga pozita gjeografike e vendit dhe më pas me sulmet barbare dhe rrethanat politike, ekonomike e kulturore në Iliri. Kapitulli i dytë trajton fillet e zbulimit të kësaj kulture, ritet funerale si dhe shtrirjen e saj gjeografike. Kapitulli i tretë shtjellon çështjen e bartësve të Kulturës së Komanit për përcaktimin e drejtë të origjinës së kësaj kulture dhe përcaktimin e tipareve kulturore. Dhe në kapitullin e katërt pasqyrohet kultura nga prizmi i autorëve të huaj dhe atyre vendorë duke i dhënë punimit një ngjyrim tjetër.

Fjalët çelës: Kulturë, kontinuitet, ilir, arbër, Koman, shqiptarë...

A genuine historical testimony of Macedonia before the big geopolitical reshuffle in 1878.

„Every nation that has glorious deeds is a glorious nation. However, beside all the glorious deeds, if those deeds remain unknown, the nation shall also remain unknown. Therefore it is necessary to collect and preserve all those glorious deeds in history, because history is the guardian of a nation’s life, and so future generations shall know, respect, accept and support it...“
                                                                                                                                Jovan Dragašević

Me luftën për Kosovën një popull, historia e të cilit deri vonë ishte në një errësirë të thellë, u bë objekt i interesimit të përgjithshëm. Shqiptarët konsiderohen për pasardhës të ilirëve të cilët, që nga koha e Augustit, u zhdukën nga drita e historisë dhe këtu dolën përsëri tek në shek. 11. Në të vëretë, historia (e këtij populli) ka rrjedhur krejt ndryshe. Atdheu i kryehershëm i shqiptarëve ishin viset malore në qendër të Gadishullit të Ballkanit. Këtu, për çudi, populli i besëve konvertoi në krishterizëm shumë heret, përkatësisht që në shek. 4. Me ndihmën e manastireve të tyre lart në male dhe me një gjuhë kishëtare të mëvetëshme bese, krishterizimi i besëve u arrit marramendshëm shpejt. Kjo mrekulli u ndihmoi besëve që t'i përballonin fortunës së sulmeve e të pushtimeve të paganëve, përkatësisht të sllavëve, që ndodhën në shek. 6 e 7. Nga disa vendbanime të tyre që, për shkak të rrethanave historike, u bënë vendbanime-ishuj të tyre, disa mijëra besë u shpërngulën në shek. 9 në Shqipërinë e sotme të Veriut, në rrethina të një fortese bizantine. Këta janë, nëse tezat provokuese të këtij libri janë mbushamendëse, pararendësit e shqiptarëve të sotëm. Autori ndjek shtigje të reja. Këto konsistojnë në rrethanën që ky i ndërthuri bashkë metodat e shkencës së historisë dhe ato të historisë së gjuhës. Kjo ia bëri të mundshme autorit që trajtat e emrave të vendeve dhe huazimet (gjuhësore) t'i lexojë si burime historike. Në këtë mënyrë hedhet dritë mbi shtigjet e së kaluarës, të cilat deri vonë konsideroheshin për të pazdritshme. Fillet e krishtërimit shqiptar Gottfried Schramm, i lindur në vitin 1929, studioi në vitet 1948-1952 në Göttingen; u promovua në germanistikë të vjetër, porse më vonë kaloi të merrej me historinë e Europës Lindore. Këtë lëndë e ligjëron që nga viti 1965 në Freiburg. Ndër fusha të tjera të interesimit të autorit tonë bien historia kushtetutare dhe ajo kishëtare në kohën e re të herëshme të pjesës qendrore të Europës Lindore si edhe gjasët e zhvillimit të perandorisë cariste midis Luftës së Krimesë dhe vitit 1917.

This is corpus of epigraphic monument in Bosnia from roman time. It included list of almost 800 persons who lived in that time in Bosnia.
"Knjiga ANTIQVI HOMINES BOSNAE je posvećena analizi antičke epigrafske i onomastičke baštine na prostoru današnje Bosne. Zahvaljujući podacima sa epigrafskih spomenika i iz literarnih vrela knjiga pruža na uvid javnosti više od 800 osoba koje su živjele na prostorima današnje Bosne u skoro šest stoljeća antičkog, historijskog razvitka. I pored oskudnosti podataka iz izvorne građe, u određenom broju slučajeva detektiranje osobnosti je rezultiralo i sadržajnijim osvrtom. Zahvaljujući tome, uspjelo se proniknuti i u određene aspekte individualnih života. Interesantno je da je najveći broj tih podataka koji govore o životima pojedinaca ustvari rezultat njihove smrti. Bez pogrebnih natpisa naše poznavanje života običnih ljudi u vremenima antike na području Bosne bi bilo u značajnom mjeri osiromašeno. Tako bi ostali uskraćeni za sigurno većinu osobnih i gentilnih imena, a teško bi se razumio i proces romanizacije, odnosno brzina i stupnjevi njenog odvijanja. Na osnovi podataka crpljenih iz literarnih, i posebice epigrafskih vrela mogu se vrlo jasno dati osnovne konture antičkog razvitka u unutrašnjosti Ilirika. Dok literarni podaci više odražavaju patrijahalnost i patrilinearnost tadašnjeg ilirskog i rimskog društva, epigrafski podaci pružaju i kakvu – takvu sliku rodnih odnosa.
Sadržaj knjige je podijeljen na osnovi zemljopisnih odrednica, ali uz i poštivanje historijske geografije. Zemljopisne regije su oblikovane kako bi mogle održavati i određenu sliku rasprostriranja peregrinskih civitates i jedinica municipalne organizacije. Činjenica je da je svaka od tih jedinica lokalne autonomije i uprave u okvirima provincijskog sustava Rimske države imala svoje određene specifičnosti, koje su se održavale i u životima ljudi koji su živjeli u njima. I upravo se te specifičnosti primjećuju i na literarnim i epigrafskim zapisima koji se obrađuju u knjizi.
"

The book "Battle for Illyricum" is the second, largely supplemented and revised edition of the book "The Roman Wolf and the Illyrian Serpent, Last Fight ". Basic theme of the book “Battle of Illyricum” is Great Illyrian Uprising or Last Roman – Illyrian war which lasted from 6 AD till 9 AD. This “the greatest Roman war since Punic wars” is very poorly known and represented in modern historiography and public. Three and a half years of the Great Illyrian Uprising represented for Illyrian lands and peoples a final break with prehistoric and protohistoric periods and entry into the historical era.  The ultimate cause of the uprising was economic exploitation of the province of Illyricum, with consequence that aboriginal population in Illyricum became more and more poorer. In the spring 6 AD, Augustus issued order for mobilization of many young man from Illyrian nations in auxiliary units. But, instead to go in war against germano-celtic kingdom of Marcomania, these units rebelled (somewhere in Central Bosnia) against their roman officers. After first flames of uprising, rebels created Rebel Alliance which united almost all aboriginal nations in Illyricum south of river Sava. On the top of Rebel Alliance were two man (as political leaders and military chiefs) with name Bato, one from nation Daesitiates (near modern Sarajevo) and one from nation Breucos (southeastern Pannonia). During 6 AD and first half of 7 AD Rebel Alliance liberated and controlled area from borders of Italia to borders of Macedonia. Augustus sent almost 190 000 legionary, auxiliary, veterans and allied troops under command of his stepson Tiberius against Rebel Alliance. After two and half years of terrible and devastating war, Bato the Breuk betrayed Rebel Alliance, and with some of Pannonian forces surrendered to Tiberius on river Bosnia (3rd August 8 AD). Bato the Daesitiat and the rest of Rebel Alliance managed to defeat traitors and capture Bato the Breuk. After the trial, the assembly of the Rebel Alliance has passed the death penalty for Bato the Breuk. Romans and their allies continued war against Rebel Alliance for one year with bloody battles and offensive. In middle September 9 AD, Bato the Daesitiates surrendered himself and rest of rebels to Tiberius. War was over and Illyricum returned to Empire.

This paper focuses on the important trading post and Roman city Narona in the province Illyria/Dalmatia and its role as a gateway- and port community over a period of a millennium. The river harbour of Narona functioned in this period as a very important port for exchange between the Illyrian hinterland and the Mediterranean. A major theme is how the geographic situation of the harbour settlement was key to its strategic importance and how the latter varied over time due to varying political and economic conjunctures. The city had particular cultural characteristics as an inclusive, multi-cultural, “middle-ground” harbour settlement, attractive to merchants and freedmen but at the same time exclusive as seat of the Roman administration and later a Roman colony. The recent discovery of the importance of the central Dalmatian wine export from Issa and the ager of Narona and its consequences for the view of Narona as a port and commercial node has for the first time been integrated in this updated biography of a still little-known site.

Uncorrected Proof Copy

In the summer of 359 BCE, Perdikkas III, older brother of Philip II, as killed in battle by a confederation of hill people called Illyrians by the Greeks. These hill folk from the mountains ringing the Macedonian heartland, and others like them such as the Molossians, Paionians and Thracians, played a significant role in shaping Argead institutions and culture, especially those related to the military. This paper argues that Philip II’s time as a hostage of the Illyrian warlord Bardylis, coupled with his and his son Alexander’s many battles against Illyrian armies, shaped the Macedonian army in significant and long-lasting ways.

20 glavnih argumenata zašto stećci ne mogu biti srednjovjekovni iako su u srednjem vijeku korišteni, djelomično ispisivani i ukrašavani.... U srednjem vijeku ne postoje tehnologija, razlog ni kontekst za proizvodnju  megalitskih stećaka težine od 3 do 32 tone

Bosnian and Herzegovinian archaeologist Branka Raunig had dedicated almost forty years of her scientific and research career to studying the Iapodes and their culture in the territory of present–day
Bosnia and Herzegovina. We can rightfully claim that she is one of
the few scholars in Bosnia and Herzegovina who had dedicated her
research to ancient archaeology. Moreover, she contributed to the
study of the ancient history of north–west Bosnia, since in her work
on material culture she pointed out the historical evidence about the
Iapodes that had been left by Greco–Roman authors (Strabo, Pliny
the Elder, Appian, Cassius Dio, Claudius Ptolemy, Stephanus of Byzantium and others). We can rightfully say that in Bosnia and Herzegovina she belongs to the circle of few female scholars who focused
on prehistoric archaeology in their research. What is more, there are
only a few women in Bosnian and Herzegovinian archaeological discourse dealing with the oldest periods of prehistory and antiquity.
In this context, apart from Raunig, we should also mention Milica
Kosorić, Vukoslava Atanacković–Salčić and Irma Čremošnik.
Although it has been ten years since her death, Raunig remains the
leader of the study of the heritage of Bosnian Pounje in ancient and
early Antiquity period. The paper dedicated to Branka Raunig will
consist of two, closely related, units. The first unit will be based on biographical data about this esteemed scholar, whereas the second unit
will be dedicated to her scientific and research work. Therefore, we
should mention that Raunig was born in 1935 in Sarajevo, and died
in 2008 in Bihać where she spent the majority of her professional career as the manager of the Department for Archaeology and History
of the Museum of Pounje in Bihać (present–day Museum of Una–
Sana Canton). She was the director of the said Museum for eleven
years (1971–1982). We should also note that she got her BA, MA and
PhD diplomas from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of
Belgrade where her mentors were renowned professors of prehistory
Milutin Garšanin and Dragoslav Srejović. Although she worked in
a small, regional museum, her work was highly recognized among
scholars, as evidenced by the fact that Raunig published her papers in
Amra Šačić Beća
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all major archaeological journals across the former Yugoslavia (Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja, Sarajevo; Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen aus
Bosnisch–herzegovinische Landesmuseums Sarajevo; Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja, ANUBiH, Sarajevo; Zbornik krajiških
Muzeja, Banja Luka; Radovi Muzeja grada Zenice; Lika – izdanje Hrvatskog arheološkog društva, Split; Vjesnik Arheološkog muzeja, Zagreb; Opuscula archaeologica, Zagreb; Arheološki vestnik, Ljubljana;
Arheološki pregled, Ljubljana; Starinar, Belgrade; Arheološki pregled,
Belgrade and others). She also authored one monography titled “Art
and Religion of Prehistoric Iapodes” published by the Centre for Balkan Studies of the Academy of Art and Science of BiH. This is undoubtedly the most important work of this scholar as it collects all of
the important results of decades of her research.
In 1962, Raunig published her first paper in prehistoric archaeology
titled “Arms from Kostel near Bihać” in Zbornik Krajiških muzeja
(Collection of museums from Krajina). She published the first two
papers on the topic of afterlife of the Iapodes in 1968 in the most important scholarly journal in archaeology in Bosnia and Herzegovina
– the Herald of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The papers, “The Iapodian necropolis on Crkvina in Golubić” and
“The fragment of Iapodian urn from Golubić near Bihać”, represent
the initial research phase of the spiritual culture of the Iapodes during the archaeological career of Branka Raunig. These papers were
written as a traditional representation of the results of field and systematic research without a deeper methodological analysis and criticism which this archaeologist will have mastered in the later phases
of her research and make her work recognizable. During the 1970s,
Raunig published seven scholarly and research papers whose framework of topic was within he bounds of prehistoric necropolises and
settlements, sepulchral and sacral monuments. We should single out
two papers of the same title published in 1972 and 1975 – “Iapodian stone sepulchral and sacral monuments”. In these papers from
this phase of scholarly and research career, Raunig pointed out the
distinctiveness of the Iapodes within the assumed Illyrian ethnical
corpus. During the period of 1980–1990, Raunig published four papers: “Prehistoric necropolis on Gradina in the Ripač village”, “The
iron–age tomb from Ostrožac near Cazin”, “A few smaller unpublished bronze–age findings from the Western Bosnia”, and “Necropolis Dolovi in Golubić near Bihać from the Late Antiquity”. When it
comes to the last paper, we could even say that it is an exception
in her career because it is dedicated to an archeological research of
a site from the period of Late Antiquity, which was not typical for
DR. SC. BRANKA RAUNIG – NAUČNICA KOJA JE DALA NEMJERLJIV DOPRINOS
ISTRAŽIVANJU ILIRSKIH JAPODA NA TLU DANAŠNJE BIH
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her scholarly work. During the war–time period (1992–1995), she
published a series of papers in prominent archaeological journals in
Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region. During the post–war period, she published her most important work, the monograph “Art
and Religion of Prehistoric Iapodes”. Her final paper, “Crnopolje in
Ljusina – Bihać Region (Una valley)”, was posthumously published
in the Herald of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina
in 2010.
Her papers were quoted in all relevant publications about the study
of the Illyrian Iapodes. Moreover, her papers are often included in
the lists of recommended or mandatory literature in the syllabuses of
regional universities studying prehistoric archaeology. Though her
research, Raunig has introduced us to the magical world of the Illyrian Iapodes, one of the largest Illyrian communities that ruled the
valley of the Una river more than two millennia ago. In her papers,
she accentuated the daily lives of the Iapodes by following their deities, art, culture and other segments of cultural and historical development. She consistently followed the scientific methodology and
thus deserved an honorary place among the women who deserve
the respect of the scientific community of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The label ‘Illyrians’ was used in different contexts, probably developing as an ethnographic generalisation of foreigners related to similar indigenous language(s). In all certainty it developed in the sixth century BC but the evidence we have appears only in the fifth century. Later perceptions of ‘Illyrians’ are related to political and territorial contexts, first to the political alliance of the Hellenistic-era Illyrian kingdom, and after that to the Roman use of this term in the context of early imperial expansion.

""The Daesitiates: The identity-construct between contemporary and ancient perceptions

This paper discusses the ancient identity known from the sources as the Daesitiates. The crucial question that this paper raises is: what is hidden behind the term Daesitiates? Is this term a construct of the ancient sources and modern interpretations, or did it exist once as a historical “reality”, and whose reality did that term represent? Currently the prevailing scholarly opinion is that the Daesitiates represented an ethnic or proto-ethnic community, which developed through different stages of social organisation from the late Bronze Age throughout the Iron Age to the arrival of the Romans in the first century BC, ultimately becoming a “people” or a “people-making community”.
The existing sources are analysed against the contexts in which they existed: the pre-Roman Iron Age arhaeological culture (Central-Bosnian culture) and the written and epigraphic sources. The archaeology shows the existence of a specific kind of regional identity, but it does not provide evidence for the assumption that a unified identity-discourse existed in the pre-Roman era. Although the region is insufficiently explored, a few things might be deducted from the existing knowledge. The settlement pattern of known hillforts (gradine) shows a few different zones of habitation positioned around arable land and natural communications – usually the valleys of the rivers. Burial customs are partially known only from the Visoko-Breza sub-region and do not necessarily reflect the whole region, which is ascribed to this archaeological culture. The earlier dated Vratnica-Donji Skladovi necropole presents an inhumated group burial of warriors without visible social differences, while in the recently published and later dated Kamenjača-Breza necropolis it is possible to detect gradual social differentiations.
The written sources, Appian, Strabo, Velleius Paterculus and Cassius Dio, mention a group called the Daesitiates in relation to the events from the time of the Roman conquest in the late 1st century BC and early 1st century AD. Appian mentions a group of the Daisioi (Desii) in the context of Octavian's expedition into Illyricum in 35-33 BC, as one of his most formidable opponents. Although the scholarship assumes links between the Daisioi and Daesitiates which were known from the later bellum Batonianum, from this mention it is impossible to determine with absolute certainty whether these Daisioi were related to the later Daesitiates. The other sources mention a group of the Daesitiates in regards to the events from the bellum Batonianum of AD 6 – 9. Dio notes that one of the leaders of the uprising, the Dalmatian Bato was “of Daesitiates”, Velleius Paterculus knew that the Daesitiates and Pirustae were located in the central part of the Dalmatian province, while Strabo saw the Daesitiates as one of the Pannonian ethne whose leader was Bato. It cannot be concluded from the works of Velleius or Dio who were the Daesitiates they mentioned: including the people, family, class, or regional identity. Strabo on the other hand saw the Daesitiates as a political identity, one of the barbarian ethne from central Dalmatia. Finally, the Daesitiates were mentioned by Pliny the Elder as one of the Roman administrative peregrine civitates in the Naronitan conventus of the Dalmatian province.
The epigraphic evidence mentioning the Daesitiates exists in a few different contexts. Dollabela's inscription from Solin dated AD 19/20 mentions (He)dum castellum Daesitiatum, indicating the existence of the central stronghold of this group. Other inscriptions mention individuals carrying administrative functions inside Roman civitas: the Roman military praefect and indigenous princeps. Finally, one military diploma from Herculaneum and a tombstone from the military camp in Tilurium (Gardun) record the administrative identities of soldiers, in accordance with the prevailing custom of the Roman army.
This paper concludes that the earlier scholarship used contextually and chronologically different clusters of sources in order to construct the ethnicity of the Daesitiates. The archaeological evidence shows an indigenous Iron age culture. The written sources reflect the perception of the barbarian “other” from outside observers who are not concerned with establishing an “objective” ethnographic taxonomy. Finally, the epigraphic evidence mostly reflects the existence of the Roman peregrine civitas mentioned in Pliny, not ethnicity.
From the other comparative studies of similar communities in continental Europe it is possible to establish a new view on the origins and different aspects of this identity. The Daesitiates were probably one of the political alliances that were formed from the local communities in the future province of Dalmatia as a reponse to Roman imperialism in the late 2nd or 1st century BC, which initially had no sense of a common identity. The existence of these political alliances influenced Roman perception and written sources to etnicise them, assuming that those identities existed in a timeless and ahistoric vacuum of “barbarian” societies. The establishment of a peregrine civitas institutionalised the perception of Daesitiate ethnicity inside provincial structures. After a certain time these changes resulted in the establishment of the Daesitiate identity, which was in later antiquity transformed into municipal identitites and a provincial Dalmatian identity.""

Appian's Illyrian book (Illyrike) was originally intended to be just an appendix to his Macedonian book and today remains the only extant ancient work dealing with the early history of Illyricum which is preserved in its entirety. In this short work Appian puts together different local and regional histories in order to create a unified historical narrative and determines the historical and mythological coordinates of Illyricum inside the ancient world. This paper will discuss Illyrike in the context of the Roman construction of Illyricum as a provincial space, similar to some other regions in continental Europe such as, for example, Gaul or Britain. They were all firstly created through the needs of Roman political geography and later written into literary knowledge through the works of ancient history and ethnography. This paper will argue that Appian's Illyrike represented the final stage of the Roman construction of Illyricum from an imaginary to a provincial space, which was the point of its full coming of age as an integral part of the ancient world and the Roman Empire.

Rimsko naselje Aquae S(…) smješteno je na lijevoj obali rijeke Željeznice, na početku ilidžanskog naselja Lužani. U periodu vladavine Rimskog carstva, predstavljalo je najznačajnije naselje u Sarajevskom polju. Iako je nemoguće preciznije datirati nastanak naselja, pretpostavlja se da je ono podignuto u I vijeku n.e kada se vladavina Rima na ovim rpostorim definitivno učvrstila. Naselje svoj vrhunac doživljava za vrijeme III i IV stoljeća, odnosno u vremenu kada je Rim u značajnoj mjeri učvrstio svoju vlast i kada je počela urbanizacija ovih krajeva. Na osnovu istraživanja iznesene su pretpostavke se da je Ilidža planski nastala u vrijeme vladavine cara Marka Aurelija (161.-180. n.e.). i da je to period kada veliki broj vojnih veterana naseljava ovaj prostoror Ilidže čime je njena populacija rasla. Prilikom jednog od monogobrojnih istraživanja naselja, pronađen je natpis postavljen u čast caru Dioklecijanu, zahvaljujući kojem se došlo do naziva lokaliteta. Na natpisu se moglo vidjeti ime grada Aquae S…. , što bi pretpostavljalo da postoji još slova koja su nažalost tokom vremena uništena.

Data on the Christianity in the Illyrian-Albanian Territories before and after the Edict of Milan 313. With a Concentration on the Martyrology. Albanian
In this article is given a general overview of the Christianity in the Illyrian territories from the beginning until the time, after the Edict of Milano (313). With Illyrian territories, is meant here the lands where Albanian people live today. In the Center of this article is the martyrdom of the first Christians. Here are brought many details from their lives and their contribution to spreading the Christian religion and the legend about their sacrifice. After the Edict of Milano, the situation of Christians changed totally; Konstantin the Great gave the Christians the religious freedom, so it began e new period, which opened to the Christianity to become a religion of state in the Roman and later in the Byzantine Empire.

It is widely accepted that the Liburni, at some point in the Iron Age, ruled over much of the Adriatic. Professor Slobodan Čače was the first scholar to truly challenge these narratives through a critique of the written sources.  The aim of this paper is to build upon the work of Čače in seeking to rethink identities in pre-Roman Liburnia through analysis of ancient literary sources. It also takes a multidisciplinary approach, and seeks to address ideas about identity and cultural change through material culture. A re- examination is undertaken into Liburnian identity through archaeological evidence, and the transformations it apparently went through during the Iron Age, focusing on ideas about ethno-cultural identities and ‘Hellenization’ in interpretations of developments in Liburnia during the last 4 centuries BCE.

Antički epigrafski spomenici se bez sumnje trebaju sa
većom pažnjom tretirati kao dio kulturno - historijskog
naslijeđe Bosne i Hercegovine. Oni nemaju nikakvu nacionalnu
konotaciju u današnjem smislu riječi, ali potvrđuju
kontinuitet života na ovom prostoru. Kroz ovu vrstu
spomenika se može sagledati, savremenom čovjeku hronološki
dalek svijet ilirske i rimske kulture, te ga uvjeriti
da su i stanovnici antičkog Ilirika bili svjesni etničke pripadnosti
nekom od ilirskih naroda jer na spomenicima
ponosno ističu da su Mezej, Delmat, Nares ili Breuk. Kroz
natpis se otkriva način na koji oni, antički ljudi, tuguju
za pokojnikom ili poštuju određeno božanstvo. Romantičarski
rečeno, bajkovito je to bilo razdoblje u prošlosti
ovog prostora koji se zove Bosna i Hercegovina.

The historical episode we commonly call the Third Illyrian War (168 BC) ultimately resulted in the final destruction of the Illyrian kingdom on the Eastern shores of the Adriatic. Although mainly in the background of a fairly more significant Third Macedonian War, Rome’s actions against the Illyrian king Genthius were not left unnoticed by historical sources. Primarily by Livy, whose remarks about the circumstances on the Eastern shores of the Adriatic from the beginning of the second century BC, the course of war operations, and the imposed measures after the peace treaty is largely the only information recorded in ancient historiography. However, distributed and sporadically written throughout books 41-45, Livy’s information is not without historiographical and chronological problems. In this contribution, I will point out three modern interpretations of Livy’s information about the Third Illyrian War in correlation to the general events of the Third Macedonian War.

The article deals with a Hellenistic structure situated extra muros of the Illyrian town at Bushati. The building was discovered in the early 1990s and interpreted as a fountain. Recent Albanian-Polish fieldwork at the site led to its reconsideration as a threshing floor. This fact provides new insights on the agricultural processes during the Hellenistic Period and leads to a better understanding of the peri-urban area of the Hellenistic Illyrian town at Bushati.

Caius Iulius Solinus, Latin grammarian and compiler from the third century AD, wrote a curious sentence in his work Collectanea rerum memorabilium or Pol-yhistor. Solinus in 2.51 called the Liburni, indigenous group that inhabited part of the northeastern coast of the Adriatic – " Asiatic people " (… per Liburnos, quae gens Asiatica est). The scholarship never took this statement seriously as its historical inaccuracy is beyond any doubt in both written and material evidence. However, the very same historical inaccuracy prevented a more substantial analysis of this statement in the scholarship, making it just one of (quite a) few of Solinus' bizarre statements. The paper will use available written sources to explore the reasoning behind this statement. The analysis will show that Solinus was not inventing fairy tales but was utilizing existing Graeco-Roman ethnographic 'knowledge' about this part of the world, and the Liburni in particular. This 'knowledge' was in its essence inter-textual and orientalizing, combining descriptive literary techniques and information gathered through different phases of cultural contact with indigenous population in order to construct a 'barbarian other'. The statement about Asian origins of the Liburni does not have factual accuracy but is still extremely useful as it reveals insight into some of the ways indigenous communities from the eastern Adriatic coast were perceived by the ancient Greek and Roman intellectual elite.

The hinterland of the eastern Adriatic suffered a great injustice in Fernand Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. The great historian repeatedly sees this region as backward and poor, and its society as timeless and unchanging. This „barbarism“ of the hinterland is sharply juxtaposed with distinctive civilization he attributes to the Dalmatian coast and its cities. Braudel did not invent this dichotomy, but rather drew on the existing discourse in travelling and scholarly literature. The roots of this discourse can be traced to two centuries earlier, to the influential travel diaries of Venetian Alberto Fortis (Viaggo in Dalmazia [Venice 1774]). In his narrative Fortis constructed the inhabitants of the Dalmatian hinterland as the Morlacchi – exotic „noble savages“ of early modern Europe.
This paper engages with this discourse on civilizational inequality and the cultural dichotomy between the eastern Adriatic coast and its hinterland. Subversion of Braudel is best done using Braudelian tools, so the paper presents a longue-durèe examination of interaction between the Dalmatian coast and its hinterland from the Late Iron Age to the end of antiquity. The focus of enquiry is placed on tracing cultural mediation and exchange of ideas in the domain of religion through several different periods. The paper presents the eastern Adriatic hinterland as a distinct space of invention and interaction, where local traditions are continuously combined with outside influences in an original and unique fashion.
Two chronologically distinct examples are analysed. First is the negotiation of Graeco-Mediterranean and La Tène cultural influences in a late Iron Age indigenous religious context. Particular focus is placed on material finds from an indigenous sanctuary in Gorica near Grude in Herzegovina, dated from ca. seventh to first century BC. A second example is the use of ‘global’ cults, such as those of Silvanus and Diana, as an interface for communicating and displaying local and imperial Roman identity during the second and third century AD.

The Illyrian king Mytilos is mentioned in Pompeius Trogus’
Philippic History, while his name, accompanied by a royal title,
also appears on coins. The coins in question are the earliest
Dyrrhachian bronzes with the head of Heracles on the obverse
and the hero’s attributes and the inscription ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ
ΜΥΤΙΛΟΥ on the reverse. A total of five coins bearing the
king’s name are known, including the specimen in the Archaeological
Museum in Zagreb. However, the results of the recent
conservation-restoration and analytical research of the Zagreb
coin have shown that it is actually a replica and not an original
coin, as hitherto believed.
A hypothesis postulating the Archaic date and attributing
the KOPKYPAIΩN-issues to the Knidian colony on Korčula is
analysed and dismissed in the appendix.
Ilirski kralj Mitil poznat je iz Filipovih povijesti Pompeja Troga,
a njegovo se ime, uz kraljevsku titulaturu, pojavljuje i na kovanicama.
Riječ je o najranijem tipu dirahijskog brončanog novca,
s prikazom Heraklove glave na aversu i njegovih atributa na
reversu, uz natpis ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΥΤΙΛΟΥ. Iz literature je poznato
pet primjeraka kovanica s njegovim imenom, uključujući i primjerak
koji se čuva u Arheološkome muzeju u Zagrebu, no recentna
konzervatorsko-restauratorska i analitička istraživanja
pokazala su da se u slučaju zagrebačkog primjerka radi o replici,
a ne originalu, kako se dosad mislilo.
U dodatku se analizira i odbacuje teza po kojoj se kovanice
tipa KOPKYPAIΩN datiraju u arhajsko razdoblje i pripisuju
knidskoj koloniji na Korčuli.

This article is dealing with the chronology and subject of Caesar’s first visit to Illyricum. Namely, at the beginning of winter in 57 B.C. Gaius Julius Caesar, the governor of Illyricum and the two Gauls, set off to Illyricum with the intent to visit the local communities and to acquaint himself with the area. However, in Gaul suddenly broke out the rebellion of the Veneti and their allies. Caesar’s subordinate commander in the area, Publius Licinius Crassus, informed Caesar about these events. As he was quite distant, Caesar ordered military ships to be built on the river that flows in the Atlantic Ocean (Liger fl.) and told Crassus he will proceed to the army cum primum per anni tempus potuit. This seemingly short episode during Caesar’s governorship of Illyricum is attested with only a few words in the third book of Commentarii de Bello Gallico (bell. Gall. III, VII – IX). Although noticed in modern historiography, to date no significant scholarly attention or satisfactory analysis has been paid to it. In modern historiography, it is mentioned exclusively in the works dealing with a far wider context. There is only an overview, with a prevailing opinion that due to the war with the Veneti Caesar had to adjourn his short visit to Illyricum or that he did not even arrive there. Yet with the analysis of general historical circumstances, a specific chronology of the period and Caesar’s work on Gallic wars, an exactly different conclusion is to be made. Here the authors give a new interpretation of Caesar’s words and contemporary information on the
political events in Rome. Thus proving not only that Caesar’s departure to war with the Veneti cannot be chronologically associated with his departure to Illyricum, but that Caesar indeed visited Illyricum; that his visit lasted much longer than it has been considered so far; and that his reasons for the visit stemmed from the significance of the province in Caesar’s plans for future engagements.

We witness the continual habituation of the Romanija-Rogatica region in the
period of early Roman Empire primarily as the result of archaeological findings. A Roman
settlement was located in the center of the present-day town of Rogatica (south-eastern
Bosnia). Based on the analysis involving Tabula Peutingeriana, milestones and archaeological
findings, we can conclude that the route Salona – Argentaria (Tab. Peut. 5, 3 - 6, 2)
passed near this town. This territory once was also the headquarters of a Roman colony of
unknown name. The paper presents different views regarding the name of this administrative
units. The analysis of Latin inscriptions on epigraphic monuments made an attempt at
answering this question. A particularly important monument for the study of the Roman
colony in Rogatica is tombstone dedicated to Titus Claudius Maximus. According to this
monument, the said person was a decurion of the colony Ris(…?). Inscriptions dedicated
to decurions, duumviri and military veterans corroborate the existence of the colony in
Rogatica. Prosopography also shows the relationship between the colony Ris(…?) and the
settlement of military veterans, as they appear as city servants in this town. The second part
of the paper focuses on the territory of the upper course of the Drina river that belonged to
the municipal unit whose center was in the village of Komini near Pljevlja (Montenegro).
This territory is located between the mountains Pivska, Ljubiša, Kovač, Jahorina, Treskavica,
Lelija, Zelengora and Maglić. Although Komini hold a relatively small number of inscriptions
that mention local officials from the municipium, not a single monument has
preserved the full name of this administrative unit. They most commonly mention only
the function of a particular person. The only inscription that shares more information is the
honorary inscription dedicated in accordance with the decision of the council of decurions
for the Roman knight and decurion Titus Aurelius Sextianus. This inscription states that
this person was a decurion in municipium S(…?). Scholars have frequently identified this
name with Splonum mentioned by Cassius Dio (Dio. 56. 11, 2). However, this paper emphasizes
that Dio’s text suggests that Splonum should be located in western Bosnia. When
it comes to the territory of the upper course of the Drina river, there are no inscriptions
mentioning decurions, duumviri or aediles. Namely, Roman villas were mostly commonly
found here (villae rusticae, villae sururbanae, villae urbanae). These archaeological findings
support the thesis which claims that this territory was part of municipium S(…?), that was
the closest to it geographically.

In contemporary Roman historiography and archaeology the process of Romanisation is studied from two opposite viewpoints. Post-processualists and structuralists usually define Romanisation as a construct of Mommsen’s school of thought, whereas traditionalists believe that the process of Romanisation is one of the evident cultural and political processes that marked the Roman civilisation. For traditionalists it represents a process of cultural transformation that helped indigenous communities to integrate into the Roman Empire. Perhaps the best solution to this problem was offered by Curchin who believes that instead of giving up on the term Romanisation it’s better to deconstruct this term and revise it as a useful descriptor of an important cultural process in the Roman world. The inland of the Roman province of Dalmatia can serve as an exact example of the methodological analysis of the aforementioned historiographical problem. Although the 1st century in Dalmatia was marked by construction undertakings of Publius Cornelius Dolabella, the basic parameters of Romanisation in the inland can be observed not until under the Flavian dynasty. This is the period of first municipia in the inland: municipium Bist(uensium), municipium Malvesiatum, municipium Raetinum, municipium Arupium, municipium Doclea. We observe that local, pre-Roman aristocracy continues to reign in these municipia as part of the Roman administrative machinery. Therefore, even with Roman citizenship, indigenous elite did not renounce their pre-Roman identity. This can be inferred from epigraphic monuments of decuriones from the abovementioned municipia who, although being granted Roman citizenship, retained onomastic elements of Western Balkans (Illyrian) origin within their nomenclature (Bato, Blodus, Tatta, Epicadus, Laedio , Aplius and Annia). Local aristocracy evidently played a key role in spreading the Roman political power, because it took over the role of military prefects under the Julio-Claudian dynasty.