Dalmatae
Encyclopedia
The Dalmatae or Delmatae were an ancient people who inhabited the core of what would then become known as Dalmatia
after the Roman
conquest - now the eastern Adriatic coast in Croatia
, between the rivers Krka
and Neretva
. The Delmatae are mostly classed as an Illyrian
tribe, although for most of their history they were independent of the Illyrian kingdom which bordered to the southeast of them.
, which means sheep in English. The Illyrian
town of Delminium
has the same etymology.
(West Balkans); they emerged there since 4th century BC, partly repulsing from their area the earlier peoples of Liburni westwards, Daorsi and Ardiaei (Vardaei) eastwards. They were formed as a tribal alliance of culturally similar communities in 4th-3rd century BC, like the Tariotes
and the others. The tribe was subject to Celtic influences..One of the Dalmatian tribes was called Baridustae that later was settled in Roman Dacia.
The archeological remnants suggest their material culture was more primitive than this one of the surrounding ancient tribes, especially in comparison with the oldest Liburnians
. Only their production of weapons was rather advanced. Their elite had the build stone houses only, but numerous Delmatic herdmen yet settled in natural caves, and a characteristic detail in their usual clothing was the fur cap.
Their nomadic society had a strong patriarchal structure, consisting chiefly of shepherds, warriors and their chieftains. Their main jobs had been the extensive cattle breeding, and the iterative plundering of other surrounding tribes and of coastal towns at Adriatic. The early independent Delmatae had been completely illiterate, and the first inscriptions there appeared since the Roman conquest.
The first Dalmatian war in 156 BC
– 155 BC
finished with the destruction of capital Delminium
by consul Scipio Nasica
. The second Dalmatian war was fought in 119–118 BC, apparently ending in Roman victory as consul L. Caecilius Metellus celebrated triumph in 117 BC
and assumed his surname Delmaticus. The third Dalmatian war 78 BC
- 76 BC
finished with the capture of Salona
(port Solin near modern city Split
) by the proconsul C. Cosconius.
During the Roman Civil war of 49 BC
- 44 BC
, the Delmatae (led by Versos and Testimos) sided with Pompey
and continuously fought against the Caesarian generals Gabinius
and Vatinius. The fourth and final conflict occurred 34 BC
- 33 BC
during Octavian's expedition to Illyricum
because of their iterative revolts, and finished with the capture of the new Delmatian capital- Soetovio (now Klis
). The last revolts of Delmatae under their federal leader Baton, against Romans were in 12 BC
and the Great Illyrian Revolt
in 6-9 AD; both also failed and finished by a terminal pacification of bellicose Delmatae.
Afterwards, the Dalmatae formed numerous Roman auxiliaries:
' comparable with Roman Mars and Greek Ares. Their bad deity was the celestial Dragon devouring the sun or moon in the eclipses.
A strong weapons cult was very specific for the patriarchal Delmatae, and in their masculine tombs different weapons are widely present (that is rare in neighbouring peoples e.g. Liburni, Iapydes, etc.). Their usual tombs were under the stone tumuli of kurgan
type. After the classic Roman reports (Muzic 1998), nomadic Delmatae were extremely superstitious, and they had a primitive panic dread from all celestial phenomena: any view on the night stars was them forbidden in the fear of a sure death, and in the case of solar or lunar eclipses they repeated tremendous collective howling because of the immediate world ending, made hysterical suicides etc.
, which were spoken in the western part of the Balkans.
The name Dalmatae is connected with the Albanian
word delmë, which means sheep in English. During the Celtic settlements in the Balkans the Dalmatian language was partly influenced by the Celtic language regarding personal names and toponyms.
The original language of the early Delmatae is scarcely known save a few toponyms noted by the Romans. Since the Roman conquest, town-dwelling Dalmatae were gradually Romanized, but shepherds in the countryside were assimilated more slowly and only partially. After the collapsed of the Roman Empire, Dalmatian citizens continued to partly speak the Old Dalmatic Romance language (intermediary one between Italian
and Rumanian
).
The medieval descendants of pastoral Delmatae in Dalmatian inlands conserved (at least partly) an Eastern Romance tongue (see Istro-Romanian language
) with a large number of Slavic loanwords, called Morlachian dialect (Murlaška besida), persisting also in the Austrian Empire
; it was chiefly spoken by 2100 local shepherds around the recent town of Livno up to World War I. Then in Yugoslavia
during 20th century these non-Slavic pastorals under oppression were quickly slavicized. What remains of their language is but a few curious non-Slavic toponyms around the Livno valley, e.g. the rivulets Ayvatat, Suturba, and mountain peaks Bleynadorna, Brona, Ozirna, Gareta, Mitra, Zugva, Drul, Yenit, Yunch, Chamasir, and others.
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
after the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
conquest - now the eastern Adriatic coast in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, between the rivers Krka
Krka
Krka is the name for several rivers :* Krka , tributary of the Adriatic Sea in Croatia* Krka , tributary of the Sava in Slovenia* Gurk River , tributary of the Drava in AustriaOther meanings:...
and Neretva
Neretva
Neretva is the largest river of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. It has been harnessed and controlled to a large extent by four HE power-plants with large dams and their storage lakes, but it is still recognized for its natural beauty, diversity of its landscape and visual...
. The Delmatae are mostly classed as an Illyrian
Illyrians
The Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited part of the western Balkans in antiquity and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula...
tribe, although for most of their history they were independent of the Illyrian kingdom which bordered to the southeast of them.
Name
The name Dalmatae is connected with the Illyrian word delmë, dele in modern AlbanianAlbanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
, which means sheep in English. The Illyrian
Illyrians
The Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited part of the western Balkans in antiquity and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula...
town of Delminium
Delminium
Delminium was an Illyrian settlement which was located near today's Tomislavgrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina.- Etymology :The toponym Delminium has the same origin with the name of the tribe of the Dalmatae, which is connected with the Illyrian word delmë, dele in modern Albanian, which means sheep in...
has the same etymology.
Culture and Society
Archaeology and onomastic shows that the Delmatae were akin to eastern Illyrians and northern Pannonii. Delmatae were a younger nomadic tribe in ancient IllyriaIllyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....
(West Balkans); they emerged there since 4th century BC, partly repulsing from their area the earlier peoples of Liburni westwards, Daorsi and Ardiaei (Vardaei) eastwards. They were formed as a tribal alliance of culturally similar communities in 4th-3rd century BC, like the Tariotes
Tariotes
The Tariotes were a subtribe of the Dalmatae, ancient settlers of a part of the eastern Adriatic coast, in modern day Croatia. This tribe is mentioned in the Classical literature by Pliny the Elder alone....
and the others. The tribe was subject to Celtic influences..One of the Dalmatian tribes was called Baridustae that later was settled in Roman Dacia.
The archeological remnants suggest their material culture was more primitive than this one of the surrounding ancient tribes, especially in comparison with the oldest Liburnians
Liburnians
The Liburnians were an ancient Illyrian tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers Arsia and Titius in what is now Croatia....
. Only their production of weapons was rather advanced. Their elite had the build stone houses only, but numerous Delmatic herdmen yet settled in natural caves, and a characteristic detail in their usual clothing was the fur cap.
Their nomadic society had a strong patriarchal structure, consisting chiefly of shepherds, warriors and their chieftains. Their main jobs had been the extensive cattle breeding, and the iterative plundering of other surrounding tribes and of coastal towns at Adriatic. The early independent Delmatae had been completely illiterate, and the first inscriptions there appeared since the Roman conquest.
Roman conquest
There were some iterative Roman conflicts with the Delmatae lasting for 160 years. The main reason was the perpetual aggressiveness of nomadic Delmatae against all their neighbours (Liburni, Daorsi, Ardiei, etc.), and also towards the Issaean federation, Greek-led Roman allies in central Adriatic islands, and so their pacification appeared inevitable. Delmatae land was mostly a rocky calcareous country with many pathless mountains, ideal for infinite guerilla wars; thus Delmatae erected there about 400 stony forteresses and 50 major citadels against Romans.The first Dalmatian war in 156 BC
156 BC
Year 156 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lupus and Figulus...
– 155 BC
155 BC
Year 155 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Corculum and Marcellus...
finished with the destruction of capital Delminium
Delminium
Delminium was an Illyrian settlement which was located near today's Tomislavgrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina.- Etymology :The toponym Delminium has the same origin with the name of the tribe of the Dalmatae, which is connected with the Illyrian word delmë, dele in modern Albanian, which means sheep in...
by consul Scipio Nasica
Scipio Nasica
Scipio Nasica may refer to:* Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica , consul of Ancient Rome in 191 BC* Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum , his son, twice consul of Ancient Rome in 162 BC and 155 BC...
. The second Dalmatian war was fought in 119–118 BC, apparently ending in Roman victory as consul L. Caecilius Metellus celebrated triumph in 117 BC
117 BC
Year 117 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Diadematus and Augur...
and assumed his surname Delmaticus. The third Dalmatian war 78 BC
78 BC
Year 78 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lepidus and Catulus...
- 76 BC
76 BC
Year 76 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Octavius and Curio...
finished with the capture of Salona
Salona
Salona was an ancient Illyrian Delmati city in the first millennium BC. The Greeks had set up an emporion there. After the conquest by the Romans, Salona became the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia...
(port Solin near modern city Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
) by the proconsul C. Cosconius.
During the Roman Civil war of 49 BC
49 BC
Year 49 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Marcellus...
- 44 BC
44 BC
Year 44 BC was either a common year starting on Sunday or Monday or a leap year starting on Friday or Saturday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Sunday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
, the Delmatae (led by Versos and Testimos) sided with Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
and continuously fought against the Caesarian generals Gabinius
Gabinius
Gabinius was a Roman nomen of several historical figures, including:* Aulus Gabinius, consul 58 BC* Publius Gabinius Capito, supporter of Catiline* Publius Gabinius Secundus Chaucius , general under Claudius...
and Vatinius. The fourth and final conflict occurred 34 BC
34 BC
Year 34 BC was either a common year starting on Friday, Saturday or Sunday or a leap year starting on Friday or Saturday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
- 33 BC
33 BC
Year 33 BC was either a common year starting on Saturday, Sunday or Monday or a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar and a leap year starting on Saturday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
during Octavian's expedition to Illyricum
Illyricum (Roman province)
The Roman province of Illyricum or Illyris Romana or Illyris Barbara or Illyria Barbara replaced most of the region of Illyria. It stretched from the Drilon river in modern north Albania to Istria in the west and to the Sava river in the north. Salona functioned as its capital...
because of their iterative revolts, and finished with the capture of the new Delmatian capital- Soetovio (now Klis
Klis
Klis is a village located around a mountain fortress bearing the same name. It is located in central Dalmatia, Croatia, located just northeast of Solin and Split near the eponymous mountain pass...
). The last revolts of Delmatae under their federal leader Baton, against Romans were in 12 BC
12 BC
Year 12 BC was either a common year starting on Saturday, Sunday or Monday or a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
and the Great Illyrian Revolt
Great Illyrian revolt
The Great Illyrian Revolt, was a major conflict between an alliance of indigenous communities from Illyricum and Roman forces that lasted for four years beginning in AD 6 and ending in AD 9.-The war:...
in 6-9 AD; both also failed and finished by a terminal pacification of bellicose Delmatae.
Afterwards, the Dalmatae formed numerous Roman auxiliaries:
- Cohors I DelmatarumCohors I DelmatarumCohors prima Delmatarum was a Roman auxiliary infantry regiment. It is named after the Dalmatae, an Illyrian-speaking tribe that inhabited the Adriatic coastal mountain range of the eponymous Dalmatia. The ancient geographer Strabo describes these mountains as extremely rugged, and the Dalmatae as...
- Cohors I Delmatarum milliaria equitataCohors I Delmatarum milliaria equitataCohors prima Delmatarum milliaria equitata was a Roman auxiliary mixed infantry and cavalry regiment...
- Cohors II DelmatarumCohors II DelmatarumCohors secunda Delmatarum was a Roman auxiliary infantry regiment. It is named after the Dalmatae, an Illyrian-speaking tribe that inhabited the Adriatic coastal mountain range of the eponymous Dalmatia. The ancient geographer Strabo describes these mountains as extremely rugged, and the Dalmatae...
- Cohors III Delmatarum equitata c.R. pfCohors III Delmatarum equitata c.R. pfCohors tertia Delmatarum equitata civium Romanorum pia fidelis was a Roman auxiliary mixed infantry and cavalry regiment. It is named after the Dalmatae, an Illyrian-speaking tribe that inhabited the Adriatic coastal mountain range of the eponymous Dalmatia...
- Cohors IV DelmatarumCohors IV DelmatarumCohors quarta Delmatarum was a Roman auxiliary infantry regiment raised in the 1st century AD and continuing to serve into the 2nd century.- The Dalmatae :...
- Cohors V DelmatarumCohors V DelmatarumCohors quinta Delmatarum was a Roman auxiliary infantry regiment. It is named after the Dalmatae, an Illyrian-speaking tribe that inhabited the Adriatic coastal mountain range of the eponymous Dalmatia. The ancient geographer Strabo describes these mountains as extremely rugged, and the Dalmatae...
- Cohors V Delmatarum c.R.Cohors V Delmatarum c.R.Cohors quinta Delmatarum civium Romanorum was a Roman auxiliary infantry regiment. It is named after the Dalmatae , an Illyrian-speaking tribe that inhabited the Adriatic coastal mountain range of the eponymous Dalmatia...
- Cohors VI Delmatarum equitataCohors VI Delmatarum equitataCohors sexta Delmatarum equitata was a Roman auxiliary mixed infantry and cavalry regiment.- The Delmatae :...
- Cohors VII Delmatarum equitataCohors VII Delmatarum equitataCohors septima Delmatarum equitata was a Roman auxiliary mixed infantry and cavalry regiment. It is named after the Dalmatae, an Illyrian-speaking tribe that inhabited the Adriatic coastal mountain range of the eponymous Dalmatia. The ancient geographer Strabo describes these mountains as...
Religion
The major collective deity of Delmatic federation was their pastoral god 'Sylvanus' they called Vidasus. His divine wife was 'Thana' , a Delmatic goddess mostly comparable with Roman Diana and Greek Artemis. Their frequent reliefs often accompanied by nymphs, are partly conserved up today in some cliffs of Dalmatia; in Imotski valley also their temple used from 4th to 1st century BC, was unearthed. The third important one of Delmatae was a wargod 'ArmatusArmatus
Flavius Armatus was a Byzantine military commander, magister militum under Emperors Leo I, Basiliscus and Zeno, and consul. He was instrumental in the rebellion of Basiliscus against Zeno, and in his subsequent fall.- Origin and early career :...
' comparable with Roman Mars and Greek Ares. Their bad deity was the celestial Dragon devouring the sun or moon in the eclipses.
A strong weapons cult was very specific for the patriarchal Delmatae, and in their masculine tombs different weapons are widely present (that is rare in neighbouring peoples e.g. Liburni, Iapydes, etc.). Their usual tombs were under the stone tumuli of kurgan
Kurgan
Kurgan is the Turkic term for a tumulus; mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves, originating with its use in Soviet archaeology, now widely used for tumuli in the context of Eastern European and Central Asian archaeology....
type. After the classic Roman reports (Muzic 1998), nomadic Delmatae were extremely superstitious, and they had a primitive panic dread from all celestial phenomena: any view on the night stars was them forbidden in the fear of a sure death, and in the case of solar or lunar eclipses they repeated tremendous collective howling because of the immediate world ending, made hysterical suicides etc.
Linguistic affinity
The ancient Dalmatian language was part of the Illyrian languagesIllyrian languages
The Illyrian languages are a group of Indo-European languages that were spoken in the western part of the Balkans in former times by groups identified as Illyrians: Ardiaei, Delmatae, Pannonii, Autariates, Taulanti...
, which were spoken in the western part of the Balkans.
The name Dalmatae is connected with the Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
word delmë, which means sheep in English. During the Celtic settlements in the Balkans the Dalmatian language was partly influenced by the Celtic language regarding personal names and toponyms.
The original language of the early Delmatae is scarcely known save a few toponyms noted by the Romans. Since the Roman conquest, town-dwelling Dalmatae were gradually Romanized, but shepherds in the countryside were assimilated more slowly and only partially. After the collapsed of the Roman Empire, Dalmatian citizens continued to partly speak the Old Dalmatic Romance language (intermediary one between Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and Rumanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
).
The medieval descendants of pastoral Delmatae in Dalmatian inlands conserved (at least partly) an Eastern Romance tongue (see Istro-Romanian language
Istro-Romanian language
Istro-Romanian is an Eastern Romance language that is still spoken today in a few villages and hamlets in the peninsula of Istria, on the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, in what is now Croatia as well as in other countries around the world where the Istro-Romanian people settled after the two...
) with a large number of Slavic loanwords, called Morlachian dialect (Murlaška besida), persisting also in the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
; it was chiefly spoken by 2100 local shepherds around the recent town of Livno up to World War I. Then in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
during 20th century these non-Slavic pastorals under oppression were quickly slavicized. What remains of their language is but a few curious non-Slavic toponyms around the Livno valley, e.g. the rivulets Ayvatat, Suturba, and mountain peaks Bleynadorna, Brona, Ozirna, Gareta, Mitra, Zugva, Drul, Yenit, Yunch, Chamasir, and others.
Literature
- Issa-Fatimi, Aziz & Yoshamya, Zyelimer: Kurdish-Croat-English glossary of dialects Dimili and Kurmanji, and their biogenetic comparison. Scientific society for Ethnogenesis studies, Zagreb 2006 (in press).
- Lovric, A.Z. et al.: The Ikavic Schakavians in Dalmatia (glossary, culture, genom). Old-Croatian Archidioms, Monograph 3 (in press), Scientific society for Ethnogenesis studies, Zagreb 2007.
- Muzic, Ivan: Autoctonia e prereligione sul suolo della provincia Romana di Dalmazia. Accademia Archeologica Italiana, Roma 1994 (5th edition: Slaveni, Goti i Hrvati na teritoriju rimske provincije Dalmacije Zagreb 1998, 599 p.)
- Zaninovic, M.: Ilirsko pleme Delmati. Godišnjak (Annuaire) 4-5, 27 p., Centar za balkanološke studije, Sarajevo 1966–1967.
See also
- DalmatiaDalmatiaDalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
- TariotesTariotesThe Tariotes were a subtribe of the Dalmatae, ancient settlers of a part of the eastern Adriatic coast, in modern day Croatia. This tribe is mentioned in the Classical literature by Pliny the Elder alone....
- List of Illyrian tribes
- IllyriansIllyriansThe Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited part of the western Balkans in antiquity and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula...
- LiburniansLiburniansThe Liburnians were an ancient Illyrian tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers Arsia and Titius in what is now Croatia....
- Ancient RomeAncient RomeAncient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
- Adriatic
- CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
