Liburnians
Encyclopedia
The Liburnians were an ancient Illyrian tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia
Liburnia
Liburnia in ancient geography was the land of the Liburnians, a region along the northeastern Adriatic coast in Europe, in modern Croatia, whose borders shifted according to the extent of Liburnian dominance at a given time between 11th and 1st century BC...

, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers Arsia (Raša
Raša (river)
The river Raša, in Croatian Istria is a major river of Croatia's Istria County. Its mouth is in the long ria of Raški zaljev/Porto d'Arsia, which is a drowned river valley scoured out when world sea levels were lowered, then drowned by the rising waters of the post glacial era...

) and Titius (Krka
Krka (Croatia)
Krka is a river in Croatia's Dalmatia region, famous for its numerous waterfalls. It is long and its basin covers an area of .Possibly the river called Catarbates by the ancient Greeks, it was known to the ancient Romans as Titius, Corcoras, or Korkoras.The river has its source near the border...

) in what is now 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 ...

.

Liburnia
Liburnia
Liburnia in ancient geography was the land of the Liburnians, a region along the northeastern Adriatic coast in Europe, in modern Croatia, whose borders shifted according to the extent of Liburnian dominance at a given time between 11th and 1st century BC...

 in ancient geography was the land of the Liburnians, a region along the northeastern Adriatic coast in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, modern 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 ...

.

Classic age

The first account of the Liburni comes from Periplus or Coastal passage, an ancient Greek text of the mid 4th century BC.

Fall of Liburnian domination in the Adriatic Sea and their final retreat to their ethnic region (Liburnia) were caused by military and political activities of Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse
Dionysius I of Syracuse
Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse, in what is now Sicily, southern Italy. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Greek colonies...

 (406 – 367 BC). The imperial power base of this Syracusan tyrant stemmed from a huge naval fleet of 300 tetreras and penteras. When he finished Carthaginian
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...

 authority and diminished concurrence in Sicily, Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse
Dionysius I of Syracuse
Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse, in what is now Sicily, southern Italy. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Greek colonies...

 turned against the Etruscans. He made use of the Celtic invasion of Italy and the Celts became his allies in the Italian peninsula (386 - 385 BC). This alliance was crucial for his politics, then focused to the Adriatic Sea, where the Liburnians still dominated. In light of this strategy, he established a few Syracusan colonies on the coasts of the Adriatic Sea, Adria
Adria
Adria is a town and comune in the province of Rovigo in the Veneto region of Northern Italy, situated between the mouths of the rivers Adige and Po....

 at the mouth of Po river and Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....

 at the western Adriatic coast, Issa
Vis (town)
Vis is a town on the Vis island of the same name in Croatia. It has a population of 1960 residents . It is the center of the Vis municipality and part of Split-Dalmatia County.-History:...

 on the most outer island of the central Adriatic archipelago (island of Vis
Vis (island)
Vis is the most outerly lying larger Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, and is part of the Central Dalmatian group of islands, with an area of 90.26 km² and a population of 3,617 . Of all the inhabited Croatian islands, it is the farthest from the coast...

) and the others, while in 385-384 BC he helped colonizers from the Greek island of Paros
Paros
Paros is an island of Greece in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of Piraeus. The Municipality of Paros includes numerous uninhabited offshore islets...

 to establish Pharos (Starigrad
Stari Grad, Croatia
Stari Grad is a town on the northern side of the island of Hvar in Dalmatia, Croatia. One of the oldest towns in Europe, its position at the end of a long, protected bay and next to prime agricultural land, has long made it attractive for human settlement...

) colony on the Liburnian island of Hvar
Hvar
- Climate :The climate of Hvar is characterized by mild winters and warm summers. The yearly average air temperature is , 686 mm of precipitation fall on the town of Hvar on average every year and the town has a total of 2800 sunshine hours per year. For comparison Hvar has an average of 7.7...

, thus taking control of the important points and navigable routes in the southern, central and northern Adriatic Sea.

This certainly caused simultaneous Liburnian resistance on the both coasts, in their ethnic domain and on the western coast where their possessions or interests were in danger. A great naval battle was recorded a year after the establishment of Pharos colony, by a Greek inscription in Pharos (384 – 383 BC) and by Greek historian Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...

 (80 – 29 BC), initiated by conflicts between The Greek colonizers and the indigenous islanders of Hvar island, who asked their compatriots for a support. 10,000 Liburnians sailed out from their capital Idassa (Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...

) led by Iadasinoi (people of Zadar) and laid a siege of Pharos. The Syracusan fleet positioned in Issa was informed in time and Greek triremes attacked the siege fleet, taking victory at the end. According to Diodorus, The Greeks killed more than 5,000 and captured 2,000 prisoners, ran down or captured their ships and burnt down their weapons in dedication their god.

This battle meant the loss of the most important strategic Liburnian positions in the centre of the Adriatic Sea, resulting in their final retreat to their main ethnic region, Liburnia, and their complete departure from the Italic coast, except from Truentum. Greek colonization, however, did not penetrate into the Liburnian area, which remained strongly held, while Syracusan dominance suddenly diminished, very soon, after death of Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse
Dionysius I of Syracuse
Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse, in what is now Sicily, southern Italy. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Greek colonies...

. The Liburnians recovered and developed piracy to secure navigable routes in the Adriatic, as recorded by Livius in year 302 BC
302 BC
Year 302 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Denter and Paullus...

.

The middle of the 3rd century BC was marked by the rise of an Illyrian kingdom in the south of the Adriatic Sea, led by king Agron
Agron (king)
Agron was the greatest king of the Ardiaean Kingdom. The son of Pleuratus, Agron brought about a great revival among the Illyrians; during his reign, the Ardiaean State was not only the most powerful Illyrian state of the time, but also one of the greatest in the Balkans. He succeeded in extending...

 of the Ardiaei. Its piratical activities imperiled Greek and Roman interests in the Adriatic Sea and caused the first Roman intervention at the eastern coast in 229 BC
229 BC
Year 229 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Albinus and Centumalus...

; Florus
Florus
Florus, Roman historian, lived in the time of Trajan and Hadrian.He compiled, chiefly from Livy, a brief sketch of the history of Rome from the foundation of the city to the closing of the temple of Janus by Augustus . The work, which is called Epitome de T...

 (II,5) noted the Liburnians as the Roman enemies in this expedition, while Appian
Appian
Appian of Alexandria was a Roman historian of Greek ethnicity who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.He was born ca. 95 in Alexandria. He tells us that, after having filled the chief offices in the province of Egypt, he went to Rome ca. 120, where he practised as...

 (Bell. Civ., II, 39) noted liburnae as swift galleys the Romans first fought with when they entered to the Adriatic Sea. Obviously, they were the allies of their southern Illyrian compatriots, Ardiaei and the others, but in a lack of more records from the 3rd century BC, related to them, it is supposed that they mostly stayed aside, in the following Roman wars and conflicts with Pyrrhus
Pyrrhus of Epirus
Pyrrhus or Pyrrhos was a Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic era. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house , and later he became king of Epirus and Macedon . He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome...

, Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...

, Macedonia and southern 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...

 state, However, although their territory was not involved in these confrontations, it seems that the Liburna warship was used by the Romans during the Punic Wars
Punic Wars
The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 B.C.E. to 146 B.C.E. At the time, they were probably the largest wars that had ever taken place...

 and in the Second Macedonian War
Second Macedonian War
The Second Macedonian War was fought between Macedon, led by Philip V of Macedon, and Rome, allied with Pergamon and Rhodes. The result was the defeat of Philip who was forced to abandon all his possessions in Greece...

.

Hellenistic and Roman periods

In 181 BC
181 BC
Year 181 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cethegus and Tamphilus...

, the Romans established their colony in Aquileia
Aquileia
Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times...

 and took control of all Venetia in the north, thus expanding towards the Illyrian area from the north-west. In 177 BC
177 BC
Year 177 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pulcher and Gracchus...

 they conquered Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...

 in the north of the eastern Adriatic coast, settled by tribe of Histri
Histri
Histri were an ancient tribe, which Strabo refers to as living in Istria, to which they gave the name.The Histri are classified in some sources as a "Venetic" Illyrian tribe, with certain linguistic differences from other Illyrians. The Romans described the Histri as a fierce tribe of pirates,...

, while the Iapodes
Iapydes
The Iapydes were an ancient people who dwelt north of and inland from the Liburnians, off the Adriatic coast and eastwards of the Istrian peninsula...

, the northern Liburnian neighbors, attacked Aquileia in 171 BC
171 BC
Year 171 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crassus and Longinus...

, but these accidents did not involve the Liburnian territory. The Liburnians probably kept away from direct conflicts with the Romans to safeguard their remaining naval activities. After their arrival to the west of Liburnia, the Roman legions also appeared on its southern borders, defeating the southern Illyrians and finally king Gentius
Gentius
Gentius was the last Illyrian king of the Ardiaean State. The name appears to derive from PIE *g'en- "to beget", cognate to Latin gens, gentis "kin, clan, race". He was the son of Pleuratus III, a king who kept relations with Rome very strong...

 in 167 BC
167 BC
Year 167 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paetus and Pennus...

 and during wars against tribe of Dalmatae 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...

. First Roman appearance in the Liburnian seas happened in 129 BC
129 BC
Year 129 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tuditanus and Aquillius...

, during the military expedition of the Roman consule Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus
Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus (consul 129 BC)
Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was a politician and historian of the Roman Republic. He was consul in 129 BC.- Biography :Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was a member of the plebeian gens Sempronia. His father had the same name and was senator and in 146 BC member of a commission of ten men who had to...

 against the Iapodes, which ended with hardly won victories over Iapodes, Carni
Carni
The Carni were a tribe of the Eastern Alps in classical antiquity, settling in the mountains separating Noricum and Venetia....

, Taurisci
Taurisci
The Taurisci were a federation of Celtic tribes who dwelt in today's northern Slovenia before the coming of the Romans According to Pliny the Elder, they are the same people known as the Norici...

 and Liburnians.

In 84 BC
84 BC
Year 84 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Carbo and Cinna...

, the Roman consuls, enemies of Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the rare distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as that of dictator...

, mobilized an army in Italy and tried to use Liburnia, probably some outer island, to organize military campaign back to Italy, against Sulla, which failed due to bad weather conditions and low morale of the soldiers, who massively escaped to their homes in Italy or refused to cross over the sea to Liburnia. The Roman legions once again passed through the Liburnian territory, probably by sea along the coast, in their next expedition against Dalmatae in 78 – 76 BC, started from the north, from Aquilea and Istria, to stabilize control of Dalmatian city Salona.

In 59 BC
59 BC
Year 59 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Bibulus...

 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...

 was assigned as a provincia (zone of responsibility) to Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

 and Liburnian Iadera
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...

 was nominally proclaimed a Roman municipium, but real establishment of the Roman province occurred not earlier than in 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...

.
Dalmatae soon recovered and stepped into conflict with the Liburnians in 51 BC, probably because of possession of the pasture grounds around Krka river, taking their city Promona
Promona
Promona was an ancient city in Illyricum.Promona was the location a Roman cohort in the territory of the Delmatae. The location is the modern-day village of Tepljuh, south of Knin.- Bibliography :Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992, ISBN 0-631-19807-5...

. The Liburnians were not strong enough to reconquer it, so they voluntarily subjected to the Romans asking help from Caesar, actual Roman proconsul of Illyricum, but Liburnian army strategically supported by the Romans was heavily defeated by Dalmatae.

Civil war between Caesar and Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...

 in 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...

 affected all of the Roman Empire
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....

 as well as Liburnia. In the same year, near island of Krk
Krk
Krk is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county....

, there was an important naval battle between armies of Caesar and Pompey, probably due to the local Liburnian support to one or another side. Caesar was supported by the urban Liburnian centres, like Iader, Aenona and Curicum, while the rest of Liburnians supported Pompey, including city of Issa
Issa
Issa or ISSA may refer to:Issa*Abdisalam Issa-Salwe, Somali scholar*Darrell Issa, a Californian Representative*List of The Belgariad and The Malloreon characters#Issa, a divine character in David Eddings's fantasy series The Belgariad and The Malloreon*Issa or Isa, the Arabic name for Jesus in...

 which citizens were in conflicts with Caesar supporting Dalmatae
Dalmatae
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...

 from 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...

. "Navy of Iader" (Zadar) probably equipped by mixed Liburnian and Roman ships confronted "Liburnian navy" in service to Pompey, equipped only with Liburnians in their liburna galleys. Thus Liburnian naval force was dragged into the Roman civil war, partially by force, partially because of local interests of the participants. Caesar rewarded his supporters in Liburnian Iader and Dalmatian Salona, by giving status of the Roman colonies to their communities, but battle was won by the Liburnian navy, which prolonged the civil war and ensured control of the Adriatic Sea to side aligned with Pompey in next 2 years, until his final defeat in 48 BC
48 BC
Year 48 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Vatia...

. In the same year, Caesar sent his legions to take control of rebelled Illyricum province, and took the fortress of Promona
Promona
Promona was an ancient city in Illyricum.Promona was the location a Roman cohort in the territory of the Delmatae. The location is the modern-day village of Tepljuh, south of Knin.- Bibliography :Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992, ISBN 0-631-19807-5...

 from Dalmatian hands, making them submit.

In all that period the Roman rule in only nominally established Illyricum province was concentrated only to a few cities at the eastern Adriatic coast, such as Iader
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...

, 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...

 and Narona
Narona
Narona was the name of the ancient Roman city that was located in the Neretva valley in present day Croatia. It was part of the Roman province of Dalmatia. The city was established after the Illyrian Wars and was located on the alluvial planes, between present day city of Metković and village of...

. Renewed Illyrian and Liburnian pirate activities motivated Octavian
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

 to organize great military operation in 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...

 province in 35 BC, to finally stabilize Roman control of it. Action was first concentrated on the coastal Illyrian tribes to the east of Narona, then it prolonged to the depth of the Illyrian territory, where continental tribes gave much stronger resistance. After return from inland of Illyricum, Octavian destroyed Illyrian pirate communities in the islands of Melita (Mljet
Mljet
Mljet is the most southerly and easterly of the larger Adriatic islands of the Dalmatia region of Croatia. The National Park includes the western part of the island, Veliko jezero, Malo jezero, Soline Bay and a sea belt 500 m wide from the most prominent cape of Mljet covering an area of...

) and Korkyra Nigra (Korčula
Korcula
Korčula is an island in the Adriatic Sea, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of ; long and on average wide — and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 16,182 inhabitants make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk...

) and continued to Liburnia, where he wiped out the last remains of the Liburnian naval forces, resolving problems of their renewed piratical activities in the bay of Kvarner (sinus Flanaticus) and attempt to secede from Rome. Octavian commandeered all the Liburnian ships. Very soon these galleys would play a decisive role in the battle near Actium
Battle of Actium
The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, at the Roman...

.

Octavian went for another expedition to the inland, against the Iapodes, from the Liburnian port of Senia (Senj
Senj
Senj , German Zengg, Hungarian Zeng and Italian Segna) is the oldest town on the upper Adriatic, and it was founded in the time before the Romans some 3000 years ago on the hill Kuk. It was the center of the Illyrian tribe Iapydes. The current settlement is situated at the foot of the slopes Mala...

) and conquered their most important positions in 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...

. In the next 2 years the Roman army, led by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defense minister to Octavian, the future Emperor Caesar Augustus...

 fought hard battles with the Dalmatae
Dalmatae
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...

. Liburnians were not recorded as participants in this war but their most southern territories were surely involved.
It is not certain whether Liburnians joined the last 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:...

, this remains controversial, as the only evidence is a damaged inscription found in Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...

, mentioning Iapodes and Liburnians under an unknown leader.

Throughout the centuries, naval power was the most important aspect of warfare for the Liburni. When the empowered Roman forces defeated the Liburni, the region became a part of the Roman province of Dalmatia, but marginal in a military sense. Burnum
Burnum
Burnum or Burnum Municipium, an archaeological site, was a Roman Legion camp and town. It is located 2.5 km north of Kistanje, in inland Dalmatia, Croatia...

 on Krka river became a Roman military camp, while frequently settled and already urbanized plains of Classical Liburnia, in the inland of Iader, became easily accessible and controlled by Roman rulers. However the Liburnian sea-faring tradition was never wiped out, gaining mainly a commercial character under these new circumstances. It contributed to the economical and cultural thriving of its ports and cities, as well as of those in all the province. Despite Romanization
Romanization
In linguistics, romanization or latinization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Roman script, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system . Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written...

, especially in larger cities, Liburnians retained their traditions, cults, burial customs (Liburnian cipus), names etc., as attested by the archaeological evidence from those ages.

Archaeology

Development of Liburnian culture can be divided in 3 main time periods:
  • 11th and 10th century BC. Between two waves of Balkan
    Balkans
    The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

    -Pannonia
    Pannonia
    Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....

    n migrations; it was transitive period between the Bronze Age
    Bronze Age
    The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

     and the Iron Age
    Iron Age
    The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

    , which features were more related to the Late Bronze Age. It was characteristical for influence of the Urnfield Culture
    Urnfield culture
    The Urnfield culture was a late Bronze Age culture of central Europe. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns which were then buried in fields...

     which was spread in the Pannonian areas and in addition for global changes caused by Balkan-Pannonian migrations.
  • 9th to the 5th century BC. Liburnian domination in the Adriatic Sea
    Adriatic Sea
    The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

    ; its first phase (9th century BC), because of mentioned migrations, did not continue development of the Late Bronze Age, but certain forms only. It was beginning of the Liburnian Iron Age marked by their expansion and colonization of Picenum
    Picenum
    Picenum was a region of ancient Italy. The name is an exonym assigned by the Romans, who conquered and incorporated it into the Roman Republic. Picenum was the birthplace of such notables as Pompey the Great and his father Pompeius Strabo. It was situated in what is now Marche...

    , Daunia
    Daunia
    250px|thumb|Example of Daunian ceramics.The Daunia is a historical and geographical region in Apulia, southern Italy, mostly coincident with modern Province of Foggia...

     and Apulia
    Apulia
    Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

     at the Italic
    Italy
    Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

     shores, which resulted in rich and high level of their cultural development in the 8th and 7th century BC, based on sea trade and followed by isolation from the Balkan area, except from Iapodia
    Iapydes
    The Iapydes were an ancient people who dwelt north of and inland from the Liburnians, off the Adriatic coast and eastwards of the Istrian peninsula...

    . Rich material exchange with the other Adriatic coasts was continued in the 6th century BC and connection to Picenum was still strong, but also links to Iapodes and Dalmatae has been attested. However, in the 5th century BC, the Greeks undertook leadership of trade in the Adriatic Sea and considerable changes occurred, like widening of the import of Greek products.
  • 5th to the 1st century BC. Decline of their power; Liburnian culture changed thoroughly under Hellenistic influence
    Ancient Greece
    Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

    , although local specifics were retained. Except extended import of Hellenistic and Italic pottery and other lesser influences, Liburnian cultural relations with other peoples were rather poor.

Settlements

The principal forms of settlements were forts (Latin: castellum, Croatian: gradina) for defence, usually built on elevations and fortified with dry walls. In the Liburnian territory, about 400 have been identified so far, but they were considerably more numerous. About a hundred of names of these hill-forts have kept their roots from prehistory, especially places that had been inhabited permanently, such as Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...

 (Iader), Nin
Nin
Nin may refer to:* Nine Inch Nails, an American industrial rock band* NIN , a Serbian political magazine* NIN , the Sumerian sign for lady* NIN , a human gene* Nion or Nin, a letter in the Ogham alphabet...

 (Aenona), Nadin
Nadin
Nadin is a Croatian village in the Zadar County, located between Benkovac and Škabrnja. The population is 439 .The village was inhabited since the time of the Liburnians when it was named ....

 (Nedinium), Rab
Rab
Rab is an island in Croatia and a town of the same name located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea.The island is long, has an area of and 9,480 inhabitants . The highest peak is Kamenjak at 408 meters...

 (Arba), Krk
Krk
Krk is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county....

 (Curicum) etc. The dwellings were square dry-wall ground-floor buildings of one room. Similar stone houses are saved in Croatian tradition in all Dalmatia and Kvarner, mostly of rounded form, called bunja.

Burial tradition

The Liburnians buried their dead in graves near or beneath settlements. They laid their dead on a side in contracted position, mostly in chests of stone slabs. Tumuli
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...

 are numerous on all Liburnian territory and especially in the narrowest region of Classical Liburnia (Nin, Zaton, etc.). Although the most of graves were used from the beginning of the Iron Age, many were continually used from the Copper Age
Copper Age
The Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...

 or from the Early Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age. Inhumation under tumuli in the Liburnian territory was undoubtedly inherited from the earlier times.

Material culture

The movable remains of culture are represented by various artifacts, mostly jewellery, pottery and parts of costume. Other forms are not so common, such as weapons, tools etc. Especially numerous are fibulae, some twenty forms and many more variants, as well as ornamental pins. Small sculpture is fairly frequent, representing animals and people. From the Liburnian territory, various coins from 23 mints are known, from 6th and mostly from 3rd century, from Greek cities, colonies, Italian cities, Illyrian rulers, North African, Celtic and Roman. Bronze and glass vessels occur very rarely. Pottery originated mostly from settlements and from tumuli, but it rarely occurs in tombs, except in rare tombs of Hellenistic type. Pottery was made without throwing, with a mixture of calcite, and burnt on an open fire. Imported pottery is also frequent, especially from southern Italy, from 8th to 1st century BC, mostly Apulian vessels, but also some Greek pottery was imported.

Religion

The mythology of the people of Illyria
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....

 is only known through mention of Illyrian deities on Roman Empire
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....

 period monuments, some with interpretatio Romana. There appears to be no single most prominent Illyrian god and there would have been much variation between individual Illyrian tribes. The Illyrians did not develop a uniform cosmology on which to center their religious practices.

Economy

Economy is manifested in traces of agriculture, stock breeding, crafts, trade, barter, seamanship (see section "Seafarers"), fishing, hunting, food collecting. The Liburnians traded over the whole Adriatic, Middle and East Mediterranean and northwestern Balkan peninsula. Mostly they exported to the territories of the Iapodes and Dalmatae, and across the Adriatic to Picenum and southern Italy, especially jewellery, cheese, clothing, etc., and they imported mostly from Italy, primarily pottery, and took over various coins. Importation of amber from the Baltic cannot be proven, but probably acquisition in the Liburnian territory. Individual features of particular cultures are conditioned by special forms of production and economy.

Social relations

Insights into social relations are possible by remains of culture, inscriptions from the Roman times, and the works of several authors. Traces of the special role women and their position in Liburnian society can be noted in their writings. They mention the original division into several tribes and territorial communities, later fused into a union of tribes and into a single ethnic community of the Liburnians, although the basic forms of social relations were the family and clan. Collections of tumuli corresponds to this, the number of graves in a tumulus (up to 18) through several generations, or individual interments, with up to 8 bodies at the most in each grave. Certain data suggest social division, stratification, and inequality, where the Liburnian aristocracy also kept many privileges, special status, and features of their culture under Roman rule.

Relations to other cultures

Liburnian culture in general developed and was formed mostly on the basis of inheritance and independent development, partly by transformation and adoption of foreign influence, particularly Italic and Hellenistic, and also by exchange, enrichment partly with imports of foreign goods. Links with the Pannonian basin were not so numerous as in Late Bronze Age. Much more important were links with the Iapodes, and especially with Dalmatae. The Histrian culture developed differently, and the links with the Liburnians were not so universal. Exchange with Italy was varied and important. The Liburnians had most versatile relations with Picenum because of Liburnian immigration, but also because of easiest links, and with southern Italy. Exchange with the Greeks was not ample, except in the Hellenistic age. Just like in other parts of the Mediterranean, large quantities of North African coins are prominent. Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....

ic influence is important, especially in jewellery and tools, but mostly it is not direct.

Seafarers

The Liburnians were renowned seafarers, notorious for their raids in the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

, which they conducted in their swift galleys. The Romans knew them principally as a people addicted to piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...

. The major harbour of Liburnian navy since 5th century BC was Corynthia at eastern cape of Krk
Krk
Krk is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county....

 island, including 7 unearthed docks, marine arsenal, and stony fortifications; this early harbour persisted in ancient and medieval function to 16th century.

Liburnians constructed different ship types; their galaia was an early prototype of transport galleys, lembus was a fishing ship continued by the actual Croatian levut, and a drakoforos was apparently mounted with a dragonhead at the prow.

Remains of a 10 meters long ship from the 1st century BC, were found in Zaton
Zaton
Zaton can refer to:* Zaton, Dubrovnik-Neretva County, a village located northwest of Dubrovnik, Croatia* Zaton, Šibenik-Knin County, a village located northeast of Vodice, Croatia* Zaton, Zadar County, a village located south of Nin, Croatia...

 near Nin
Nin
Nin may refer to:* Nine Inch Nails, an American industrial rock band* NIN , a Serbian political magazine* NIN , the Sumerian sign for lady* NIN , a human gene* Nion or Nin, a letter in the Ogham alphabet...

 (Aenona in Classical Liburnia), a ship keel with bottom planking made of 6 rows of the wooden boards on each side, specifically joined together, sewn with resin cords and wooden wedges, testifying the Liburnian shipbuilding tradition style, therefore named "Serilia Liburnica". Deciduous trees (oak and beech) were used, while some climber was used for the cords.
A 10th century AD ship of identical form and size, made with wooden fittings instead of sewn planking joints, was found in the same place, "Condura Croatica" used by the Medieval Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

. Condura could be the closest known vessel to the original "liburna" galley (see below) in form, only of much smaller size, with the same features of a quick and agile galley having shallow bottom, very straightened but long, with one large Latin sail and one row of oaks on each side.

Liburna

The most known Liburnian ship was their warship, known as a libyrnis (λιβύρνις, λιβυρνίς) to the Greeks and a liburna to the Romans, propelled by oars.

According to some thoughts, liburna was shown in the scene of naval battle, curved on a stone tablet (Stele di Novilara) found near Antique Pisaurum (Pesaro
Pesaro
Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italian region of the Marche, capital of the Pesaro e Urbino province, on the Adriatic. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....

), outlined to 5th or 6th century BC, the most possibly showing imaginary battle between Liburnian and Picenian
Picenum
Picenum was a region of ancient Italy. The name is an exonym assigned by the Romans, who conquered and incorporated it into the Roman Republic. Picenum was the birthplace of such notables as Pompey the Great and his father Pompeius Strabo. It was situated in what is now Marche...

 fleets. Liburna was presented as light type of the ship with one row of oars, one mast, one sail and prow twisted outwards. Under the prow there was a rostrum made for striking the enemy ships under the sea.

By its original form, the liburna was the most similar to the Greek penteconter
Penteconter (ship)
The penteconter, alt. spelling pentekonter, also transliterated as pentecontor or pentekontor was an ancient Greek galley in use since the archaic period....

. It had one bench with 25 oars on each side, while in the late ages of the Roman Republic, it became a smaller version of a trireme
Trireme
A trireme was a type of galley, a Hellenistic-era warship that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans.The trireme derives its name from its three rows of oars on each side, manned with one man per oar...

, but with two banks of oars (a bireme
Bireme
A bireme is an ancient Hellenistic-era warship with two decks of oars, probably invented by the Phoenicians. It typically was about long with a maximum beam width of around . It was modified from the penteconter, a ship that had only one set of oars on each side, the bireme having two sets of oars...

), faster, lighter, and more agile than biremes and triremes. The liburnian design was adopted by the Romans and became a key part of Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient 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....

's navy
Roman Navy
The Roman Navy comprised the naval forces of the Ancient Roman state. Although the navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean basin, it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions...

, most possibly by mediation of Macedonian
Ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...

 navy in the 2nd half of the 1st century BC. Liburna ships played a key role in naval battle of Actium
Battle of Actium
The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, at the Roman...

 in Greece, which lasted from August 31 to September 2 of 31 BC
31 BC
Year 31 BC was either a common year starting on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday or a leap year starting on Tuesday or Wednesday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Tuesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...

. Because of the its naval and maneuver features and bravery of its Liburnian crews, these ships completely defeated much bigger and heavier eastern ships, quadriremes and penterames.
Liburna was different to the battle triremes, quadriremes and quinquereme
Quinquereme
From the 4th century BC on, new types of oared warships appeared in the Mediterranean Sea, superseding the trireme and transforming naval warfare. Ships became increasingly bigger and heavier, including some of the largest wooden ships ever constructed...

s not because of rowing but rather because of its specific constructional features.
It was 109 ft (33 m) long and 16 ft (5 m) wide with a 3 ft (0.9144 m) draft. Two rows of oarsmen pulled 18 oars per side. The ship could make up to 14 knots under sail and more than 7 under oars.
Such a vessel, used as a merchantman, might take on a passenger, as Lycinus relates in the 2nd-century dialogue, traditionally attributed to Lucian of Samosata: "I had a speedy vessel readied, the kind of bireme used above all by the Liburnians of the Ionian
Gulf."
Once the Romans had adopted the liburnian, they proceeded to make a few adaptations to improve the ships’ use within the navy. The benefits gained from the addition of rams and protection from missiles more than made-up for the slight loss of speed. Besides the construction, the ships required that the regular Roman military unit be simplified in order to function more smoothly. Each ship operated as an individual entity, so the more complicated organization normally used was not necessary. Within the navy, there were probably liburnian of several varying sizes, all put to specific tasks such as scouting and patrolling Roman waters against piracy. The Romans made use of the liburnian particularly within the provinces of the empire, where the ships formed the bulk of the fleets, while it was included by small numbers in fleets of Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...

 and Micenum, where a large number of the Illyrians were serving, especially Dalmatae, Liburnians and Pannonians.

Gradually liburna became general name for the different types of the Roman ships, attached also to the cargo ships in the Late Antique. Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...

 and Suetonius
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....

 were using it as a synonym for the battle ship. In inscriptions it was mentioned as the last in class of the battle ships: hexeres, penteres, quadrieres, trieres, liburna.

In the Medieval sources the "liburna" ships were often recorded in use by the Medieval Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

 and Dalmatia
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....

n pirates and sailors, but probably not always referring to the ships of the same form.

Language

The Liburnian language is an extinct language which was spoken by the ancient Liburnians, who occupied Liburnia
Liburnia
Liburnia in ancient geography was the land of the Liburnians, a region along the northeastern Adriatic coast in Europe, in modern Croatia, whose borders shifted according to the extent of Liburnian dominance at a given time between 11th and 1st century BC...

 in classical times. The Liburnian language is reckoned as an Indo-European language, in the Centum group. By different specualations, it appears to have been separate Indo-European language or on the same Indo-European branch as the Venetic language
Venetic language
Venetic is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken in ancient times in the North East of Italy and part of modern Slovenia, between the Po River delta and the southern fringe of the Alps....

.

Extinction of the language and ethnicity

In AD 634 Heraclius
Heraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...

 invited the Chrovates or Chrobati (ancestors of the Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

), who lived on the north side of the Carpathians
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...

, in what is now southern Poland (or Galicia), to occupy the province as vassals of the Empire. Their presence had a permanent effect on the Romanized culture, and the Liburnians faded as a distinct ethne.

Sources

  • Spanish Wiki article on the Roman Fleet
  • HELVII u Jaderu i Liburniji, ["Helvii in Iader and Liburnia"], Radovi - zavoda za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Zadru, 37, Zadar, 1955, 9-37.
  • Liburnski cipus iz Verone (CIL 5, 2200, 8852; CIL 3, 2190), ["Liburnian cippus from Verona"], Diadora, 10, Zadar, 1988, 73-99.
  • "Prilog klasifikaciji liburnskih nadgrobnih spomenika, tzv. liburnskih cipusa - sjeverna grupa nalaza," [“Contribution to classification of Liburnian gravestones, so called cipuses - northern group of findings”], Izdanja HAD-a, 13, Arheoloska istrazivanja na otocima Krku, Rabu i u Hrvatskom primorju, Zagreb, 1989, 51-59.
  • "Aserijatska skupina liburnskih nadgrobnih spomenika, tzv. liburnskih cipusa," [“Asseriate group of Liburnian gravestones, so called cippi”], Diadora, 12: 209-299, Zadar, 1990; Diadora, 13, Zadar, 1991, 169-211.
  • Ivo Fadić, Archaeological museum in Zadar
  • Barac, L. et al., '"Y-chromosomal heritage of Croatian population and its island isolates", European Journal of Human Genetics, 11: 535-542, 2003.
  • Batovic, Sime, Sepultures de la peuplade illyrienne des Liburnes, Bonn, 1962.
  • Batovic, Sime, '"Die Eisenzeit auf dem Gebiet des illyrischen Stammes der Liburnen." Archaeologia Jugoslavica 6 (1965.), 55 p.,
  • Tolk, H.V. et al., "MtDNA haplogroups in the populations of Croatian Adriatic Islands." Coll. Anthropologica 24: 267-279, 2000.
  • Wilkes, John J., The Illyrians, Blackwell Books, 1992.
  • Yoshamya, Mitjel and Zyelimer Yoshamya, Gan-Veyan: Neo-Liburnic glossary, grammar, culture, genom, Old-Croatian Archidioms, Monograph I, pp. 1–1.224, Scientific Society for Ethnogenesis studies, Zagreb 2005.
  • Brusic, Zdenko, Hellenistic and Roman Relief Pottery in Liburnia ISBN 1-84171-030-X. British Archaeological Reports (December 8, 1999), 254 pages, 122 plates of drawings and photographs.

External links

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