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ALBANIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 327 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ALBANIA . Histcry.—Greek colonization on the Illyrian seaboard probably began See also:

late in the 7th See also:century B.C. Or See also:early in the 6th century. The most important settlements appear to have been at Epidamnus (Durazzo), Tragurium (Trail), Rhizon (near See also:Cattaro), Salona (near See also:SpaLato), Epidaurum (Ragusavecchia), See also:Zara and on the islands of See also:Curzola, See also:Lesina and See also:Lissa. There is a collection of See also:Greek coins from See also:Illyria in the museum at See also:Agram, and the researches of See also:Professor F. Bulie and others at Salona (see SPALATO) have brought to See also:light Greek See also:inscriptions, Greek pottery, &c. dating from 600 B.C. But Greek See also:influence seems never to have penetrated far into the interior, and even on the See also:coast it was rapidly superseded by Latin See also:civilization after the 3rd century B.C. Until then the Illyrian tribes appear to have lived in a See also:state of intermittent warfare with their neighbours and one another. They are said by See also:Herodotus (ix. 43) to have attacked the See also:temple of See also:Delphi. See also:Brasidas with his small See also:army of Spartans was assaulted by them on his See also:march (424 B..c.) across See also:Thessaly and See also:Macedonia to attack the Athenian colonies in See also:Thrace. The earlier See also:history of the Macedonian See also:kings is one See also:constant. struggle against the Illyrian tribes.

The migrations of the. Celts at the beginning of the 4th century disturbed the See also:

country between the See also:Danube and the Adriatic. The See also:Scordisci and other See also:Celtic tribes settled there, and forced the Illyrians towards the See also:south. The necessities of See also:defence seem to have See also:united the Illyrians under a See also:chief Bardylis (about 383 s.c.) and his son Clitus. Bardylis nearly succeeded in destroying the rising See also:kingdom of Macedonia; See also:King Amyntas II. was defeated, and a few years later See also:Perdiccas was defeated and slain (359). But the See also:great See also:Philip crushed the Illyrians completely, and annexed See also:part of their country. During the next century we hear of them as pirates. Issuing from the secluded harbours of the coast, they ravaged the shores of See also:Italy and See also:Greece, and preyed on thecommerce of the Adriatic. The Greeks applied to See also:Rome for help. Teuta, the Illyrian See also:queen, rejected the See also:Roman demands for redress, and murdered the ambassadors; but the two IIlyrian See also:Wars (229 and 219 s.c.) ended in the submission of the Illyrians, a considerable part of their territory being annexed by the conquerors. Illyria, however, remained a powerful kingdom with its See also:capital at Scodra (See also:Scutari in Albania), until 18o B.C., when the Dalmatians declared themselves See also:independent of Gentius or Genthius, the king of Illyria, and founded a See also:republic with its capital at Delminium (see See also:DALMATIA: History, on the site of Delminium).. In 168 Gentius came into conflict with the See also:Romans, who conquered and annexed his country.

Dalmatia was invaded by a Roman army under See also:

Gaius Marcius See also:Figulus in 156, but Figulus was driven back to the Roman frontier, and in Dalmatia the Illyrians were not finally subdued until 165 years afterwards. Publius Scipio Nasica, who succeeded Figulus, captured Delminium, and in 119 L. See also:Caecilius See also:Metellus overran the country and received a See also:triumph and the surname Dalmaticus. But in 51 a Dalmatian See also:raid on Liburnia led to a renewal of hostilities; the Roman armies were often worsted, and although in 39 Asinius See also:Pollio gained some successes (see See also:Horace, Odes ii. r. 15) these appear to have been exaggerated, and it was not until Octavian took the See also:field in See also:person that the Dalmatians submitted in 33. (For an See also:account of the See also:war see See also:Appian, Illyrica, 24-28; Dio See also:Cassius xlix. 38; See also:Livy, Epit. 131, 132). They again revolted in 16 and 1 r, and in A.D. 6–9 joined the See also:rebel Pannonians. Suetonius (Tiberius, 16) declares that they were the most formidable enemies with whom the Romans had had to contend since the Punic Wars. In A.D.

9, however, Tiberius entirely subjugated them, for which he was awarded a triumph in 12 (Dio See also:

Cass. lv. 23-29, lvi. 11-19; Vell. Pat. ii. l lo-115). Thence-forward Dalmatia, Iapydia and Liburnia were united as the See also:province of Illyricum. Latin civilization spread rapidly, the cultivation of the See also:vine was introduced, See also:gold-See also:mining was carried on in Bosnia, and flourishing commercial cities arose along the coast. Illyria became one of the best recruiting grounds for the Roman legions; and in troubled times many Illyrian soldiers fought their way up from the ranks to the imperial See also:purple. See also:Claudius, See also:Aurelian, See also:Probus, See also:Diocletian and Maximian were all sons of Illyrian peasants. It is probable, however, that most of the highland tribes now represented by the Albanians remained almost unaffected by Roman influence. The importance of Illyricum caused its name to be extended to many neighbouring districts; in the and century A.D. the Illyricus Limes included See also:Noricum, See also:Pannonia, See also:Moesia, See also:Dacia and Thrace. In the reorganization of the See also:empire by Diocletian (285) the See also:diocese of Illyricum was created; it comprised Pannonia, Noricum and Dalmatia, while Dacia and Macedonia, together called Eastern Illyricum, were added later. Either Diocletian or after him See also:Constantine made Illyricum one of the four prefectures, each governed by a praefectus praetorio, into which the empire was divided.

This prefecture included Pannonia, Noricum, See also:

Crete and the entire See also:Balkan See also:peninsula except Thrace, which was attached by Constantine to the prefecture of the See also:East. From the See also:partition of the empire in 285 until 37g Illyricum was included in the Western Empire, but thenceforward Eastern Illyricum was annexed to the Eastern Empire; its frontier was almost identical with the See also:line of demarcation between Latin-speaking and Greek-speaking peoples, and roughly corresponded to the boundary which now severs Latin from Greek See also:Christianity in the Balkan peninsula. The whole peninsula except Thrace was still known as Illyricur; but was subdivided into Illyris See also:Barbara or See also:Romana and Illyris Graeca (Eastern IlIyricum with Greece and Crete). The Via Egnatia, the great line of road which connected Rome with See also:Constantinople and the East, led across Illyricum from. Dyrrachium to Thessalonica. In the 5th century began a See also:series of invasions which profoundly modified the ethnical See also:character and the civilization of the Illyrians. In 441 and 447 their country was ravaged by the See also:Huns. In 481 Dalmatia was added to the Ostrogothic kingdom, which already included the more northerly parts of Illyricum, Le, Pannonia and Noricum. Dalmatia was partially reconquered by Justinian in 536, but after 565 it was devastated by the See also:Avars, and throughout the. century bands. of See also:Slavonic invaders had been gradually establishing themselves in Illyria, where, unlike the earlier See also:barbarian conquerors, they formed permanent settlements. Between 600 and 65o the See also:main See also:body of the immigrants occupied Illyria (see See also:SERVIA: History; and See also:SLAVS). It consisted of Croats and Serbs, two See also:groups of tribes who spoke a single See also:language and were so closely related that the origin of the distinction between them is obscure. The Croats settled in the western See also:half of Illyria, the Serbs in the eastern; thus the former came gradually under the influence of Italy and Roman Catholicism, the latter under the influence of See also:Byzantium and the Greek See also:Church.

Hence the distinction between them became a marked difference of civilization and creed, which has always tended to keep the Illyrian Slays politically disunited. The Croats and Serbs rapidly absorbed most of the Latinized Illyrians. But the wealthy and powerful See also:

city-states on the coast were strong enough to maintain their See also:independence and their distinctively See also:Italian character. Other Roman provincials took See also:refuge in the mountains of the interior; these Mavrovlachi, as they were called (see DALMATIA: See also:Population; and See also:VLACHS), preserved their language and See also:nationality for many centuries. The Illyrian tribes which had withstood the attraction of Roman civilization remained unconquered among the mountains of Albania and were never Slavonized. With these exceptions Illyria became entirely Serbo-Croatian in population, language and culture. The name of Illyria had by this See also:time disappeared from history. In literature it was preserved, and the See also:scene of See also:Shakespeare's See also:comedy, Twelfth See also:Night, is laid in Illyria. Politically the name was revived in 1809, when the name Illyrian Provinces was given to See also:Carniola, Dalmatia, See also:Istria, See also:Fiume, See also:Gorz and See also:Gradisca, and See also:Trieste, with parts of See also:Carinthia and Croatia; these territories were ceded by See also:Austria to Italy at the See also:peace of Schonnbrun (14th Oct. 1809). The Illyrian Provinces were occupied by See also:French troops and governed in the See also:interest of See also:Napoleon; the republic of See also:Ragusa was annexed to them in 1811, but about the end of 1813 the French occupation ceased to be effective and the provinces reverted to Austria. The kingdom of Illyria, which was constituted in 1816 out of the See also:crown-lands of Carinthia, Carniola, Istria, Gorz and Gradisca, and Trieste, formed until 1849 a kingdom of the See also:Austrian crown.

For the See also:

political propaganda known as Illyrism, see CROATIA-SLAVONIA: History.

End of Article: ALBANIA

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