“A very interesting topic: the outskirts of the former Roman world - from Ireland to the Volga. It seems that the chroniclers were working, diplomats were cruising, but there was a place for dragons, warriors, magic with the addition of everyday details."
Konstantin Viktorovich Samarin, samarin1969
New meeting with Croatia
It so happened that our last meeting with Croatia ended in Zagreb, its capital, where we could observe the breaking of the Croat guard and saw many other ancient monuments. But many readers of "VO" asked me to slightly expand the chronological framework of visiting certain regions in order to learn as much as possible about them in historical terms. Although not only in the historical one. Summer is already knocking at the door, many are now deciding where to go, where to relax and what to see, and I must say frankly that one of those places where history and relaxation go hand in hand is Croatia. No, of course, you can go somewhere in Gagra or Pitsunda and replenish the state budget with the purchase of medicines for gastrointestinal infections (last year they were bought here for 2 billion rubles!), You can go to Crimea (why not?), But you can choose "Sea" and beyond. And just one of these seas, actually created for the most comfortable rest, washes the coast of Croatia.
What do you think about when you look at the sea?
I must say that we also have places in the south where you just have to go to the seashore, as if history comes to life around you. For me, one of these places is the High Coast in Anapa. You stand on it, look into the distance, and you can actually see the black-sided ships of the ancient Greeks sailing to the harbor of Gorgippi … But in other places, for some reason, such a feeling does not arise. Only here. Maybe genetic memory? Although scientists say that the acquired culture is not inherited …
But the second such place was discovered for me, oddly enough, in Croatia, and specifically in the town of Niznitsa - a small fishing village, and now a resort complex on the island of Krk stretching from north to south. Yes, that's it - Krk and that's it. Because in the Croatian Slavic language, vowels are missing in many words. And Croatian money is also very ancient in name - kuns, named after the very marten skins with which our common ancestors paid off even before some of the Slavs started the custom of chopping silver into pieces and paying with them. For Croats, every coin or plant is either tuna or bear! But on the banknotes, on the one hand, there is a portrait of a statesman, but on the other, there is necessarily some ancient architectural monument. There is nothing modern on them. Interesting, isn't it?
Where did Europe start from?
However, of course, it is not necessary to start with this. And from the fact that Croatia is quite possibly one of those places where Europeans came from in Europe. In any case, it is absolutely certain that it was from here that the haplogroup I2 17,000 years ago began its distribution and developed at once in six main subclades: I2a1a, I2a2, and so on. So this last one was very widespread in the Balkans, in the Carpathians, but most often it is found among Croats, Serbs and Bosnians, as well as in Moldova and Romania. It is also found in the south-west of Russia. That is, the people who brought it with them belong to the pre-Aryan population of Europe!
About tribes, about manners …
Then many tribes lived in these fertile places, and it is not surprising. Especially if you look at the coastal part of Croatia. If the coastal part of the Apennine Peninsula is practically not indented, then solid islands stretch along the opposite coast of the Adriatic Sea. Moreover, there are 1185 of them, and only 67 are inhabited. It is clear that many islands are very small and barren, but there are also two very large islands - this is just Krk and Cres.
At that time, far from us, the presence of so many islands was a blessing for the local people. It was possible to live there without fear of conquerors, because in order to get across the sea, it was necessary to have ships, and the nomads who came from the depths of the continent, of course, did not have them.
In addition, the local lands were fertile, although rocky and gave enough olive oil and wine, although the local population did not try to cultivate them, but far more engaged in robbery, as, for example, the historian Strabo wrote about (Book VII). Strabo also reports that in Illyria, and this land was then called that way, the Yapods lived (and they went tattooed)), as well as the Liburns south of the Yapods, and besides them the Dalmatians and Autarians, and the Dolmates who lived around the city of Dalmion dominated among others. By their name, by the way, this area was also called Dalmatia.
Greek colonists reached Illyria as early as 627 BC. e., when colonists from Corinth and Kerkyra built here the city of Epidamnos (later Dyrrachium, modern. Durres), and in 588 BC. NS. also the city of Apollonia. However, this did not affect the “savagery” of the tribes living in the depths of the country. The Illyrians fought with Father Philip the Great (unsuccessfully), and then even more unsuccessfully got involved in the war with Rome. Moreover, the Illyrians also had three wars with Rome, which were so called "Illirian". But their scale was still different from the Punic Wars that we know better. They ended in defeat for the Illyrians, but Illyria was first annexed to Macedonia, and later became an independent Roman province, formed either in the II century BC. e., or already under Caesar, in the middle of the 1st century BC. NS.
As happened very often, the annexed tribes wanted freedom, and they in 6-9 years A. D. NS. raised the "great Pannonian rebellion", naturally suppressed by the Romans. After that, Illyria was divided into two provinces: Pannonia and Dalmatia. The area turned out to be strategically important for Rome. Therefore, already under the emperor Trajan, up to a third of the entire Roman army was based here, so that the entire province turned into a large military camp. Well, and already from Septimius Severus, who was proclaimed emperor in Savaria or Carnunt, Illyria began to play almost a key role in the history of the Roman Empire. It was relying on the military forces in Illyria that Emperor Diocletian had to repel the attacks of such tribes as Yazygs, Carps, Bastars and Yutungs on the lower Danube, and, by the way, he succeeded. By the way, he himself was also from “these places”, since he was born in Montenegro in the vicinity of the city of Skodra in the town of Diocletia, so this cannot but flatter today's citizens of this city, since Diocletian played a very noticeable role in the history of Rome. By the way, when he became emperor, he did not forget his native places, he built a beautiful palace in Split (Croatia), where he, retiring from business, lived the rest of his life doing gardening.
Illyrian Warriors
By the way, all these events directly testify that … the Illyrians were good warriors, to cope with which even the Romans were not so easy. So it is also worth telling about the military affairs of the Illyrians, especially since ancient sources also characterize them with skillful and brave warriors. So, they own the invention of the sika - a curved sword, with one-sided sharpening, a bit like the Greek mahaira. The shiki blade usually reached a length of 40-45 cm. This weapon was popular throughout the Balkan Peninsula, used even by the Romans.
Since it was customary for the Illyrians to bury their warriors with weapons, quite a lot of archaeological finds were made, on the basis of which we can form an impression of the weapons of this people. The Illyrians began using shields as early as the Bronze Age.
The shields were of two types: round Illyrian shields and oval or rectangular shields, characteristic of northern Illyria and similar to Roman scutums. Round shields were made of wood and were seated with plates. The armor belonged only to the nobility. The same bronze cuirasses were known. For example, three such cuirasses were found on the territory of modern Slovenia. But that's all. Bronze discs on belts about ten centimeters in diameter were more widespread. Illyrians used leggings from the 7th century BC. e., but they are found only in the graves of the leaders.
Bronze helmets are again most common in the north, that is, where the Celts attacked Illyria. Early helmets were tapered, sometimes with a crest. The original were the helmets of the Yapod tribe who lived in the Lika Valley (Croatia). Even then, these helmets had a barmitsa and cheek pads.
Helmets of Negau, which became very widespread in Europe due to Celtic influence, and bronze helmets of the Illyrian type (from the 7th century BC) with cheek pads and two longitudinal stiffening ribs tightly attached to them were used. Moreover, these helmets were known not only on the territory of Illyria itself, but also in the neighboring regions, and were also used in Greece itself.
The Illyrians also used rather long spears for throwing, called sibins, short spears used in close combat, battle axes (which could throw at a target in the manner of a tomahawk), and, of course, bows with arrows, very convenient as partisan weapons in mountain wooded area of this region. Interestingly, the Illyrians of Roman Dalmatia used poison arrows called "ninum". The Romans were terribly surprised by such barbarism, since they themselves did not know and did not use the poisoned arrows, and the bow itself was not very fond of. However, what could one take from those wild people who did not know either Roman law or Latin?
Agile Liburnian - Hero of the Battle of Cape Actium
Nevertheless, Rome became great because the Romans did not at all disdain to learn from anyone, and adopted even from the most savage peoples everything that they considered useful for themselves. So from the Illyrians, more precisely from the tribe of Liburns, who traded in piracy and arranged a real pirate thalassorcracy in the Adriatic, they adopted the type of ship, which was named after these pirates - liburna!
In the days of the Roman Republic, the liburna was a ship with two rows of oars, superior to the triremes and biremes of the Greeks, both in lightness and in maneuverability and speed. The Romans borrowed the Liburnian design, and the ships of this type themselves played a very important role in the Battle of Actium (31 BC). It was this high maneuverability that allowed the Roman Liburnians to defeat the heavier Quadriremes and Quinqueremes of Antony and Cleopatra. It is believed that a typical Liburnian had a length of 33 meters, a width of 5 meters, and a draft of less than a meter - 91 cm. The rowers were arranged in two rows so that there were 18 oars on each side. Ships of this type were fast and could develop up to 14 knots (25, 93 km / h) under sails and more than 7 knots (12, 96 km / h), moving on oars. Liburnians in Rome were often used as messengers and transport ships.
The fighting liburns had a ram and cover along the sides to protect against arrows. They were used as patrol boats outside Roman territorial waters and to fight Dalmatian pirates. Moreover, they were staffed with teams of representatives of local tribes - the same Dalmatians, Liburns and Pannonians, who knew the local waters and the habits of their relatives well!
There are also two known types of Illyrian warships, the lembus and pristis. And they were also used by the proud Romans. But they weren't as popular as the Liburnian!
