Hajdučija na tlu rimskih ilirskih provincija
Banditry on the Soil of Roman Illyrian Provinces

Summary/Abstract: “Banditry on the Soil of Roman Illyrian Provinces” is a paper that makes an inquiry into the phenomenon of banditry – i.e. organised brigandage – in the territory of Western and Central Balkans in the time of Roman rule. In his analysis of this phenomenon as well as the effects and scope of banditry, the author relies on original literary and epigraphic sources. The former sources offers two pieces of information provided by a Roman author (in the Greek language) and Senator Cassius Dionus and from the collection Historia Augusta. In his work, Cassius Dionus refers to the fall of Pannonia in the time of Great Illyrian Upheaval that occurred from the years 6 to the 9 A.D. wherein he mentions brigands as a phenomenon that had been present for quite a long period of time in the Illyrian territories. The information contained in the Historia Augusta collection refers to the fact that the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius had recruited into his armed forces a great number of brigands from the Province of Dalmatia and the region of Dardania. Epigraphic data offer an abundance of information about banditry. A great number of tombstones contained inscriptions directly referring to the activities and violence committed by these brigands in the Illyrian Provinces. This banditry in Illyrian lands was reduced in the period of ascent of Illyrian Emperors, which can be directly linked to the fact that the Roman rule, now with Roman citizenship, became more acceptable and accessible to the Illyrians.

• Details
• Contents