Search Results: Illyria

Albania is located at the crossroads of the eastern Adriatic and was known as Illyria and Epirus throughout the Classical era. It played a strategic role in ancient times and was a point of contact between Illyrian, Greek, and Roman civilizations...

The ruins of Daorson, ancient Illyria (modern Bosnia). The region was inhabited by the Daorsi tribe who flourished in the region c. 300-50 BCE. They fell under the control of Queen Teuta (r. 231-227 BCE) and were most likely involved in Illyrian...

A map showing the sites and cultures of prehistoric Illyria.

Artist's impression of Teuta, Queen of the Illyrian Ardiaei tribe, leads a pirate expedition against rome. According to Illyrian laws, piracy was a legitimate trade, which led to war against the Roman Republic, who did not approve. This...

Piracy, defined as the act of attacking and robbing a ship or port by sea, had a long history in the ancient Mediterranean stretching from the time of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten (r. 1353-1336 BCE) and throughout the Middle Ages (c. 476-1500...

Perdiccas (d. 321 BCE) was one of Alexander the Great's commanders, and after his death, custodian of the treasury, regent over Philip III and Alexander IV, and commander of the royal army. When Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont...

Salona was an ancient city located at the estuary of the river Jadro in present-day Solin, a suburb of Split on the Adriatic coast of Croatia. It became the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia in 9 CE. Before the Romans Salona...

Robert Guiscard (1015-1085) was a Norman knight best known for conquering much of Southern Italy and Sicily during the 11th century. His many exploits include the expulsion of the Byzantines from Italy, support of a reformist papacy, and...

Between the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, Celtic tribes moved en masse into southern Europe, intent on seizing land and wealth to feed their swelling numbers. As these tribes began crossing the Alps, they came into conflict with the Romans and...

The pirates of the ancient Mediterranean were not, for the most part, the outsiders who knew no country's allegiance and were the enemies of civilization as they are frequently depicted in novels and other media. They were often employed...