Liburnians
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The Liburnians (or Liburni, Gk.: Liburnoi) were the ancient inhabitants of Liburnia, a region between Istria and the river Titus (now the Krka) in what is now Croatia. The Liburnians do not appear to have been Illyrians. The evidence indicates rather that their language was akin to the Venetic language.
Settlements
- See also: Liburnia.
By the middle of the first century BC they were losing territory to their Illyrian neighbors on the south, the Delmatae and probably the Ardiaei. Over the centuries it seems that the Liburnians, having once controlled the Adriatic down to Corfu, were being steadily pushed northwards, probably the result of pressure from new Illyrian groups.
Liburnians were conquered by Romans by 35 BC and their land was incorporated into Dalmatia province.
Seafarers
The Liburnians were renowned seafarers, notorious for their raids in the Adriatic sea, which they conducted in their swift galleys. The Romans knew them principally as a people addicted to piracy.A liburnian warship, known as a liburnidas to the Greeks and a liburna to the Romans, was propelled by oars; it was a smaller version of a trireme, but faster, lighter, and more agile. The liburnian design was adopted by the Romans and became a key part of Ancient Rome's navy. Such a vessel, used as a merchantman, might take on a passenger, as Lycinus relates in the second-century dialogue, [Erotes], 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."
Language
Main article:Liburnian language.Religion
Anzotica, the Liburnian goddess of Love, counterpart of Venus and Aphrodite, appears in Liburnian art of the classical period in traditional Greco-Roman fashion.Classical sources
Perhaps the earliest mention of the Liburni in a classical source is to be found in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax, a type of coasting guide also known as a "Coastal Passage". Here, the Liburni are the Adriatic people described next (chapter 21) after the Istrians (chapter 20); the Liburni are not included as an Illyrian people (who are described in chapters 22–27):
- 21. After the Istroi come the people known as Liburnoi. In the territory of these people there are the following coastal cities: Lias, Idassa, Attienites, Dyyrta, Ampsoi*, Osoi*, Pedetai, Hemionoi. These people are ruled by women, who are the wives of freeborn men, but they cohabit with their own slaves and with the men of the neighboring regions. Before the coast lie islands, of which I can record the following names (for there are many others which have no name): the island Istris 310 stades long and 120 stades wide, the Elektrides, and the Mentorides are the large islands. Then comes the river Katarbates. The voyage along the coast of the Liburnoi lasts two days.
- 22. After the Liburnoi there come the Illyrian people. (here Pseudo-Scylax continues describing the Illyrian peoples along the Adriatic coast from the northernmost to the southernmost, then moves on to non-Illyrian tribes to the south of them: Chaonians, Thesprotians, Molossians, etc.)
See also
References
- Shipley, Graham. The Periplous of Pseudo-Scylax: An Interim Translation. 2002.
- Wilkes, John. The Illyrians. Blackwell Books, 1992.
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