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Liburnia

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Ethnolinguistic map of Italy in theIron Age,before theRoman expansion and conquest of Italy

Liburnia(Ancient Greek:Λιβουρνία)[1]in ancient geography was the land of theLiburnians,a region along the northeasternAdriaticcoast inEurope,in modernCroatia,whose borders shifted according to the extent of the Liburnian dominance at a given time between 11th and 1st century BC. Domination of the Liburnianthalassocracyin the Adriatic Sea was confirmed by several Antique writers,[2][3]but the archeologists have defined a region of their material culture more precisely in northernDalmatia,easternIstria,andKvarner.

Classical Liburnia

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The Liburnian cultural group developed at the end of theBronze Ageafter the Balkan-Pannonian migrations, and during theIron Agein a region bordered byRaša,ZrmanjaandKrkarivers (Arsia,Tedanius,Titius), including the nearby islands.[4][5]This territory lay mostly at the coast and on the numerous islands. Its continental borders were marked by the rivers and mountains: Raša,Učka,Gorski Kotar,peaks ofVelebitmountain (Mons Baebius), Zrmanja and Krka, with a small area northeast of Krka bordered by Butišnica, Krka, Kosovčica andČikola,around the cityPromona(modern Tepljuh nearDrniš). Thus, it neighbored in the northwest with theHistri,in the north with theIapodianand in the southeast with theDalmatiancultural groups.[6]

Liburnian culture had distinct features and differed considerably from those of its neighbors. Its isolation and special qualities resulted primarily from its geographical isolation from the hinterland and its seaward orientation, important for traffic circulation and territorial connection. Maritime focus shaped Liburnian ethnic development on theIndo-Europeanbasis with the transfer of Mediterranean cultural traditions into an independent ethnic community, separated from neighboring peoples, but having evident similarities and links with the wider Illyrian and Adriatic territories.[7]The Liburnians' skillful seamanship allowed them to hold navigable routes along the eastern Adriatic coast with strategic points, such as the islands ofHvarandLastovoin the central Adriatic andCorfu(8th century BC) in theIonian Sea,while they already had colonies at the western Adriatic coast, especially in region ofPicenum,from the beginning of theIron Age.From the 9th to the 6th century there was certain koine - cultural unity in the Adriatic, with the general Liburninan seal, whose naval supremacy meant both political and economical authority in the Adriatic Sea through several centuries.[8]

Liburnian territory in cca 5th century BC

According toStrabo(VI, 269), the Liburnians were masters of the islandKorkyra(Corfu), until 735 BC, when they left it, under pressure ofCorinthianruler Hersikrates, in a period of Corinthian expansion to SouthItaly,Sicilyand Ionian Sea. However their position in the Adriatic Sea was still strong in the next few centuries. HistorianTheopompus(377-320 BC) informed about the island groups in the Adriatic Sea:Apsartides(CresandLošinj),Elektrides(Krk), while all the others were the Liburnian islands -Liburnides,fromZadararchipelago toLadesta(Lastovo) in the south, includingParos(Hvar). GeographerScymnus(4th century BC) noted thatGreekisland ofParoshad a namesake in the Adriatic Sea, Liburnian island ofParos(Hvar); this name was later changed toPharos,according to Strabo (VII, 5). Scymnus specially noted the island groupMentorides(Arba-RabandCissa- (Pag). Old Greek sources never noted any Liburnian settlement in the northern coasts, possibly because the ancient mariners had been using only outer island channels for navigation towards the beginning of theAmber Roadin the north of Adriatic, evading inner seas which were ruled by Liburnian thallasocracy.[9]Alexandria's librarianApollonius of Rhodes(295 – 215 BC) yet described the islands,Issa(Vis),Diskelados(Brač) andPitiea(Hvar) as Liburnian. But by the 1st century ADPliny the Elderincludes in the island groupLiburnicaeonly the archipelagos in Zadar andŠibenikaquatories,Gissa(Pag),Sissa(Sestrunj),Scardagissa(Škarda),Lissa(UgljanandPašman),Colentum(Murter), island groupsCeladussae(Dugi Otok),Crateae,and several other minor ones, though their municipalities occupied islands to the north,Curycta(Krk),Arba(Rab),Crepsa(Cres),Apsorus(Lošinj).

Archaeology has confirmed that the narrow region of the Liburnian ethnic nucleus was at the eastern Adriatic coast between Krka and Raša rivers, in "Classical Liburnia", especially between Krka and Zrmanja rivers, where the material remains of their culture and settlements were the most frequently distributed, while their cities were urbanized at certain degree even in pre-Roman ages. By the material remains it's obvious that they didn't settle the eastern Adriatic coast to the south-east of Krka river; their supremacy on the islands to the south of their ethnic region should not be understood necessarily as their ethnic dominion in the southern Adriatic archipelagos (Hvar, Brač, Vis, Lastovo, etc.), but rather as their organized military-naval region based on the island outposts, by which they maintained control of the navigable route to the south.[10]

In the 6th century BC their domination of the Adriatic Sea coasts started to diminish. They lost their trade colonies in the Western Adriatic coast due to invasion of theUmbriand theGauls,caused by expansion of theEtruscanunion in the basin ofPoriver. The 5th century BC saw Greek colonization in the south Adriatic, and final Liburnian retreat to Liburnia was caused by military and political activities ofDionysius the Elder of Syracusein the 4th century BC. Liburnia was strongly held, but Greek colonization reached Liburnian strategic possessions in the central Adriatic,Issa(on the island of Vis) andPharos(Starigrad, Hvar), a colony of the Greeks from Paros.[11]Celtic invasion from the west bypassed Liburnia in the 4th century BC, but their northern neighbors the Iapodes were under considerably more pressure. The Liburnians took the opportunity to spread their territory to the Kvarner archipelago and the eastern coast of Istria to the river Raša,[12]previously held by Iapodes, thus making the Histri their new neighbors to the west. On the basis of ancient records, the Iapodes inhabited the coast betweenAlbona(Labin) andLopsica(Sv. Juraj, south from Senj) and islandCurycta(Krk) to the end of the 4th century BC. Material remains from the Early Iron Age in that region have alternately shown Histrian provenance, not necessarily Liburnian, but often ascribed to the Liburnians from the 4th century BC to the age of Roman conquest.[13]Although archaeology of the region has not strictly confirmed the earlier presence of Iapodian material culture[14][15]the group's presence and strong influence on the region is evident.[16][17][18]They surely broke to Kvarner in the 20s of the 3rd century BC and the border between Iapodia and Liburnia was the riverTelavius(Žrnovnica,Velebit Channel). It’s not certain how long they ruled these coasts (some propose until the 1st century BC) and when exactly they retreated to their main historical lands.[19]Borders of Liburnia didn’t change until its conflict withDalmataein 51 BC, when the Liburnians lost their cityPromona(Tepljuh, Drniš) in the south and probably some lands around Krka river. By that time the Romans were already engaged in centuries long wars against Liburnian neighbors, Histri, Dalmatae and otherIllyrians.

Roman Liburnia

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WhenRomanforce ended the independence of their naval force in 33 BC, the Liburnians lost their freedom and Liburnia became a part of theRoman province of Dalmatia,but marginal in a military sense.Burnumon the Krka river became a Roman military camp, while the frequently settled and already urbanized plains of Classical Liburnia, in the inland ofIader(Zadar), became easily accessible and controlled by the Roman rulers. However Liburnian seamanship tradition was never wiped out, but became primarily trade-oriented under the new circumstances, a shift which contributed to the economic and cultural flourishing of its ports and cities, as well as to those of the province in general. Despite the process ofRomanizationthat especially affected some of the bigger cities, the Liburnians saved their traditions, cults, typical funeral monuments (Liburnian cipus), names etc., as attested by the archaeological material from those ages.[20]

Liburnia in the age of the Roman conquest

After the Roman conquest, the delineation of Liburnia as a region became more settled.Pliny the Elder(1st century AD) gave a detailed geography of Liburnia, noting theirtetradekapolispolitical-regional organization, 14 Liburnian municipalities subject toScardona(Skradin). Worth mention wereLacinienses(unknown),Stulpinos(unknownStulpi),Burnistas(Burnum),Olbonenses(unknown), those who enjoyedItalic law(Ius Italicum) wereAlutae(Alvona-Labin),Flanates(Flanona–Plomin,the gulf ofKvarnerwas named by them -sinus Flanaticus),Lopsi(around the strategic pass of Vratnik and the town ofLopsica– Sv. Juraj, south fromSenj),Varvarini(Varvaria–Bribir), tribute immunity was given toAsseriates(Asseria– Podgrađe nearBenkovac) and to the islandersFertinates(*Fulfinates,Fulfin(i)um-OmišaljonKrk) andCurictae(Curicum,Krk).

He listed the cities along the coast from north to the south:Alvona(Labin),Flanona(Plomin),Tarsatica(Rijeka),Senia(Senj),Lopsica(Sv. Juraj, south from Senj),Ortoplinia(probably Stinica, inVelebit),Vegium(Karlobag),Argyruntum(Starigrad),Corinium(Karin Donji),Aenona(Nin),civitas Pasini(inRažanac– Vinjerac –Posedarjerange), important island citiesAbsortium(Apsorus–Osor),Arba(Rab),Crexi(Cres),Gissa(Cissa,CaskanearNovalja,Pag),Portunata(Novalja, older wasGissa portu nota– Cissa known by its port Novalja), by the coastcolonia Iader(Zadarwith status of Roman colony),Colentum insula(Murter,city and island).[21]

Liburnia was a part of theRoman Empireuntil its collapse in 476 AD. During the reign ofAugustus,the border between the Liburnians and Histri wasArsiariver inIstria.In 170 AD a part of north-western Liburnian periphery that included the cityTarsatica(Trsat) was cut off from Liburnia. The new border was byVinodol’s synclinal not northern from modernCrikvenica.[22] From the middle of the 2nd century AD, the name "Liburnia" was used not only for the territory settled by the Liburnians, but also for previously "Iapodian"territory in official usage; the Iapodians were included with the Liburnians to the court jurisdiction county ofScardona(Skradin), one of the convent seats in the provinces of Dalmatia. By the end of 330s AD, Liburnia was administratively attached to Dalmatia. However, it was still treated and recognized as a special and different area.[23]

Medieval Liburnia

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After the fall of the Roman Empire and probably already from 490 AD, Liburnia within Dalmatia passed to the rule of theOstrogoths,which lasted for six decades. The region ofSaviawas administratively added to the Gothic province of Dalmatia; the capital city of the both provinces wasSalona(Solin), a seat of the ruler "comes Dalmatiarum et Saviae".[24]

The Goths lost the most of Dalmatia and a part of Liburnia in the south-east around Skradin in 536 AD, in war against theByzantineemperorJustinian the Greatwho started it to reconquer the territories of the formerWestern Empire(seeGothic War), while a part of Liburnia inRavni KotariwithZadarsurrendered to the Byzantines in 552 AD.[25]However, northern Liburnia and the rest of Classical Liburnia remained in the Gothic hands until 555 AD; after Byzantine conquest of Savia (540 AD) and Istria (543 AD) it was organized to special administrative-territorial unit of the Gothic state, known as "Liburnia Tarsatica",military province directly subject tocomes Gotharumsettled in Aquilea.[26] This "military-naval" region, protected by heavy fleet, became a barrier to the Byzantine army step toLikaandGorski Kotar,keeping safe continental road route overTarsaticatoAquileiaand northern Italy. According to anonymousCosmographer of Ravenna(6th or 7th century),Liburnia Tarsaticaconsidered all coastal cities fromAlbona(Labin) toElona(Aenona,Nin) of Classical Liburnia andIapodiansettlements in the inland (Lika).[27][28]

From 550 and 551 AD, the Slavs (Sclabenoi) started to break intoIllyriaandDalmatia,as recorded byProcopius;by some thinking it was beginning of Slavic colonization there, which lasted during the next few centuries. Initial ethnic nucleus underCroatianname originated in Liburnian inland from where it soon spread to all Liburnia and from there to the other regions of formerIllyricumprovince. In the pre-Roman ages, the Liburnians had been organized in 14 municipalities (tetradekapolis), the Croats probably used existing Illyrian municipality structure and had 14 županijas, Old Croatian political-jurisdictional forms (municipalities), as reported byConstantine Porphyrogenitus,while many of twelve Old Croatian tribes were settled in Liburnia. In the next centuriesCroatian languageoverlaidDalmatian languagespoken in Liburnia and Dalmatia[29]and already by the end of the 9th century, in the islands of Zadar aquatory, more than 70% of toponyms were Slavic forms.[30]

From the 6th to 9th century, names Liburnia and Dalmatia were continually used for separate specifics in the sources, not necessarily meaning that Liburnia was a separate political unit, but it was certainly used as for Classical Liburnia territorial range. At the end of the 8th centuryCharlemagneconqueredPannoniaandDacia,then Istria, Liburnia and Dalmatia, but the main littoral Liburnian and Dalmatian cites, however, remained under Byzantine control, organized to a Dalmatian archonty withJadera(Zadar) in status of a provincial metropolis. The most of Liburnia was under directFrankishrule (king,Friulianduke) and separated from CroatianPrincipality of Dalmatiauntil 820 AD. By some suppositions, Croatian princeBornawas a Frankish vassal sent from Liburnia to Dalmatia to organize it into a vassal state to theFrankish Empire;in 820 AD,Louis the Piousrewarded him for his merits and devotion, by giving also Liburnia to his jurisdiction. Borna enjoyed a title of "dux Dalmatiae atque Liburniae".[31] After Borna, Croatian rulers replaced "Liburnia" with "Croatia" in their titles and continually after reign ofDržislav(969-997) they were the kings of "Dalmatia and Croatia";[32]thus geographical name Liburnia has disappeared from official use and has been further used only for a historical land.

Later usage of the name Liburnia

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In later phases of the Middle Ages, the name Liburnia was used periodically to refer to the eastern coast of Istria and northern Dalmatia around the plain ofZadar.In recent times this name has been replaced by the ItalianQuarneroand the CroatianKvarner,names which refer to the northern Adriatic islands and the adjacent coast of Istria and Dalmatia. Currently, the name Liburnia persists only in poetic usage and to indicate hotels and ships in the Adriatic.

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^Procopius, History of the Wars, §5.15
  2. ^M. Fluss,Liburni,PWRE, Suppl. Bd. V, 582
  3. ^M. Suić, Granice Liburnije kroz stoljeća, Radovi inst. JAZU, 2, Zadar 1955, 273
  4. ^M. Zaninović,Liburnia Militaris,Filozofski fakultet Zagreb, UDK 904.930,2(497.13)>65<, page 43
  5. ^Š. Batović, Liburnska kultura, Matica Hrvatska i Arheološki muzej Zadar, Zadar, 2005,ISBN953-6419-50-5,page 16
  6. ^Š. Batović,Liburnska grupa,Praistorija jugoslavenskih zemalja V, page 386
  7. ^Š. Batović, Liburnska kultura, Matica Hrvatska i Arheološki muzej Zadar, Zadar, 2005,ISBN953-6419-50-5,pages 5, 6, 95
  8. ^M. Zaninović,Liburnia Militaris,Opusc. Archeol. 13, 43-67 (1988), UDK 904.930.2(497.13)>>65<<, page 47
  9. ^M. Blečić, Prilog poznavanju antičke Tarsatike, VAMZ, 3.s., XXXIV 65-122 (2001), UDK 904:72.032 (3:497.5), page 69
  10. ^M. Zaninović,Liburnia Militaris,Opusc. Archeol. 13, 43-67 (1988), UDK 904.930.2(497.13)>>65<<, pages 44, 45
  11. ^M. Zaninović, Liburnia Militaris, Filozofski fakultet Zagreb, UDK 904.930,2(497.13)>>65<<, pages 59
  12. ^A. Stipčević, Iliri, Školska knjiga, Zagreb, 1974, page 39
  13. ^M. Blečić, Prilog poznavanju antičke Tarsatike, VAMZ, 3.s., XXXIV 65-122 (2001), UDK 904:72.032 (3:497.5), pages 70, 71
  14. ^R. Drechsler – Bižić, Japodska grupa, Praistorija jugoslavenskih zemalja V, page 393
  15. ^Š. Batović, Aleksandar Stipčević, page 178
  16. ^R. Matejčić, Predhistorijska nekropola Mišinac u Kastvu, Liburnijske teme (Opatija), 1/1974, pages 66, 68, 70
  17. ^Š. Batović, Liburnska grupa, PJZ, V. Djela CBI, 1987, pages 339-390
  18. ^Ž. Cetinić, 1989 – Grobišće/Grobnik, AP, 7957(1989), 1989, page 94
  19. ^M. Blečić, Prilog poznavanju antičke Tarsatike, VAMZ, 3.s., XXXIV 65-122 (2001), UDK 904:72.032 (3:497.5), page 71
  20. ^M. Zaninović,Liburnia Militaris,Filozofski fakultet Zagreb, UDK 904.930,2(497.13)>>65<<, pages 59, 60
  21. ^S. Čače,Broj liburnskih općina i vjerodostojnost Plinija(Nat. hist. 3, 130; 139-141),Radovi Filozofskog fakulteta u Zadru, 32, Zadar 1993., pages 1-36
  22. ^M. Suić,Zadar u starom vijeku,Filozofski fakultet u Zadru, Zadar, 1981, pages 225-228
  23. ^J. Medini,Provincia Liburnia,Diadora, vol. 9, Zadar, 1980, page 433
  24. ^A. Uglešić,Nakit istočnih Gota na području rimske provincije Dalmacije, Hrvati Goti,Marjan tisak, Split, 2003, pages 17-18, 99-100
  25. ^S. Antoljak, Zadar pod vlašću istočnih Gota, Zadarska revija, XX/1971, pages 139-146
  26. ^N. Klaić,Povijest Hrvata u srednjem vijeku,page 16
  27. ^M. Suić,Liburnia Tarsaticencis, Adriatica prehistorica et antique,Zbornik G. Novak, Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Zagreb, 1970, pages 706-716
  28. ^J. Medini,Provincia Liburnia,Diadora, vol. 9, Zadar, 1980, pages 395, 414
  29. ^I. Mužić,Hrvatska povijest IX stoljeća,Naklada Bošković, Split, 2007, page 117, 145
  30. ^Nada Klaić, Ivo Petricioli,Prošlost Zadra – knjiga II, Zadar u srednjem vijeku do 1409., Filozofski fakultet Zadar, 1976, page 59
  31. ^I. Mužić, Hrvatska povijest IX stoljeća, Naklada Bošković, Split, 2007, pages 82, 83
  32. ^I. Guberina,Državna politika,I., page 158
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