The Great Illyrian Revolt

by Jason R Abdale

  The rebels fled northwards and the Romans pursued, chasing them for at least two days before finally catching up to them. As to what happened next, it’s a bit confusing. We have several options to choose from:

  1.The terrain where the Drava River connects with the Danube River is very marshy and swampy. Today, much of this site is the property of the Kopacki Rit Nature Preserve in north-eastern Croatia. This would have been a good place for an ambush or just to make a general stand, since the heavily-armoured Romans were not as likely to fight so well in marshy terrain. The Illyrians were not idiots. They knew that word of the attack on Sirmium would get out sooner or later and that the Romans would retaliate. In that eventuality, they needed to be prepared to meet the Roman threat, and so they made a ‘plan B’ to withdraw and fight the Romans in the swamps where they would have the advantage.

  2.The Illyrians had their backs to the Drava River and couldn’t retreat any further. Cornered and with nowhere to run, they turned around and attacked the Romans.

  3.The Romans chased after the rebels until they finally caught up with them at the Drava River and attacked them there.

  4.On the south side of the Drava River was the town of Mursa (modern-day Osijek, Croatia). This town had a bridge that spanned the river. Controlling this town, and especially controlling the bridge, was vital, so the battle had to be fought there.51

  I wish to discount the fourth option right away. With the rebels possibly making their way towards the town of Mursa and its bridge, it may mean that this town had already fallen under rebel control. However, there’s a problem. The ancient records state that the rebels and Romans fought at the river, not at the town of Mursa. In fact, the town of Mursa, which did possess strategic importance, is surprisingly never mentioned in any of the available sources on this rebellion. This must mean that the Illyrian rebels were not racing to get to the town of Mursa, but may have been trying to escape into the marshes that lay east of Mursa. The swamps would have been a formidable place to fight a battle and one that favoured a defensive position.

  It appears that out of the four possible scenarios listed earlier, the first is the most likely. As Severus and his men continued to march to Sirmium’s relief, the Illyrians began making plans as to how they could destroy the oncoming Roman forces and fell back to a more favourable position deep in the swamps that lay along the Drava River.

  Time was pressing. If Severus allowed the Illyrians to escape, they could board boats and row up the river, getting further into the Illyrian interior. If the Illyrians were in the swamps, Severus had to fight them there before they could get a chance to flee. Mostly likely, the Illyrians had hunkered down in the marshes, wishing that Severus would be stubborn enough and stupid enough to fight them there, despite all of the self-evident hazards. They got their wish.

  As an interesting annecdote, there is a village called Sarvaš, also called Szarvas, which is located just south of the Drava River within swampy terrain. It is possible that this village is named after Governor Severus, which would indicate a historical memory of the location of the battlefield. However, records of this village’s existence only go as far back as the thirteenth century, which makes the idea that this place’s name is somehow connected with the battle that Severus fought here back in the first century AD rather unlikely.

  No records survive of the actual fighting along that river, but Cassius Dio provides two clues about the battle’s aftermath: first, Governor Aulus Severus and his men defeated the rebels; second, the Romans suffered heavy casualties in the process.52 The Battle of the Dravus River was a Pyrrhic victory for the Romans.

  Rome asks the Thracians for Help

  The Romans wanted to end the rebellion quickly, but they also realized that they couldn’t afford such costly victories as the Battle of the Dravus River. With the rebels greatly outnumbering the legionnaires that were immediately at hand, the Romans knew that they needed to rapidly increase their numbers. So they sent word to their allies and vassal states, requesting aid. Among those who were contacted was Thrace.53

  Ancient Thrace encompassed eastern Greece, most of southern Bulgaria and the European part of Turkey. The people who inhabited this land were called Thracians, and may have been related to the Dacians, their northern neighbours, who dwelt on the opposite side of the Danube River in modern Romania. The ancient Greeks knew the Thracians very well; the historian and geographer Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BC, discusses them in detail in his Histories when he was describing Shah Darius’ invasion of Europe. The name almost assuredly descends from the name of one of their tribes, the Trausi; this name would have been ascribed to all of the Thracians by outsiders such as the Greeks. Herodotus states that the Thracians were divided into many tribes, with most following a similar culture.54

  Thrace did not exist as a unified country until the mid to late 400s BC. For the preceding hundred years, the Odrysae tribe had been expanding their territory and gaining power. Then in the mid-fifth century BC, King Sitacles of the Odrysae proclaimed himself ‘King of the Thracians’ and proceeded to conquer all of his neighbours, and even fought against the kingdom of Macedon. However, the unified Thracian kingdom was short-lived. After Sitacles’ grandson died in 358 BC, Thrace split apart once again. Thrace became a target for invasion and became incorporated into one dominion or another for many years. It wasn’t until the reign of Caesar Augustus that Thrace was once again unified, not as an independent kingdom but as a vassal state, more commonly known as a client kingdom; Thrace had its own laws, government and ruler, but it still had to acknowledge Rome as its overlord. King Rhoemetalces I, the son of Chief Cotys of the Astae tribe, was the first ruler of this new united Thracian kingdom. King Rhoemetalces I reigned from 11 BC to 12 AD. His capital city was located at Bizye (Vize), which lay exactly halfway between Byzantium and Hadrianopolis. It was the home of an important Thracian holy site and at least one royal tomb consisting of a burial mound containing gold, silver and bronze objects. He had a brother named Rhascyporis, who would fight alongside him during the Great Illyrian Revolt. Thrace would become a Roman province in 46 AD during the reign of Emperor Claudius.55

  By the time of Caesar Augustus, the Thracians had been very heavily Hellenized. Thracian coins had inscriptions on them in Greek. King Rhoemetalces, as he is called in the Roman sources, is listed as Basileos Roimhtalkou on Thracian coins. His actual name, based upon a combination of Greek and Roman variations of it, might have sounded like ‘Rowim-hetalkos’. Rhoemetalces’ wife was Queen Pythodoris, who we only know about due to her image on Thracian coins. Many of these coins reflected the Thracian kingdom’s relationship with Rome. On one side of the coins is a picture of Rhoemetalces’ profile beside that of his wife, while on the opposite side is a profile portrait of Caesar Augustus, with the accompanying inscription Kaisaros Sebastou.56

  Blood, Fire and Destruction

  Bato the Breucian and his Pannonian warriors had been defeated by the Romans (just barely) at the Battle of the Dravus River. Meanwhile, further to the south, Bato the Daesidiate led his forces in an attack on Salona, the capital city of the province of Illyricum. I’m certain that this attack had both strategic and symbolic importance. However, Bato the Daesidiate had just as much luck taking Salona as his counterpart had in taking Sirmium. Marcus Messallinus, the governor of Illyricum, was not in the capital city during the attack; he had already gone north to meet up with Tiberius and had taken most of the soldiers in the area with him. The lack of military protection helped the Illyrian rebels gain control of the countryside with relative ease.57

  However, gaining control of the fortified city proved to be much harder. During the attack on Salona, Bato was badly wounded when he was struck by a sling stone, which prevented him from taking part in the attack and in fact removed him from command. Getting struck by an ancient slingshot was not a minor injury, as the story of David and Goliath well attests. Football-shaped lead missiles the size of a large marble would be flung out with the spee
d and impact force of a bullet. An expert slinger might be able to hit a human-sized target at a range of 130 yards.58 With their leader down and with the city too formidable to take, the Dalmatians were forced to abandon their assault on the city.59

  Even though Bato the Daesidiate was recovering in his bed, he ordered his subordinates to lay waste to all Roman settlements along the Adriatic coast. Cassius Dio states that the Dalmatian rebels ‘wrought havoc along the whole sea-coast as far as [the city of] Apollonia’.60 Cassius Dio also says that after the Dalmatians were defeated at Salona, they fought another battle against the Romans at an unnamed location and this time the Dalmatians were victorious.61 Gaius Paterculus gives a more detailed description of this, saying ‘A considerable detachment of veterans, stationed in the region which was most remote from the commander, was exterminated to a man.’62 It isn’t surprising that Roman authors go into detail on Rome’s victories but give few details on Rome’s failures. Neither Paterculus nor Cassius Dio nor any other ancient source states where or when this battle took place, how many troops were involved or who the Roman commander was.

  With Severus’ men now in no position to resist the Illyrians after the mauling that they had received at the Dravus River, there was nothing to stop the rebels. They grew exponentially in strength and cut a swathe of destruction throughout the land wherever they passed. Paterculus gives some statistics on the rebels’ military strength during this time. He says that the Illyrian rebels totalled a jaw-dropping 800,000 in number, including 200,000 infantrymen trained in Roman military tactics as well as 9,000 cavalry. Such large numbers are absurd exaggerations. The idea of 200,000 professional Illyrian infantry troops, presumably auxiliaries, is utterly ridiculous and laughable, and owes more to Roman attempts to convey fear and terror in the minds of their readers concerning the rebel threat rather than to provide accurate descriptions of events. Danijel Dzino hypothesizes that the total rebel strength might have been only one-tenth to one-eighth of this high number, with the rebels numbering, at most, 100,000 participants.63 The rebels divided their force into three parts: one-third of their force would invade Italy; a second would invade the province of Macedonia; and a third would stay behind and protect the rebellious provinces from attack.64 I’m certain that the attack on Macedonia had great symbolic significance for the Illyrians since the ancient kingdom of Macedon had been one of the Illyrian tribes’ traditional enemies for centuries.

  The rebels achieved a great deal of success in the initial stages of the revolt. Paterculus states:

  No nation ever displayed such swiftness in following up with war its own plans for war, and in putting its resolves into execution. Roman citizens were overpowered, traders were massacred, a considerable detachment of veterans, stationed in the region which was most remote from the commander, was exterminated to a man, [the entire province of] Macedonia was seized by armed forces, everywhere was wholesale devastation by fire and sword. Moreover, such a panic did this war inspire that even the courage of Caesar Augustus, rendered steady and firm by experience in so many wars, was shaken with fear.65

  Rome Responds

  The war had not gone well for the Romans. In the opening stages of the revolt, the city of Segestica had been captured and Roman soldiers stationed in the area had been defeated. The Romans managed to score a victory against the Illyrians at the Battle of the Dravus River, but they suffered high casualties in the process. After a failed attack on Salona, the Illyrians spread out, destroying settlements and slaughtering the population. Another military unit stationed in the southern part of the province of Illyricum was completely exterminated. Finally, the rebels had managed to seize control of the whole province of Macedonia, and were preparing to launch an invasion of Italy.

  The reality was plain to everyone: the Romans were losing.

  In Rome, the situation in the western Balkans was no longer regarded as a crisis, it was now a catastrophe! The people living in the Eternal City were especially apprehensive about an Illyrian invasion of Italy. They imagined a massive horde of heavily-armed and professionally trained Illyrian soldiers descending down the peninsula and burning Rome to the ground. Visions of Hannibal must have abounded in their thoughts and fears. In fact, the historian Suetonius says that the Great Illyrian Revolt was the greatest threat to Italy since the wars with Carthage.66 Such a claim is in all likelihood an exaggeration, and considering how formidable the Carthaginians were in their time, I’m certain that the Illyrians would have been greatly flattered if they had heard of them compared in such a way. However, regardless of historical parallels, there was no denying that the rebellion in the Balkans posed a significant threat in three ways.

  First, Romans had been living in the region of Illyria for more than two hundred years. Many towns and cities had been established in that region, with populations of some settlements numbering in the thousands. All of these settlements and the people living within them were now targets. Lives were at stake. Indeed, according to Paterculus, the rebels were already killing every Roman that they saw.67 The Illyrians weren’t interested in taking prisoners this time, they wanted blood.

  Second, there was the risk that the rebels would control the road networks that led in and out of Illyria. If they did so, they could easily send their hordes of warriors north-west around the northernmost tip of the Adriatic Sea and invade Italy. Moreover, they could spread their warriors along many of these roads, which would result in a speedy and blood-soaked takeover of the region, not just the province of Illyricum, but the neighbouring provinces as well. Bato the Daesidiate had already ordered his Dalmatian warriors to do this. In accordance with his command, they destroyed countless settlements and slaughtered countless people, and had even taken control of the entire province of Macedonia. I’m sure some Romans of Hellenic descent must have envisioned large parties of these rebels continuing their march southwards into Greece and burning Athens to the ground as the Persians had done nearly five centuries earlier.

  Third, the rebellion could lead to severe economic repercussions. For centuries, the Illyrians had dominated the Adriatic Sea, dictating trade policy. What if such a thing happened again? Many of the cities in the Roman province of Illyricum were located on important trade routes and contained a great deal of wealth. If the rebels managed to permanently gain control of the region, the overland trade routes connecting Western and Eastern Europe would be shut down, and if the Illyrians managed to regain control of the sea, that made matters all the worse. Trans-Adriatic trade would either be severely limited or come completely to a halt, especially if the old threat of fleets of Illyrian pirates once again raised its fearsome head.

  To prevent such calamities from happening, the empire needed to act quickly. If the Romans didn’t do something substantial right now to combat the rebel threat, then the rebels would assuredly win the war. Caesar Augustus made a speech in the Senate House stating firmly and desperately that unless immediate measures were taken, the rebels would appear within sight of the Eternal City within just ten days. The government immediately organized a draft. From all over the empire, the retired veterans were called back to active duty. The rich were ordered to furnish as many freemen as they could to serve in the army. Knights and senators were ordered to muster themselves for battle. Legions that were posted in other provinces were dispatched to fight in the Balkans.68

  Yet who would lead this massive host of armed men? The Senate stated that there was only one man who was capable enough to deal with this crisis: the famous war hero Tiberius Claudius Nero. Augustus agreed, and he made his stepson the overall commander of the Roman forces sent to crush the revolt.69

  Tiberius Claudius Nero was still on the northern border preparing his army to invade and conquer the Marcomanni kingdom. He must have been worried when the Illyrian recruits that he had been promised didn’t arrive. Then he was told what had happened. Yet for weeks and possibly months, Tiberius did absolutely nothing while who knows how many towns and villages in the Balkans were ra
ided and destroyed, and who knows how many thousands of people had been killed. It was only when a threat to Italy, to the Roman heartland, had manifested itself that he realized that procrastination is a fatal vice in war. Paterculus states: ‘It did not seem to Tiberius a safe course to keep his army buried in the interior of the country and thus leave Italy unprotected from an enemy so near at hand.’70 Paterculus’ choice of words here is very interesting. He specifically states that Tiberius only got his men moving when Italy herself was threatened with attack. This means that he was either minimally concerned or completely unconcerned with how other areas of the empire handled the Illyrian uprising.

  If Tiberius had immediately turned his whole army around, swung southwards and attacked the Illyrians when the rebellion first broke out, he might have been able to break the revolt within a few months. Now the Illyrian rebel force, which at first had been small, had mushroomed beyond imagining and had grown in power. Tiberius’ delay and caution had proved extremely costly. He knew that if he didn’t do something right now, the Eternal City itself might be the next place to be burned to the ground. At last, he called his army to march. He ordered his entire army to abandon its campaign against the Marcomanni – they could always fight against the Germans some other time – and instead turned southwards to fight the Illyrian rebels. Marcus Messallinus, the governor of Illyricum, had joined up with Tiberius, taking most of the Roman troops that had been stationed in Illyricum with him. That decision had left Illyricum virtually defenceless and now the Romans were paying for that mistake. Now Tiberius ordered Messallinus to go back with his men and retake what had been lost. Messallinus and his men would be acting as a vanguard, while Tiberius brought up the remainder of the army. Under his command, Messallinus only had the soldiers of the 20th Legion, which at that time was only at half-strength, about 2,500 men. Perhaps Tiberius felt that such a force would be of sufficient size to deal with any problems that occurred. In theory, it was large enough to hold its position in the event of a heavy attack, holding long enough for Tiberius and the rest to arrive. Tiberius was taking a calculated risk. His problem was that he was not fully aware of just how serious the rebel threat was.71