Chapter VII – The Illyrian War (276-274 BC)
The Roman Army continued to strengthen despite the domestic
disturbances, and had grown to a total of eight legions, 56,000 men. Such
a large army brought with it logistical problems, especially the need for iron
grew as armor and weaponry had to be repaired and replaced.
The closest source of iron lay across the Adriatic Sea in the lands of the
Ardiaei kingdom. A trade treaty was negotiated between Rome and the
Ardiaei in the Summer of 277 BC; Rome would get the iron she much needed
and the Ardiaei in return would receive protection against her warring
neighbors to the south and east.
Troubles soon began to brew on the Adriatic as pirates operating from the
islands off the coast of Liburni started to attack Roman merchant ships,
jeopardizing the supply of iron to Italy. Rome sent an envoy led by
Q.Gurges to Liburni with demands that King Plarid would make greater effort
of dealing with the pirates. King Plarid replied, that he could not be
expected to control the actions of the pirates, but only those of his
subjects. The Roman answer in essence was: ”If you won't, we will.”[1]
The Roman Republic took her first steps outside of Italy in the Fall of 276 BC
when the Ninth 'Sicilian' and the Fifth landed on the coast of Histri. The
Fifth, under P.Donabella, marched unopposed to the provincial capital
(Nesactium) and lay siege to it, while A.Calatinus' Ninth chased the enemy
army towards the capital of the country.
In early winter of 276 BC, the two opposing armies clashed North of Iader,
the Liburni capital. The Romans had a numerical advantage (7,000 v 4,000)
over their enemy, and as the centers engaged the Roman flanks began to
slowly envelop the enemy. Upon realizing this, the Liburni general took flight
to Pannonia with what remained of his army (~2,000), leaving the Roman
army lay siege to the capital.
Nesactium fell in February of 275 BC to the Fifth Legion, but the siege of
Iadre by the Ninth took an unexpected turn when the Ardiaei joined the war
on Liburni's side and attacked the Romans' rear during the spring. While the
Romans won the engagement, the Ninth had been weakened so that it was
decided to be replaced by the full strength Fifth.
A second attack to break the siege at Iader by the Ardiaei came in
September of the same year. By now the Fifth had been reinforced by
D.Primulus' Third 'Unyielding', but again the Romans couldn't beat the enemy
decisively on the field until later in the year when the pursuing Roman
legions caught up with the enemy in Dalmatae and destroyed the last of the Ardiaei army.
With no army to oppose them, the governing cities in Liburni, Dalmatae and
Scodra were sieged by the Roman army, now including the Seventh that had
been transported across the sea to speed up the end of the war. Dalmatae
surrendered in May, Scodra in July and Liburni finally in early winter of 274 BC.
The Roman Republic c. 274 BC
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1: ”Teuta received them haughtily and replied that she could not control
the private affairs of her subjects, though she was willing to control the
public sphere. The younger Coruncanius replied, in a virtual declaration of
war, that Rome would teach her the necessity of also controlling their
private affairs.”
-The Cambridge Ancient History Vol. 8, Ch. 4.2 'The Illyrian Wars'