Roman campaign in the year of 221 and the question of the political organization of Histria

Abstract

During the Roman campaign in 178-177 the Histri were under the leadership of the king with the quarters in Nesactium. G. Bandelli in 1981. presented his opinion according to which during the first Roman campaign on the Histri in 221. there was no such kingdom or unity. He tried to justify his opinion by interpretation of the sources (especially Zonara 8,20), by the logic of the events and the comparison with the politics which the Romans had in Illyria in 229-219. However, it could be shown that there are no convincing arguments that confirm the statement that the kingdom of Histria was created by the Romans. The analysis of the condition in Illyria and the Roman politics that manifested there during the indicated decade confirms the opinion that Histria was a kingdom even before 221 and that the king headed a great number of communities (civitates, populi) representing a majority or a whole of the Histrian ethnos. The findings from Nesactium confirm this statement.