The Illyrians were the earliest inhabitants of present-day Croatia. Their origin is uncertain but they are supposed to have come to this territory in the 2nd century BC.They were farmers, fishermen and hunters. The present-day Dalmatia was named after the Illyrian tribe Dalmates whereas Istria - Croatia' s largest peninsula in the very north of Dalmatia, was named after the Illyrian tribe Istrians. The ancient Greeks occupied the territory of Dalmatia in the period between the 8th and the 4th century BC. In this period they founded several colonies along the Dalmatian coast among which the present - day island of Vis (known as Issa at that time) was the most important one.

In the 2nd century BC the Romans started to invade the territory of Dalmatia. The Illyrians were subjugated and sold into slavery and Roman service. However, in the first century BC , when the Roman government was already established,the Romans enabled the Illyrians to claim their human rights and to integrate into Roman society.

The Romans were responsible for the building of roads and summer-residences, the growth of olives and grapes and for the establishing of military and administrative rule with the main centres in Pola (present-day Pola in Istria) and Salona (present-day Solin in Dalmatia) near Split.
The division of the Roman Empire into the eastern Roman Empire and the western Roman Empire "placed" Dalmatia in the western side.The border between the eastern and the western Roman Empire still exists. Namely, it is believed that the river Drina divides the Balkan peninsula into the western and eastern Balkan thus separating Croatian catholics from orthodox Serbs.

After the fall of the western Roman Empire in 475., the Romans withdrew from the territory of Croatia and for the two following centuries Dalmatia was ruled by the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines.
The arrival of Slavs, Avars and Croats among them started in the 7th century. This is when the conversion of Croats to Catholicism and Croatian fight for independence began. The French, the Venetians, the Hungarians, the Austrians, the Italians, the Serbs - for centuries all these peoples tried to lay claim to our Dalmatian coast and it wasn't until now ( for the first time after the 7th century) that we could consider ourselves completely free and capable of taking responsibilities and accepting duties that come as a result of this freedom.

Dalmatian Villa© 2003. All rights reserved.