Illyricum

or Illyria . Is the Roman name of a country whose limits in ancient times varied considerably. It was inhabited by a savage tribe, who were much addicted to piracy and robbery. In 359 B.C. Philip of Macedon conquered the eastern portion of the country, now Albania, and it was incorporated with Macedonia. The Illyrians were brought into a collision with the Romans on account of their piracy, which led to their subjugation about two centuries before the Christian era. They made numerous efforts to shake off the Roman yoke, but were always defeated, and the country became a most important province of the Roman empire, comprising the territory represented in modern times by Croatia, Dalmatia, Herzegovina, Monte negro, nearly all Bosnia, and a part of Albania. On the division of the Roman empire, it shared in the vici itudes that followed that act. A decree of Napoleon, on October 14, 1809, gave the name of Illyrian provinces to Carniola, Dalmatia, and other countries from the Adriatic Sea to the Save, then belonging to the French empire. At his fall these provinces were united as a kingdom to the Austrian empire, and some alterations were made in its boundaries, especially by the restoration to Hungary of what had formerly belonged to it, and the annexation of the whole of Carinthia.