Illyricum

Illyricum is the ancient (Roman empire era and earlier) name for an area of land in what is now known as the Balkan Peninsula. The extent of the region varies, but typically it refers an area running north from central Albania to what is now the Serbo-Croatian border.

The area had been settled by two groups that would later be known as the Pannonians and the Dalmatians in Roman times. For most of the Greek era they remained independent and Philip II of Macedon's attempts to take the area to gain its mines was a failure. In 300BC a kingdom was set up at Scodra, but it lasted only a short time until a series of successful conquests on the part of the Romans ended their independence. Later the area was split into two provinces, Pannonia and the Dalmatia, but the entire area was still known as Illyricum.

The name was briefly revived by Napoleon Bonaparte during his conquests, but again fell into disuse after his defeats.