Illyr'icum. An extensive district lying along the eastern coast of the Adriatic;
from the boundary of Italy on the north, of Epirus on the south, and contiguous
to Moessia and Macedonia on the east. Rom_6:19.
Source:
Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Illyricum
i-lir´i-kum (Ἰλλυρικόν,
Illurikón): A province of the Roman Empire, lying East and
Northeast of the Adriatic Sea. In his Epistle to the Romans Paul emphasizes the
extent of his missionary activities in the assertion that “from Jerusalem, and round
about even unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Rom_15:19). An examination of this statement
involves three questions: What is the force of the preposition “even unto” (μέχρι, méchri)?
What meaning is borne by the word Illyricum? and, At what period of his
missionary career did Paul reach the limit here spoken of?
1. Force of “Even Unto”
In Greek, as in English, the preposition “unto” may either be exclusive
or inclusive. In other words, Paul may mean that he has preached throughout
Macedonia as far as the Illyrian frontier, or his words may involve a journey
within Illyricum itself, extending perhaps to Dyrrhachium (mod. Durazzo)
on the Adriatic seaboard, which, though belonging politically to Macedonia, lay
in “Greek, Illyria.” But since no word is said in the Acts of any extension of
Paul's travels beyond the confines of Macedonia, and since the phrase, “I have
fully preached,” precludes a reference to a hurried or cursory tour in
Illyricum, we should probably take the word “unto” in its exclusive sense, and
understand that Paul claims to have evangelized Macedonia as far as the
frontier of Illyricum.
2. Meaning of “Illyricum”
What, then, does the word “Illyricum” denote? It is sometimes used, like
the Greek terms Illyris and Illyria, to
signify a vast area lying between the Danube on the North and Macedonia and
Thrace on the South, extending from the Adriatic and the Alps to the Black Sea,
and inhabited by a number of warlike and semi-civilized tribes known to the
Greeks under the general title of Illyrians (Appian, Illyr. 1;
Suetonius, Tiberius, 16); it thus comprised the provinces of Illyricum
(in the narrower sense), Pannonia and Moesia, which for certain financial and
military purposes formed a single administrative area, together with a strip of
coast land between Dalmatia and Epirus and, at a later date, Dacia. Appian (Illyr.
6) even extends the term to include Raetia and Noricum, but in this he appears
to be in error. But Illyricum has also a narrower and more precise meaning,
denoting a single Roman province, which varied in extent with the advance of
the Roman conquest but was finally organized in 10 ad by the emperor Augustus.
At first it bore the name superior provincia Illyricum or simply Illyricum;
later it came to be known as Dalmatia (Tac. Annals, iv.5; Josephus, BJ,
II, xvi; Dio Cassius, xlix.36, etc.). In accordance with Paul's habitual usage
of such terms, together with the fact that he employs a Greek form which is a
transliteration of the Latin Illyricum but does not occur in any other extant
Greek writer, and the fact that he is here writing to the church at Rome, we
may conclude that in Rom_15:19
Illyricum bears its more restricted meaning.
3. Relation to Rome
The Romans waged two Illyrian wars: in 229-228 bc and in 219 bc, but no
province was formed until 167, when, after the fall of the Macedonian power,
Illyria received its provincial constitution (Livy, xlv.26). At this time it
extended from the Drilo (modern Drin) to Dalmatia, which was gradually
subjugated by Roman arms. In 59 bc Julius Caesar received as his province
Illyricum and Gaul, and later Octavian and his generals, Asinius Pollio and
Statilius Taurus, waged war there with such success that in 27 bc, at the
partition of the provinces between Augustus and the Senate, Illyricum was
regarded as wholly pacified and was assigned to the latter. Renewed
disturbances led, however, to its transference to the emperor in 11 bc. Two
years later the province was extended to the Danube, but in 9 ad, at the close
of the 2nd Pannonian War, it was divided into two separate provinces, Pannonia
and Illyricum (Dalmatia). The latter remained an imperial province,
administered by a consular legatus Augusti pro praetore residing at
Salonae (modern Spalato), and two legions were stationed there, at
Delminium and at Burnum. One of these was removed by Nero, the other by
Vespasian, and thenceforward the province was garrisoned only by auxiliary
troops. It fell into three judicial circuits (conventus), that of
Scardona comprising Liburnia, the northern portion of the province, while those
of Salonae and Narona made up the district of Dalmatia in the narrower sense.
The land was rugged and mountainous, and civilization progressed but slowly;
the Romans, however, organized 5 Roman colonies within the province and a
considerable number of municipia.
4. Paul's Relation to Illyricum
The extension of Paul's preaching to the Illyrian frontier must be
assigned to his 3rd missionary journey, i.e. to his 2nd visit to Macedonia. His
movements during the 1st visit (Acts 16:12 through 17:15) are too fully
recorded to admit of our attributing it to that period, but the account in Act_20:2 of his second tour is not only very
brief, but the words, “when he had gone through those parts,” suggest an
extensive tour through the province, occupying, according to Ramsay, the summer
and autumn of 56 ad. See also DALMATIA.
Literature
A. M. Poinsignon, Quid praecipue apud Romanos adusque Diocletiani
tempora Illyricum fuerit (Paris, 1846); Zippe, Die römische Herrschaft
in Illyrien bis auf Augustus (Leipzig, 1877); H. Cons, La province
romaine de Dalmatie (Paris, 1882); T. Mommsen, CIL, III, pp. 279ff;
T. Mommsen et J. Marquardt, Manuel des antiquités romaines (Fr. T), IX,
171ff.
Source:
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Illyricum
A country to the north-west of Macedonia, on the eastern shores of the
Adriatic, now almost wholly comprehended in Dalmatia, a name formerly given to
the southern part of Illyricum (2Ti_4:10).
It was traversed by Paul in his third missionary journey (Rom_15:19). It was the farthest district he had
reached in preaching the gospel of Christ. This reference to Illyricum is in
harmony with Act_20:2, inasmuch as the
apostle's journey over the parts of Macedonia would bring him to the borders of
Illyricum.
Source:
Easton’s Bible Dictionary