ILLYRIA, or Illyricum, Ancient, a country situated on the east coast of the Adriatic, the limits of which were at no time distinctly marked. In its most restricted sense it may be considered as extending from Dalmatia on the north, to Epirus on the south, from which it was separated by the Acroceraunian range of mountains. To the east it was separated from Macedonia by a lofty chain of mountains, which was known under the several names of Bertiscus, Scardus, Tschar Dagh, and Bernus. When the Romans conquered the country, they added to it the Dalmatians, Japydes, and other petty tribes; and, under the emperors, so widely were the frontiers of Illyria extended, that it comprehended the great districts of Pannonia, Rhaetia, Noricum, and Moesia (Appian, Illyr. 6). In the third century we find Duces totius Illyrici mentioned, under whose command were placed not only the troops of the above-mentioned countries, but also those of Thrace. When the Roman empire was divided into two parts, they each received a portion of Illyria. The western portion comprehended Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Noricum, and belong-ed[7:12:251] to the Prcefectus prectorio Italiae. It is remarked by Strabo (vii. 317), that the coast of Illyria presented everywhere good harbours, whilst the opposite side of Italy was entirely devoid of them. The climate was excellent, and the soil in general such as to produce olive trees and vines. In the interior, however, the country is mountainous, and covered with snow during a great part of the year.

Illyria was inhabited by a great number of different tribes, of whom we shall mention the principal. In the north were the Japydes, the Liburni, celebrated as a maritime people, and the Dalmatae, whose chief city was Salon, now Salona. The Scordisci, it would appear, were an Illyrian people, reaching as far as the river Danube. More to the south were the Dardani, who occupied the upper valleys of the river Drilo, and extended to the frontiers of Paeonia and Macedonia. The most interesting part, however, of Illyria was that which extended along the coast for nearly ninety miles, from the Gulf of Drino and the vicinity of Lissus, to the Acroceraunian Mountains and the confines of Chaonia. There we find the important towns of Epidamnus, Apollonia, Oricum, and in the interior the Atin-tanes, and the Dassaretii with their capital Lychnidus, situated on a great lake of the same name. Its chief rivers were the Drilo, formed by two branches, which rise nearly two hundred miles apart, and the northern branch of which is now called the White Drino, whilst the southern, rising in the lake Lychnitis, is called the Black Drino ; the Apsus, now Crevasta or Beratino ; the Aous, Voioussa, which rises in the range of Pindus, on the confines of Thessaly and Macedonia, and which separated Epirus from Illyria.

Respecting the origin of the Illyrian people we have little information on which we can depend. Their vicinity to the Thracians, and the peculiar practice of tatooing their bodies, would lead us to connect them with that important people; yet it is curious that ancient writers always distinguish them, and when they both served as light troops in the army of Alexander they formed separate bodies. Of their early history we know nothing, nor are they mentioned till the reign of Amyntas, king of Macedonia, b. c. 383, when we find Bardylis, a leader oì banditti, elected king by his followers. His power increased daily, and he at last included within his kingdom all that part of Illyria which lies along the sea-coast. He attacked Macedonia, and defeating its king Amyntas, took several of its cities (Diodor. XV. 15, 19); and again, b. c. 359, we find him at war with Perdiccas, who fell in an engagement with the Illyrians (xvi. 2). The same year, however, he was defeated by Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, who succeeded on the death of Perdiccas, and was obliged to surrender all the cities and districts which he had taken from Macedonia (xvi. 4). Bardylis was succeeded by his son Clitus, who made an unsuccessful attempt to recover from Alexander that portion of Macedonia which his father had been compelled to give up (Arrian, i. 5). Clitus was succeeded by his son Pleuratus, and he again by Agron, a powerful prince, who ruled over the Dalmatians, the Greek colonies in the islands Issa, Corcyra, and Melaena, and also some of the Greek cities in Epirus. The Greeks, however, were by no means willing to be subject to one whom they considered as a barbarian, and they applied for assistance to the Romans, who were at that time beginning to interfere in the affairs of Greece. Besides, the Roman merchants had suffered considerably from the piracy of the Illyrians. The remonstrances of the Romans were little attended to, and whilst preparations were making for an effective attack, Agron died, and was succeeded in the government of Illyria by his queen Teuta. The year B. c. 229, the Romans first landed on the coast of Illyria, and before the end of the year they had so humbled the pride of the Illyrians that they were glad to sue for peace, which was granted on condition that they should give up the greater portion of the coast, and agree that no armed vessel should sail south of the Gulf of Lissus. The islands were declared free, and the country taken from the Illyrians was made over to Demetrius, whose treachery had proved the principal means of the success of the Romans. The Illyrian princes seem to have lived quietly within the bounds which the Romans had assigned them, nor do they appear to have made any attempt to recover their dominions, till the reign of Gentius, great-grandson of Agron, who was induced to join Perseus, king of Macedonia, b. c. 168, in his attack on the Romans. Thirty days were sufficient to finish the war with the Illyrians; and Gentius, with his whole family, having fallen into the hands of the conqueror, was sent to Rome to grace the praetor’s triumph. From that time Illyria was considered as a Roman province, and though some portion of the country was at times rebellious, it generally submitted to the power of the Romans. (Appian, Illyrica, Liv. xliv.)

Illyria, Modern, a province of the empire of Austria, which in the nomenclature of the government is classed by the name of a kingdom. When the Romans had made themselves masters of the Danube, the Save, and the Drave, they united all the country to the south of Noricum and Pannonia into a province, to which they gave the name of Illyricum. When the western Roman empire fell to pieces, and, through the pressure of the northern invaders, Byzantium was deprived of its outworks, that province lost its name, and was only distinguished by the Austrians as the Hungarian provinces to the south of the Drave.

By the peace of Presburg in 1809, these portions of country were ceded to Bonaparte, and with them also Villach, Friuli, Istria, and a part of Tyrol, to which afterwards Dalmatia was added; and they were constituted a portion of his vast empire, under the name of the Illyrian Provinces. The campaigns of 1813 and 1814, with the treaty of Vienna which .followed as the consequence of these, gave back these provinces to the ancient ruler. Dalmatia, the military frontier, and the Tyrol, were detached from them; and in 1822 they were further diminished by the erection of Croatia into a separate government.

This kingdom is, for political purposes, divided into two parts, with separate chiefs; one in the north, denominated, from its capital, Laybach; and the other in the south, from the same cause called Trieste, but sometimes distinguished as the division of the sea-shore.

This kingdom extends in north latitude from 44° 59' to 47° 8', and in east longitude from 12° 36'to 16° 27'. It is bounded on the north by the Austrian province of the Upper Ens, by Steyermark, and Civil Croatia; on the east by Military Croatia; on the south by the Adriatic Sea; and on the west by Venetian Lombardy and the Tyrol. The extent and population of the several districts are,—
[table]

The surface of the land is penetrated throughout with [7:12:252]chains of high mountains, having some of their points very lofty, between which are valleys, some of greater, others of less extent. The sea-coast is generally flat and sandy, particularly to the westward, and abounds in morasses. The bay of Trieste on the east, and that of Quarnaro on the west, run far up into the land, and thus form the great peninsula of Istria. The valleys in the districts of Villach and Klagenfurth are stony, but have a soil of moderate fertility. In Karlstadt there is an excess of wood. The districts of Laybach, Neustadt, and Adelsburg, are full of stone quarries, marshes, and sand-hills, and are very unproductive. In the districts on the coast, the want of water is sometimes much felt. A range of mountains near Laybach divides the course of the waters, which on the north of it run to the Save and the Drave, and through them to the Black Sea; whilst those rivers in the south of the range discharge their water into the Adriatic.

The great ranges of mountains already noticed may be divided into three classes, all of which take their direction from east to west. 1sZ, The Noric Alps, which cover the northern parts of the districts of Villach and Klagenfurth. The names of the particular parts are various, but the loftiest portion is the Great Glockner, the highest points of which arc 11,980 feet above the level of the sea, and are covered with snow during the whole year. From it a projection extends to the south, and separates Klagenfurth from the province of Steyermark. 2d, The Carinthian Alps. This range is divided into two branches, one of which extends to Stcyermark, and the other terminates with the massive Terklow, from which a lower branch is continued to the river Save. 3d, The Julian Alps. These begin with the Terklow, which is 6500 feet in height, and run quite to the Adriatic Sea. It is a characteristic of these Julian mountains, that they are all of calcareous formation, and are filled with an incredible number of caverns and grottos. From Isonzo to the frontier of Bosnia more than a thousand of these are remarked; and it has been supposed that the whole of the mountains in question are filled with such natural excavations. Many small streams flow under as well as upon the earth; they are visible for a short space, and then bury themselves in the bowels of the earth. The washing of such streams causes a sinking of the land in many parts in the form of a funnel, which has a very remarkable appearance. The whole district, but especially the eastern part, from the peculiar formation, the numerous caverns, the subterranean rivers, the lakes, cascades, and other curiosities, presents many natural phenomena, such as are unknown in any other part of Europe.

The population consists of several original tribes, mostly of the Sclavonian race. The original language is still retained, but with a great variety of dialects, by which they may still be traced up to the countries whence they emigrated twelve or thirteen centuries ago. They adhere to their ancient customs, dress, food, and amusements, and rarely intermarry with any of the families of German origin. They arc mostly occupied in agriculture, though some are employed in the mines, and a few in the towns and cities in the several kinds of labour. Their number exceeds 800,000 persons. The next are the Germans, some cultivators, others mechanics or traders, who are stated to be rather more than 300,000. Besides, there are about 60,000 Italians, residing chiefly on the Adriatic shores. The far greater proportion adhere to the Roman Catholic communion, and are zealously, or rather bigotedly, attached to it. They are under the ecclesiastical direction of thirteen bishops in the different cities. In the circles of Villach and Klagenfurth there are about 18,000 Lutherans, who have sixteen churches and eighteen chapels. Besides these, there are 200 Protestants reformed, 1200 Jews, and 1000 of the Greek church, all of whom have the free exercise of their several religious rites.

From the nature of the surface, agriculture can be but little productive, though it is well managed in the valleys about Villach and Klagenfurth. The corn produced is, according to Blumenbach, a million quarters of the four principal kinds; and in one year, where actual returns were made, the following products were harvested, viz. wheat 94,300 quarters, rye 185,000, barley 142,500, and oats 350,000 quarters. Though some maize, buck-wheat, and millet are raised, and though potatoes have been introduced and extended in every year, there is a deficiency to be supplied from other districts, which is paid for by the timber and wood-ware which is floated down by the rivers, and the preparation of which furnishes a great portion of the employment of labourers. Flax and hemp are cultivated; and there are in most parts abundance of fruit trees, and in the southern part great plenty of almonds, chestnuts, and walnuts. Some olives grow near Trieste; and about forty cimers, of thirty gallons each, are annually exported. The stock of cattle is small when compared with either the extent of the land or the number of the inhabitants. The northern districts yield no wine; in the south there is abundance, but most of it is of bad quality, and cannot be kept longer than a year.

The fishery gives considerable employment to the residents on the sea-shore, especially the taking of the large tunny and small sardinias, operations which are carried on by joint-stock companies. Many oysters also are taken, and the city of Vienna is supplied with them by a very expensive land-carriage.

The mining operations are very numerous, if not very extensive. The chief minés of lead are near .Villach, Adelsburg has the most productive mines of quicksilver, and most of the other districts yield silver, iron, copper, antimony, sal-ammoniac, alum, or vitriol. The iron is chiefly converted into tools or utensils, particularly nails, which are exported. There is abundance of fossil coal in many parts, and some saline springs. The latter do not yield sufficient culinary salt for the consumption, and much is made by the sun on the sea-shore. Whatever shipping trade exists is conducted through the ports of Trieste or Fiume. As there are good roads in all directions, the internal trade with the other dominions of Austria is very extensive, and rapidly increasing.

The courts of law, both civil and criminal, are held at Klagenfurth, which is also the chief seat of the police, and of the treasury board for the whole kingdom.