The Iapydes (or Iapodes, Japodes; el, Ἰάποδες) were an ancient people who dwelt north of and inland from the
Liburnians
The Liburnians or Liburni ( grc, Λιβυρνοὶ) were an ancient tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers ''Arsia'' ( Raša) and ''Titius'' ( Krka) in what is now Croati ...
, off the Adriatic coast and eastwards of the
Istrian peninsula. They occupied the interior of the country between the ''Colapis'' (
Kupa
The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and t ...
) and ''Oeneus'' (
Una
Una and UNA may refer to:
Places
* 160 Una, the asteroid "Una", an asteroid named after the Faerie Queene character
* Una River (disambiguation), numerous rivers
* Una, Himachal Pradesh, a town in India
** Una, Himachal Pradesh Assembly constit ...
) rivers, and the
Velebit
Velebit (; it, Alpi Bebie) is the largest, though not the highest, mountain range in Croatia. The range forms a part of the Dinaric Alps and is located along the Adriatic coast, separating it from Lika in the interior. Velebit begins in the nor ...
mountain range (''Mons Baebius'') which separated them from the coastal Liburnians. Their territory covered the central inlands of modern
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
and Una River Valley in today's
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
. Archaeological documentation confirms their presence in these countries at least from 9th century BC, and they persisted in their area longer than a millennium. The ancient written documentation on inland Iapydes is scarcer than on the adjacent coastal peoples (Liburni, Delmatae, etc.) that had more frequent maritime contacts with ancient Greeks and Romans.
The Iapydes had their maximal development and territorial expansion from the 8th to 4th centuries BC. They settled mostly in inland mountain valleys between Pannonia and the coastal Adriatic basin, but in disputation with southern ''Liburni'' they periodically reached also the northern Adriatic coast at
Vinodol valley (classical ''Valdevinum'').
Their culture is largely nebulous due to the lack of material evidence. The Iapydes are believed to have been an
Illyrian subgroup or mixed nation of
Celts and
Pannonian Illyrians
The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, a ...
with a strong
Venetic element.
A major scholar of the Japodi was archaeologist
Branka Raunig.
Origin and affinity
The exact origin of early Iapydes is uncertain; archaeological documentation suggests mixed affinities to early ''
Pannonii'' and
Illyrians
The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, a ...
. The first written mention of an Illyrian tribe is from Greek writers from the 6th century BC. They are provisionally described by
Strabo as a mixed race of
Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
and Illyrians, who used Celtic weapons,
tattoo
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...
ed themselves, and lived chiefly on
spelt and
millet; however, Strabo's suggestion of a mixed Celtic-Illyrian Iapydes culture is not confirmed by archaeology. Originally, Iapydes existed at least from the 9th century BC, and Celtic influence reached the region in the 4th century BC when Iapydes entered a decline. Archeological evidence of typical Celtic culture is documented only in the marginal contact zone of the Iapydes and the Celtic ''
Taurisci'' along the
Kupa
The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and t ...
river valley (now the
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
n-
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
n border). Elsewhere, and especially in the main Iapydic area of the
Lika highlands in
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
, definite Celtic artifacts are scarce and explicable merely by commercial exchanges.
Roman conquest
Romans said of the Iapydes that they were a warlike race addicted to plundering expeditions, but other archaeological documentation confirms their main economical activity was mining and metallurgy. That attracted the pragmatic Romans to conquer their country, whose river valleys were also a natural way for strategic communications between the Adriatic and Pannonia. Therefore, induced conflicts started from 171 BC, when consul
Gaius Cassius Longinus
Gaius Cassius Longinus (c. 86 BC – 3 October 42 BC) was a Roman senator and general best known as a leading instigator of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC. He was the brother-in-law of Brutus, another leader of the co ...
first attacked Iapydes. In 129 BC, Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus attacked the Iapydes and was nearly defeated, but
Decimus Iunius Brutus arrived and rescued him, and he celebrated a
triumph
The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...
.
Lucius Aurelius Cotta and
Gaius Caecilius Metellus
Gaius Metellus was a young Roman senator at the time of Sulla's proscriptions in the late 80s BC. Given that his ''cognomen'' is Metellus, his ''gens'' name is likely to have been Caecilius. Nothing about his identity can be established with certa ...
undertook another expedition against the Iapydes in 119, which concluded with a triumph in 117. In 78–76 BC they were also attacked by
Gaius Cosconius as part of a war against the Dalmatians. They had a ''
foedus
''Foederati'' (, singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the ''socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign stat ...
'' from 56 BC with Rome and paid a ''tributum'', but then from 52–47 BC rebelled. In 34 BC they were finally conquered by
Augustus Caesar. Then they conserved a partial autonomy with a domestic ''praepositus Iapodum''.
Culture and society
Due to the rich and extensive forests of their mountainous country, their houses were mostly wooden huts, and they rarely used stone constructions except in some major fortifications. Their settlements were mostly on hilltops, including between 400–3,000 dwellers, and the main Iapodic settlements in Roman times were ''
Metulum'', ''
Terpon'', ''
Arupium'' and ''
Avendo''.
They cultivated chiefly cereals and grapes, and kept varied cattle. Their early metallurgy developed a half millennium before Celtic influence that induced here minor modifications. Their society was simple including warriors, villagers, herdsmen, miners, and metalworkers. In that early phase neither leaders nor elite were indicated, and these independent Iapydes had no detectable collective political organisation. Under the Romans, a Romanized elite emerged, led by the ''praepositus Iapodum'' installed by Romans.
Their classical culture was a varied mixture of Pannonian, Illyrian, Greek and Roman influences, mostly without proper peculiarities. Their figural art included the frequent metal decorations in the form of triangles and spirals, and large amber pearls and amber figurines. The Iapydic language before the Romans is mostly unknown: the only indications available are their toponyms and necropolis inscriptions from Roman times. These scarce onomastic indications suggest the Iapydic tongue may be correlated with other Illyrian and Pannonian tribes. During their independence, the Iapydes appear to have been completely illiterate and left no inscriptions before the Roman conquest.
Religion
The original religion of Iapydes is scarcely known, and it appears to be similar with other eastward Illyrians. They knew the divine pair of water-deities ''Vidassus'' (as Roman
Sylvanus) and ''Thana'' (as Roman
Diana), whose rocky reliefs persist today at some springs in their area. They worshiped the holy horse as their tribal totem, and also the holy snakes as the symbol of their ancestors. Their early tombs were usually in caves, and then in Roman times often in wooden sarcophagi and also incinerated in ceramic urns.
Japodian burial urns were art a unique form influenced to a degree by the
Situla
Situla (plural ''situlae''), from the Latin word for bucket or pail, is the term in archaeology and art history for a variety of elaborate bucket-shaped vessels from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages, usually with a handle at the top. All types ma ...
art of northern Illyria and Italy and by Greek art.
Archaeogenetics
A
archaeogenetic
Archaeogenetics is the study of ancient DNA using various molecular genetic methods and DNA resources. This form of genetic analysis can be applied to human, animal, and plant specimens. Ancient DNA can be extracted from various fossilized specime ...
studies published in ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'' (2022) examined 8 samples from three Early Iron Age Iapydes sites. All five tested men belonged to the
Y-DNA haplogroup patrilineal line J2b2a1-L283 (> J-Y86930
). The
mtDNA haplogroup
In human genetics, a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup is a haplogroup defined by differences in human mitochondrial DNA. Haplogroups are used to represent the major branch points on the mitochondrial phylogenetic tree. Understanding the evol ...
s fell under H, H1, 2x H3b, H5, T2a1a, T2b and U5a1g.
See also
*
Lika
References
Sources
*Mitja Gustin et al.: ''Keltoi in Yugoslavia (Die Kelten und ihre Zeitgenossen auf dem Gebiet Jugoslawiens).'' Narodni muzej, Ljubljana 1984.
*Radoslav Katicic: ''Zur Frage der keltischen und pannonischen Namengebiete im römischen Dalmatien.'' Godisnjak (Annuaire) 3, 55 p., Centar za balkanoloske studije, Sarajevo 1965.
*
{{Illyrians
Historical Celtic peoples
Gauls
Illyrian tribes
Celtic tribes of Illyria
Ancient tribes in Croatia
Ancient history of Slovenia
Ancient tribes in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Foederati
Illyrian Bosnia and Herzegovina