The Siculotae (also Sikoulotai) were an Illyrian people in antiquity. The name of the Siculotae is related to the name of the

Sicels The Sicels ( ; or ''Siculī'') were an Indo-European tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily, their namesake, during the Iron Age. They spoke the Siculian language. After the defeat of the Sicels at the Battle of Nomae in 450 BC and the death of ...

, a pre-Roman people of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. The toponym ''Sicily'' derives from their name. The Sicels themselves seem to have settled from the Balkans to Italy in the same trans-Adriatic movements of the LBA which created the Iapygian region in southern Italy. The toponym ''Shikjë'' (proposed older form: *Shikëlë) in northern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

may preserve the name. The fort ''Siklai'' placed by

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...

in Macedonia was likely located in this area of Epirus Nova.

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

records a civitatum of the Siculotae with 24 decuriae among the indigenous Illyrian communities in the region of

Narona Narona () was an Ancient Greek trading post on the Illyrian coast and later Roman city and bishopric, located in the Neretva valley in present-day Vid, Croatia, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see. History It was founded as a Greek em ...

. The civitatum of the Siculotae was created by the Roman after the

Great Illyrian Revolt The (Latin for ''War of the Batos'') or Great Illyrian Revolt was a military conflict fought in the Roman Empire, Roman province of Illyricum (Roman province), Illyricum in the 1st century AD, in which an alliance of native peoples of the two re ...

by breaking up larger Illyrian communities into smaller ones. Before the creation of the Roman civitatum, the Siculotae may have been part of the

Delmatae The Dalmatae, alternatively Delmatae, during the Roman period, were a group of Illyrian tribes in Dalmatia, contemporary southern Croatia and western Bosnia and Herzegovina. The region of Dalmatia takes its name from the tribe. The Delmatae ap ...

and also the Pirustae, who lived further south. As such they may have been moved from

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

to northern Montenegro around Plevlja with other Delmatae. Other communities which were part of the people known as Pirustae as far south as northern Macedonia were the Glintidiones and the Scirtari. A settlement named ''Siculi'' which has been identified with

Bijaći Bijaći was a medieval Croats, Croatian village, some northeast of Trogir. The village developed around the church of St. Martha on the site of a former 1st century ''villa rustica'' at Stombrate locality, about half way between Tragurium and Sa ...

(Resnik) near

Trogir Trogir () is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 10,107 (2021) and a total municipal population of 12,393 (2021). The historic part of the city is situated on a small island ...

became a

military colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

in the Roman era. In the

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin Language, Latin for 'The Peutinger Map'), also known as Peutinger's Tabula, Peutinger tablesJames Strong (theologian) , James Strong and John McClintock (theologian) , John McClintock (1880)"Eleutheropolis" In: ''The Cyclopedia of Bibli ...

, the settlement is mentioned as ''Siclis''.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Illyrians Illyrian tribes Illyrian Croatia Illyrian Albania Illyrian Montenegro Tribes conquered by the Roman Republic History of Dalmatia