land poured down a murderous fire from the rocks above; and, having speedily succeeded in obtaining possession of the ship, they forced those of the crew who survived, with cruel blows, to walk the plank into the sea. Then sailing the galley to Segna, during the voyage, they hewed off with a hatchet the heads of the Cavalier Lucretio Gravise, a gentleman of Capo d'Istria, and his brother, and nephew, passengers in the vessel, and despoiled of their jewels and vestments Paula Strasolde, his wife, and her attendants; reserving Veniero alive, till they got under the Morlacca, a little way from Segna, where they sealed their barbarities by beheading him also with a hatchet; and after mutilating his body, threw it into the sea. His head they then served up for dinner, together with his heart; in the warm blood of which they all dipped their bread, according to the belief among them, that such participation in an enemy's blood is a sure pledge of mutual fidelity, and a spell binding them together in one common fate.

66

Having completed their fiend-like rites, they brought the galley to Segna, divided the booty and ammunition, released the galley slaves, and planted the artillery on the walls of the city."

This brutal outrage roused the indignation of the Venetians; and the Austrians having listened coldly to their demands for vengeance, a war ensued in Friuli; which lasted three years, and was at last terminated, through the mediation of France, by a treaty, ratified at Madrid; which stipulated the final dispersion of the Uscocs, and the destruction of their flotilla.

They were therefore removed from Segna, into the interior of Croatia; where the Archduke Ferdinand gave them a new abode, in the neighbourhood of Carlstadt.

431

APPENDIX.

(A.)

HISTORY OF DALMATIA UNDER THE ROMANS.

I HAVE already given an account of the Slavonians, and of their settlement in Dalmatia, in the seventh century. From that period the history of the modern Dalmatians and Illyrians properly begins; but though not immediately related to the ancient inhabitants of the country, the events that preceded their arrival ought not to be omitted; and the monuments that remain require some notice of the people who possessed Illyria, when it was first conquered by the Romans, and during the subsequent period when it formed part of the empire.

The Liburnians, who occupied the northern part, were a very ancient people. They had, at a most remote period, many possessions, even in Italy; and Livy says that, in his time, the town of Truentum still belonged to them.* They were always renowned for their naval skill; they possessed the islands of Dalmatia, and had numerous colonies on the Adriatic coast; and the excellence of the Liburnian light gallies was acknowledged by the Romans and the Greeks. It was with ships of that construction, that, at Actium, Augustus defeated the large vessels of Antony† ;

*Plin. iii. 13, 14.

t

Ibis Liburnis inter alta navium,

Amice, propugnacula.-HOR. Epod. i. 1. 1.

and Dalmatian writers have conjectured, not without some show of probability, that the Romans were indebted to the aid of the Liburnians, for their first naval victory over the Carthaginians. The mention of Liburnian ships, by a Roman historian, has been thought to strengthen this conjecture; and though the remark of Eutropius may only refer to their form, it is not too much to suppose that both the Liburnian gallies, and sailors, may have aided the nautical inexperience of the Romans, on that occasion; and the employment of the ships of Issat by the Romans, in the second Macedonian war‡, shows how probable it is that they were also used against the Carthaginians, when the Roman fleet was in its infancy. For of all the fabrications which have led to the suggestion of Roma Mendacior, for the "Græcia Mendax" of Juvenal, none is more striking than that, which attributes the creation of the Roman fleet to the accidental capture of a stranded Punic ship, that served as a model for their quinqueremes, and to the inland training of the crews adopted by Duilius §; and there is little doubt that the Romans were indebted to others, more skilled in naval tactics, for their first successes against the Carthaginian fleets.

Some suppose the Liburnians to have been a colony from Asia; who obtained possession of that portion of Illyria, which from them borrowed the name of Liburnia ; and many conjectures have been offered respecting their origin.

* "Primum Romani C. Duillio et Cn. Cornelio Asina Coss. in mari dimicarunt, paratis navibus rostratis, quas Liburnas vocant." EUTR. lib. ii.

† Now Lissa.

§ See Polybius.

Liv. Dec. iv. lib. i.

B. C. 600.

The first important conquest of this coast, mentioned in history, is that of the Gauls, who overran the country in the time of Tarquinius Priscus, about the year, B.C. 600. Many of the Liburnians fled to the islands; some became mixed with the conquerors; and a new kingdom was founded by the Gauls, under the name of Illyria. Its capital was Scodra, the modern Scutari of Albania; and their rule extended over Carnia and Istria, and thence into northern Macedonia.

B. C. 359.

In 359 B.C., Philip, the father of Alexander, wrested the latter portion of their empire from the Illyrians*, defeated their King Bardyles, and confined the limits of their rule to the Lichnites laket; after which, various events occurred, during the reigns of his successors, mostly connected with the history of Epirus and Macedonia, until the Romans began to interfere in the affairs of Illyria.

The first complaint preferred by the Romans was the frequent occurrence of piracies; to which succeeded disputes relative to the city of Epidamnus § and the islands of Corcyra, Pharos, and Issa.|| Agron, King of Illyria ¶, having besieged the island of Issa, the inhabitants applied to Rome for protection, and a message was sent by the Romans to Agron, requiring him to desist from molesting the friends of the Republic. In the mean time (B.C. 232.)

* Diodorus, xvi.

†The Lychnidus of Livy, Dec. iii. 7.

Polybius, Dion, and Appian.

§ By the Romans called Dyrrachium, now Durazzo. Or Essos, now Lissa.

The kings of Illyria were Bardyles, Clitus, Pleurates I., Agron, Pineus, Pleurates II., and Gentius.

Agron died, and Teuta*, his widow, having succeeded to the throne, resolved on pressing the siege of Issa, and even encouraged the piracies of Illyrian ships on the Italian traders. The Roman ambassadors, on their arrival, represented to the Queen the necessity of abstaining from hostilities against Issa; but such was the impetuosity of her character, inflamed too by the pride of recent successes in Epirus, that heedless of the rights of nations, and the power of Rome, she put one of the ambassadors to death, for venturing to assert the rights, and threatening her with the vengeance, of Rome.

This brought on the first Illyrian war, which ended in the defeat of the Illyrians, the capture of Corcyra,

B. C. 229.

Pharos, and Apollonia, the liberation of Issa and Dyrrachium, and the flight of Teuta to Rhizone t; where she was forced to sue for peace the following year. The terms were hard; but she had deserved them. She was obliged to pay an annual tribute to Rome; she was not to send more than two ships beyond Issa, and those unarmed; and Illyria was divided into four parts: of which one was left to Teuta; another was given to Demetrius Pharius; the third was taken by the Romans; and the fourth was made free, under the protection, or friendship, of Rome.

This Demetrius had been made Governor of his native island, Pharos ‡, by Agron; and afterwards, when the widow of his benefactor was engaged in war, basely betrayed Pharos, and Corcyra, to the Romans; who, as a

* Teuta was his second wife. His first, whom he repudiated, married Demetrius Pharius.

Not the modern Risano, but an inland town between Scodra and Doclea. See Polybius, lib. ii. c. 1.

Now Lesina, which see, Vol. I. pp. 247, 248. Polybius, iii. 1, 2. Lesina is said by Apollonius to have been remarkable for the number of its pine-trees. See above, Vol. I. p. 251.