Illyrian Warfare - Illyrian Navy

Illyrian Navy

The Illyrians were notorious sailors in the ancient world. They were great ship builders and seafarers. The most skillful Illyrian sailors were the Liburnians, Japodes, Delmatae and Ardiaei. The greatest navy was built by Agron in the 3rd century BC. The Illyrian tactics consisted of lashing their galleys together in groups of four and inviting a broadside attack from a ram. The Illyrians would then board the enemy craft in overwhelming numbers. Illyrian war ships were adopted by many peoples especially the Greeks and Romans. Illyrian craftsmen were even hired by the King of Macedon to build 100 ships in the First Macedonian War because to him they bore a special gift of ship building. The earliest evidence of Illyrian ships is from the design of a ship incised on bronze greaves from Glasinac dating from the 8th century BC to the 7th century BC. The front of this ship is constructed in the form of an animal probably a horse.

Illyrian ships were a favourite depiction on Illyrian coins especially on the coinage of the Labatae. The type of war ships presented on the coins is hard to determine. However all the depictions show a similarity in which the bows of the ships were shaped in the form of a serpents head. The Byzantine author from the 6th century wrote that the Adriatic was a sea in which serpents swam.

The Liburnians were renowned seafarers dominating the Adriatic and Ionian Sea from the start of the 1st millennium to the 5th century BC. The Romans knew them principally as a people addicted to piracy. The major harbour of Liburnian navy since 5th century BC was Corynthia at eastern cape of Krk island, including 7 unearthed docks, marine arsenal, and stony fortifications; this early harbour persisted in ancient and medieval function to 16th century. Liburnians constructed different ship types; their galaia was an early prototype of transport galleys, lembus was a fishing ship continued by the actual Croatian levut, and a drakoforos was apparently mounted with a dragonhead at the prow. Remains of a 10 meters long ship from the 1st century BC, were found in Zaton near Nin (Aenona in Classical Liburnia), a ship keel with bottom planking made of 6 rows of the wooden boards on each side, specifically joined together, sewn with resin cords and wooden wedges, testifying the Liburnian shipbuilding tradition style, therefore named "Serilia Liburnica". Deciduous trees (oak and beech) were used, while some climber was used for the cords.

The Illyrians were often referred to a pirates, raiding Greek and Roman vessels. Illyrian's indulgence in piracy was one that brought them infamy and invited their downfall. Their rugged broken coast with its screen of islands formed a perfect base from which their light and speedy little to attack unwary shipss. The Illyrians piratical career reached its zenith under Queen Teuta. The Illyrians practiced boarding tactics against enemy vessels. Although this view was widely accepted at first this connection is not completely true. Ancient Greek and Roman authors often attacked Illyrians in their works merely because they saw them as enemies and so many sources may be heavily exaggerated.

The three main types of Illyrian warships were the Lembus, the Liburna and the Pristis.