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Ancient Heritage

The Roman Provinces

Parts of the Serbian tribe were among the Slavs who headed south across
the borders of the Roman Empire during the sixth and seventh centuries,
thus starting a new cycle in their development on its territory. At the time
of the Slav migration, an extensively built limes, a defensive belt con-
sisting of a series of fortified garrisons, followed the Empire’s frontier
with the task of preventing barbarian incursions and overseeing the
neighboring territory. The defensive strength of the limes received addi-
tional reinforcement from the Danube River, an immense natural barrier
along which the fortresses were located. Construction of the limes ended
the lengthy process of expanding Roman authority, which gradually
spread from the west and the Adriatic coastal region toward the interior
of the Balkan Peninsula. A turning point was reached in the early first
century AD with the suppression of the Illyrian uprising, resulting in the
establishment of a uniform provincial system.
Every Slav who crossed the limes was exposed to the lasting influence
of the land, shaped by previous centuries of Roman rule. The territories
occupied by the Romans were scattered with the remains of Roman
cities, crisscrossed by Roman roads, and covered with the traces of earlier
inhabitants’ efforts to adapt the natural environment to their needs. Serbs
and members of other Slav tribes had fundamentally altered their sur-
roundings: from a scarcely populated area, with ephemeral and unstable
political entities and without recognizable names and permanent
borders, they entered a structured and stable zone. Along with material
remnants they found the names of urban settlements, provinces, and
regions, all preserved among the sparse and impoverished provincial
population.
Some of these names recalled the populations encountered and subdued
by the Romans. The name Illyricum, the spacious province that initially