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229 BC-AD 455 - Roman Illyria

Bosnia has been inhabited at least since Neolithic times. In the late Bronze Age, the Neolithic population was replaced by more warlike Indo-European tribes known as the Illyres or Illyrians. Celtic migrations in the 4th and 3rd century BCE displaced many Illyrian tribes from their former lands, but some Celtic and Illyrian tribes mixed. Concrete historical evidence for this period is scarce, but overall it appears that the region was populated by a number of different peoples speaking distinct languages.

The Illyrians - a group of tribes who spoke a language similar to modern Albanian - were the earliest known inhabitants of Bosnia and the most ancient race in south-eastern Europe. All indications suggest that they are descendants of the earliest Aryan immigrants. The Illyrians formed the core of the pre-Hellenic population which inhabited the southern portion of the Balkan Peninsula and extended into Thrace (parts of modern-day Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey and east of Macedonia) and Italy. The ancient Greek writers described the Illyrians as "barbarous" and "non-Hellenic," indicating the perceived and real differences between the cultures.

According to historians, the first conflicts between Illyrian tribes and the Romans took place in 229 BC. Two subsequent conflicts occurred during the second century BC. The Romans finally conquered the Illyrians circa 9 AD, and annexed the territory of today's Bosnia to the Roman province of Dalmatia, thus resulting in the collapse of Illyrian kingdom. In the Roman period, Latin-speaking settlers from all over the Roman empire settled among the Illyrians and Roman soldiers were encouraged to retire in the region.

The Romans opened mines and exploited the region's mineral wealth. In time, some of the Illyrians became "romanised." Colonisation of the lands along the Adriatic coast and the lower Neretva River brought more Roman settlers and Roman influence, and the Roman civilization significantly penetrated BiH. Life in the region began to resemble the empire as a whole, as everything was done according to the model in Rome, including road construction, development of towns, the state cult of Capitol Gods, and obedience to the emperor as the incarnation of overall authority. Thermal baths were even constructed in several places throughout the country, including Ilidza, the site of the former SFOR headquarters in a western suburb of Sarajevo. Statues, mosaics and tombstones from the first five centuries AD can be seen in many locations all over the country.

The Roman Emperor Diocletian (c. 295 AD), whose palace can be seen in Split, Croatia, established the system of two empires with two Caesars beneath him. Emperor Constantine (c. 314 AD), moved the imperial capital of the still-united Roman Empire to Constantinople (Constantine's polis, i.e. town in Greek), former called Byzantium, and now named Istanbul. The capital went back and forth between Rome and Constantinople for a century. In 395 AD, the division between the Eastern Roman Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire and the Western Roman Empire became final. The dividing line between east and west was the Drina River, making Bosnia a regional buffer between empires, peoples, philosophies and theologies.

Christianity had already arrived in the region by the end of the 1st century, and numerous artifacts and objects from the time testify to this. Following events from the years 337 and 395 when the Empire split, Dalmatia and Pannonia were included in the Western Roman Empire. The region was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 455, and further exchanged hands between the Alans and Huns in the years to follow. By the 6th century, Emperor Justinian had re-conquered the area for the Byzantine Empire.