Editing Dalmatia (section)

===Antiquity===
{{Main|Dalmatia (Roman province)}}
[[File:Split12(js).jpg|thumb|left|[[Diocletian's Palace|Palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian]], [[Split, Croatia|Split]]]]
Dalmatia's name is derived from the name of an [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] tribe called the [[Dalmatae]] who lived in the area of the eastern [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] coast in the 1st millennium BC. It was part of the [[Illyria|Illyrian Kingdom]] between the 4th century BC and the [[Illyrian Wars]] (220, 168 BC) when the [[Roman Republic]] established its protectorate south of the river [[Neretva]]. The name "Dalmatia" was in use probably from the second half of the 2nd century BC and certainly from the first half of the 1st century BC, defining a coastal area of the eastern Adriatic between the [[Krka (Croatia)|Krka]] and [[Neretva]] rivers.<ref>S.Čače, ''Ime Dalmacije u 2. i 1. st. prije Krista'', Radovi Filozofskog fakulteta u Zadru, godište 40 za 2001. Zadar, 2003, pp. 29, 45.</ref> It was slowly incorporated into Roman possessions until the Roman province of [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]] was formally established around 32–27 BC. In 9 AD, the Dalmatians raised the last in [[Bellum Batonianum|a series of revolts]]<ref>Charles George Herbermann, ''The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference'' (1913)</ref> together with the Pannonians, but it was finally crushed and, in 10 AD, Illyricum was split into two provinces, [[Pannonia]] and [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]], which spread into larger area inland to cover all of the [[Dinaric Alps]] and most of the eastern Adriatic coast.<ref>M.Zaninović, ''Ilirsko pleme Delmati'', pp. 58, 83-84.</ref>

The historian [[Theodor Mommsen]] wrote in his book, ''The Provinces of the Roman Empire'', that all Dalmatia was fully romanized by the 4th century AD. However, analysis of archaeological material from that period has shown that the process of [[Romanization (cultural)|Romanization]] was rather selective. While urban centers, both coastal and inland, were almost completely romanized, the situation in the countryside was completely different. Despite the Illyrians being subject to a strong process of [[acculturation]], they continued to speak [[Illyrian language|their native language]], worship [[Illyrian religion|their own gods]] and traditions, and follow their own social-political tribal organization which was adapted to Roman administration and political structure only in some necessities.<ref>A. Stipčević'', Iliri'', Školska knjiga Zagreb, 1974, p. 70</ref>

The [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall]] of the [[Western Roman Empire]], and the beginning of the [[Migration Period]], left the region subject to [[Goths|Gothic]] rulers [[Odoacer]] and [[Theodoric the Great]]. They ruled Dalmatia from 480 to 535 AD, when it was restored to the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire]] by [[Justinian I]].