Bato I

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For other uses, see Bato

Bato I was an Illyrian warlord who led the Daesitiates[1] in the Great Illyrian revolt against the Roman Empire from 6-9 CE.

Contents

[edit] Background

He was probably born between 35 and 30 BCE in Upper Bosnia, then belonging to the to Illyrian Daesitiates. Bato was a member of the Daesitiates tribe, whose homeland was in central Bosnia, and at the critical point in time he chose to lead his people in their struggle against their Roman occupiers. From 33 BC, the Daesitiates were under Roman rule as an autonomous civitas peregrini. The civitas of the Daesitiates was part of provincia Illyricum with its capital in Salona on the Adriatic coast. Bato was a member of a distinguished native family, and as an adult he was probably a political and military official of the Daesitiates, which was ruled by an elected public assembly.[citation needed]

[edit] Revolt

In 6 CE, the Romans planned to attack the Marcomanni and for that Augustus ordered the mobilisation of Illyrian auxiliary forces. But in spring the same year Illyrian forces in Bosnia rebelled[2] with Baton as their leader. In the Pannonian region of Illyricum, the Breuci also rebelled. The Breucos chief, also named Bato, became leader of the Pannonian rebels. These two centres of resistance united in autumn 6 CE, and the two Batos became war leaders of an allied Illyrian rebel army.[3]

Rome sent 15 legions and the same number of auxiliares, allies and mercenary forces to crush the Illyrians. Many within the legions were Roman war veterans. The supreme commander of all Roman forces was Tiberius. After two years of war, in the summer of 8 CE, Baton of the Breuci surrendered his forces to Tiberius on the bank of the Bosnian river. Soon afterwards, he was captured by Bato of the Daesitiates, whose assembly put the Bato of the Breuci to death. In the next year, Tiberius and Germanicus launched an operation against the Daesitiates forces. After fierce battles in September of 9 CE, only a few days before the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, Bato and the Daesitiates surrendered to Tiberius. When Tiberius asked Bato and the Daesitiates why they had rebelled, Baton was reputed to have answered: "You Romans are to blame for this; for you send as guardians of your flocks, not dogs or shepherds, but wolves." Bato of Dalmatia spent the rest of his life in the Italian town of Ravena.[4]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992, p. 216, ISBN 0631198075. Further east the formidable Daesitiates of central Bosnia retained their name. The great rebellion of All 6 had been led by their chief Bato, and their relatively low total of 103 decuriae likely reflects...
  2. ^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992, p. 207, ISBN 0631198075. The rising began among the Daesitiates of central Bosnia under their leader Bato but they were soon joined by the Breuci. The four-year war which lasted...
  3. ^ Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology - The name of two leaders of one of the most for­midable insurrections in the reign of Augustus.
  4. ^ Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology - He sent Bato to Ravenna.

[edit] Sources

  • Veleius Paterculus II, CX, 4-5.
  • Ovid, Ex Ponto, II, I, 46.
  • Svetonius. Tib. 20.
  • Cassius Dio (LV, 29, 2; LV, 32, 3; LV, 34, 4; LVI, 12, 2-3; LVI, 13, 2; LVI, 16, 1-3).
  • Strabo Geo. (VII, 5, 3), and inscription CIL V 3346 Verona.
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