"Vini, vidi, vici."
(I came, I saw, I conquered.)
- Julius Caesar
The Illyrians had always resisted Roman occupation but in 6AD, the Illyrian resistance to Roman occupation reached its climax. The Pannonian tribes of the Breuci and Daesitaisites join the Delmatae in their war against the occupation. The Breuci were led by their general, Bato and the Daesitaitis were led by their king baring the same name as the general of the Breuci also called Bato (see Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book LVI for the account of this war).
With the Romans advancing, King Bato led his troops into Sirmium (Pannonia) with General Bato taking the Breuci into Salona (Dalmatia). However, both suffered heavy losses to the Romans and King Bato was seriously injured and retreated to Apollonia in southern Illyria. General Bato and the Breuci along with the Dalmatae continued the war but the general had other plans (personal gain?, kingship?). He disobeyed the orders from his king, Pinnes, to continue the battle and upon surrendering, he delivered up Pinnes to the Romans. King Bato received word of the shameless act of the Breucian and returned to Pannonia and captured the traitor general. Before a Pannonian tribunal, King Bato had his namesake executed.
King Bato once again led charged but the Roman legions were a military machine and their discipline was exemplary. Illyrian towns, set ablaze, fell one by one to the Romans. King Bato, who had probably forseen an onslaught, surrendered in 9AD and asked that the lives of his men be spared. King Bato was soon exiled to Ravenna (Italy) until his death. When asked by the Roman Commander Tiberus as to why he rebelled, King Bato replied, "You Romans are to blame for this; for you send as guardians of your flocks, not dogs or shepherds, but wolves."
Though victorious, the Romans had not occurred such heavy losses since the Carthiginian wars (Punic Wars). The resistance in 6AD was like none the Romans had ever faced in Illyricum. The Roman-Illyrian wars centuries before did not compare. The sheer number of 200,000 unified Illyrian infantry and 9,000 cavalry would have been enough to turned back any ememy. With the citizen rebels the insurgence totaled 800,000 (see Velleius Paterculus). Unfortunately though, for the Illyrians, this idea of 'unity' arrived far too late. The Illyrians eventually disappeared into the societies of the people who conquered them (Roman, Germanic, Slavic, etc).
