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Adriatic Sea

body of water between the Italian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula

48 dated entries naming Adriatic Sea, drawn from 48 separate years between 390 BCE and 1913 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as Adriatic in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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4th century BC

  • 390 BCEJuly 18 – Battle of the Allia: Brennus, a chieftain of the Senones of the Adriatic coast of Italy, leads an army of Cisalpine Gauls in their attack on Rome. They capture the entire city of Rome except for the Capitoline Hill, which is successfully held against them. However, seeing their city devastated, the Romans attempt to buy their salvation from Brennus. The Romans agree to pay one thousand pounds weight of gold.source
  • 387 BCEWith the aid of the Lucanians, Dionysius I of Syracuse devastates the territories of Thurii, Crotone, and Locri in mainland Italy. When Rhegium falls, Dionysius becomes the chief power in Greek Southern Italy. He then turns his attention to the Adriatic and founds the colonies of Ancona (Ankon) and Adria (Adrìa).source
  • 386 BCEDionysius I of Syracuse extends the influence and trade of Syracuse to the Adriatic, establishing colonies at Adria, Ancona and Issa.source
  • 313 BCECassander, hearing of Aristodemus' success with the Aetolians, marches south in force, persuades the Acarnanians to ally with him, and campaigns successfully along the Adriatic coast; capturing Apollonia and defeating the Illyrian king Glaucius. At the end of the year Cassander returns to Macedon.source
  • 304 BCEThe tyrant Agathocles of Syracuse takes on the title of King of Sicily. He extends his influence into southern Italy and the Adriatic.source

3rd century BC

  • 284 BCEThe Gallic tribe called the Senones, who have settled on the Adriatic coast north of Picenum, attack Arretium in Etruria. While attempting to relieve this allied city, the Romans under the command of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Denter suffer a costly defeat in the Battle of Arretium. Aroused by this disaster, a Roman army under Manius Curius Dentatus invades the Senones' territory, defeating them and driving them out of the Italian peninsula.source
  • 231 BCEDemetrius II, king of Macedonia, seeks military help from Agron, king of Illyria, a loosely organized state on the Adriatic coast north of Epirus, against the advancing Aetolians. The Illyrian army routs the Aetolians and returns home as the victor.source
  • 230 BCEKing Agron of Illyria dies. Pinnes, the son of Agron and Agron's first wife Triteuta, officially succeeds his father as king, but the kingdom is effectively ruled by Agron's second wife, Queen Teuta (Tefta), who expels the Greeks from the Illyrian coast and then launches Illyrian pirate ships into the Ionian Sea, preying on Roman shipping. She continues her husband's policy of attacking cities on the west coast of Greece and practising large-scale piracy in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas.source
  • 219 BCEThe Romans extend their area of domination around the head of the Adriatic Sea as far as the peninsula of Histria by the conquest of peoples who dwell to the east of the Veneti. Thus, with the exception of Liguria and the upper valley of the Po River, all Italy south of the Alps is brought within the Roman sphere.source
  • 214 BCEUpon receiving word from Oricum of Philip V's actions in Illyria, Roman propraetor Marcus Valerius Laevinus crosses the Adriatic with his fleet and army. Landing at Oricum, Laevinus is able to retake the town with little fighting.source
  • 212 BCEAfter being stopped twice by the Romans in his attempts to invade Illyria by sea, and constrained by the Roman commander Marcus Valerius Laevinus' fleet in the Adriatic, Philip V of Macedon keeps his activities in Illyria land based. Keeping clear of the coast, he takes Dassaretis, Atintani and Parthini, and the town of Dimale.source
  • 205 BCEThe Peace of Phoenice prohibits Philip from expanding westward into Illyria or the Adriatic Sea, so the king turns his attentions eastwards to the Aegean Sea, where he starts to build a large fleet. After concluding the First Macedonian War, Philip of Macedon, seeing his chance to defeat Rhodes, forms an alliance with Aetolian and Spartan pirates who begin raiding Rhodian ships. The Cretan War begins between Philips' Macedonians, the Aetolian League, several Cretan cities (of which Olous and Hierapytna are the most important) and Spartan pirates against the forces of Rhodes and later Attalus I of Pergamum, Byzantium, Cyzicus, Athens and Knossos.source

2nd century BC

  • 187 BCEThe construction of the Via Aemilia, a trunk road in the north Italian plains, running from Ariminum (Rimini), on the Adriatic coast, to Placentia (Piacenza) on the river Padus (Po), is completed.source
  • 184 BCEThe town of Pisaurum is established by the Romans as a colony in the territory of the Picentes, a tribe living in the Marche on the Adriatic.source

1st century BC

  • 49 BCESeptember – Brutus defeats the combined Pompeian-Massilian naval forces of the siege of Massilia, while the Caesarian fleet in the Adriatic Sea is defeated near Curicta (Krk).source
  • 42 BCEJuly – Mark Antony lands with an army (28 legions) in Illyria, leaving Octavian ill at Dyrrachium, and marches to Amphipolis. Admiral Ahenobarbus, with the Republican fleet (130 warships), blockades the Adriatic Sea.source

4th century

  • 305May 1 – Emperor Diocletian abdicates and retires to his palace at Salona (modern Split) on the Adriatic coast, after a reign of nearly 21 years, in which the last vestiges of republican government have disappeared.source

6th century

  • 511Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great assumes the regency over Amalaric, his grandson and future king of the Visigothic Kingdom - Theodoric now rules over territory stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Adriatic Sea.source
  • 539Belisarius, still besieging Ravenna, negotiates a treaty with Theodebert I (whose forces are suffering from dysentery), and the Franks retreat to Gaul. The Byzantine fleet controls the Adriatic Sea and blockades the port of the capital from supplies.source
  • 551After the death of his cousin Germanus, Justinian I appoints Narses new supreme commander, and returns to Italy. In Salona on the Adriatic coast, he assembles a Byzantine expeditionary force totaling 20,000 or possibly 30,000 men and a contingent of foreign allies, notably Lombards, Heruls and Bulgars.source
  • 568Spring – The Lombards, led by King Alboin, cross the Julian Alps. Their invasion of Northern Italy is almost unopposed; withered Byzantine forces, that remain in the Po Valley and are based at Ravenna, are no match for the overwhelming Lombard incursion. Residents of the Italian countryside flee at the Lombards' approach. Some retreat to the barrier islands along the shore of the Northern Adriatic Sea, where they establish permanent settlements: the nascent city of Venice.source

7th century

  • 626Heraclius invites the Croats, a Slavic tribe living in Galicia, Silesia, and Bohemia, to settle in Illyricum. They are given the land between the Drava River and the Adriatic Sea for ridding of Avars. The Serbs are allowed to move from their homeland north of the Carpathians to a territory east of the Croats. Heraclius asks Pope Honorius I to send missionaries to both groups.source

8th century

  • 727A revolt breaks out in Italy against Leo's Iconoclasm; this results in the independence of the Exarchate of Ravenna, after part of a Byzantine invasion force is lost in a storm in the Adriatic Sea, and the remainder of Byzantine troops are repulsed.source
  • 789King Pepin of Italy conquers Istria on the Adriatic, ignoring Byzantine protests. He establishes a tributary march, and sends missionaries.source

9th century

  • 803Emperors Nikephoros I and Charlemagne settle their imperial boundaries in the Adriatic Sea, and sign the Pax Nicephori ("Peace of Nikephoros"). The Byzantines retain control of the coastal cities and islands in Dalmatian Croatia, while Frankish rule is accepted over Istria and the Dalmatian hinterland. Venice is recognized as independent by the Byzantine Empire.source
  • 810Spring – The Venetian dukes change sides again, submitting to King Pepin, under the authority of his father Charlemagne, who then proceeds to take Venice. Emperor Nikephoros I sends a Byzantine fleet to Dalmatia, prompting Pepin to withdraw to the mainland. A legate is dispatched to Venice, where he deposes the turncoat dukes, before continuing on to Aachen, to negotiate a peace with Charlemagne. Charlemagne recognises Byzantine dominance over Venice and Dalmatia in the Adriatic Sea.source
  • 859Winter – The weather is so severe that the Adriatic Sea freezes, and Italy is covered in snow for 100 days.source
  • 869Summer – Emperor Basil I allies with the Frankish emperor Louis II against the Saracens. He sends a Byzantine fleet of 400 ships (according to the Annales Bertiniani), under the command of Admiral Niketas Ooryphas, to support Louis (who is besieging the city port of Bari) and to clear the south of the Adriatic Sea of Muslim raiders.source
  • 875Fall – An Arab fleet from Taranto sails up the Adriatic Sea and sacks Comacchio, putting it to flames. They attack Grado (bishopric of the Venetian Republic), but are repelled by the Venetians.source
  • 876At the invitation of Benevento, the newly-restored Byzantine fleet appears in the waters off Otranto. On the orders of Emperor Basil I, the Byzantines sail up the Adriatic Sea and reconquer part of southern Italy. The city of Bari is occupied in the name of the Byzantine Empire. Instead of holding it for his 'ally' Adelchis of Benevento, Basil makes it the capital of the new Byzantine Theme of Longobardia.source

10th century

  • 929Summer – The Slavic-Arab leader Sabir defeats a small Byzantine fleet and seizes Termoli (in Molise, on the Adriatic coast). He returns to Africa laden with booty and slaves.source
  • 997King Stephen Držislav of Croatia dies after a 28-year reign. His three sons, Svetoslav, Krešimir III and Gojslav, open a violent contest for the throne, weakening the kingdom and allowing Samuel to encroach on the Croatian possessions along the Adriatic.source

11th century

  • 1022Spring – Emperor Henry II divides his army into three columns and descends through Rome onto Capua after the Lombard states of Southern Italy had switched their allegiance to the Byzantinians in the wake of the battle of Cannae four years earlier. The bulk of the expeditionary force (20,000 men) led by Henry, makes its way down the Adriatic coast.source
  • 1082Byzantine–Venetian treaty: Alexios I signs a trade and defence pact with Venice, in the form of an imperial Golden Bull. He grants the Venetians a commercial colony in Constantinople, as well as free trading and exemption from taxes, throughout the Byzantine Empire in return for their defense of the Adriatic Sea against the Normans.source
  • 1096August – Hugh ("the Great"), count of Vermandois (a brother of King Philip I), departs to join the First Crusade. He travels with a small army via the Alps to Rome. While sailing the Adriatic Sea from Bari to Dyrrachium his fleet is reduced by shipwreck. Hugh's own ship is stranded on the shore near Epirus.source

12th century

  • 1107November – Siege of Dyrrhachium: Bohemond I begins the siege of the Adriatic port city of Dyrrhachium held by its doux Alexios Komnenos.source
  • 1181King Béla III of Hungary and Croatia goes to war with Venice in an effort to recover Dalmatia. The city of Zadar (located on the Adriatic Sea) accepts Béla's suzerainty.source

13th century

  • 1202Summer – The Crusader army, encamped on the island of San Niccolo di Lido, between the Venetian Lagoon and the Adriatic Sea, is threatened by Doge Enrico Dandolo to keep them interned unless full payment is made as agreed in 1201. As the Crusaders wait on the Lido for men to arrive, they also use up food supplies that Venice has agreed to supply. Dandolo faces a financial catastrophe, having halted Venice's commerce for a year to prepare the expedition. The Crusader lords can offer Dandolo only 51,000 silver marks.source

14th century

  • 1314Stephen II becomes ruler (ban) of Bosnia following the death of his father Stephen I Kotromanić. He rules the lands from the river Sava to the Adriatic Sea, but does not effectively come into full power until 1322.source
  • 1325May 5 – The Istrian Demarcation, setting out the boundaries of disputed Italian territories in the Adriatic Sea peninsula of Istria (part of the modern-day Republic of Croatia), and confirms the agreement between the independent Italian states of Aquileia, Gorizia, and the Venetian Republic. The document is published in three languages (Latin, German and Croatian).source
  • 1379May 7 – The Battle of Pola is fought in the Adriatic Sea between the navies of the Republic of Genoa and the Republic of Venice. The Venetian fleet, commanded by Admiral Vettor Pisani loses 19 of its 25 galleys in the battle, but Genoese Admiral Luciano Doria is killed in the battle. One of Doria's lieutenants conceals the admiral's death from the rest of the sailors by donning the admiral's clothes. Admiral Pisani is put in prison upon his return to Venice, but later released when Genoa invades in the Battle of Chioggia.source

15th century

  • 1409July 9 – The Republic of Venice, led by the Doge Michele Steno, gains control of both sides of the Adriatic Sea by purchasing the Dalmatian coast (bordered in modern times by Slovenia and Croatia) from King Ladislaus the Magnanimous, ruler of the Kingdom of Naples for 100,000 ducats, or 350 kilograms of gold.source
  • 1411April 13 – Sandalj Hranić, Duke of Bosnia, sells the Croatian coastal town of Ostrovica to the Republic of Venice, giving the Venetians further control of the Dalmatian Coast and both sides of the Adriatic Sea.source
  • 1420February 8 – Admiral Pietro Loredan of the Republic of Venice is assigned to carry out the conquest of Dalmatia (later part of Croatia) across the Adriatic Sea.source
  • 1439April 12 – In a battle on Lake Garda in Italy, a passage to the Adriatic Sea, ships from the Duchy of Milan defeat those of the Republic of Venice in battle and take control of the lake.source
  • 1497April 18 – Captain Andrea Loredan of the Republic of Venice departs southward on the Adriatic Sea on a large, heavily-armed warship with a crew of 450, with a mission of locating the Spanish Navarrese pirate Pedro Navarro.source

18th century

  • 1752March 18 – The electors of the Republic of Venice (which includes not only a large part of northern Italy around the city of Venice, but portions of Eastern Europe along the Adriatic Sea) elect Francesco Loredan as their new executive, the Doge. Loredan's election comes 11 days after the death of the previous Doge, Pietro Grimani, but is not announced until after Easter Sunday.source

20th century

  • 1913August 9 – A diplomat from Austria-Hungary told representatives from Italy and Germany that his Empire intended to plan an invasion of Serbia. The private discussion would be revealed on December 5, 1914, by Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti, who said that Italy refused to participate. Austria-Hungary and Italy strongly opposed the arrival of Serbian army on the Adriatic Sea because they perceived it as a threat to their domination of the Adriatic and feared that Serbian Adriatic port could become a Russian base.source

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