MÉMOIRE ROMAINE DES BALKANS : LES IMAGES DE L’ILLYRIE ET DE LA DALMATIE À TRAVERS LA LITTÉRATURE LATINE

ROMAN MEMORY OF THE BALKAN: IMAGES OF ILLYRIA AND DALMATIA IN LATIN LITERATURE This contribution focuses on recurrent images and motives by which Latin writers (historians but above all encyclopedist and technographic authors, and poets) characterize the Western Balkan space. The names of Illyria and Dalmatia are associated with the representation of warlike peoples (Ardians, Pirustae…), piracy in the Adriatic, the figures of queen Teuta and of the last king Genthios, the vision of snowy mountains, the mention of famous resources such as precious metals or pitch (asphalt), the stereotypical sturdy worker. All these evocations and formulas conveyed by Latin literature have marked Roman mentalities and work as references in the memory of the Balkan that they have helped to build. Keywords: Ancient Illyria and Dalmatia, Latin literature, Illyrian piracy, king Genthios, queen Teuta.