THE TRIBAL WORLD OF THE ILLYRIANS AND ROMAN–ILLYRIAN RELATIONS IN THE RESEARCH OF DANIJEL DŽINO

This article presents a description and analysis of several scientific publications by one of the leading Illyrian scholars of our time, Danijel Džino. World Illyrian studies is developing at a rapid pace, which is caused by several factors: first, increased interest in ancient history by researchers from the Western Balkans (Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina); second, the study of new artifacts obtained during numerous archaeological excavations; third, the desire to demonstrate new approaches to existing ancient narratives regarding the history, state of development, and degree of maturity of the Illyrian communities (tribes) that inhabited the region in ancient times. A separate point should be noted the desire of the modern generation of Illyrian scholars to take a new approach to the important and rather controversial issue related to the causes and course of the ancient Roman military-political expansion into the territory of Illyria, determining the depth and consequences of the Romanization of the local population. In fairness, we note that among Illyrian scholars there was and is no unanimity in assessing the development of the Illyrian tribes and the consequences of their contacts with the Roman world, which opens the way to open competition and numerous historical and political speculations on this basis. A classic example of the implementation of the trends of modern Illyrian studies in practice is the scientific work of the Australian researcher of Croatian origin Daniel Gino. The scientist is the author of dozens of monographs and scientific publications on the history, culture, religious beliefs and military affairs of the Illyrians. A separate area of his research is the characterization and analysis of examples and consequences of the military confrontation between the Illyrians and the ancient Romans both at the global and regional levels. The researcher has his own authorial style of presenting information, demonstrates deep analytics and comes to original conclusions. Quite often he practices the application of a critical approach to assessing existing information, enters into a correct polemic with authoritative Illyrian scholars.