The Roman historian Suetonius described the uprising as the most difficult conflict faced by Rome since the Punic Wars two centuries earlier.

[7][8][9] Illyricum had seen some fighting during the Great Roman Civil War between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Senate led by Pompey several decades earlier.

Caesar demanded a tribute and hostages as compensation, which was standard practice, and sent Publius Vatinius with three legions to enforce this.

With the disruptions caused by further Roman civil wars in the years following, Dalmatian piracy in the Adriatic Sea became a problem again.

He defeated the Iapydes and then pushed into southern Pannonia, where he seized the city of Segesta (which later, as a Roman town, was called Siscia).

He also destroyed the settlements on the islands of Melite (Mljet) and Melaina Corcyra (Korčula), and deprived the Liburnians of their ships, because all were involved in piracy.

Cassius Dio wrote that in that year the governor of Illyria for 17–16 BC, Publius Silius Nerva, went to fight in the Italian Alps because there were no troops there.

The Dentheletae, together with the Scordisci, who lived in present-day Serbia at the confluence of the Rivers Savus (Sava), Dravus (Drava), and Danube, attacked the Roman province of Macedonia.

In 15 BC the Romans conquered the Scordisci and annexed Noricum and conducted other operations in other parts of the Alps against the Rhaeti and Vindelici.

The main tribes which contributed to the alliance were the Daesitiatae, Breuci, Dalmatae, Andizetes, Pannonians, Pirustae, Liburnians, and Iapydes (the latter two fighting under an unknown leader).

Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus, the governor of Illyricum, had planned to join him with most of his army, and ordered the local tribes to provide auxiliary contingents.

However, when these troops gathered, they rebelled under the leadership of a Daesitiate tribal chieftain named Bato and defeated a Roman force sent against them.

Although this war is sometimes described as having been fought by the Daesitiatae and the Breuci only, Cassius Dio identified the forces led by Bato the Daesitiate as Dalmatian, indicating a broader composition.

They executed their plan swiftly, massacring Roman civilians and a sizable veteran contingent who were helpless in this remote area.

Rich families were ordered to supply freedmen in proportion to their income, which had not been done since the aftermath of the Battle of Cannae two centuries earlier.

Thus, if Caecina Severus did break a siege of Sirmium, he would have pursued the retreating Breuci until they made a last stand.

This contrasts with the picture given by Velleius Paterculus, in which the rebellion seemed to have a plan and the Dalmatians and the Breuci seemed to have acted in concert from the beginning.

Tiberius and Valerius Messallinus lingered in Siscia (Sisak, in present-day central Croatia, the headquarters of the Roman army).

They were worn down and brought to the verge of famine (presumably due to ravaging), could not withstand his offensives, and avoided pitched battles.

Cassius Dio's version does not mention Plautius Silvanus; instead, the two Batos went to wait for the arrival of Caecina Severus.

In Dio's opinion, at this time they did not accomplish anything worthy of note, except for Germanicus defeating the Mazaei, a Dalmatian tribe.

[31][32] Therefore, even though there were no spectacular battles (by which the Romans judged military worthiness), Tiberius' counter-insurgency campaign and its accompanying scorched earth strategy turned out to be effective.

[33][34] After the aforementioned battle, Aulus Caecina Severus and Marcus Plautius Silvanus joined Tiberius and a huge army was assembled.

[35][36] In AD 8, the Dalmatians and the Pannonians, ravaged by famine and disease, wanted to sue for peace but were prevented from doing so by the rebels, who had no hope of being spared by the Romans and so continued to resist.

[37] Velleius Paterculus wrote that the harsh winter brought rewards because in the following summer all of Pannonia sought peace.

Velleius Paterculus wrote that Augustus gave the chief command of all Roman forces to Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.

Two Dalmatian tribes, the Pirustae and Daesitiatae, who had been almost unconquerable because of their mountain strongholds, the narrow passes in which they lived, and their fighting spirit, were almost exterminated.

When the Romans entered the town they did not notice it and then found themselves surrounded by the flames and pelted from the wall of the citadel, most of them dying in the trap.

Tiberius advanced against the fortress, keeping part of his force in reserve and sending the rest forward in a square formation.

[41] Germanicus turned his attention to the last holdouts in Arduba, a strongly fortified town with a river around its base.