ILLYRICUM C1XXvplx-60, a country lying along the eastern shore of the Adriatic Gulf, north of Epirus. The Apostle Paul, in his third great missionary journey, after traversing Asia Minor and Macedonia, tells the church of Rome, that round about unto Illyricum (KliK47 Agxpt roil '1XXv p(Koi)) I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ' (Rom. xv. 19). The exact meaning of the pas sage is somewhat doubtful. The xkXos may be joined with Jerusalem, and sigmify its neighbour hood' (as Alford, in /oc.); or it may be joined with the faxpt Tory '1Vouusoii, and denote the circuit ' of the apostle's journey as far as Illyri cum.' The extent and boundaries of Illyricum weie different at different periods. The earliest notices state that certain tribes called 'INXiiptot in habited the mountainous region along the coast between Epirus and Liburnia (Scylax, ch. xix., seq.) On the invasion of the country by the Goths, these tribes were scattered eastward and north ward, and gave their name to a wider region. According to Strait°, Illyria was bounded on the north by the Alps, on the south by Epirus, and on the east by the provinces of Macedonia and Mocsia, and the rivers Save and Drave (vii. 5); and this was probably the geographical import of the name as used by Paul. At a later period Illyricum be came one of the four great divisions of the P,oman Empire, and embraced the whole country lying be tween the Adriatic, the Danube, the Black Sea, and Macedonia (Gibbon's Roman Empire, chap. i.)
Through the southem part of Illyria proper ran the great road called ria Egnatia, which con fleeted Italy and the East, beginning at Apollonia and Dyrrhachium, passing through Thessalonica and Philippi, and terminating at the Hellespont (Antonini Itinerarinm, ed. Wessel., p. 317). Along this road Paul may have travelled on his third journey till he reached that region on the shore of the Adriatic which was called Illyricum. From Dyrrhachium he may have turned north into that district of Illyricum then called Dalmatia, and may have founded the churches subsequently visited by Titus (2 Tim. iv. 10 ; DALMATIA ). Afterwards he may have gone southward by Nico polls to Corinth. (But see Conybeare and How SOD, L/le of St. Paul, i. 389, ii. 1st ed.) Illyricum is a wild and bare mountainous region, affording a fitting home for a number of wild tribes, who now, as in ancient times, inhabit the country. The coast-line is deeply indented, and possesses some excellent harbours (Grote, History of Greece, vol. iv.; Wilkinson, Dalmatia and Illontenegro).— J. L. P.