By the first millennium BC the population of the eastern Adriatic was beginning to coalesce into a group of tribal peoples known collectively as the Illyrians. In the fourth century BC seafaring Greeks established colonies at Vis, Stari Grad on Hvar and Lumbarda on Korčula, trading with the Illyrians inland.

The Romans

Rome emerged as a dynamic regional power in the second century BC, establishing full control, over the area by around 12BC. Evidence of the ambition and grandeur of Roman rule is presented by the first-century arena in Pula, the remains of Salona outside Split, and by Diocletian’s Palace, built as a retirement home by the emperor in 310AD and now forming the centre of modern Split.