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The First Naval Battle in The Adriatic in 384 BC (Pharos-Lissus-Issa)
Tonči Tadić
orcid.org/0000-0002-6424-2709
Aldo Čavić
orcid.org/0000-0002-6424-2709
Abstract
The paper examines the first recorded naval battle in the Adriatic, which took place in 384 BC in the Stari Grad Bay. The Greek fleet of triremes, led by Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse, completely defeated the Illyrian fleet of lemboi that was besieging the newly established Greek colony of Pharos.
Based on a careful reading of Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian from the 1st century BC who provides a relatively detailed account of the events in the founding of the new Greek colony on the island of Hvar, as well as the broader activities of Dionysius the Elder in the Adriatic, combined with a reconstruction of the ships, navigation methods, and warfare of that historical period, the authors describe the possible course of the battle in Stari Grad Bay. They argue that Dionysius the Elder’s fleet came to help the Pharians from Lissus (Lezhë in Albania) rather than from Issa (Vis).
Keywords
naval battle; 384 BC; Faros; Lissos; Issa
Hrčak ID:
337397
URI
Publication date:
1.10.2025.
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