History of Otok Krk

Krk came under Roman rule once they defeated the Liburnians. The Town of Krk (Curicum) became a town with Italic law whose status evolved to give it the rights of a municipality. Nothing is known about the internal organizations of the town of Krk during this time. Near the present day Franciscan monastery, the remains of thermal baths have been found. The defensive walls of Roman Curicum were among the most secure of all the towns on the Eastern Adriatic fortified by the Romans. Work began on their construction during the Civil War in Rome (50 BCE) and they were further strengthened in the 60s of the 2nd century CE, to enable them to withstand attacks by the Quadi and the Marcamanni who were at that time threatening the Adriatic. Not far from Krk in 49 BCE there was a decisive sea battle between Caesar and Pompey, which was described impressively by the Roman writer Lucan (39–65 CE) in his work Pharsalia. When the Empire was divided, Krk came under the Eastern Roman Empire.

Migrations of the nations

The walls of the town of Krk could not withstand attacks by the Avars (7th century), but in contrast to Salona, Scardona and Aeona, life in Krk quickly returned to normal. The Slavs penetrated into the town on several occasions. They retained many of the Roman names they found there and so it is said that Krk has a "mosaic dialect". Following the Treaty of Aachen (812) the entire island was ceded to the Byzantine Empire and was governed according to the norms of that Empire. During the reign of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (10th century), Krk was known as Vekla, of which the Romanized variant, also used by the Venetians, was "Veglia".

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