For the Illyrian people, the realities of their living circumstances led to the emergence of the relentless, buccaneering spirit for which they became infamous. The homelands of the Ardiaei, Dardani and other Illyrian tribes proved unsuitable for the large scale agriculture required to support a growing population, so they turned to fishing off the Adriatic coast to support their people. For such a warlike people, however, this would never be enough. Eventually, many Illyrians took up sea-borne piracy to survive and prosper. Whereas many more 'civilised' states took a harsh view of such piratical behaviour, in Illyria it was endorsed and even sponsored by the ruling nobles. Queen Teuta, who ruled the Ardiaei at the time of the Illyrian wars with Rome, famously stated, when pressed to take action by the Romans, that she had no right to interfere in the private mercantile ventures of her subjects. "It was never the custom of royalty to prevent the advantage of its subjects as they could get from the sea", she said, angering the Roman envoy sent to remonstrate with her, who retorted "we have an excellent custom of punishing private wrongs with public revenge". Following this momentous exchange, the stage was set for a lengthy, devastating war that eventually led to both Teuta's downfall and the absorption of her realm into the Roman empire.
