Autor raspravlja o pitanju kada je točno Ilirik bio podijeljen na dvije zasebne provincije, Dalmaciju i Panoniju. Posebno se analizira funkcija prepozita (praepositus) koju u svom narativu Velej Paterkul pripisuje Valeriju Mesalinu (praepositus Illyrico) i Vibiju Postumu (praepositus Delmatiae), a najveća se pozornost usmjerava na analizu različitih prijepisnih inačica natpisa CIL III 1741 iz Epidaura. Za njega se u stručnoj literaturi bespogovorno smatra da spominje provinciju Gornji Ilirik (Superior provincia Illyricum), zbog čega se i uzimao kao ključni dokaz da je Ilirik bio podijeljen na dvije zasebne provincije već krajem Augustova ili najkasnije početkom Tiberijeva principata. Međutim, epigrafske nelogičnosti općeprihvaćene verzije natpisa te njegove različite prijepisne inačice dovode do sasvim drukčijeg zaključka.The author discusses the issue of the precise dating of the division of Illyricum into two separate provinces, Dalmatia and Pannonia. Emphasis is laid on the function of the praepositus, which Velleius Paterculus in his narrative attributes to Valerius Messallinus (praepositus Illyrico) and Vibius Postumus (praepositus Delmatiae), while the vast majority of attention is given to the analysis of different transcript versions of the inscription CIL III 1741 from Epidaurum. Scholarly literature undisputedly agrees that it mentions the province of Upper Illyricum (Superior provincia Illyricum), due to which it was held as key proof that Illyricum had been divided into two separate provinces as early as the end of Augustus\u27 or the beginning of Tiberius\u27 principate at the latest. However, epigraphical
inconsistencies of the generally accepted version of the inscription, along with its variant transcripts lead to an entirely different conclusion from the assumptions submitted to date. Based on the analysis of the mentioned transcripts, the author concludes that the inscription was most probably erected by the upper communities of the Province of Illyricum (civitates superiores provinciae Illyrici). Consequently, it is concluded that, in the formal and legal sense, until the reign of Flavian emperors, Illyricum remained a separate province (provincia Illyricum), divided into two exercitus(Dalmatian and
Pannonian), under indirect rule of the emperor\u27s legates of consular rank. An analogy with this kind of provincial organisation may be found in Hispania Tarraconensis, and especially in Germania
