The great Bellum Batonianum of AD 6–9 was one of the most significant events, if not the most significant one, in the history of the relations between Rome and Illyricum. Its significance went far beyond local, provincial history; it shaped the future conduct of the early Principate, and perhaps, combined with the aftermath of the clades Variana in the Teutoburg forest, caused a sudden end to Roman expansion in north and central Europe. This conflict brought destruction and devastation to almost every corner of Illyricum, and Italy feared the external enemy. This was the first political crisis of this kind after the end of the Republic that seriously undermined Roman confidence and Rome's position in its newly acquired territories.

These events were not a separate phase of Roman interaction with Illyricum, but we need to examine them in more detail as a direct consequence of the political framework earlier defined as Greater Illyricum, after the extension of Illyricum in the aftermath of the Bellum Pannonicum. Although the final result was Roman victory and the ultimate establishment of Roman rule, the war and its scale and ferocity were the result of the monumental failure of the previous approach. It made the Romans seriously rethink their previous arrangements and devise new ones. The most important consequence was the post-rebellion division of Illyricum into the provinces of Illyricum inferius, future Pannonia, and Illyricum superius, future Dalmatia.