Gentius
Gentius | |
---|---|
Labeatai[1] | |
Father | Pleuratus |
Gentius (
In 180 BC, during his early reign, the
In 171 BC, Gentius was allied with the Romans against the
Name
The
Biography
Relations with Rome
By 181 BC the loyal
Alliance with the Dardani and Macedon
In 169 BC Gentius arranged the murder of his brother
Perseus of Macedon having recaptured several Roman outposts in Roman occupied Illyria controlled the route leading west to the Ardiaean state. At this point Perseus sent his first embassy to Gentius, consisting of the Illyrian exile Pleuratus and the Macedonian Adaeus and Beroea. They found Gentius at Lissos and informed him of Perseus' successes against the Romans and Dardani and the recent victory over the
The 300 talents were counted out of the royal treasure at Pella and the Illyrians were permitted to mark it with their own stamp. An advance of ten talents was forwarded to Gentius and when this was passed over by Pantauchus the king was urged to commence hostilities against the Romans. When Gentius imprisoned two Roman envoys sent by Appius Claudius at Lychnidus, Perseus recalled the rest of the subsidy in belief that Gentius was now his ally, come what may.[12]
Rise to power
Gentius accompanied the new anti-Roman orientation in Illyrian foreign policy with a series of measures to strengthen his state. First, he concentrated the finances by establishing a single tax over all the subjects and by taking royal control of the monetary workshops or mints of Lissus and Scodra, the two cities where he resided. At this time Gentius was issuing bronze coins. In the Selcë hoard there are two coins of Gentius with Macedonian emblems. The other coins of Gentius have what is probably his head with a cap not unlike the petasos, and a torque around his head, and on the reverse in one case a thunderbolt and in the others a warship, the lembi. Thus, according to an inventory made by the Romans, the state treasury had 27 pounds of gold, 19 of silver, 120,000 Illyrian drachmas and 13,000 Roman denarii on the eve of the war with Rome.
Gentius and Perseus sent a joint embassy to invite
Third Illyrian War
In January/February 168 BC Gentius, having mustered his force of 15,000 men and fleet of lembi at
As a folio of Livy's text is missing, little is known of this campaign. It seems that Anicius's fleet engaged the Illyrians at sea and captured a number of their lembi. Next, they defeated the Illyrians on land, allowing them to advance into the heart of Illyrian territory. Once there, they secured the surrender of enemy cities mostly through negotiation rather than direct assault. Gentius concentrated his remaining forces near his capital
The fall of the Ardiaean State is transmitted by Livy in a ceremonial manner of the triumph of Anicius in Rome:
In a few days, both on land and sea did he defeat the brave Illyrian tribe, who had relied on their knowledge of their own territory and fortifications
This part of the campaign had only lasted thirty days. There were certainly further operations in the northern part of the Ardiaean State for Anicius placed garrisons in some towns, citadels and fortresses. These include the cities of Issa, Rhizon and Olcinium and the tribal states of the Daorsi and the Pirustae. Some came over to Rome on their own accord while other places such as Pharos were reduced by force and their property looted.[17]
Aftermath
Rome's triumph included the capture of many royal flags, other booty, the furniture of the king himself and the treasure mentioned above. Millions of sectercii were gained from the sale of the booty, in addition to the gold and silver that went to the state treasury.
By decision of the Senate, Gentius and his family were sent to
The Roman punishment of Illyria spared only those koina that had backed Rome openly in the war. Those who had been enemies, their cities, buildings and public institutions were burned and thoroughly looted. Those spared retained their previous manner of administration, with officials elected every year, and paid Rome only half the taxes that they had previously paid to Gentius. The federation-based koina were dissolved and each unit was recognized as a separate koinon, enjoying local autonomy and often the right to mint its own coins.
While the southern Illyrian lands had been conquered once and for all, the Roman legions continued for about another hundred years with attempts to conquer the northern and eastern territories.
Probable continuance
The archaeologist Hasan Ceka has hypothesized that the name of one of the envoys of Gentius, Bellus might have been an incorrect transcription of Ballaeus (Ballaios). Although from the linguistic point of view this identification is very problematic, some have accepted the idea that Ballaois was the successor of Gentius, who had friendly relations with Rome. Ballaois was an Illyrian king only attested on his coins and ruled (perhaps 167–135 BC or other dates) of the Ardiaei.[20] Ballaios appears to have ruled after 168 BC at Queen Teuta's old stronghold, Rhizon. At the time the region was part of the Roman Republic and the Ardiaean kingdom had been dissolved since the time of Gentius. He had some sort of rivalry with Pharos. Whilst the abundance of his coinage in the region would suggest that he was a very influential figure there is no literary or historical evidence of his existence.
Legacy
Gentiana lutea, and by extension the rest of the Gentiana genus, was named after Gentius, as a tribute as it was thought that he had found out that the herbs had tonic properties.[18] Gentius is depicted on the reverse of the Albanian 50 lekë coin, issued in 1996 and 2000,[21] and on the obverse of the 2000 lekë banknote, issued in 2008.[22]
See also
- List of rulers of Illyria
References
- ^ a b c Dzino 2010, p. xvii.
- ^ Wilkes 1995, p. 189.
- ^ a b Šašel Kos 2007, p. 136.
- ^ Shpuza & Dyczek 2015, p. 273.
- ^ a b Šašel Kos 2007, p. 137.
- ^ Wilkes 1995, p. 85
- ^ Hammond & Walbank 1988, p. 537
- ^ Šašel Kos 2007, p. 127.
- ^ Šašel Kos 2007, p. 138.
- ^ May 1946, pp. 48–56.
- ^ Polomé 1982, p. 870
- ^ Wilkes 1995, p. ?.
- ISBN 0-19-829451-4, page 259, "... a Latin adjectival suffix like -icus. This yields the word teuticus, which around the turn of the millennium is indeed attested ..."
- ^ Épire, Illyrie, Macédoine: mélanges offerts au professeur Pierre Cabanes
- ISBN 0-14-044318-5, 1976, page 560, "... of the gate. This inspired such panic in the town that Gentius at once sent to the praetor two spokesmen, Teuticus and Bellus, leading men of that nation, to beg a truce so that the king might take council about the ..."
- ^ Wilkes 1995, p. ?
- ^ A History of Macedonia: Volume III: 336-167 B.C. by N. G. L. Hammond, F. W. Walbank
- ^ a b Jepson 1975, p. 763.
- ^ "LacusCurtius • Iguvium (Gubbio) — the Roman Mausoleum".
- ^ Šašel Kos 2007, p. 137, 145.
- ^ Bank of Albania. Currency: Albanian coins in circulation, issue of 1995, 1996 and 2000 Archived 2009-03-06 at the Wayback Machine. – Retrieved on 23 March 2009.
- ^ Bank of Albania - Currency: Banknotes in circulation Archived February 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. – Retrieved on 23 March 2009.
Bibliography
- Šašel Kos, Marjeta (2007). "The Illyrian King Ballaeus – Some Historical Aspects". In Berranger, Danièle; Centre de recherches sur les civilisations antiques (eds.). Épire, Illyrie, Macédoine: Mélanges offerts au Professeur Pierre Cabanes. Presses Universitaire Blaise Pascal. ISBN 978-2-84516-351-5.
- Dzino, Danijel (2010). Illyricum in Roman Politics, 229 BC–AD 68. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-19419-8.
- Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière; Walbank, F. W. (1988). A History of Macedonia: Volume III: 336-167 B.C. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-814815-1.
- Jepson, Willis Linn (1975). A Manual of the Flowering Plants of California. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-00606-2.
- May, J. M. F. (1946). "Macedonia and Illyria (217-167 B.C.)". The Journal of Roman Studies. 36: 48–56. S2CID 163116532.
- ISBN 0521224969.
- Shpuza, Saimir; Dyczek, Piotr (2015). "Scodra, de la capitale du Royaume Illyrien à la capitale de la province romaine". In Jean-Luc Lamboley; Luan Përzhita; Altin Skenderaj (eds.). L'Illyrie Méridionale et l'Épire dans l'Antiquité – VI (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: Diffusion De Boccard. pp. 269–278. ISBN 978-9928-4517-1-2.
- Wilkes, John (1995). The Illyrians. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19807-5.