Gentius

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Gentius
Labeatai[1]
FatherPleuratus

Gentius (

Scodra (now Shkodër, Albania).[4]

In 180 BC, during his early reign, the

In 171 BC, Gentius was allied with the Romans against the

Olcinium and their environs.[9]

Name

The

Illyrian name Gentius appears to derive from PIE *g'en- "to beget", cognate to Latin gens, gentis "kin, clan, race".[10] It must reflect the reconstructed noun *gent(i)yos, designating the king as the head of his kin, like the Proto-Germanic *kun-ing-az.[11]

Biography

Relations with Rome

By 181 BC the loyal

Delmatae and the Daorsi were at one time subjects, but the former defected soon after the accession of Gentius. Illyrian strength lay in the navy and ships and it was their interference with Adriatic shipping which once more aroused Roman interest in the area. In 180 BC a Roman praetor responsible for coastal protection arrived in Brudisium with some ships of Gentius said to have been caught in the act of piracy. An embassy to Illyria failed to locate the king; but the praetor discovered that Romans were held for ransom at Korčula. No outcome of the affair is reported and it may well be that the Senate accepted a claim by Gentius' envoys that the charges were false. Ten years later, when Rome was gripped with war-fever against Perseus of Macedon
, Issa accused Gentius of plotting war with the king and now the Illyrian envoys were denied a hearing before the Senate. Instead the Romans seized 54 Illyrian lembi at anchor in the harbour of Epidamnos. On the eve of war a Roman senator was sent to Illyria to remind Gentius of his formal friendship with the Roman Republic.

Alliance with the Dardani and Macedon

In 169 BC Gentius arranged the murder of his brother

Monunius II
, would have made him too powerful. Gentius then married Plator's fiancée for himself, securing the alliance of the powerful Dardani.

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

Dium
on the Thermaic Gulf. A formal parade of the Macedonian cavalry was held which may have impressed the Illyrians and the cavalry may have represented the Macedonians in the ratification of the treaty.

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

Adriatic
. His army numbered 15,000 men. Gentius was now prepared to go to war with Rome.

Third Illyrian War

In January/February 168 BC Gentius, having mustered his force of 15,000 men and fleet of lembi at

Cavii, failing to capture one of their cities while ravaging the fields of the city of Caravandis. A flotilla of eight lembi set off a little later to attack the coastal colonial cities of Epidamno and Appolonia. Meanwhile, the Romans under Appius Claudius had heard of the alliance that Gentius made with Perseus of Macedonia and the arrest of the Roman envoys. He therefore moved his army out of their winter quarters at Nymphaeum, added to it with troops from Byllis, Epidamnos and Appolonia as he marched north, and encamped by the river Genesus (Shkumbin, Albania). There he met with the new Roman commander, Lucius Anicius Gallus, a praetor. Anicius had crossed over from Italy to Appolonia with two legions, comprising 600 cavalry and 10,400 infantry, and 800 cavalry and 10,000 infantry from the Italian allies. His fleet, whose size is not known, was strengthened by a draft of 5,000 sailors. To this imposing force he added 200 cavalry and 2,000 infantry of the Parthini
, an Illyrian koinon allied to the Romans. These combined forces outnumbered those of Gentius by two to one.

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

Scutari Lake
where, at Meteon (present day Medun, Montenegro), they captured Gentius's queen Teuta, his brother Caravantius and his sons Scerdilaides and Pleuratus along with other leading Illyrians.

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

The genus name Gentiana was named after Gentius as a tribute to him, as he may have been the discoverer of tonic properties of Gentiana lutea.[18]

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

Corcyra, Appolonia and Epidamnus. The year of Gentius' death is not known but there are ruins of what is perhaps his tomb.[19]

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

Gentius on the 2,000 lekë banknote

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

Bibliography

Gentius
Born: Unknown Died: 167 BC
Preceded by King of the Labeatai
181–168 BC
Succeeded by
Roman rule