Gentius

Gentius ( , Génthios; 181–168 BC) was an Illyrian king who belonged to the Labeatan dynasty. He ruled in 181–168 BC, being the last attested Illyrian king. He was the son of Pleuratus III, a king who kept positive relations with Rome. The capital city of the Illyrian kingdom under Gentius was Scodra, now Shkodër, Albania. In 180 BC, during his early reign, the Dalmatae and Daorsi declared themselves independent from his rule and the city of Rhizon abandoned him prior to his defeat, receiving immunity from the Romans. He married Etuta, the daughter of the Dardanian king Monunius II. In 171 BC, Gentius was allied with the Romans against the Macedonians, but in 169 BC he changed sides and allied himself with Perseus of Macedon. The southernmost city of the Illyrian kingdom was Lissus (now Lezhë, Albania), a situation established since the First Illyrian War. He arrested two Roman legati, accusing them of not coming as emissaries but as spies. Gentius destroyed the cities of Apollonia and Epidamnos (Roman Dyrrachium, now Durrës, Albania), which were allied with Rome. In 168 BC, he was defeated at Scodra by a Roman force under L. Anicius Gallus, in only twenty or thirty days, and in 167 brought to Rome as a captive to participate in Gallus's triumph, after which he was interned in Iguvium. The date of his death is unknown.…

Gentius ( , Génthios; 181–168 BC) was an Illyrian king who belonged to the Labeatan dynasty. He ruled in 181–168 BC, being the last attested Illyrian king. He was the son of Pleuratus III, a king who kept positive relations with Rome. The capital city of the Illyrian kingdom under Gentius was Scodra, now Shkodër, Albania. In 180 BC, during his early reign, the Dalmatae and Daorsi declared themselves independent from his rule and the city of Rhizon abandoned him prior to his defeat, receiving immunity from the Romans. He married Etuta, the daughter of the Dardanian king Monunius II. In 171 BC, Gentius was allied with the Romans against the Macedonians, but in 169 BC he changed sides and allied himself with Perseus of Macedon. The southernmost city of the Illyrian kingdom was Lissus (now Lezhë, Albania), a situation established since the First Illyrian War. He arrested two Roman legati, accusing them of not coming as emissaries but as spies. Gentius destroyed the cities of Apollonia and Epidamnos (Roman Dyrrachium, now Durrës, Albania), which were allied with Rome. In 168 BC, he was defeated at Scodra by a Roman force under L. Anicius Gallus, in only twenty or thirty days, and in 167 brought to Rome as a captive to participate in Gallus's triumph, after which he was interned in Iguvium. The date of his death is unknown. After his defeat, the Romans split the region into three administrative divisions, called meris. The extent of the first meris is not known, while the second was Labeates, and the third was Acruvium, Rhizon, Olcinium and their environs.

Name

The Illyrian name Gentius appears to derive from PIE *ǵenh₁- "to beget", cognate to Latin gens, gentis "kin, clan, race". 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. It could very likely be the source of the Albanian name Gjin, which if this theory is correct, mutated and got christianized.

Biography

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