Genthios

Coin portrait of Genthios

Genthios ( Greek Γένθιος , Latin form: Gentius ) was the last Illyrian king. He ruled from 180 to 168 BC. In Scodra and belonged to the tribal association of the Labeaten . He was the son of King Pleuratos II and Eurydice.

2000 Lek banknote with Genthios ( Albanian Genti ) as a motif, issued in 2008

At the beginning of his rule in 180 the Delmats made themselves independent from the Labeates. In the dispute between Rome and the Macedonian king Perseus, courted by both sides, he took a vacillating attitude because he did not want to spoil it with either of the two powers. At first he was on Perseus' side. In 171 the Roman envoy Lucius Decimius failed to form a formal alliance between himself and Rome. Nevertheless, in the first year of the war (170 BC) in the war between Rome and Macedonia , Genthios provided the Romans with 54 Lembes to reinforce the Roman fleet. In 169 he entered into an alliance with the Macedonian king Perseus , without the latter granting Genthios' monetary claims (300 talents ), which he only admitted in 168 in return for an exchange of hostages. However, Perseus only paid a deposit of 10 talents. From then on, Genthios took an active part in the war against Rome: He had the Roman ambassadors Marcus Perperna and Lucius Petillius captured and devastated the area of the cities of Apollonia and Dyrrhachium , which were allied with the Romans. In 168 he was defeated by a Roman army under the leadership of the Praetor Lucius Anicius Gallus before Scodra, captured and taken to Rome. As a defeated enemy, Genthios had to take part in the triumphal procession of Anicius Gallus in 167 . Then he was interned in Iguvium . The date of his death is unknown. The ruins of his tomb still exist today.

He married Etuta, (or Etleua) the daughter of the Dardanen Monunios .

According to Pliny , he is said to have been the first to discover the healing powers of the gentian , who is named after him Gentiana .

It is depicted on the obverse of the Albanian 50 Lek coin and on the 2000 Lek banknote.

swell

Titus Livius , 43,19,3

literature

Edward Herbert Bunbury: Genthios . In: William Smith (Ed.): Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology . tape 2 : Ea'rinus, Fla'vius – Nyx . Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1870, p. 244–245 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
Pierre Cabanes: Les Illyriens, de Bardylis à Genthios, IVe au IIe siècle avant J.-C. Regards sur l'Histoire. Paris 1988.
Linda-Marie Günther : Genthios. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 4, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01474-6 .

Individual evidence

↑ Livy, from urbe condita 44, 30, 2.
↑ Livy, from urbe condita 42, 17, 1 ff. And 45, 8.
↑ Livy, from urbe condita 42, 8, 8.
↑ Livy, from urbe condita 44, 23, 2 ff.
↑ So the name form in Titus Livius 4, 30 . See JJ Wilkes: The Illyrians . Blackwell, Oxford 1992, ISBN 0-631-19807-5 , p. 85: “… Longarus, Bato and Monunius, whose daughter Etuta was married to the Illyrian king Gentius, are all Illyrian”.
↑ Jane D. Chaplin (Ed.): Livy: Rome's Mediterranean Empire. Books forty-one to forty-five and the Periochae. University Press, Oxford 2007, ISBN 0-19-283340-5 , p. 147: "to Etleua, a daughter of Monunius".

personal data
SURNAME	Genthios
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Gentius (Latin form)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	King of Illyria
DATE OF BIRTH	3rd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	2nd century BC Chr.

[1] Livy, from urbe condita 44, 30, 2.

[2] Livy, from urbe condita 42, 17, 1 ff. And 45, 8.

[3] Livy, from urbe condita 42, 8, 8.

[4] Livy, from urbe condita 44, 23, 2 ff.

[5] So the name form in Titus Livius 4, 30 . See JJ Wilkes: The Illyrians . Blackwell, Oxford 1992, ISBN 0-631-19807-5 , p. 85: “… Longarus, Bato and Monunius, whose daughter Etuta was married to the Illyrian king Gentius, are all Illyrian”.

[6] Jane D. Chaplin (Ed.): Livy: Rome's Mediterranean Empire. Books forty-one to forty-five and the Periochae. University Press, Oxford 2007, ISBN 0-19-283340-5 , p. 147: "to Etleua, a daughter of Monunius".