Gentius
Illyrian king
Gentius (Ancient Greek: Γένθιος, Génthios; fl. 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.
The public source identifies “Gentius” as illyrian king. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Gentius, Illyrian and king.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q380555. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Gentius” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.