Illyrian Kingdom

The Illyrian kingdom was a political entity in the western Balkans formed by an alliance of Illyrian tribes under a single ruler, the king of the Illyrians. Our knowledge of it comes mainly from Greek and Roman writers, inscriptions and coins, and its centre of gravity shifted over time. The earliest known king, Bardylis, emerged around 400 BC in southern Illyria, probably in Dassaretis near Lake Ohrid, and briefly made Macedon a tributary. In the late fourth century the Taulantian kingdom of Glaucias dominated the southern Adriatic coast and influenced Epirus. From the third century the Ardiaean dynasty gave the kingdom its best-known phase: under Agron and his wife Teuta it became a formidable land and sea power based at Scodra and Rhizon, and its raids on Adriatic shipping brought it into conflict with Rome. The First and Second Illyrian Wars broke its power, and after the defeat of Gentius in 168 BC the kingdom was dissolved. Its territory was reorganised under Roman rule, while Illyrian tribal communities and koina survived for centuries.