King Gentius
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- For others named Gentius, see Gentius.
Gentius was the last king of Illyria. He was the son of the Illyrian king Pleuratus II. Gentius refused to start a war against Macedonia, and was defeated by the Roman Empire.In the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC and 219 BC, Rome overran the Illyrian settlements in the Neretva river valley and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe. In 180 BC the Dalmatians declared themselves independent of the Illyrian king Gentius, who kept his capital at Scodra. The Romans defeated Gentius, the last king of Illyria in 168 BC and captured him, bringing him to Rome in 165 BC. Four client-republics were set up, which were in fact ruled by Rome. Later, the region would be directly governed by Rome and organized as a province. An image of this last king is posted on the back side of an Albanian 50 Lek coin.
