Illyrian kingdom

The Illyrian king Bardyllis turned Illyria into a formidable local power in the 4th century BC. The main cities of the Illyrian kingdom were Lissus (today it is located in Lezha, Albania) and Epidamnus (also known as Dyrrhacion, Dyrrhachium, today located in Durrës, Albania).

In 359 BC, King Perdiccas III of Macedonia was killed by attacking Illyrians. In 358 BC, however, Macedonia's Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, defeated the Illyrians and assumed control of their territory as far as Lake Ohrid.

Alexander himself routed the forces of the Illyrian chieftain Cleitus in 335 BC, and Illyrian tribal leaders and soldiers accompanied Alexander on his conquest of Persia. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, independent Illyrian kingdoms again arose. In 312 BC, King Glaukias expelled the Greeks from Epidamnus. By the end of the third century, an Illyrian kingdom based near what is now the Albanian city of Shkodër (ancient Scodra) controlled parts of northern Albania, Montenegro, and Herzegovina. Under Queen Teuta, Illyrians attacked Roman merchant vessels plying the Adriatic Sea and gave Rome an excuse to invade the Balkans.

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, at Scodra 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.

For the subsequent Roman period of Illyrian history, see Illyricum (Roman province).
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