Plator

Last updated

Plator (? 169 BC) the Illyrian was brother to King Gentius, the last Illyrian king of the Ardiaean State.

Illyrians group of tribes in ancient times

The Illyrians were a group of Indo-European tribes in antiquity, who inhabited part of the western Balkans. The territory the Illyrians inhabited came to be known as Illyria to Greek and Roman authors, who identified a territory that corresponds to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, part of Serbia and most of central and northern Albania, between the Adriatic Sea in the west, the Drava river in the north, the Morava river in the east and the mouth of the Aoos river in the south. The first account of Illyrian peoples comes from the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax, an ancient Greek text of the middle of the 4th century BC that describes coastal passages in the Mediterranean.

Gentius Illyrian King

Gentius was a king of the Ardiaei, a powerful tribe in Illyria. He ruled in 181–168 BC, being the last Ardiaei ruler.

Contents

Plator may have been killed because he wanted to marry Etuta in 169 BC. [1] She was the daughter of Monunius [2] and was married [3] to Gentius himself.

Etuta was an Illyrian queen of the Ardiaean Kingdom. Etuta was a Dardanian princess of the Dardanian State and daughter of Monunius II of Dardania. Etuta married Gentius in 169 BC.

The personal name Plator was very common among Illyrians, attested among the southern Illyrians, Delmatae, and Pannoni; sometimes in lands north of the Delmatae it was also spelled Pletor. The name is also found in derivatives such as Platino and Platoris. Among the Liburnians the name is found as Plaetor; among the Veneti as Plaetorius. [4] The gens name Plaetorius is also found among the Romans, and a Gaius Plaetorius was one of the three ambassadors sent to King Gentius on behalf of Rome's allies. [5]

Liburnians Illyrian tribe

The Liburnians were an ancient Illyrian tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers Arsia (Raša) and Titius (Krka) in what is now Croatia. According to legend they populated Kerkyra until shortly after the Corinthians settled the island, c. 730 BC.

Adriatic Veneti

The Veneti were an Indo-European people who inhabited northeastern Italy, in an area corresponding to the modern-day region of Veneto.

In ancient Rome, a gens, plural gentes, was a family consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps. The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the period of the Roman Republic. Much of an individual's social standing depended on the gens to which he belonged. Certain gentes were considered patrician, others plebeian, while some had both patrician and plebeian branches. The importance of membership in a gens declined considerably in imperial times.

Related Research Articles

The Illyrian Wars were a set of wars fought in the period 229–168 BC between the Roman Republic and the Ardiaei kingdom. In the First Illyrian War, which lasted from 229 BC to 228 BC, Rome's concern was that the trade across the Adriatic Sea increased after the First Punic War at a time when Ardiaei power increased under queen Teuta. Attacks on trading vessels of Rome's Italic allies by Illyrian pirates and the death of a Roman envoy named Coruncanius on Teuta's orders, prompted the Roman senate to dispatch a Roman army under the command of the consuls Lucius Postumius Albinus and Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus. Rome expelled Illyrian garrisons from a number of Greek cities including Epidamnus, Apollonia, Corcyra, Pharos and established a protectorate over these Greek towns. The Romans also set up Demetrius of Pharos as a power in Illyria to counterbalance the power of Teuta.

Pinnes was the son of Agron, king of the Ardiaei in Illyria, and Agron's first wife Triteuta. He officially succeeded his father as king in 230 BC, but the Ardiaean kingdom was ruled by Agron's second wife, Queen Teuta.

Dalmatae tribe in Roman times

The Dalmatae or Delmatae were an ancient people who inhabited the core of what would then become known as Dalmatia after the Roman conquest at the eastern Adriatic coast, in what is present-day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, between the rivers Krka, on the northwest, the Neretva on the east, and the river Rama on the northeast. The Delmatae are mostly classed as an Illyrian tribe.

Scerdilaidas Ruler of Illyria

Scerdilaidas or Skerdilaid was an Illyrian king of the Ardiaean Kingdom. Before taking the throne Scerdilaidas was commander of the Illyrian armies and played a major role in the Illyrian Wars against the Romans.

Ballaios

Ballaios was an Illyrian king of the Ardiaei. Ballaios was not mentioned by any ancient writers. Ballaios is considered to have been a powerful and influential king as testified by the abundance of his silver and bronze coinage found along both coasts of the Adriatic.

The Ardiaei were an Illyrian tribe, residing on territory of present-day Albania and Montenegro, between Adriatic coast on the south, Konjic on the north, along the Neretva river and its right bank on the west, extending to Lake Skadar to the southeast, with Scodra as their capital. Polybius writes that they were subdued by the Romans at events that occurred at 229 BC. Appian (95–165) writes that they were destroyed by the Autariatae and that in contrast to the Autariatae had maritime power. In the Epitome of Livy they are said to have been subdued by the consul Fulvius Flaccus.

Monunius I ruled ca. 290–ca. 270 BC

Monunius was an Illyrian king of the Dardanian State. As a figure, Monunius has left more archaeological traces than historical records. Monunius was a strong opponent of Macedonia but offered aid of 10,000 soldiers to Ptolemy Keraunos during the Gallic Invasions, which was refused. The Dardanian State while headed by Monunius ranked among the strongest in the Balkans at that time. The invasions of the Gauls through the Balkans did not affect the Dardanians as much as the Macedonians.

Bato (Dardanian chieftain)

Bato was an Illyrian king of the Dardanian State. Bato was the son of Longarus whom he succeeded and the brother of Monunius II who ruled after him. Bato fought alongside the Romans against Macedon during the Second Macedonian War. Bato is known for using advanced war tactics against Athenagoras. Bato became a major threat to the Macedonians but after the war was over Dardanian and Roman relations soon diminished.

Mytilus (Dardania)

Mytilus was an Illyrian king who was based in Epidamnos (Durrës). It is possible that Mytilus was the successor of Monunius I, as king of the Dardani, and not a king of Dyrrachium.

Caravantius, an Illyrian, was half brother to Gentius, the last Illyrian king of the Ardiaean State. In 168 BC he fought with his brother against the Cavii.

Promona was an ancient city in Illyricum.

Bassania

Bassania was an ancient Illyrian city whose inhabitants may have been hellenised. It was very close to the ancient Greek colony of Lissus, in modern Albania. The ruins of the City extended in a surface three times of the ancient ruins of Shkoder, massive stone walls surrounded an area of about 20 hectares, were discovered by a Team of Polish-Albanian Archaeologists. The city wall is massive. Measuring 3 meters thick, the wall is made from huge stone blocks packed tightly against each other. In between the stone blocks are earth and small stones filled in to close off any gaps. Ancient coins and portions of ceramic artifacts recovered near the walls date back to the 4th to 1st century BC, providing further confirmation of the age of the city ruin. Bassania fell into Roman hands during the reign of Octavian Augustus at the turn of the 1st century AD and was promptly destroyed or abandoned.

The history of Illyrian warfare spans from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC up to the 1st century AD in the region of Illyria and in southern Italy where the Iapygian civilization flourished.

Monunius II ruled c. 176 – 167 BC

Monunius was an Illyrian king of the Dardanian State who lived in the late 3rd century BC and early 2nd century BC. Monunius attested first in 176 BC was the son of Longarus, a Dardanian king who caused much trouble to Macedonia from 230 BC onwards. He succeeded his brother Bato to the Dardanian throne. Monunius was known for his victory he inflicted on the Bastarnae during the Bastarnae Invasion of Dardania.

Two invasions of Epidamnus by Illyrian forces deployed by Queen Teuta attacking the Greek cities of Epirus took place as part of the Illyrian Wars in spring 229 BC.

References

  1. The Illyrians by J. J. Wilkes, 1992, ISBN   0-631-19807-5, page 172, "... Roman allies in the previous war against Macedonia. In 169 BC there was a report that Gentius had his brother Plator killed because his plan to marry Etuta, ..."
  2. Rome's Mediterranean Empire Book 41-45 and the Periochae Livy, Jane D. Chaplin, ISBN   0-19-283340-5, 2007, page 147, "...to Etleua, a daughter of Monunius..."
  3. The Illyrians by J. J. Wilkes, 1992, ISBN   0-631-19807-5, page 85, "...Longarus, Bato and Monunius, whose daughter Etuta was married to the Illyrian king Gentius, are all Illyrian."
  4. Wilkes, The Illyrians, 1982.
  5. Livy 42.26.6–7; T.R.S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (American Philological Association, 1986), vol. 1, p. 414.

Sources

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.