Pinnes ( grc-gre, Πίννης; also Pinnius; c. 230 – 217 BC) was the son of Agron, king of the Ardiaei in

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

, and Agron's first wife

Triteuta Triteuta ( grc, Τριτεύτα; 230–219 BC) was an Illyrian queen and the first wife of the Illyrian king Agron of the Ardiaei (r. 250–231 BC), with whom she had a son named Pinnes. Sometime before his death (231/230 BC), Agron divorced T ...

. He officially succeeded his father as king in 230 BC, but the

Ardiaean kingdom The Ardiaei were an Illyrian people who resided in the territory of present-day Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia between the Adriatic coast on the south, Konjic on the north, along the Neretva river and its right ba ...

was ruled by Agron's second wife,

Queen Teuta Teuta ( Illyrian: *''Teutana'', 'mistress of the people, queen'; grc, Τεύτα; lat, Teuta) was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC. Following the death of her spouse Agro ...

Biography

Pinnes was only a young boy when his father died in 230 BC, and his stepmother Teuta assumed ''de facto'' control. Local chiefs demanded greater power and autonomy for their regions and Teuta, who feared losing her status, appeased the aggressors. This act was seen as a sign of weakness and no ship in the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

and Ionian sea was safe from Illyrian pirates who raided regardless of a ship's country or the damage it would do to Illyria's foreign relations. Greece was the most affected by this new danger as their economy depended on the seas. Rome, wanting to protect trade routes between

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...

and Greece, sent delegates to mediate the situation, but war broke out due to a disagreement between Teuta and Rome's ambassadors. She ordered the assassinations of the delegates and sparked the First Illyrian War in 229 BC. Teuta surrendered and accepted Rome's peace terms which included her abdication and the reinstatement of Pinnes. Pinnes once again lost his throne when Demetrius of Pharos (Pharos is today the island of Hvar) married

and declared himself king. Demetrius ignored the treaty with Rome and allied Illyria with Rome's long term enemy Macedon. The

Second Roman-Illyrian War The Illyro-Roman Wars were a series of wars fought 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 ...

began in 219 BC when a Roman army was sent to Illyria. Demetrius fled to Macedon and Pinnes finally became king, though his sudden death in 217 BC at the age of 15 meant that he never actually ruled. Pinnes is notÉpire, Illyrie, Macédoine: mélanges offerts au professeur Pierre Cabanes by Danièle Berranger, Pierre Cabanes, Danièle Berranger-Auserve, page 133 even mentioned by

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

, though Appian and Cassius Dio refer to him as the legitimate heir. Appian writes that Pinnes asked for the aid of the Romans but nothing seems to have come of it.

References

{{Illyrians 230s BC births 217 BC deaths Illyrian royalty 3rd-century BC rulers

Biography

See also

References