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Are the Albanians descendants of the Illyrians? The question seems simple, but the answer depends on what can be proven. This article sets side by side the arguments of the linguist Eqrem Çabej, the theses of Elena Kocaqi and the work of Marin Mema, with what the sources say.
In 168 BC a Roman army marched on Shkodra. Within thirty days the Illyrian king Gentius surrendered. With him ended the last independent Illyrian kingdom on the Adriatic coast.
The Greek historian Polybius writes that Agron had greater land and sea forces than any Illyrian king before him. His last victory, in 231 BC, turned into a celebration that, according to Polybius, cost him his life.
In the fourth century BC an Illyrian king kept Macedon under pressure for almost four decades. He defeated and killed a Macedonian king and, according to an ancient author, rode into his last battle at the age of ninety.
In 229 BC Rome crossed the Adriatic with an army for the first time. Facing it was an Illyrian queen. Her story reaches us mainly through her enemies.
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