the enemy he was prepared to face would come across the Adriatic. An army of 15,000 men completed the military machine of the Ardiaean State. Gentius was now prepared to go to war with Rome. Destruction of the Illyrian kingdom (168 BC) Having mustered his force of 15,000 men and his fleet of lembi at Lissus, the southernmost city of the State, Gentius advanced into Roman territory in January/February of 168 BC and laid siege to the Illyrian city of Bassania, a Roman ally that refused to yield, although it was only 5 miles from Lissus. His half-brother Caravantius detached 1,000 infantry and 50 horsemen and attacked the Cavii, failing to capture one of their cities while ravaging the fields of the city of Caravandis. A fleet of eight lembi set off a little later to attack the coastal colonial cities of Epidamnus and Appolonia. Meanwhile, the Romans under Appius Claudius had heard of the alliance that Gentius had made with Perseus of Macedon and the arrest of the Roman envoys. He therefore moved his army out of their winter quarters at Nymphaeum, added to it troops from Byllis, Epidamnus, and Appolonia, as he marched north, and encamped by the river Genesus. There, he met with the new Roman commander, Lucius Anicius Gallus, a praetor. Anicius had crossed over from Italy to Apollonia with two legions totalling 600 cavalry and 10,400 infantry and of Italian allies, 800 cavalry and 10,000 infantry. His fleet, the size of which is not known, was strengthened by a draft of 5,000 sailors. To this imposing force, he added 200 cavalry and 2,000 infantry of the Parthini, an Illyrian kingdom allied to the Romans. These combined forces outnumbered those of Gentius's by two to one. As a folio of Livy's text is missing, little is known of this campaign. It seems that Anicius's fleets engaged Gentius' lembi and captured a number of them. Next, the Illyrian forces were defeated on land, allowing the Romans to advance to the heart of the state, where they won over the cities by humane and clement methods. Gentius concentrated his forces in his capital Shkodra, a well-fortified city in a strong natural position. When Anicius approached with his army in battle formation, Gentius fled into the city in panic. Gentius asked for, and was given, a three-day truce hoping that Caravantius would come at any moment with a large