The archaeologist Hasan Ceka has hypothesized that the name of one of the envoys of Gentius, Bellus might have been an incorrect transcription of Ballaeus (Ballaios). Although from the linguistic point of view this identification is very problematic, some have accepted the idea that Ballaois was the successor of Gentius, who had friendly relations with Rome. Ballaois was an Illyrian king only attested on his coins and ruled (perhaps 167–135 BC or other dates) of the Ardiaei. Ballaios appears to have ruled after 168 BC at Queen Teuta's old stronghold, Rhizon. At the time the region was part of the Roman Republic and the Ardiaean kingdom had been dissolved since the time of Gentius. He had some sort of rivalry with Pharos. Whilst the abundance of his coinage in the region would suggest that he was a very influential figure there is no literary or historical evidence of his existence. Legacy Gentiana lutea, and by extension the rest of the Gentiana genus, was named after Gentius, as a tribute as it was thought that he had found out that the herbs had tonic properties. Gentius is depicted on the reverse of the Albanian 50 lekë coin, issued in 1996 and 2000, and on the obverse of the 2000 lekë banknote, issued in 2008. See also List of rulers of Illyria References Bibliography Illyrian royalty 2nd-century BC rulers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown