Monounios

For another person, see Monunius (Dardanian chieftain).
Monounios
King
King Monounios' silver stater from Dyrrhachion
Reignc. 290 – 270 BC
PredecessorGlaucias
SuccessorMytilos

Monounios or Monunius (Ancient Greek: Μονούνιος; Latin: Monunius; ruled c. 290 – 270 BC) was an Illyrian king who reigned in southern Illyria, in the territory of the Taulantii, around the hinterland of Dyrrhachion and Apollonia. He is the first known Illyrian king to have struck his own silver coins, which were minted in Dyrrhachion.[1][2][3] The fact that Monounios' coins were struck in the city mint of Dyrrhachion stresses that he exercised to some extent his authority over the city, as did his successor and probably son Mytilos later.[4][5]

Monounios is considered the successor of Glaucias of Taulantii,[6] and probably his son.[7] His realm also included the southern part of the later kingdom of Agron and Teuta.[6] Monounios must have been a powerful Illyrian king who conceivably increased his dominion during the period when Pyrrhus of Epirus was in Italy.[8] Monounios was involved in the dynastic struggles in Macedon, waging war as an ally of Lysimachus' son, Ptolemy Epigonos, against Ptolemy Ceraunos, most likely from spring 280 BC until at least the early 279 BC.[8] A helmet with the inscribed name of the king was found around Lake Ohrid.[3][9]

  1. ^ Crawford 1985, pp. 220–221: "Some of the native communities also began to produce coinage, in the Hellenistic period, two 'kings' called Monounios and Mytilos reigning in the hinterland of Apollonia and Dyrrhachium (the former silver, the latter bronze), Rhizon (silver as well as bronze), Lissus, Scodra, Olumpa and Lychnus, and the Daorsi and the Labeatae, in the late third or early second centuries."
  2. ^ Kovač 2021, p. 6: "Datum određen prema nalazima Kreshpana dobro koincidira s periodom priče Trog Pompeja koji smješta kraljevanje Monunija oko 280. godine prije Krista. Odjeljujemo se od hipoteze o dardanskom kralju zbog geografskog udaljavanja i, štoviše, jer Dardanci nisu nikada dominirali Jadranskom obalom. Danas više autora slijedi kronologiju predloženu od Gjongjecaj Sh. koja smatra početak kovanja statera u periodu od 280. do 270. godine prije Krista."
  3. ^ a b Vujčić 2019, p. 115: "Monunius is often referred in modern literature as the king of the Dardani (cf. Hammond, N. G. L. “The Kingdoms in Illyria circa 400-167 B.C.” The Annual of the British School at Athens 61 (1966), p. 246; Wilkes, J. The Illyrians, Oxford 1996. p.146; Mørkholm, O. Early Hellenistic Coinage: From the Accession of Alexander to the Peace of Apamea (336 – 188 B.C.). Cambridge, 2001, pp. 83-84); furthermore, he is so-metimes identified with the unnamed king of the Dardani who offered military aid to Ceraunus prior to the Celtic invasion. No ancient source supports either claim and on the whole the identification is not very likely. King Monunius of the early 3rd century BC is well-known from his coins, minted in Epidamnus, in the land of the Taulantii (Mørkholm, O. loc. cit.). During the World War I a helmet with the inscribed name of the king (ΜΟΝΟΥΝΙΟΥ [ΒΑ]ΣΙΛΕΩ[Σ]) was found in the lake Ohrid.
  4. ^ Šašel Kos 2002, p. 109.
  5. ^ Šašel Kos 2005, p. 258.
  6. ^ a b Picard 2013, p. 82.
  7. ^ Šašel Kos 2003, p. 149
  8. ^ a b Šašel Kos 2002, p. 108.
  9. ^ Verčík et al. 2019, p. 43.