Expert: Maria - 5/17/2004

Question
Could you tell me please who was Teuca? Did such a person ever exist?
Thanks a lot for your time.

Answer
Hi Federico,

first of all, I have to correct this name as it is TEUTA, not Teuca.

So, TEUTA(aka Tefta)was the queen of the Illyrians and  reigned approximately from 231 BC to 227 BC.

After the death of her husband Agron, who established the first kingdom of Illyria, a region of the western Balkan Peninsula (approximately where modern Albania and Bosnia are now) from which the Albanians are believed to descend, she ruled the kingdom acting as regent for her young stepson Pinneus.

Under pressure from some Illyrian chieftains, Teuta released them to engage in raiding against Greek and Roman shipping on the Adriatic and Ionian seas, prompting the Greeks to seek Roman aid and the Roman Senate to declare war.
In fact Teuta's pirates extended their operations southward in the Ionian Sea, westward along the coast of Italy, and were soon feared as the terror of the Adriatic.  
Moreover they attacked Roman merchant vessels plying the Adriatic Sea and gave Rome an excuse to invade the Balkans.

So, after two years of protracted conflict on land and sea, the Roman army forced Queen Teuta to abdicate the throne to Pinneus,  to pay tribute to Rome and submit to a Roman peace (228/227 BC).

About 60 years later, the kingdom of the Illyrians was no more and Rome established effective control over Illyria.  
[See Polybios' Histories,  book II, chapter 12].

Best regards
Maria