Bato of Dardania Bato ( ruled " c . " 206 – 176 ) was an Illyrian king of the Dardanian State . Bato was the son of Longarus whom he succeeded and the brother of Monunius I of Dardania who ruled after him . Bato fought alongside the Romans against Macedon during the Second Macedonian War . Bato is known for using advanced war tactics against Athenagoras . Bato became a major threat to the Macedonians but after the war was over Dardanian and Roman relations soon diminished . When the Romans returned to Illyria in 200 BC under the experienced commander P . Sulpicius Galba , they expected support from their former allies . After the Roman victories many kings , enemies of Macedonia came to the Roman camp : Pleuratus of the Ardiaean Kingdom , Amynander , king of the Athamanians and Bato of the Dardanian State . The Roman commander told them he would call on their help when his army had entered Macedonia . Bato was hoping that with the territorial gains Rome had achieved , he would have Paeonia under his control . Philip V anticipated that the Romans line of advance would be in the Erigon valley and he was determined to protect his flanks from raids by Roman allies , the Aetoliansin the south and Bato ' s forces in the north . He ordered his son Perseus to blockade the pass leading into Pelagonia . When the Romans made their move Philip recalled the troops under Perseus , and his cavalry defeat at Ottobolus on the river Erigon , though not a major reverse , was the outcome of a gamble after learning that Pleuratus ' and Bato ' s armies had crossed the passes in strength and were already in Macedonia . In 199 BC took advantage of Philip ' s engagement in a war with the Romans on the western borders of kingdom . Though the invasions were concerted , it was the Dardanians who did the most damage . As soon as the Romans left to winter in Apollonia , Philip sent his general Athenagoras against the Dardania army , which was returning home laden with booty . At the beginning , Athenagoras made skirmishes against their rear lines but when Bato ' s army turned theiry flags and assumed regular positions in front of the enemy , the battle turned into a full - fledged war . As soon as the Dardanians set out on the road , the king ' s men attacked them with their cavalry and light infantry . Bato did not have an army of this type and were carrying heavy weapons , but the nature of the terrain helped them . . Few were killed and few more were injured , but none were taken prisoner , because in those few cases the Dardanians come out of their lines and in close formation they fight together or withdraw . The Dradanian army under Bato was a well organized military force in line with the most advanced tactics of that time , but also distinguished by bravery , discipline and solidarity . News of the Roman victory in 197 BC , drew Bato once again down the Vardar valley , but Philip caught and defeated him near the Paeonian capital Stobi with an army he had hastily conscripted from the cities of his kingdom . The Macedonians continued to hold Bylazora and through that Paeonia , whose return the Dardanians were still demanding thirty years after another major Roman victory . Bato did not receive any land as he had hoped in contrast to the Ardiaean Kingdom which was given lands so that Pleuratus could attack Macedonia from them . This angered the Dardanian State which hoped to annex Macedonian land and to free Paeonia , their allies . Such is the fact that in 190 BC , the Aetolians asked Bato for paid soldiers in their war against Rome . Since it was difficult to defeat Bato militarily , Philip V drew up a plan to set the large Germanic / Celtic of the Bastarnae against him . He proposed to them that he would open a way to the Dardanian State so that the Bastarnae could settle there for a while and later continue on their way through Illyria , finally reaching Italy . Philip ' s purpose was to wipe out the Dardanians and settle the Bastarnae in their lands , and send the Bastarnae to Italy to lay it waste , leaving their women and children in Dardania . It was up to Monunius , the brother of Bato to confront the Bastarnae , as he succeeded Bato in 176 BC .