[6] Monounios must have been a powerful Illyrian king who conceivably increased his dominion during the period when Pyrrhus of Epirus was in Italy.

[10] Between 284 and 282 BC southern Illyria was threatened by Pyrrhus of Epirus, who succeeded in seizing part of the country, including the city of Apollonia and the territory of certain tribes.

Already succeeding to face Epirote offensive in the previous years, Pyrrhus' departure in Italy in 280 BC enabled Monounios to strengthen his power politically and economically, consolidatating the structures of the Illyrian state.

[8] The war likely began in spring 280 BC, just a few months after the murder of Ptolemy Epigonos' brothers, and lasted at least until the Gallic invasion in early 279.

These coins have been found in great numbers in the Illyrian city of Gurëzeza, and in the interior of modern-day Albania beyond the Greek colony of Apollonia.

[15] Monounios' second main centre might have been the site of the present day village of Selca e Poshtme in Albania, in the old residence of the Illyrian kings, which might have been also the location of the ancient city of Pelion in Dassaretia.

The former indicates a local king, while the latter is in complete conformity with a bronze helmet found in the region of Lake Ohrid during the First World War, now kept at the Antike Sammlung Museum in Berlin.

On the back of the helmet, in calligraphy virtually identical to that on the coins of King Monounios, the same words are written: Basileos Monouniou.