According to the opinion of the majority of modern scholars, he inherited the Ardiaean State of Gentius after 168 BC. Ballaios might have been involved in the Roman campaign against the Delmatae in 156 BC, and even taken part in the wars. Ballaios seems to have had a conflict with Pharos or an Illyrian dynast after 168 BC. Such assumptions seemed to some scholars to find confirmation in Livy's narrative concerning the Third Illyrian War. Livy mentions that after his defeat, Gentius sent two envoys from among the prominent tribal leaders as ambassadors to Rome to negotiate with the Roman L. Anicius. The names of these ambassadors were Teuticus and Bellus, and the historian Hasan Ceka hypothesized that the name of Bellus might have been an incorrect transcription for Ballaios. Ceka's proposal was accepted by many historians, although from the linguistic point of view this identification is very problematic. The argument would not carry much weight even if the envoy was called Ballaios. The Romans annihilated the Ardiaean State and founded three administrative regions in which there was no place for a king, so an envoy could not have inherited the throne.