Pyrrhus of Epirus
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Pyrrhus of Epirus |
Pyrrhus (
312-
272 BC) (
Greek:
Πυρρος; Latin
Pyrrhus) (Latin pronunciation:
«PIHR uhs»), king of the
Molossians (from ca.
297 BC),
Epirus (
306-
301, 297-
272 BC) and
Macedon (
288-
284,
273-272 BC), was one of the strongest opponents of early
Rome.
Pyrrhus was the son of
Aeacides of Epirus and
Phthia. Prince of one of the Alexandrian successor states, Pyrrhus' childhood and youth went past in unquiet conditions. He was only two years old when his father was dethroned and the family took refuge with
Glaukias, king of the
Taulanti who led one the largest
Illyrian tribes.
Later the Epirotes called him back, but he was dethroned again at the age of 17 when he left his kingdom to attend the wedding of Glaukias' son in Illyria. In
wars of the diadochi Pyrrhus fought beside his brother-in-law
Demetrius I of Macedon in the
Battle of Ipsus (
301 BC). Later, he become hostage of
Ptolemy I Soter in a treaty between Ptolemy I and Demetrius. Pyrrhus married Ptolemy I's stepdaughter Antigone and in 297 BC restored his kingdom of Epirus. Next he went to war against his former ally Demetrius. By
286 BC he had deposed his former brother-in-law and took control over the kingdom of Macedon. Pyrrhus was driven out of Macedon by
Lysimachus, his former ally, in
284 BC.
In
281 the Greek city of
Tarentum, in
southern Italy, fell out with Rome and was faced with a Roman attack and certain defeat. Rome had already made itself into a major power, and poised to subdue all the Greek cities in
Magna Graecia. The Tarentines asked from Pyrrhus to lead their war against the Romans.
Pyrrhus was encouraged to aid the Tarentines by an oracle from
Delphi. His goals were not, however, selfless. He recognized the possibility of carving out an empire for himself in Italy. He made an alliance with
Ptolemy Ceraunus, King of Macedon and his most powerful neighbor, and arrived in Italy in 280 BC.
He entered in Italy with an army consisting of 3,000
cavalry, 2,000
archers, 500
slingers, 20,000
infantry and 19
war elephants in a bid to subdue the Romans.
Due to his superior cavalry and his elephants he defeated the Romans in the
Battle of Heraclea who were led by
consul Publius Valerius Laevinus in
280 BC. The Romans lost about 7,000 while Pyrrhus lost 4,000 soldiers. Several tribes including the
Lucani,
Bruttii,
Messapians, and the Greek cities of
Croton and
Locri joined Pyrrhus. He then offered the Romans a peace treaty which was eventually rejected. Pyrrhus spent winter in
Campania.
When Pyrrhus invaded
Apulia, (
279 BC), the two armies met in the
Battle of Asculum where Pyrrhus won a very costly victory. The consul
Publius Decius Mus was the Roman commander, and his able force, though defeated, broke the back of Pyrrhus' Hellenistic army, and guaranteed the security of the city itself. The battle foreshadowed later Roman victories over more numerous and well armed successor state military forces and inspired the term "Pyrrhic victory", meaning a victory which comes at a crippling cost. In the end, the Romans had lost 6,000 men and Pyrrhus 3,500 but while battered his army was still a force to be reckoned with.
In
278 Pyrrhus received two offers simultaneously. The Greek cities in
Sicily asked him to come and drive out
Carthage which was one of the two greater powers in the Western
Mediterranean. At the same time the Macedonians, whose King Ceraunus had been killed by invading
Gauls, asked Pyrrhus to ascend the throne of Macedon. Pyrrhus decided that Sicily offered him a greater opportunity, and transferred his army there.
Pyrrhus was proclaimed king of Sicily. He was already making plans for his son Helenus to inherit the kingdom of Sicily and his other son Alexander to be given Italy. In
277 Pyrrhus captured Eryx, the strongest Carthaginian fortress in Sicily. This prompted the rest of the Carthaginian-controlled cities to defect to Pyrrhus.
In
276 Pyrrhus negotiated with the Carthaginians. Although they were inclined to come to terms with Pyrrhus, supply him money and send him ships once friendly relations were established, he demanded that Carthage abandon all of Sicily and make the Libyan Sea a boundary between themselves and the Greeks. Meanwhile he had begun to display despotic behavior towards the Sicilian Greeks and soon Sicilian opinion became inflamed against him. Though he defeated the Carthaginians in another battle, he was forced to abandon Sicily and return to Italy.
While Pyrrhus had been campaigning against the Carthaginians the Romans rebuilt their army by calling up thousands of fresh
recruits. When Pyrrhus returned from Sicily, he found himself vastly outnumbered against a superior Roman army. After the inconclusive
Battle of Beneventum in
275 BC Pyrrhus decided to end his campaign in Italy and return to Epirus which resulted in the loss of all his Italian holdings.
Though his western campaign had taken a heavy toll on his army as well as his treasury Pyrrhus yet again went to war. Attacking King
Antigonus II Gonatas he won an easy victory and seized the Macedonian throne.
In 272, Cleonymus, a Spartan of royal blood who was hated among fellow
Spartans, asked Pyrrhus to attack Sparta and place him in power. Pyrrhus agreed to the plan intending to win control of the Peloponnese for himself but unexpectedly strong resistance thwarted his assault on Sparta. He was immediately offered an opportunity to intervene in a civic dispute in
Argos. Entering the city with his army by stealth, he found himself caught in a confused battle in the narrow city streets. During the confusion an old woman watching from a rooftop threw a roofing tile which stunned him, allowing an Argive soldier to kill him (some reports claim he was poisoned by a servant).
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A coin from Epirus. On left is the head of Pyrrhus' mother, Phthia. On the right is Athena, shield and spear in hands with a battle stance. The Greek inscription reads Î'ΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΥΡΡΟΥ ([coin] of King Pyrrhus). |
While he was a mercurial and often restless leader, and not always a wise king, he was considered one of the greatest military commanders of his time, ranked by
Hannibal himself to be the second greatest commander the world had seen after
Alexander the Great. Pyrrhus was also known to be very benevolent. As a general Pyrrhus' greatest political weaknesses were the failure to maintain focus and the failure to maintain a strong treasury at home (many of his soldiers were costly mercenaries).
His name is famous for the phrase "
Pyrrhic victory" which refers to an exchange at the
Battle of Asculum. In response to congratulations for winning a costly victory over the Romans, he is reported to have said: "One more such victory and I shall be lost!" (In
Greek: Ἂν á¼"τι μίαν μάχην νικήσωμεν, ἀπολώλαμεν.)
Pyrrhus wrote
Memoirs and several books on the art of war. These have since been lost although Hannibal was influenced by them and they received praise from Cicero.
*
Plutarch's biography*
Pyrrhus of Epirus Article from
Livius.Org*
A detailed biography of PyrrhusThe Life of Pyrrhus by
Plutarch, part of
Plutarch's Lives.
Pyrrhus, King of Epirus by Petros E. Garoufalias ISBN 090574313X
The Pyrrhus Portrait by Rolf Winkes, in:
The Age of Pyrrhus, Proceedings of an International Conference held at Brown University April 8-10, 1988 (Archaeologia Transatlantica XI), Providence 1992, pages 175-188.
