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Who was pyrrhus of epruis?

Updated: 8/23/2023
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11y ago

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He was king of Epirus (now Albania) in the first half of the 3rd Century BCE.

Tarentum, a Greek city in southern Italy, was being stood over by the Romans, and invited Pyrrhus to help them. Chancing his luck, he took an army to Italy and twice defeated the Romans. Unfortunately his casualties amongst his best soldiers were high, and being congratulated after his second win responded 'Another victory like that and I am totally undone'. This gave rise to the modern term Pyrrhic Victory, which means that cost of winning is too high.

As the Romans kept replacing their losses, while he had no more of his own to call on, he shifted his ambitions to Sicily to help the Greek cities there, and ever the optimist and adventurer, considered invading Carthage. He had limited success, went back to Italy without achieving anything, and then went home when convinced he had bitten off more than he could chew. He then became embroiled in Macedonian affairs, and ended his life in an attack on Corinth, during which an old woman on a roof felled him with a tile, and he was dispatched as he sat trying to recover from the blow.

Another story - before he set out for Italy, one of his Companions during a drinking party asked what they would do if they were successful. Pyrrhus responded 'We will come back here, take our ease, drink and have a good time'. His friend said 'Isn't that what we are doing now? Why not cut out the risky warfare bit?'

Incidentally, the Carthinigan Hannibal, when he invaded Italy fifty years later, learnt from Pyrrhus' experience of the endless resources which the Romans could draw on from its Italian allies, and based his campaigns of trying to detach them to his own side. The fifteen year Rome-Hannibal fight was above all a battle for the allies, a strategy which Pyrrhus was unable to employ.

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Epirus was a state occupying an area in the Mediterrean roughly where modern day Albania and Northern Greece meet. It was mountainous and relatively isolated from neighbouring states in Macedonia and Greece. However one of the most sacred religious sites in Ancient Greece was located in Epirus at Dodona.

Pyrrhus was king of Epirus between between 306 BC to 272 BC although not continously. He was related to Alexander the great through Alexander's mother Olympia and as a result had a claim to the Macedonian throne. He was king of Macedon for a short period but his Macedonian campaign was ultimately a failure and he was forced out.

Perhaps as compensation for losing Macedon, Pyrrhus famously conducted campaigns in Italy and Sicily against the Romans and Carthaginians. He defeated the Romans in two battles at Heraclea and Asculum but at high cost to his own forces which were much smaller than the large armies available to the Romans.

He then defeated the Carthaginians and took control of Sicily but in order to protect his Greek allies in Italy Pyrrhus pulled out of Sicily and battled the Romans again at Beneventum. The battle was inconclusive with no clear winner but Pyrrhus was unable to continue to fight the Romans due to his limited resources and he withdrew from Italy back to Epirus.

From this point on he restricted his military campaigns to Greece and Macedon. He took control of Macedon again defeating King Antigonas II, laid seige, but failed to take, Sparta and was finally killed while attacking the city of Argos.

The ancient sources on Pyrrhus are scanty, unreliable and possibly biased but he is considered by Roman writers as one of the great military commanders of the time along side Hannibal and Alexander the Great.

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Continue Learning about General History

Why was Pyrrhus famous?

Pyrrhus [Πύρρος] was a great general of the Hellenistic era, King of the Molossians [Μολοσσοί] of the royal house of Aeacid. He became king of Epirus and later of Macedon. He was famous for his battles that though victorious cost him heavy losses thus the term Pyrrhic victory.


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Why was Pyrrhus famous?

Pyrrhus [Πύρρος] was a great general of the Hellenistic era, King of the Molossians [Μολοσσοί] of the royal house of Aeacid. He became king of Epirus and later of Macedon. He was famous for his battles that though victorious cost him heavy losses thus the term Pyrrhic victory.