Pyrrhus of Epirus
Pyrrhus (318-272 BC) (Greek: Πύρρος), 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. Some of his battles, though successful, cost him staggering losses, from which the term Pyrrhic victory was coined.
Birth and early life
Born in 319 BC, Pyrrhus of Epirus was the only son of the Mollosian king Aeacides and his wife, Phthia. Alongside his siblings, his sisters Deidama and Troas, he was the future of the Epirote Kingdom.
“After a time of civil strife”, Plutarch tells us, Aeacides was dethroned and killed by followers of the descendants of Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles (Achilles being the Ancestor of the Epirote Kings and royal family, including Alexander the Great and Pyrrhus). Pyrrhus, only a small child and his family managed to escape to the Illyrian King Glauccias. Pyrrhus’ many enemies demanded that Glaucias hand him over to them, Cassander; the ruler of Macedon (and a Companion of Alexander) “offered two hundred talents for him, Glaucias refused to give him up Plutarch tell us. When Pyrrhus reached the age of 12, Glaucias actually invaded Epirus and set up Pyrrhus as the new King.
Pyrrhus’ appearance
Plutarch tells us that Pyrrhus features “were more to likely inspire fear in the beholder than to impress him with some sense of majesty”, he tells us that Pyrrhus didn’t have a regular set of teeth, his upper jaw was formed of one continuous bone with small depressions in it, which resembled the intervals between the row of teeth”.
Pyrrhus and the successors
When Pyrrhus was 17, he left his Kingdom to attend the wedding of one of his friend, King Glaucias son’s, but unfortunately for Pyrrhus, the people of his Kingdom, in his absence, rose up again and deposed him. In his place, they made another of Neoptolemus’ descendants their king. With his Kingdom lost, Pyrrhus found himself at the court of Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, who had married his sister Deidameia. Pyrrhus served under Demetrius at the Battle of Ipsus in 301BC, in which, Plutarch tell us, and “all of the kings who succeeded Alexander the Great took part”. Although only 18 at the time, Pyrrhus proved himself a brilliant soldier, he defeated the contingent that faced his troops and bravely distinguished himself in battle. Pyrrhus didn’t desert Demetrius after his defeat, “but kept guard over the cities in Greece which were entrusted to his command”. When Demetrius made peace with Ptolemy, Pyrrhus was sent to Egypt as a hostage, in Egypt Pyrrhus ‘gave Ptolemy ample proof of his prowess and endurance both in hunting and in military exercises’. Pyrrhus gained much favour with Ptolemy’s wife Berenice, who was intelligent and exercised the most influence over Ptolemy. He was singled out as a suitable husband for the daughter of Berenice, Antigone, of whom Berenice had with her first husband Phillip. With this advantageous marriage, Pyrrhus’ position rose higher and higher, and his wife Antigone, was described by Plutarch as ‘an excellent wife to him’.
After having procured enough money and supplies, he set off for Epirus, where he would retake his throne from Neoptolemus, whom the people of Epirus had grown to hate. But Pyrrhus realised if he completely exiled Neoptolemus, then he could go for help from one of the many Successor’s of Alexander. In order to remedy this, a un-easy alliance was made between Pyrrhus and Neoptolemus, both would rule together, although suspicions were high in both men. Neoptolemus however did not keep to the agreement and supposedly have Pyrrhus killed, this plot was found out and Neoptolemus was put to death at a dinner Pyrrhus had invited him to. ‘Pyrrhus knew the leading men of Epirus were on his side and were eager to see him rid himself of Neoptolemus’ Plutarch tells us.
Pyrrhus and Antigone had a child and honoured Ptolemy by naming their son after him.
Pyrrhus’ Wars with the successors After the death of Cassander in 297 BC, Antipater, the elder of Cassander’s sons, ‘had his mother, Thessalonice, put to death and drove his brother Alexander into exile.’ Alexander appealed for help from Demetrius and then Pyrrhus. Demetrius was taken up by other matters and ‘was slow to respond’, whereas Pyrrhus ‘came to Macedonia and demanded as the price of his alliance the districts known as Stymphaea and Paravaea within Macedonia itself’ as well as other territories. Alexander agreed to these terms and Pyrrhus began his campaign against Antipater. He occupied the regions given to him and posted garrisons there, he then proceeded into conquering the Kingdom, taking it from Antipater and handing it over to Alexander. At the same time, Lysimachus was anxious to aid Antipater, but couldn’t, as he was occupied with other matters, so he decided to trick Pyrrhus by forging a letter ‘by’ Ptolemy telling Pyrrhus to stop his war, but Pyrrhus saw through this clever trick, as the way it was written gave it away, Lysimachus did not include the usual greeting that they used. Pyrrhus approached Lysimachus over this, but peace was made none the less.
Alexander’s affairs had in fact already been settled with Pyrrhus’ help, but Demetrius then acted against Alexander, had him murdered and proclaimed himself king of Macedonia in 294 BC. Demetrius clashed with Pyrrhus and, after the death of Demetrius’ wife, who was also the sister of Pyrrhus, all links between them were broken. They became very suspicious neighbours and their interests ‘frequently collided and the occasions for quarrelling were multiplied still further’ Plutarch tells us.
While Demetrius left to campaign against the Aetolians, he left his skilled general Pantauchus in Macedonia with a strong force, Pantauchus proceeded to go to war with Pyrrhus, of whom hearing this marched also against the invading army. Although both armies passed each other by! Demetrius eventually went on to invade Epirus and then plundered the countryside, while Pyrrhus ‘came upon Pantauchus and promptly engaged him’. This engagement was fierce and bloody and Pantauchus challenged Pyrrhus to single combat. After an epic fight between them, the ‘ancestor’ of Achilles, already wounded, was able to bring Pantauchus to the ground, but he was unable to kill him, as companions pf Pantauchus came to his aid. This courage and bravery lifted the spirits of the Epriots and Pyrrhus’ men went on to penetrate the Macedonian Phalanx and pursued the retreating enemy, many thousands were taken prisoner. This victory, made many Macedonians compare Pyrrhus to his kinsman Alexander the Great. Although the other Kings said he could only imitate Alexander in superficial details. Pyrrhus’ skill at Military matters is most evident as by the time he died, he left several texts on the subject of tactics and the military, when asked, Antigonus, one of Alexander’s companions and successor King, said that Pyrrhus would be the greatest general of all time, ‘if he lives to be old enough’. Pyrrhus continuously studied the subject and felt that the army was the only matter a King had to pass judgement on.
After the death of his wife Antigone, he married many wives to increase relations with his neighbours and to gain influence across the Greek world, although several of his wives were ‘Barbarians’ from their northern borders as well as the daughter of the King of Syracuse.
After the battle with the Macedonians Pyrrhus returned home and rejoiced in the prestige and glory he had won. But, peace was short lived, as Demetrius soon caught a mysterious illness, this gave Pyrrhus an opportunity to raid and plunder, so he marched an army into Demetrius’ kingdom and met little resistance from the population, in fact, many Macedonians joined him. The danger for Demetrius was too much, and this forced him out of his sickbed and he led an army to confront Pyrrhus. Demetrius easily defeated Pyrrhus and then embarked to re-conquer the lands taken by Epirus from Demetrius’ father Antigonus. But Demetrius was anxious to fight a full campaign against an angry neighbour, as well as the fact he had other problems and rivals to attack, so he quickly came to terms with Pyrrhus and made peace. But Pyrrhus now had a position to drive Demetrius straight out of Macedonia, as Demetrius was occupied elsewhere. Meanwhile, one of Pyrrhus’ wives, Lanassa, from Sicily, ‘quarrelled with him because he paid more attention to his barbarian wives than to her’, so she left Pyrrhus for the city of Corcyra, she then invited Demetrius to marry her, which he did, and he left a garrison in the city. As this was happening, the Successor Kings ‘did their utmost to distract Demetrius while he was completing his preparations for the campaign’. Ptolemy sailed to Greece with a fleet and started to persuade the cities there to revolt, Lysimachus invaded the north of Macedonia from Thrace and pillaged the country. At the same time, Pyrrhus chose to ‘enter the field’. He determined that Demetrius, seeing Lysimachus more of a threat, would turn north to fight Lysimachus, therefore leaving Macedonia undefended, so Pyrrhus struck. After having a dream to which Alexander the Great supposedly showed Pyrrhus ‘the way’, he led his army ‘over the intervening country and occupied the city of Verroia’. He stationed most of his men there and sent out commanders to subdue the remainder of the region. However, Demetrius, hearing this, decided to move against Pyrrhus instead of Lysimachus, as Pyrrhus was more of a ‘foreigner’ to his men than the great King Lysimachus. But this was a major mistake on Demetrius’ part, no sooner had Demetrius set up camp, his men and civilians were in awe and wonder of Pyrrhus, many joined Pyrrhus’ army and this led to Demetrius leaving in disguise, due to the mutinous state of his men. Pyrrhus was then proclaimed by the Macedonians King of Macedon. Lysimachus appeared with his army and claimed he had done as much to overthrow Demetrius as Pyrrhus had, so he wanted Pyrrhus and himself to have the Kingdom portioned between them. Pyrrhus was not certain of the loyalty of his new subjects ad so agreed to these new terms. Pyrrhus continued his campaigns against Demetrius, whose power had been growing near Athens, he went to Athens and climbed the Acropolis and made a sacrifice to Athena. He soon made peace with Demetrius, but as soon as Demetrius had headed to Asia, Pyrrhus, with the influence of Lysimachus on him, attempted to stir up a revolt in Thessaly against Demetrius and attacked the garrisons Demetrius had left in the cities. Later Demetrius suffered a crushing defeat in Syria and this left Lysimachus secure, and he then decided to march upon Pyrrhus. Lysimachus then found Pyrrhus encamped at Edessa and proceeded to attack Pyrrhus’ supply columns and caused the Macedonians in his army to be won over to his side. This left Pyrrhus quite weak and Pyrrhus decide to retreat with his Epirot troops and allies back to Epirus, in this Plutarch tells us ‘he lost Macedonia in exactly the same way he had seized it’.
Campaigns in Italy
But fortune reared its head to Pyrrhus, at this time; the Greek city state of Tarentum in southern Italy was being attacked by the young and expanding Roman Republic. The Tarentines were ‘neither strong enough to carry on the struggle, nor, because of the reckless and unprincipled nature of their demagogues, inclined to put an end to it.’ The Tarentines decide to ask Pyrrhus to come to their aid, as they believed him to be one of the most formidable generals of the age. The city of Tarentum sent a delegation to Pyrrhus and took to him many gifts, and explained why they needed an experienced commander. They also told Pyrrhus of all of the allied troops they could enrol to their cause, including Italian tribes from Samnium, Lucania, Messapia and Tarentum itself. This all made Pyrrhus and his men all the more eager and enthusiastic, Cineas, a Thessalian in Pyrrhus’ entourage was a great diplomat and his judgement was well valued by Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus felt that the expedition to Rome could lead to further campaigns to expand his empire; he said Italy and Rome would be a spring board for campaigns against Sicily, Carthage and Libya. With this, he set off for Italy, but before his main force, he sent Cineas with 3,000 soldiers to Tarentum. .Next he assembled a large fleet of cavalry transports, decked ships and many other kinds of vessel, and on them he embarked 20 elephants, 3,000 cavalry, 20,000 Infantry, 2,000 archers and 500 slingers’. After a detour due to winds into Sicilian-Libyan waters, he then found his way back to the Italian coast, were his man Cineas met him. He entered Tarentum and found to his horror that they were almost incapable of helping themselves. But news came to him that the Roman Consul Laevinus was heading down through Lucania with an army plundering and pillaging. Pyrrhus’ allies had not yet assembled at Tarentum, but Pyrrhus knew he needed to stop the Romans before they advanced any nearer. So Pyrrhus marched out of Tarentum with his troops to confront Consul Laevinus. ‘He dispatched a herald to the Romans’ to ask for ceasefire between the Greek cities and Rome, and that Pyrrhus would act as mediator. But the Roman’s declined and said that they didn’t fear Pyrrhus as an enemy, ‘whereupon Pyrrhus advanced and pitched his camp in the plain between the cities of Pandosia and Heracleia’. Pyrrhus discovered the Romans were close at hand and had set up their camp on the banks of the river Siris, so he rode to reconnoitre the position. But according to Plutarch, the discipline, watches, orderly movements and planning of the Roman camp impressed Pyrrhus greatly; he felt some uncertainty as to the outcome of a battle, so he waited for his allies to arrive. He also posted a guard on the banks of the river to watch for Roman movements and oppose them if they tried to cross.
The Battle of Heracleia
The Romans were not anxious to wait any longer and marched across the river Siris, their infantry crossed the ford, while the Roman cavalry crossed at many different points, the Greek guards then retreated ‘for fear they might be encircled’. Pyrrhus, disturbed by this, ordered his officers to take up their battle formations and wait ‘under arms’, meanwhile he would be leading the 3,000 cavalry to hopefully engage the Romans while they were still crossing the river. He led a charge against the mass of Romans crossing the river, and although being in the thick of battle, led the battle as if ‘he were watching from a distance’. But Pyrrhus was almost killed by the captain of a troop of Roman horse called Hoplax, Pyrrhus lost his horse and barely escaped with his life, but due to his companions helping him, Hoplax was killed. This made Pyrrhus be more cautious in future. When he saw his Cavalry giving up ground, he ordered his Phalanx’s to take up formation and advance, Pyrrhus then led the Phalanx’s in their attack against the Roman troops. However he gave his armour to his friend Megacles to conceal himself from more attention, yet this nearly lost him the battle as Megacles was slain and a Roman took Pyrrhus’ cloak and helmet to the Roman commander Laevinus. The men thought Pyrrhus was dead and started to lose morale. But soon, Pyrrhus realising this, took off his helmet and rode up and down the lines to ensure his men he was alive. The Romans then began to be driven back and soon Pyrrhus’ elephants entered the battle and caused much confusion amongst the Romans, Pyrrhus seeing this confusion launched an attack with his Thessalian cavalry and routed the Romans. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, according to Plutarch, tells us that the Romans lost 15,000 men, whereas Pyrrhus lost 13,000, but Hieronymus states that in fact it was 7,000 Romans and 4,000 Greeks. Pyrrhus, having won the battle, unfortunately lost many of his friends and best troops, but he did capture the Roman camp and persuaded some of the Romans Italian allies to join him.
Pyrrhus then advanced onwards and came to a point ‘less than 40 miles distant from Rome.’ After Heracleia many Samnites and Lucanians joined Pyrrhus and boosted his numbers.
Negotiations with Rome
Laevinus was not removed as Consul, Gaius Fabricus said that ‘it was not the Epirots who had defeated the Romans, but Pyrrhus who had defeated Laevninus’. To Fabricus, the Roman army was not at fault, but its leader was. Despite this, the depleted Legions were restored to full strength and this showed Pyrrhus that their war spirit was high and that they were determined. As a result, Pyrrhus contemplated offering the Romans terms, as he thought that subduing the city of Rome and its population would be a mighty task, and possibly beyond the strength of his army. He thought a pact of peace and friendship would greatly enhance his own prestige. So Pyrrhus’ ambassador, Cineas, was dispatched to Rome, where he conferred with the leaders, the Senate etc. None of Cineas’ proposals were met with enthusiasm, even though he suggested that all of the Roman prisoners he took would be handed back, he would help the Romans subdue the rest of Italy and all he would want is a pact of friendship between Epirus and Rome and that Tarentum would be left alone by Rome. Although many senators were inclined towards peace, they recognized that they had been defeated in battle and would expect more hard fought battles. An elderly man of great distinction, Apius Claudius, heard of the Senates plan to vote on peace terms, but he went to the Senate and made a great speech, where he said that Rome needed to continue the war and defeat Pyrrhus. Cineas was dismissed and Pyrrhus’ terms rejected. The Romans sent terms of friendship, if Pyrrhus would leave Italy completely. Cineas brought back news of how the Consul had raised another 2 armies to face Pyrrhus, ‘he feared that to fight against them would be like fighting the lernaean Hydra’. A Roman delegation met with Pyrrhus soon afterwards. Gaius Fabricus was sent as a negotiator, and Pyrrhus tried to impress and influence Fabricus, firstly by offering him a massive gift, a large sum of money. Fabricus refused this, and then Pyrrhus decide the day after to conduct his negotiations near one of his Elephants, in order to strik fear within Fabricus. But he turned to Pyrrhus and said, ‘Your gold made no impression on me yesterday, and neither does your elephant today’. The negotiations ended with little headway, and Fabricus went back to Rome, and was soon after made a Consul. Soon after, a man claiming to be Pyrrhus’ physician came to Fabricus and told him of a plot to poison Pyrrhus. Fabricus, being a man of honour, sent a message to Pyrrhus detailing the plot, at which point Pyrrhus took action to prevent it.
The Battle of Asculum
Pyrrhus’ affairs compelled him to undertake yet another battle with Rome, he marched his army towards the town of Asculum and there he attacked the Romans. Here, Pyrrhus was disadvantaged as the terrain was rough and not good for manoeuvring his cavalry and elephants. The fighting was extremely vicious and many men were lost on both sides. The next day however, Pyrrhus regrouped his men and made sure they could fight properly on this rough terrain. Even his elephants could be used to great effect, between his elephants he posted his archers and slingers, and launched his main body of troops in close order and with an ‘irresistible impetus’. After a long struggle the Roman line began to give way and then the shock of the heavy elephant charge made sure the Romans were to give way and retreat. Hieronymus tell us that the Romans lost 6,000 men, and Pyrrhus lost 3,505 men. Dionysius however says that there were not two engagements over 2 days and just 1, and that Pyrrhus was wounded in the arm by a javelin and that he lost 15,000 men in the battle.
It is here that Pyrrhus uttered the famous words, ‘One more victory like that over the Romans will destroy us completely!’ He had lost a great part of his force that he had brought from Greece, many of his commanders had been killed and he could summon no more reinforcements from home. At the same time, his Italian allies were losing enthusiasm whereas the Romans themselves had been swelling with recruits and building up their strength.
Ruler of Sicily
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.
Retreat from 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.
Last wars and death
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).
Legacy
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 ἔτι 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.[citation needed]
External links
Bibliography
- The Life of Pyrrhus by Plutarch, part of Plutarch's Lives.
- Pyrrhus, King of Epirus by Petros E. Garoufalias ISBN 0-905743-13-X
- 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.
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| Argead dynasty | ||
| Antipatrid dynasty | ||
| Dynastic conflict | ||
| Antigonid dynasty | ||
| Post-Conquest Rebel Kings |
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Debatable or disputed rulers are in italics. | ||