Phyrrus of Epirus, Why so Great?

[Revan The Great]

I hear alot about how great Phyrrus was, Hannibal even names him as the 2nd greatest general of all time, Alexander the Great being the first. All I really know about Phyrrus is he held Macedonia's throne for a short stint during the Diadochi wars, but was removed once Lyschamus (I butchered the name, sorry ) got around to it. He also conducted battles against the Roman Republic in which he won, but just barely. Thus I ask, Why the heck do people consider him such a great general/tactician?

-Revan

[PyrrhusIV]

Will reply tomorrow, partying atm.

[John I Tzimisces]

He was the first foreign enemy of Rome, and was a pretty honorable guy at that, at least while fighting the romans. On top of that, he was damn persistant. Who DIDN'T he pick a fight with?

[PyrrhusIV]

No-one.

Read about his Graeco-Macedonian campaigns...

[invictus]

I have heard quite a bit about him from Pyrrhus here, he indeed was a great general, very great, but as i forget numbers and exact details, ill let pyrrhus inform you hismelf, but the battles with the romans, is merely one campaign he faught many others, and he didnt just barely win, that was towards the end of the campaign as far as i remember. -Leon
EDIT: Also one must remember, he did conquer macedon and parts of illyria, as compared to rome who was an entire empire.

[bestantreas]

I think he also was cousin with Alexander. He beat Romans in three great battles, unfortunately, in every battle he was losing more army than the enemy! You know, that's what we call Pyrhic Victory!

[MoROmeTe]

For basic information on his life and enemies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhus_of_Epirus

For a Plutarch biography: http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/pyrrhus.html

He was a great general cause he was able to take on and defeat enemies that ranged from the Iliryans to the Macedonians and other Greeks to the Romans and Carthaginians. This denotes flexibile tactcal thinking and great use of assets he had. Also if he hadn't been impared by lack of statemanship aka political thinking and also by limited resources he could have argueably had a kingdom that included Sicily, Macedon, Epirus proper, Ilirya and the South of Italy.

A nice interesting character...

[Hellenic Hoplite]

I think he also was cousin with Alexander. He beat Romans in three great battles, unfortunately, in every battle he was losing more army than the enemy! You know, that's what we call Pyrhic Victory!

Or so did the Roman historians, aka professional liars, write. They had that knack in playing with numbers so that they look good to the senate.

[Revan The Great]

Well, Thx for the responses. It cleared it up just a little bit. Anything additional would be great though :sweatingb .

-Revan

[Carach]

wasnt this the guy that went into italy and tried to do muc hthe same as hanibal did, with a relatively tiny amount of men, defeating several roman armies but just didnt have the manpower and resources with which to carry on the fight?

[Revan The Great]

Something like that, lol.

-Revan

[Shawkhan]

...Pyrrhus' campaigns in Sicily were truly magnificent as well. If he hadn't been sold out by the Greeks there, he would have conquered the entire island. In case some of you weren't aware, Sicily was the primary location of the First Punic War. W/O casus bellum against Carthage, who knows how different Roman history might have been?

[PyrrhusIV]

Ok, i'll type for as long as i'm interested, here it goes.....

Pyrrhus of Epirus is considered great for many reasons. Yet when examining him, it is hard to forget his Italian campaign, which to many is the pinacle of his life. I think to Honestly look at Pyrrhus in the right light we must examine his Sicilian, Macedonian, Greek, and even Diadochi campaigns.

When he was young, he fled Epirus for his life. At the age of 12 he led an army of illyrians and re-claimed the throne. For awhile, he shared control with his brother. Then, when he was ousted from the throne by his brother, he fled to the East, and managed to be on the Side of Antigonos at the Battle of Ipsus, 301 B.C .

It is said he was in command of one flank of Antigonos, and won great esteem for beating back every attack of the Individual successor Kings (Ptolemy, Seleukos, Lysmachus etc). After the battle though, He was captured. Showing extreme Kindness, he lent Demetrios, son of Antigonos, sone cities in Greece, from their, Demetrios managed to gain macedon as well.

Pyrrhus on the other hand was in the hands of Ptolemy, and developed a friendship with the Lagid Dynast. By the end of his "captivity" he was actually commanding some of Ptolemy's military forces and had become one of his most trusted advisors.

Ptolemy eventually lent Pyrrhus an army to reclaim the throne of Epirus. He assassinated his brother. It is now the most interesting of his campaigns begins. Pyrrhus manages to win amazing victories against his former friend Demetrios, who was invading Epirus. Pyrrhus then invades Macedon (This is where I start simplifying, or it could go on forever) and wins more victories, Macedonian soldiers actually desert to him. He also wins Esteem by fighting in the front lines, and although being wounded, always stays with his men.

A Peace is declared how-ever. The peace is shortlived, and a second Macedonian War Breaks out. In this war, Pyrrhus manages to convince Lysmachus to ally with him. The war ends up with Pyrrhus King of Epirus and Macedon, and Lysmachus owning more of Thracian and Extreme Eastern Macedon.

Lysmachus is killed at Corfinium a few months later at Corfinium. This only means that Pyrrhus and Seleukos I Nikator are the last of the Original Diadochi (Successors) of Alexandros. Then, Seleukos is assassinated by Ptolemy II on the shores of Thrace.

This is where again, things get interesting. Pyrrhus, who only has the loyalty of the Macedonians during war time, flee's Macedon, and goes to Epirus. Macedon is a fractured country until it is united by Antigonos Gonatas, Grandson of Antigonos of Ipsus.

I will skip over the italian Campaign, although many details are commonly overlooked, it is common knowledge.

During Sicily, his political savvy faded, although he still managed to subjegate the whole island except for the City of Lilybaeum, continually defeating Carthaginian armies. What was better is he crossed the island in a quickly made fleet, just like rome did in 264 B.C. He basically took control of the whole island very quickly, something Rome took 20 years to do (First Punic War, and yes, Simplifying).

Antigonos Gonatas said his last battle against Rome was a "Pyrrhic Defeat".

Upon returning to Greece, he quickly gathered a New army and marched towards Macedon. Pyrrhus also recruited some Gauls left over from the Gallic Invasion of Macedon. Antigonos was an able foe though, and though he lost extreme amounts of men, he barely held Macedon from Pyrrhus.

Tis then Pyrrhus marched towards southern Greece (Attica, the Pelopennesus) he basically kicked Hellene arse for most of the campaign, although it wasnt glorious, as resistance was not much.

(He did attack Sparta, and almost captured it)At Argos, he managed to enter it at early dawn by surprise. His gauls though, we roudy and let the Argos defenders here he was entering. A very large street battle erupted. At the same time, a Spartan, and a Macedonian army came from behind him. Somehow, he managed to hold them off for awhile, while defending against the Argos defenders-attackers.

Pyrrhus was one of the last men to leave, but he never did. One of his prized Indian elephants, Elephants who had been with him in Sicily, Italy, Macedon, Epirus, Attica, Thessaly, and now Argos, died, and blocked the exit to the city. A Soldier ran up to Pyrrhus and fought him. According to legend, a tile was thrown from a roof, and hit King Pyrrhus on the neck. Stunned, Pyrrhus was grabbed on the neck by the Soldier and dragged to the side of the remaining battle. Supposedly, the Soldier almost did not kill him, for Pyrrhus gave him such a look that he almost was to scared to do it.

He did though, and on that day, King Pyrrhus, Last of the Successors, was killed.

Whew!

[Revan The Great]

Wow I finally got something, most I get is just crap "He beat Rome twice!" and other things. Thx Pyrrhus..The IV, how many Pyrrhus' were there

-Revan

[PyrrhusIV]

Lol! Their was only one. I had to pick this for a username 2 years ago . Hope you like it, I typed it up forever.

Oh Revan, in August I told you I would eventually tell you, now I have.

[Revan The Great]

Yep, I remember. About time too lol.

-Revan

[PyrrhusIV]

I dont forget promises. Remember that.

PyrrhusIV

[Hellenic Hoplite]

Tis then Pyrrhus marched towards southern Greece (Attica, the Pelopennesus) he basically kicked Hellene arse for most of the campaign, although it wasnt glorious, as resistance was not much.

Do you, by this sentence, imply that Pyrrhus was not a Hellin (Greek)?

[Rosacrux redux]

Yah, I'd like to have an answer to that too... I mean, first Alexander, then Pyrrhus... who's next? Themistokles? Leonidas? Aristotle? What is this de-greekification?

[Trajan]

Bravo, bravo. That was a great history lesson on King Pyrrhus PyrrhusIV. :sign_wow: It was almost like reading a complete bio of the great man. Nice job man.