The History Of Pyrrhus

A History of the Pyrrhic War explores the multi-polar nature of a conflict that involved the Romans, peoples of Italy, western Greeks, and Carthaginians during Pyrrhus’ western campaign in the early third century BCE. The war occurred nearly a century before the first historical writings in Rome, resulting in a malleable narrative that emphasized the moral virtues of the Romans, transformed Pyrrhus into a figure that resembled Alexander the Great, disparaged the degeneracy of the Greeks, and demonstrated the malicious intent of the Carthaginians. Kent demonstrates the way events were shaped by later Roman generations to transform the complex geopolitical realities of the Pyrrhic War into a one-dimensional duel between themselves and Pyrrhus that anticipated their rise to greatness. This book analyses the Pyrrhic War through consideration of geopolitical context as well as how later Roman writers remembered the conflict. The focus of the war is taken off Pyrrhus as an individual and shifted towards evaluating the multifaceted interactions of the peoples of Italy and Sicily. A History of the Pyrrhic War is a fundamental resource for academic and learned general readers who have an interest in the interaction of developing imperial powers with their neighbors and how those events shaped the perceptions of later generations. It will be of interest not only to students of Roman history, but also to anyone working on historiography in any period.

This military biography chronicles the dramatic life of the Ancient Greek ruler whose name became synonymous with self-defeating victory. One of the most influential rulers of the Hellenistic period, Pyrrhus’s life was marked by profound reversals of fortune. Though he was born into the royal house of Epirus in northwest Greece, Pyrrhus was raised in exile. He nevertheless prospered in the chaotic years following the death of Alexander the Great, taking part in the coups and subterfuges of the Successor kingdoms. He became, at various times, king of Epirus (twice), Macedon (twice) and Sicily, as well as overlord of much of southern Italy. In 281 BC Pyrrhus was invited by the southern Italian states to defend them against the aggressive expansion of Rome. His early victories at Heraclea and Asculum were won at such disastrous cost that he was ultimately forced to retreat. These so-called Pyrrhic victories were the first duels between the developing Roman legions and the hitherto-dominant Hellenistic way of war with its pike phalanxes and elephants. Pyrrhus ultimately failed in Italy and Sicily but went on to further military adventures in Greece, eventually being killed while storming the city of Argos.

Excerpt from History of Pyrrhus IT 18 doubtful if a burning ambition ever consumed more splendid talents than those with which Pyrrhus was gifted. So profound was the admiration he in, spired, that an entire hostile army at one time de serted bodily to his standard. Eaten up by his appe tite for military glory, his career was marked by a series of useless victories and a purposeless train of brilliant exploits. His personal prowess was incom parable, and Hannibal ranked him as the first of\all generals; but his name survives in modern speech as an adjective denoting victory so costly as to amount to defeat. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Pyrrhus was one of the most tireless and famous warriors of the Hellenistic Age that followed the dispersal of Alexander the Great's brief empire. After inheriting the throne as a boy, and a period of exile, he began a career of alliances and expansion, in particular against the region's rising power: Rome. Gathering both Greek and Italian allies into a very large army (which included war-elephants), he crossed to Italy in 280 BC, but lost most of his force in a series of costly victories at Heraclea and Asculum, as well as a storm at sea. After a campaign in Sicily against the Carthaginians, he was defeated by the Romans at Beneventum and was forced to withdraw. Undeterred, he fought wars in Macedonia and Greece, the last of which cost him his life. Fully illustrated with detailed colour plates, this is the story of one of the most renowned warrior-kings of the post-Alexandrian age, whose costly encounters with Republican Rome have become a byword for victory won at unsustainable cost.