Pyrrhus

319--272 bc, king of Epirus (306--272). He invaded Italy but was ultimately defeated by the Romans (275 bc)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Pyrrhus

Born 319 B.C.; died 273 B.C. King of Epirus from 307 to 302 and 296 to 273 B.C. Military leader of the Hellenistic age.

In 302 B.C., after being deprived of power as a result of an uprising by the local tribes of Molossians, Pyrrhus went to Demetrius I Poliorcetes and fought at his side in 301. In 296, after seizing power again in Epirus, he annexed the islands of Corcyra (Corfu) and Leucas (Levkas), the provinces of Acarnania and Ambracia, and other territories in Greece. For seven months in 287, Pyrrhus held sway over Macedonia. In 280, during the war between the city of Tarentum and Rome, he sided with Tarentum in the battle of Heraclea in southern Italy. His army of mercenaries inflicted a defeat on the Romans. In 279, Pyrrhus again routed the Romans at the city of Ausculum but suffered enormous losses. It is from this event that the term “Pyrrhic victory” is derived.

In 278, in alliance with the Syracusans, Pyrrhus advanced against the Sicilian Carthaginians, who at the time were allies of Rome. However, because of the Sicilian population’s dissatisfaction with his requisitions policy, Pyrrhus was compelled to leave Syracuse. In 276 he returned to Italy. In 275, Pyrrhus’ army was completely routed by the Romans at Beneventum. Pyrrhus himself fled to Tarentum and then to Epirus.

REFERENCES

Hassel, U. Pyrrhus. Munich, 1947.
Nenci, G. Pirro. Turin, 1953.

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