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Pyrrhus' advance on Argos did not go smoothly as his army was constantly harassed by vengeful Spartan troops led by Areus. By setting up ambushes and occupying strategic positions along the Epiriote line of retreat, the Spartans were able to inflict heavy casualties on Pyrrhus' rearguard of Gauls and Molossians . [ 46 ]
In 272 BC, Cleonymus, a Spartan of royal blood who was denied the throne, asked Pyrrhus to attack Sparta and place him in power. Pyrrhus agreed to the plan, intending to win control of the Peloponnese for himself. Pyrrhus gathered an army of 25,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 24 war elephants and invaded the Peloponnese under the ruse of ...
Pyrrhus wrote memoirs and several books on the art of war. These have since been lost, although, according to Plutarch, Hannibal was influenced by them, [4] and they received praise from Cicero. [55] Pyrrhus was married five times: his first wife Antigone bore him a daughter called Olympias and a son named Ptolemy in honour of her stepfather.
After this, Argos continued to remain a minor power in Greek affairs. Argos escaped occupation by Macedon during the reigns of Philip II [16] and Alexander the Great and remained unscathed during the Wars of the Diadochi, however in 272 it was attacked by Pyrrhus of Epirus at the Battle of Argos, in which Pyrrhus was killed.
In the midst of the confusion, word was brought to Halcyoneus that Pyrrhus was slain; he hastened to the spot, and arrived just as Zopyrus had cut off the head of the fallen monarch, which Halcyoneus carried in triumph to his father. [1] Antigonus upbraided him for his barbarity, and drove him angrily from his presence. [1]
Areus I (Ancient Greek: Ἀρεύς; c. 320 or 312 – 265 BC) was Agiad King of Sparta from 309 to 265 BC. His reign is noted for his attempts to transform Sparta into a Hellenistic kingdom and to recover its former pre-eminence in Greece, notably against the kings Antigonos Gonatas of Macedonia and Pyrrhus of Epirus.
Pyrrhus features in the player's speech in Shakespeare's Hamlet (Act 2, Scene 2) where his killing of Priam is described; The Second Part of the Iron Age, the final play in the Ages series by Thomas Heywood; Pyrrhus is a leading character in Andromaque (1667), a play by Jean Racine; Astianatte (1725), an opera by Leonardo Vinci
In Nonnus's fifth-century AD epic poem the Dionysiaca, Pyrrhus (Ancient Greek: Πύρρος, romanized: Púrrhos, lit. 'fiery') is a minor figure from Asia Minor who was punished by the goddess Rhea, the mother of the gods, for his attempted assault of her. His short story is only mentioned in passing, without much elaboration.