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Pyrrhus, outnumbered, withdrew to Epirus. [23] While he was back in Epirus, Pyrrhus suffered another setback. His second wife, Lanassa, daughter of the self-proclaimed king of Sicily Agathocles of Syracuse, deserted him. She claimed that she, a daughter of a Greek king, could no longer bear to share her home with barbarian women.
Pyrrhus was unable to recover his losses due to financial and population limitations of Epirus. Romans, by contrast, had a very large pool of military manpower and could replace their losses. Plutarch wrote that Pyrrhus said after the second battle of the war, "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined."
Pyrrhus' son and successor, Alexander II of Epirus was granted generous terms by the Macedonian king. Epirus was able to keep Pyrrhus' conquests of Tymphaea, Parauaea and Atintania in western Macedon. Antigonus realised that an independent Epirus was essential in order to act as a buffer against the Illyrians to the north. [61]
The Greek king Pyrrhus is known to have made Epirus a powerful state in the Greek realm (during 280–275 BC) that was comparable to the likes of Ancient Macedonia and Ancient Rome. Pyrrhus' armies also attempted an assault against the state of Ancient Rome during their unsuccessful campaign in what is now modern-day Italy.
In 275 BC, after campaigning in Italy and Sicily for seven years, king Pyrrhus of Epirus returned to Epirus. His treasury depleted by his western campaigns, he planned a new campaign, this time east into Macedonia. When Pyrrhus met with more success than he expected, the expedition turned from a limited raid into a full-scale invasion.
The core of Pyrrhus' army consisted of 5,000 Macedonian phalanxians, together with the phalanxes of the Epirus regions armed in the Macedonian style. Pyrrhus' army also had a small force of highly effective Thessalian cavalry, and some force from Rhodes, among other light infantry such as the Peltasts and Cretan archers. One of the main weapons ...
It was fought near Beneventum, in southern Italy, between the forces of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus in Greece, and the Romans, led by consul Manius Curius Dentatus. The result was a Roman victory (possibly strategic) and Pyrrhus was forced to return to Tarentum, and later to Epirus. [1]
They blockaded the Great Harbour with a hundred ships and besieged the walls with 50,000 men, while they looted the territory around the city. Both of the warring factions in Syracuse asked Pyrrhus of Epirus to provide assistance. They expected Pyrrhus to help because his wife Lanassa was the daughter of Agathocles, a former tyrant of Syracuse. [2]