The Army of Pyrrhus of Epirus

3rd Century BC

Nicholas Sekunda author Peter Dennis illustrator

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published:19th Sep '19

Should be back in stock very soon

The Army of Pyrrhus of Epirus cover

Fully illustrated story of the army of the Greek king who fought both Rome and Carthage in the 280s270s BC, and gave the world the phrase 'a Pyrrhic victory' for a success so costly that it counts as a defeat.

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.

This is a very interesting and absorbing look at the later 'Successor' wars of the Helienistic world. -- Chris May * Battlefield *

ISBN: 9781472833488

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 150g

48 pages