Jackson Barry June 4, 2013 History Period 2 King Pyrrhus of Epirus I screamed out in pain as a sword went through

h my leg in combat. I looked around, hoping my fellow soldiers were doing better then me. I then gave my armor to Megakles, a man of similar build. I gave him the armor to ride out and inspire my men, but instead, he was slain in battle. I looked around; it was as if no one had won the battle. Everyone was gone on their side, but on the other hand, most of my people were gone and my city was ruined. I had won the battle against the Romans at Heraclea, but it did not come easy and it came with great loss. I am the great king of Epirus by the name of Pyrrhus. I was born in 319 B.C. in the city I later ruled named Epirus. My father was a wonderful man whose name was Aeacides (of Epirus) and his wife, my mother, is named Phthia (of Epirus). My mother was the daughter of a hero in the War of Greek liberation against the Macedonians (the "Lamian War"). I spent most of my childhood in Illyria. Glaukias, King of the Taulanti, took care of me until I was about twelve. I then returned to Epirus to take the throne there at the young and ripe age of twelve! My journey had started as a king! As I got older, I experienced many different things. For example, I married a beautiful woman by the name of Antigone (of Epirus). We had two children and one of them was named Alexander II and my other was Ptolemy. As I got older, I was involved in more and more wars and was a very good fighter. I learned the art of war at the hands of Demetrius and his father Antigonus I. He fought by my side at the battle of Ipsus (301) in Phrygia, in which they were decisively defeated. They taught me everything I had to know, and everything I do know about war. In 281, Tarentum (in southern Italy) asked for my assistance against Rome. I crossed to Italy with 25,000 men and 20 elephants. After this battle, I knew we had won, but I also thought we had lost. I had won the war, but not the battle. In 279, I had beaten the powerful and great Romans at Asculum. Again, I had won the war, but with many great losses. This gave the name to term, a pyrrhic victory. It was

where you win the battle, but with many devastating losses and destruction. I returned to Italy because I had been fighting in Sicily for so long and I knew I could not defeat them. But when I got to Italy, I had encountered another tough situation. The Italian Greeks refused to give me enough men or money to help rebuild my army that needed help. I made one more effort and engaged a Roman army at Beneventum in 275 B.C. I was defeated with the small amount of men I had left for battle, but we put up a good fight. I had many different battles and experiences. I had the wins that were easy, and the wins that I almost lost. It was a tough time recovering from some of those blows, and onetime, I could not recover. I was a successful leader and great military leader. But, my time had to come to an end eventually. Pyrrhus died in Argos, Greece in 272 B.C. According to some sources, he died when an old woman from atop a house threw a stone down at Pyrrhus and hit him in the back of the neck. This kept him stunned long enough for a soldier to come and behead Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus lived a young life, but with great success and military might.

Bibliography Abbott, Jacob. "Historical Character Directory." History Curriculum Homeschool. Heritage-History, 2007. Web. 28 May 2013. "Click Here To Play: Eagle King of Epirus." Eagle King of Epirus. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2013. Lendering, Jona. "Pyrrhus of Epirus (1)." Pyrrhus of Epirus (1). N.p., 1995. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://www.livius.org/ps-pz/pyrrhus/pyrrhus01.html>. "Pyrrhus (king of Epirus)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Ed. Mansur G. Abdullah. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 28 May 2013.