Pyrrhus and Pyrrhic War - Kings and Generals DOCUMENTARY

[Music] the heroes and legends of the Iliad and the Odyssey inspired many great individuals throughout the ancient world and these people played a great role in influencing history Pyrrhus of Epirus was no exception his adventures and conquests around Greece Italy and Sicily during the early Hellenistic age gained him a reputation for martial prowess which was unmatched in history and his benevolence to his people and soldiers ensured that he would be remembered fondly by his adversaries and friends alike while his rashness would make him a lesson for others in the aftermath of Alexander the Great's death in 323 BC his empire fragmented and was fought over by his generals his mother Olympius whose grandson now sat on the throne of Macedon was threatened by the son of Antipater Cassander Olympius being a malossi in herself allied herself with King heir Cadiz of Epirus and marched with him to reconquer Macedon however by 317 BC she had lost popular support due to her ruthlessness and Cassander now decided to take advantage he pushed north and invaded Macedon for gaining victory and having Olympia skilled in this triumph a part of the apparatus had rebelled against the equities and Al stood him declaring the autonomous the second as king instead many of the deposed Kings allies and family were killed but his son the three year old Prince Pyrrhus was spirited away towards Megara on the eastern border of Epirus his family had sympathizers in the town but he was not safe from Cassander because of this the princes Guardians fled north into Illyria where they took refuge in the court of glorious king of the illyrians who pities the young prince and took him in he also possibly did this for several practical reasons either because he decided a claimant to the effort throne was more valuable to him than casandra's possibly empty promises or because his wife was also a Malaysian and convinced him to spare her kin not long after Cassander invaded Illyria and defeated peeresses guardian in battle he pledged to do no harm to the allies of Cassander in the region but retained Pyrrhus at his court in southern greece the forces of Antigonus the first and Cassander were battling which weakened the Macedonian Kings control the deposed a a Cadiz decided to take advantage of this weakness and marched back into Epirus where he quickly gathered a large army Cassander sent his brother Philip to deal with him who quickly won two battles against and killed the airport king peeresses father was dead and the usurper Neoptolemus was back on the throne after another round of fighting in Epirus and a peace between the diadochi grouchiest invaded Epirus in 307 bc drove out Neoptolemus and installed the eleven-year-old Pyrrhus as king whose kingdom was now essentially a client of the illyrians six years later he received not to attend the wedding of grouchy as his son but the Malaysians once again revolted and overthrew Paris disgusting at his dependence on the Illyrio's they once again summoned Neoptolemus and placed him on the throne this time Claudius could not help Aris and he instead withdrew to southern Greece and the court of Demetrius Poli okra teas son of Antigonus the first who had married peeresses sister Dido mayor he then travelled with his new companion to Asia where they rendezvous with Antigonus under these two Kings Paris learned much in terms of generalship and siege warfare Antigonus supposedly acknowledged his talents stating that Paris would be the greatest general of his time if he lived long enough this assertion would soon be tested for the first time in 301 BC the 80,000 strong forces of Lysimachus and Seleucus faced off against the 80 thousand strong army of Antigonus and demetrius at the battle of ipsus at the age of 18 this was peeresses first experience of a major battle and he would prove to be a competent fighter as a young aristocrat he likely fought in the cavalry alongside his brother endure demetrius on the right flank sources do not give many details but they say that though he was still a youth he routed the enemy in front of him and was courageous in the melee nevertheless the Antigonus lost the battle and paris managed to escape with demetrius to greece Paris was then tasked with commanding the remaining Antigone dal eyes in Greece while his superior travels to Thrace in order to make war with Lysimachus [Music] in 298 demetrius made peace with ptolemy the first who had solidified his position as the ruler of egypt as a part of the peace terms Pyrrhus was sent to egypt as a hostage which was more of a position as an honored guest than a prisoner in the ancient world the new arrival impressed the court in Alexandria with his strength and prowess both in hunting and during military exercises his years in exile both with the illyrians and Demetrius seem to have made him skillful at ingratiating himself with those he resided with after a few months Pyrrhus was permitted to marry ptolemy stepdaughter Antigone tying him closer with the court in Egypt in 297 Cassander died and the Egyptian ruler provided Paris with soldiers and money so that he might reclaim his kingdom he came to terms with Neoptolemus and both decided to share royal power predictably both Kings immediately began plotting after a conspiracy by Neoptolemus was uncovered Paris invited him to dinner and assassinated his co-ruler becoming the undisputed king of Epirus for decades to come like the other Hellenistic rulers Paris would soon attempt to expand his kingdom at the expense of his neighbors and he would use the effort army to do this fusa Diddy's describes the typical 5th century army of Epirus as a tribal levy disorganized grave when things were going their way but quick to diss Hardman to flee at any setback however it is clear that Epirus was influenced by the reforms in the Macedonian army to its east their infantry fought in the close order service of phalanx and the cavalry fought with Lance's similar to Alexander's companions at the start of his reign it is probable that this new modern army of Paris had a total of twenty to twenty-five thousand troops and was a match for almost any of his contemporaries in the tumultuous struggle for the throne after the death of the former King Paris was drawn into a civil war between Co Sanders sons the eldest Antipater and the youngest Alexander their mother Thessaloniki favoured Alexander and split the kingdom between them however an Tippett was not satisfied with this and killed their mother seizing the whole of the country in 294 BC in return for stem failure and per our ear in Macedon and ambrosia a kanayo and anther Lakia in Greece Paris agreed to help Alexander after securing these new territories with Garrison's he conquered the rest of Macedonia and handed it over to Alexander Lysimachus who had been petitioned by an tippet er to help advised the two kings to come to terms and so they did while Paris withdrew back to Epirus this was not the end of it Demetrius who had been campaigning against the Spartans now marched north and eventually murdered Alexander after a feast then he assembled the Macedonian army and proclaimed that he was the rightful claimant to the throne and that Cassandra and his sons were the murderers of Alexander the Great's family whereas his own house had followed Alexander's legacy and attend to keep it alive this one the Macedonians over and they acclaimed him the new king by the end of to 94 BC Demetrius controlled a powerful Empire consisting of the entirety of Greece with the exceptions of Sparta Visenya and peeresses Kingdom with which he now shared a border the former master and apprentice would be rivals for years to come meanwhile Paris his wife Antigone died in childbirth and he embarked on a series of political marriages which gained him the island of Ko Kira the Greek cities revolted against the Macedonian King twice in 2 9 3 BC encouraged by this Pyrrhus invaded the western part of his neighbours kingdom with around 30,000 troops and exacted tribute from a few cities responding almost immediately Demetrius marched against Paris with a vastly superior army and so he retreated into Epirus before the Macedonians could bring them to battle before leaving to besieged Thebes Demetrius left an 11,000 strong garrison under his best general and talus while he was back in Epirus peeresses wife LaNasa the daughter of Agatha cleese of Syracuse deserted him and offered herself and corcyra to Demetrius stating that she could no longer bear sharing her home with peeresses other barbarian wives without any Navy to oppose his former comrade Paris sat back and allows demetrius to take both call Kira and Lucas this was just a prelude to his future plans being just as restless and ambitious as Pyrrhus Demetrius now attacked Epirus is a tolian it's in 2-inch 9 neutralizing them and leaving pant Elka's to occupy them before marching into Epirus he marched north through the mountain passes to invade embrace' while Pyrrhus hearing of the invasion quickly assembled a force to oppose demetrius and marched south down the coastal road however as the two armies went out on different roads they passed one another by while the unopposed invader now plundered the apparat countryside Pyrrhus encountered the 10,000 strong macedonian force of Pantelis which had been left to garrison a Tolia the army of Epirus likely numbered around 20,000 soldiers and heavily outnumbered their enemy it is probable that due to the veteran nature of the soldiers Fanta causes reputation as demetrius is most competent commander and the mountainous terrain of a Tolia the battle was evenly matched despite peeresses numerical advantage the Macedonians held firm despite the heavy fighting during this melee the two commanders sought one another out and antilochus challenged the operating to individual combat Pyrrhus not being one to yield to anyone in daring and prowess accepted this challenge after first throwing their spears at one another the two combatants dueled with swords Pyrrhus was wounded at first but then quickly gave Pantelis to wounds in return one on the thigh and then the deciding wound to the neck Demetrios is general was then carried away by his bodyguards and being inspired by their commanders victory the airport phalanx cut their enemy to pieces killed many in the pursuit and captured five thousand prisoners whom Eris promptly released this was Paris's first victory as a commander and he had conducted himself in a brilliant manner both in his generalship of the army and his personal perished in the jewel his army jubilant with victory now gave him the title Eagle a moniker which would remain with Paris throughout his life and future conquests the airport King in an act of humility to this soldiers stated through you I am an eagle for how should I not be when I have your arms to sustain me in addition the defeated Macedonians now had a high opinion of Paris and his skill in arms a fact that would play a part in the wars to come Demetrios his theft of his wife and the island of Corcyra embittered Paris and when he discovered his foe was seriously ill in the wake of the airport victory over Pantelis he sent an invading army into Macedonia in late to 89 he was initially only attempting to plunder the countryside foot without Demetrius to lead the defense he met almost no resistance reaching a gay before he was repelled when Demetrius had recovered he gathered a huge army and intended to reclaim his father's old Asiatic possessions so made peace with Paris confronted by Demetrius huge Macedonian army the other Kings Ptolemy Salukis and Lysimachus formed an alliance in order to cut their old Antigone's foe down to size for a second time the Alliance sent embassies and letters to Paris in Epirus advising him of the best time to attack when demetrius was occupied with the other kings Pyrrhus may have been hesitant but to remain neutral would have resulted in no gain if Dimitri has gained victory he could overwhelm Epirus at any point and if the Allies won and Paris was not part of the Alliance he would reap none of the spoils most importantly this might give him an opportunity to reconquer part of or all of Macedonia and so he joined the alliance in 288 BC the Coalition attacked Ptolemy sailed from Egypt in the south to attack Demetrius with a huge fleet of ships while lysimachus thrust into Upper Macedonia from his lands in Thrace in response Demetrius moved northeast with his large army to confront Lysimachus and at this point Pyrrhus invaded from the south almost completely unopposed back to the north Lysimachus was defeated in battle by Demetrius but his army was angry that their commander had allowed Paris to plunder their lands and unrest began to spread after Demetrius marched against Paris himself the airport King sent agents into the enemy camp to spread propaganda and create chaos small groups of Macedonians who supposedly had begun to admire Paris and his increasingly favorable reputation defect it followed by the entire army Demetrius escaped to the coast though Paris had won a great victory and gained Macedonia for himself Lysimachus now marched into the kingdom and proclaimed that the victory had been a joint effort Paris not confident in the loyalty of the fickle Macedonians left the kingdom to Lysimachus and retreated to Epirus over the next few years Demetrius the first finally perished and his holdings were inherited by his son Antigonus conatus Lysimachus attempted to isolate paris but in 282 he was attacked by Seleucus at the Battle of corapi diem Lysimachus was defeated and killed while Seleucus was murdered shortly after his murderer Ptolemy the Thunderbolt wasted no time after his treacherous act and was declared king by the Macedonian army the only other claimant to the throne of Macedon was Paris but he would soon decide on another course of action to the west meanwhile on the Italian peninsula the southward expansion of a new power Rome was threatening the independent Greek colonies in Magna Graecia one of these cities Tarentum a colony built by the spartans was the most powerful and had provoked the Romans by attacking their ships and humiliating their own voice now worried about Rome the tarentines who governed democratically at this point voted to send an embassy to Epirus asking for assistance in 281 BC Pyrrhus agreed but demanded that Tarentum must pay the costs of the war and give him supreme command of the Allied forces to further pressure his Western rival into going to Italy so that he could concentrate on the East Ptolemy the Thunderbolt of Macedon offered Paris 5000 more phalange days for the campaign in early 280 BC tarentum sent its fleet to transport peeresses army to Italy the force which embarked in Emperor's consisted of 20,000 men mostly Macedonian and Epirus erisa pikemen and possibly some mercenaries 3000 cavalry two thousand archers 500 slingers and twenty war elephants after landing the King began to militarize 2 wrentham and deal with any political enemies there while the Romans did the same in the cities under their control preparing for the coming conflict consul Publius Valerius Levinas was given command of four legions and was ordered to march directly against her Wrentham they wanted to force Paris into battle before his Greek allies arrived and raided the countryside while pushing south in mid to 80 BC their plan succeeded and learning that the Romans were bearing down on the Greek city of Heracles Pyrrhus marched to meet his new foe for the first time the invading Roman army consisted of four Roman and four allied legions and was drawn up in the traditional manipular fashion Young has star team and the front ranks more experienced print co-pays filled in behind them and better entry REE stood in reserve in total the Romans had around 40,000 Legionnaires in addition 2,400 Roman and allied cavalry were placed on the wings they were commanded by consul the Venus meanwhile peeresses initial force of 25,000 500 infantry had been supplemented by thousands of Magna gricean infantry mercenaries and a few thousand cavalry in total the Greek army may have numbered around 31 thousand infantry including his 20,000 heavy for longitudes and a few thousands local allies 5500 missile troops including 1000 Rhodian slingers and Thracian javelin men formed peeresses skirmishing force while his 4,000 cavalry were drawn from the expert horseman of Thessaly in greece who were famous for their ability to move in a diamond shaped formation and were armed with these isten a 12 foot long two-handed spear and some light javelins being able to harass or charge with equal skill in reserve were the airport kings 20 war elephants [Music] in contrast to the typically aggressive Roman plan Pyrrhus wished to delay any battle for as long as possible until his allies could rally their forces and join him shadowing the larger Roman force he encamped on a plain outside the city near the left bank of the serious river hoping to protect the settlement on terrain suitable for his phalanx while his enemy encamped on the other side of the river a little further upstream when his army was resting Pyrrhus and his friend mega Cleese went scouting to examine the enemy camp surprised at the organized nature of the supposedly barbarian camp the apparate King stated foreboding Lee these don't look like barbarians to me we'll see what they can do soon in order to guard the riverbank a contingent of light infantry missile troops were sent towards it this done Pyrrhus turns to other concerns thinking he had plenty of time in his strong defensive position he was about to receive a nasty shock after a few hours of preparation Levinas unexpectedly ordered the entire Roman army of over 40,000 Legionnaires to cross the river the small force of light infantry skirmishes that Pyrrhus had placed on the riverbank pelted the Roman vanguard with missiles and slowed them down a little but the noise of an entire army crossing the river deafened them and they were unable to hear coming to their left the Roman equity cavalry who had crossed the river further upstream smashed into the flank of the defending missile units who quickly retreated after suffering huge losses the Roman relatives were now coming across and Pyrrhus who could not afford to lose his River defense entirely before his infantry was ready organized his phalanx before charging ahead of them with 3,000 of his best cavalry straight into the road light infantry Vanguard this slowed them down and gave the Falange attains a chance to catch up as they approached the battle line the Roman has star T crossed the river they were better armed and armored than the Weller tastes who pulls back behind the line and instead engaged the cavalry on the wings in this melee Pyrrhus was knocked off his horse and almost killed by an enemy which prompted him to pull back his friend mega Cleese now swapped armor with pillars and donned the Kings unusually magnificent armor riding back into the fray the Romans were now in trouble despite Lavinia sis but crossing of the river the wall of Pike's was now fixed and began to slowly push that doggedly determined Romans with their backs to the river they fought with tenacity but has not found a way to hit the Phalanx in its flank or rear gradually the Roman army began to melt away under the pressure of the Phalanx but then everything turned mega cleese armored in the Kings panoply was slain by a legion airy and the helmet was paraded around the battle line inspiring the Romans and demoralizing the apperance who all believed that their King was dead at this point the Phalanx slowly began to waver and the Romans pushed them back from the river bank the real Pyrrhus understanding that this was a key moment in the battle charged up and down his line in an attempt to inform his troops that he was not dead shoring up their morale at the same time the twenty war elephants which had until now being kept in reserve were Unleashed and hit both of the Roman flanks while their infantry held firm even against these monsters most of them had never seen before the cavalry horses panicked and bolted retreating through their own infantry and splitting the legions formation even the legions lost fair grit and began to run while Pyrrhus commanded his Thessaly and cavalry to chase the routing enemy along the shore and into the shallows of the river by the end of the battle 7,000 Romans had been killed and 2,000 captured while the Epirus had suffered four thousand casualties including many of their senior veteran officers though Paris had won his first major battle against Rome it had been a difficult and grinding slogging match he would soon learn that despite his own martial prowess he had truly met his match Rome dismissing Paris's office of surrender terms began recruiting a new army and the airport King began to patch up his own ready for the next battle which was soon to come [Music] in the wake of the defeat at the Battle of heraclea in 280 BC console the Venus returned to Rome the Roman recruiting machine intensified greatly quickly replenishing the heavy losses they had suffered in the previous battle meanwhile Paris who still did not yet understand the Roman mindset sent his friend and advisor Kinney as forward to Rome as an envoy with great gifts which were probably meant as bribes Paris himself marched north in the direction of Rome proper and his army were swelled by the Italian Greeks and Italian allies of Rome who now viewed him as a hero for defeating their subjugate errs in a show of Roman Honor kenya's was sent away without achieving his goal of peace but he had observed the frightening speed of the Roman levee system almost directly after this a Roman named fàbregas arrived at peeresses court with the aim of negotiating the release of the prisoners taken at her eclair paris tries to bribe him to no avail and then failed to impress him by frightening him with an elephant fàbregas was also an extremely honorable but prickly man when Paris's treacherous physician offered to poison the king for money fàbregas instead informed Paris and stated that he would not dishonor Rome by defeating his enemy by treachery greatly admiring this paragon of a man the apparat King offered the Roman first place among his companions fàbregas refused stating that if he had accepted the Emperor's would soon wish he were king instead of Paris after this witty remark he departed back to Rome with the prisoners who were released as a gesture of kindness the Pyrrhic army then continued its northward march and attempted to take Capua lavina's who had reached the city before them prevented Paris from taking it so the King pivoted south and attempted to seize neo police and again was repelled after his failure to take the cities in Campania Paris marched on Rome via the Latin road and stopped just six kilometers from the city after Brennus his assault in 390 BC the walls of Rome had been strengthened and the city was reported to be impregnable a strong garrison held the city and two other armies were approaching Paris swiftly and so he decided to retreat south to tarentum rather than besieged the city over winter with the Romans refusing to make peace the campaign would continue into 279 since his victory at heraclea the Italian tribes had flocked to his banner sand Knights the canyons bruton's and sullen teens all sent contingents to join Paris's army this year instead of attacking the enemy capital directly he would campaign up the adriatic coast in Apulia hopefully inducing more of Rome's allies to change sides and securing his supply lines back to Epirus in spring he began his advance up until this point the legions had been reluctant to confront Paris after their prior defeat at her Eclair but having the important eppley in cities threatened they were forced to and marched south to to the peer economy near the city of Ashkelon consoles publius deck eeeh Smurfs and Publius so piteous Saverio commanded the double consular army that the Romans had brought consisting of around 40,000 legionaries and 5000 cavalry in addition they had learned from their previous defeat at the hands of peeresses elephants and had constructed roughly 300 anti elephant wagons armed with iron Trident and manned by missile troops Paris meanwhile had around 38,000 infantry 5,000 cavalry and 19 elephants his Macedonian phalange days were ordered to the position of Honor on the right wing to their left were the mercenaries hired from Tarentum and embrasure next to these troops worthy Brutus and Luke anyons Italian allies of the Pyrrhic army in the center of the line worthy fest brochures and County and tribes of Epirus even closer to the left were units of Greek mercenaries and on the left wing of the infantry line were the samnites armed as hoplite ace Paris his flanks were covered by his cavalry with lights troops and elephants behind each wing outside of the main battle line Harris formed up with 2,000 of his Elite Guard as a mobile reserve ready to move wherever they were needed the Roman army had an excellent defensive position anchored on the far side of a small and swiftly flowing river seeing this and the uneven ground close to the river that his phalanx currently occupied Pyrrhus retreated to flatter ground to the rear and allowed the Romans to cross the river when both sides were on the same side of the river they made contact the battle between the phalange days and legionaries in the center was inconclusive while the cavalry on both wings engaged one another b.p recourse men engaged in the macedonian style continuously wheeling and charging again while the Romans rained their horses and fought like infantry as the cavalry battle intensified Paris called his elephants forward but the Romans sent their wagons in as a response while this slowed the elephants at first the light infantry deployed with them killed the wagon crews or the oxen pulling them meanwhile in the center the Romans were getting the better of the phalange days on the bad terrain until the Italian allies of Paris finally broke under the pressure the king sensing the danger charged with his 2,000 elite cavalry reserve to plug the gap and manage to destroy the Roman front ranks in the area at this point 4,000 Roman allies who had been trying to attack the Pyrrhic army from behind managed to find and burn the Pyrrhic camp which was visible to the armies in the field the phalange days were demoralized by this loss and began to lose cohesion being pushed back by the Romans the situation looked critical but at this moment the elephants and cavalry on the Pyrrhic wings finally managed to attack the Roman flank which suffered heavy losses sensing another Massacre Rome's commanders withdrew in good order back to their camp the battle had been another hard contest but Paris had gained victory again at the cost of 3,500 men while the defeated Romans lost around 6,000 as his camp was destroyed Pyrrhus lost a few hundred more men due to lack of shelter and provisions in the days after the battle he surveyed the destruction and corpses all around him and famously stated one more victory and we are undone this is the origin of the term Pyrrhic victory triumphs so costly that they are just as bad as defeats a term which we still use 2,300 years later after the bloody battle at ass column Paris once again marched back to his base at Tarentum and began to recruit fresh soldiers in order to fill his depleted ranks as he recovered two embassies arrived each with a unique opportunity for the airport king one was from Macedon back across the Adriatic where in 279 BC ptolemy the Thunderbolt marched out to meet a Gallic invasion and had been killed after falling from his horse Macedon was in trouble and needed a king who was a proven warrior the second envoy was from the Greek cities of Sicily which were beset by enemies including the Mammootty mercenaries and more importantly the extremely wealthy Carthaginians likely tempted by ambitions of invading Sicily as a springboard to conquering Carthage Paris opted for the Sicilian option horrifying his Tarantino lies in late summer of to 7-8 he departed Italy for Sicily with 8,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry his ships managing to avoid the Carthaginian blockade of the island peeresses force landed at the eastern coastal city of tor ammonium where a local tyrant had already declared his allegiance to the emperor to king from there he sailed south to katana the citizens welcomed him as a liberator and the army received 3,000 reinforcements at this point he travelled with both his army overland and ships at sea towards Syracuse the Carthaginian army which was besieging the city had no naval support and were caught off guard by Paris's advance retreating soon after despite their numerical advantage after his victory at Syracuse Pyrrhus was able to gain possession of the 140 ship strong fleet there which gave him an advantage over the Carthaginian fleet around the island now he moved west and marched on agrigento where the city's tyrant saury Stratis was also allied to him it was here that Paris wintered and gathered his troops together before advancing further west at the beginning of to seven eight the Pyrrhic army set off once again the next city another Heraclea had to be stormed and it was a sign that things were going to get much more difficult as they passed the hey Lucas river into Carthaginian territory despite this the next major cities to the west Salinas and segesta came over to Paris without a fight this would be the last walkover he would enjoy on Sicily meanwhile in Macedon Demetrius his son Antigonus conatus stepped up and defeated an eighteen thousand strong Gallic army at lysimachia by luring them into attacking his abandoned camp gathering many treasures and when they were laden with goods trapping the Gallic force between his army and his fleet after this he took the kingship of Macedonia for himself while Pyrrhus was now in the West this was not the last time Antigonus would be heard from next Arace decided to attack the mountain fortress city of Erichs on the northwest coast of the island parris laid siege to the settlement first with catapults and ballista and then with scaling ladders these sources emphasized that Paris was first to climb the walls and fought heroically pushing many defenders back himself after a hard-fought siege the city was taken to the Northeast who was panelist a port settlement which possessed the finest harbour in Sicily Pyrrhus quickly stormed it after taking a few out spying fortresses and then finally turned west once again to Lille bayum in his attempts to capture this final hold out of Carthage's power on Sicily he had to raise intense taxes and levies on the cities that he now ruled this new harsh conduct caused his Sicilian Greek subjects to view him as a tyrant and he was no longer welcome as this happened 2 wrentham sent another envoy to their former ally the Romans had reversed all the games Pyrrhus had made seeing no future on Sicily he marched back to the eastern city of Messina and sailed back to Italy the city of La Cree in southern Italy had a temple to the goddess Persephone and was well stocked with years of temple offerings always in need of funds Paris robbed the temple and loaded the contents onto his ships which were promptly destroyed in a storm this misfortune had a great effect on the airport king who considered himself cursed after its retreat from sicily the Pyrrhic army finally arrived back to 2 wrentham in the spring of 275 BC and Pyrrhus immediately began attempting to rebuild it finding troops were seemingly not a problem for the reputable commander but finding more veteran troops to replace those he had lost in his previous battles was a more difficult matter the core of the Pyrrhic phalanx were greeks and the various balkan tribes who were in short supply in southern Italy he had to make do with a weaker militia from Tarentum Pyrrhus his reputation among the local tribes and Greek city-states had also suffered due to his previous abandonment of them and so tribes such as the Samnites hardly supported him at all once rested and replenished Pyrrhus and his army marched north to meet the legions for the third time at that point there were two Roman armies in the field and feeling confident he could defeat them in detail Paris sent a small contingent of his army to lucania in order to delay the second consular armies approach event took around thirty five thousand of his best remaining soldiers and the main portion of his army to attack the roughly 25,000 strong force of manious curious entities which had encamped on a hill near the town of Benevento again the Romans had chosen rugged terrain which would disrupt the Pyrrhic phalanx and had an excellent defensive position the Epirus could not hope to attack head-on so Pyrrhus possibly being influenced by the legendary final stand of the Spartans at Thermopylae and needing a swift victory sent one quarter of the best troops and remaining elephants in his army on a deep flanking maneuver up a forested hillsides at night which would bring them up above and behind the Roman position meanwhile the main force of the army would wait formed up for battle on the plain below the legionary camp waiting for the trumpets which would signal that the flanking force had made it Paris's flanking contingent set off at dusk and traveled throughout the night but they got lost in the dark and thickly forested woods possibly due to the resentment of their Samnite guides who itching for revenge led the Greek force astray contingents of soldiers began to wander off in the dark and become hopelessly lost while others tried to find the path on their own confusion in this beleaguered group was totaled and it was clear that there would be no coordinated night attack eventually even their torches went out and they were irreversibly lost back down on the plane the soldiers in the main force were kept awake becoming more and more tired as the hours ticked by it became clear to them that the trumpets would not be sounding that night dawn broke and the Pyrrhic flanking force finally emerged fully visible on the heights behind the Romans with their element of surprise completely gone nevertheless trumpets sounded and the battle began the Roman well it a skirmishes charged forward and through a storm of lights javelins at the Phalanx which was already disordered by the terrain and now began to fray under the pressure as the Wella tazed rushed between the Roman mana pools in retreat the hasta tnow smashed into the tired and hungry for land jetties their final reign of pilla as well as their frontal charge began to disintegrate peeresses flanking force on the heights and he hastily ordered his remaining elephant to charge at the Roman flanks and fortunately for him the Romans had learned well and shifted the pranky base in addition to the withdrawn well at ease to the wings with many peeler at the ready and they unleashed a withering hail of missiles against the elephants which panics and bolted crushing many of their own tightly packed infantry as they did seeing that all was lost on the heights Pyrrhus and a few hundred elite guards began to charge down the hill towards the remainder of his army and attempted to rally them before positioning himself with the cavalry on the right flank turning away from peeresses now mole flanking force the triumphant Roman army began to charge downhill as the main body of the Phalanx as the Romans crashed into the phalange days with immense momentum the Pyrrhic left flank quickly caved and began to pull back followed by the right flank again the now desperate effort King attempted to save the situation by sending in his last remaining elephants and again the Roman skirmishes and javelin men scattered them finally the battered and exhausted Pyrrhic soldiers could take no more and Pyrrhus ordered an orderly retreat to prevent his entire army routing this crushing defeat was the final straw and Pyrrhus whose treasury was completely empty left a strong garrison inter-entity his capital at embrasure with 8,000 infantry and 500 cavalry despite his losses in Italy Paris still burned with a limitless ambition and immediately began planning his next campaign whether because he wished to raise more funds or was angered at Antigonus for not supporting him in Italy or because he wanted to become the king of Macedon Pyrrhus attacked his Eastern neighbor in 274 BC the campaign began well with the Emirates taking many border towns and even having 2,000 Macedonian phalange taste effects to them after a few weeks Antigonus marched against the invaders and met Paris at a narrow Gorge near the owl's River peeresses veteran phalanx had the best of the initial fighting and drove the Macedonians back while Antigonus is Galatian mercenary rearguard resisted for a short while but were then cut to pieces and routed this left the unengaged Antigone elephants isolated and their handlers surrendered both themselves and their animals to Paris on the frontline of the Phalanx clash the Macedonians were wavering and the airport king decided on a bold course of action he raised his right arm and called on the Macedonian officers by name to surrender to him as they had on a number of earlier occasions the fickle phalanx of Antigonus deserted on masse the battle was over and Antigonus fled with a few bodyguards to Thessalonica Paris now followed up his victory by over running all of Thessaly and most of upper macedonia while Antechinus managed to hang on to some of the coastal cities with his strong Navy always the tactician and never the strategist Paris failed to finish off Antigonus when he had the chance and he would pay the price a rejected Spartan royal candidate named Cleon omus appeared at the Everett Court and approached Paris proposing a plan to overthrow the Spartan King array as' and place himself on the throne while the king was campaigning in crete the opportunity to place his own puppet on one of Sparta's Thrones was too tempting as it would allow the conquest of the remaining Antigone's strongholds in southern Greece with 25,000 infantry 2,000 cavalry and 24 elephants Paris invaded the Peloponnese in 272 BC crossing the Gulf of Corinth by sea as the only land route into the area at the Isthmus of Corinth was occupied by Antigone forces the parikamma disembarked and then marched south towards megalopolis in Arcadia where he was met by the spartan ambassador here Paris lied and professed that he simply wished to attack the forces of Antigonus and to liberate the Greek cities from his rule he also claimed that he wished to send his sons to Sparta for a military education and the Spartans believed him proceeding to reduce their patrols Pyrrhus then betrayed the Spartans and marched on their city through the friendly territory of Messenia by keeping to the west of the tightest mountains he concealed his movements from the Spartans and emerged to the south of Sparta completely surprising them outside of the city Paris's 27,000 strong force met spotters 15,000 and routed them as he marched on the city the Spartan council decided to send their women and children away to safety in Crete however when they learned of the decision the Spartan women vigorously opposed it one woman known as academia came to the council with sword in hand saying that she had no wish to live on if Sparta perished their resolve was strengthened by the courage that their women showed and they began to construct defensive trenches and stone walls as they did however their women came to them and told the soldiers to rest as they would need all the strength they could get and they themselves began to prepare the defenses in the morning Pyrrhus led a frontal attack on the Spartan trench but was repelled his son Ptolemy then led a force of 2,000 Galatian and effort infantry around the left side of the trench but he was ambushed from the rear by 300 men following the Spartan Prince a crow Titus and Ptolemy soldiers were almost all killed with only a small contingent managing to make it back to the average line Paris then attempted several more times to break the Spartan defenses but the trench held firm the Spartan women continued to assist in the battle digging further defences and carrying the wounded away to the rear nightfall eventually stopped the battle irritated at his failure Pyrrhus retreated and marched on Argos to intervene in a dispute however during the withdrawal his son Ptolemy was killed in a Spartan ambush and Paris descended into a black mood to politicians arrastia san'dera snippers were feuding in Argos as our snippers was an ally of Antigonus it was only natural that aris thais sautéed from paris as he arrived near the city Pyrrhus saw that his rival Antigonus had already occupied the heights above the plain and challenged him to come down onto the plain and fight for the kingdom Antigonus who was a much more cautious and less glory-seeking character than Pyrrhus declined and retreated slightly from the city as his army was much smaller than that of Paris during the night Paris's allies within Argos opened one of the gates into the city and his collation mercenaries took possession of the marketplace along with his elephants the argue beggars who learned of the attack sounded the alarm and rushed to take strong points in the city in addition they sent messages to Antigonus asking for help he had not withdrawn far and quickly marched back to his position outside the city sending a contingent inside in order to assist against Paris at the same time Spartan King array escaped with a horse of 1000 lightly armed Spartans and cretins the arc of aims along with their new allies attacked the Galatian mercenaries however as the night progressed the darkness caused both sides to become confused and said the fighting died down until morning when the Sun rose and illuminated the situation Pyrrhus was concerned by the numbers of the enemy troops in the city and decided to retreat but was worried by the narrowness of the gates he sent a message to his son Helenus to tear down a part of the city wall to allow a quicker withdrawal but the courrier misheard the order due to the noise of fighting instead he delivered an order to march to his father's assistance in the city and his relief force clashed head-on with his father's retreating force the largest of Helena's elephants had also become trapped in the narrow gateway and blocked the retreat the effort at all me inside the city now began to panic and flee in all directions as the our cafes attacked while Paris himself turned to his pursuers one of them was a hastily enrolled poor young man of the city he managed to wound Paris slightly with a spear through his breastplate but was set upon by the king and a duel began this our cafes mother was said to be watching the battle from the rooftops and seeing her son confronted by such a lethal foe through a roof tile at him in desperation which knocked him off his horse Pyrrhus of Epirus the fiery figure who had battled Romans Carthaginians Macedonians and Spartans was beheaded as he lay injured on the ground the death of Paris caused his army to surrender and in the aftermath Macedonian hegemony was reestablished over Greece Paris would be one of the last vestiges of the Alexandrian spirit of a Greek warrior king but there are always more stories to tell so make sure you are subscribed to our Channel and have pressed the bell button we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters and channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you 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Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 1,843,504

Rating: 4.9084129 out of 5

Keywords: imperator, rome, paradox, Pyrrhus, Pyrrhic, Rome, Roman, legion, diadochi, wars, kings and generals, asculum, heraclea, demetrius, alexander, epirus, ipsus, macedon, greece, macedonian empire, ancient rome, ancient greece, pyrrhus of epirus, roman republic, pyrrhic victory, roman history, ancient history, history lesson, full documentary, decisive battles, documentary film, animated documentary, historia civilis, military history, roman empire, world history, animated historical documentary

Id: 2QBA6ZPmj3Q

Length: 51min 53sec (3113 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 25 2019