| Pyrrhus's invasion of the Peloponnese | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Siege of Sparta by Pyrrhus, byFrançois Topino-Lebrun | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Epirus Macedonia (Aeacid) Argive democratic faction | Macedonia (Antigonid) Sparta Messene Argive oligarchic faction | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Pyrrhus of Epirus † Ptolemy † | Antigonus II Gonatas Areus I Acrotatus | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 27,000 troops 25,000 infantry 2,000 cavalry 24 war elephants | Unknown | ||||||||
Pyrrhus's invasion of the Peloponnese in 272 BC was an invasion of south Greece byPyrrhus,King of Epirus. He was opposed byAntigonus Gonatas and a coalition ofGreekcity-states (poleis), most notablySparta. The war ended in a joint victory by Antigonus and Sparta.
After being defeated by theRoman Republic in thePyrrhic War in 275 BC, Pyrrhus (r. 297–272 BC) decided to turn his attention toGreece. He declared war onAntigonus Gonatas (r. 283–239 BC) ofMacedon and in a rapid campaign, managed to defeat him and make himselfking of Macedon. In 272 BC, Pyrrhus agreed to assist the disgruntledSpartanprince,Cleonymus, who requested his assistance in securing the Spartan throne.
Pyrrhus advanced with his army throughcentral Greece and upon reaching thePeloponnese, he marched against Sparta. The city was sparsely defended at the time as the majority of its army had been taken toCrete byKingAreus I (r. 309–265 BC). The Spartans led byCrown PrinceAcrotatus were able to withstand a series of Epiriote assaults until Macedonian reinforcements and Areus's army arrived to relieve the defenders.
Following the arrival of the relieving force, Pyrrhus lifted the siege and prepared towinter inLaconia. However, he was approached by anArgive citizen who requested his assistance in overthrowing the government ofArgos. Seeking to take advantage of the opportunity, Pyrrhus took his army to Argos, being harried along the way by the Spartans. Whilst attempting to seize Argos by night, Pyrrhus was set upon by his Argive opponents as well as the Spartans and Antigonus's Macedonians. In the ensuing mêlée, Pyrrhus was slain. His death prompted the capitulation of his army and the reestablishment of a Macedonianhegemony over Greece.
Following entreaties from theGreekpolis ofTarentum in 281 BC,Pyrrhus, theking of Epirus in northernGreece, invadedItaly with an army of 25,500 and 20war elephants.[1] The aim of the expedition was to combat the aggression of theRoman Republic, which was increasingly annexing the Greek cities ofMagna Graecia. Upon arriving in Italy in 280 BC, Pyrrhus assumed command of an army consisting of the Greeks of Magna Graecia. Adding these forces to his own from Epirus, he engaged and defeated theRoman army at theBattle of Heraclea, near Tarentum in 280 BC.[2] The Epiriote victory caused a number of native groups such as theSamnites and theLucanians, who were also fearful of Roman expansionism to join Pyrrhus.[3] Subsequently, Pyrrhus advanced towardsRome and at theBattle of Asculum he vanquished another Roman army.[4]
Despite having bested the Romans in their battles, Pyrrhus had sustained heavy casualties. With his Italian allies wavering, Pyrrhus decided to abandon his campaign against Rome.[5] At this point in time, Pyrrhus had two options available. Firstly, he could return to Greece where the throne ofMacedon had been left vacant by the death ofKingPtolemy Keraunos at the hands of theGallic invaders of Greece.[6] Pyrrhus had coveted the Macedonian throne and had briefly held it from 287 BC to 285 BC.[7] Alternatively, he could respond to the appeal of the Greek poleis ofSicily which were requesting his assistance to combatCarthaginian aggression.[5]
Ultimately, in 278 BC, Pyrrhus decided to direct his army against the Carthaginians in Sicily.[8] Pyrrhus was highly successful in his campaign against Carthage and by 275 BC had managed to restrict them to the settlement ofLilybaeum in the far west of the island.[6] Despite these victories, Pyrrhus's despotic disposition and pretensions alienated his Sicilian allies who began to abandon him.[9] In light of these developments, Pyrrhus decided to return to mainland Italy to continue his war against Rome. The Epiriotes attacked the Roman army but after the inconclusiveBattle of Beneventum, he returned to Epirus.[10] Despite Pyrrhus leaving agarrison there, Tarentum succumbed to Rome in 272 BC.[11]
On his return to his homeland, Pyrrhus found himself in a difficult position. His Italian sojourn had emptied his coffers and crippled his army, leaving him reliant on Sicilian mercenaries who required payment.[12] In order to secure funds to pay his troops, Pyrrhus planned a war againstAntigonus II Gonatas, the new king of Macedon. Citing Antigonus's refusal to provide him with aid during his Italian expedition as acasus belli, Pyrrhus invaded Macedon in the spring of 274 BC. He was accompanied by an army consisting of 8,000infantry and 500cavalry although their numbers were probably augmented byGallic mercenaries.[13] It has been speculated that by invading Macedon, Pyrrhus was acting as the agent of themonarchs ofPtolemaic Egypt,Ptolemy II andArsinoe II, howeverN. G. L. Hammond posits that this is highly unlikely.[13][14]
Initially, Pyrrhus had simply viewed his incursion into Macedon as an opportunity to plunder.[15] However, the capture of numerous towns and the defection to his side of 2,000 Macedonian soldiers caused him to make his objective the seizure of the Macedonian throne. Antigonus marched with his army to western Macedon and was confronted by Pyrrhus at theBattle of the Aous. Pyrrhus began the engagements by slaughtering Antigonus's Gallicrearguard before securing the surrender of the Macedonian war elephants.[15] Demoralised by these sudden reverses, the Macedonianphalangites responded to Pyrrhus's appeals and defected to the Epiriote side.[15] Abandoned by his army, Antigonus managed to escape toThessaloniki with a small force of cavalry.[16] He was able to entrench himself there, protected by his strongnavy which enabled him to maintain links with his possessions in Greece.[17]
Antigonus's flight left Pyrrhus in complete control of the Macedonianhinterland andThessaly in central Greece.[17] However, not all of Macedon surrendered to the Epirote king and he was compelled to send hisgeneral, theSpartanPrinceCleonymus to captureEdessa.[18] Despite initially being welcomed with enthusiasm by the Macedonians, he managed to alienate his new subjects when his Gallic troops ransacked the royal Macedoniantombs atVergina.[19] By late 274 BC or early 273 BC, Pyrrhus secured the occupation of Macedonia and returned to Epirus, leaving his sonPtolemy to govern the region.[20]
Following his Macedonian triumph, Pyrrhus was approached by his officer Cleonymus. The Spartan convinced the Epiriote king to aid him in a scheme to seize control of his homeland.[15] Cleonymus's reasons for seeking to attack Sparta were twofold. Firstly, he was angry that he had been overlooked for theAgiad kingship of Sparta in favour of his nephew,Areus II.Plutarch ascribes Cleonymus's failure to secure the throne to his arbitrariness and violent nature.[15] Furthermore, Cleonymus had become a target of ridicule in Sparta by the fact that his new wife,Chilonis, was engaging in an affair withAcrotatus, the son of Areus.[21]
Pyrrhus's motivation for agreeing to assist Cleonymus is more complex. By installing Cleonymus on the throne, the Epiriote would secure Sparta as an ally.[14] Additionally, by invading thePeloponnese, Pyrrhus would be able to subdue any cities which had remained loyal to Antigonus. In doing so, he could prevent Antigonus using thepeninsula as a base from which to launch a counter-attack on Macedon.[22] The size of the force assembled by Pyrrhus is indicative of his intention to extend hishegemony into the Peloponnese. The Epiriote king mustered an army consisting of 25,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry as well as 24 war elephants.[23] In 272 BC, Pyrrhus marched his army through Central Greece to the city ofPleuron from where they were ferried across theGulf of Corinth to the Peloponnese.[24] This suggests that the invasion was supported by theAetolian League, a powerful confederate in Central Greece which was allied with Pyrrhus and hostile to Antigonus.[13]
Antigonus attempted to exploit Pyrrhus's absence from Macedon by launching an invasion to reclaim his kingdom. However, his attack on Macedon was unsuccessful as he was defeated in battle by Pyrrhus's son, Ptolemy.[25] Unperturbed by Antigonus's offensive, Pyrrhus advanced into the Peloponnese where he was welcomed inAchaia.[14] The Epiriote army marched toMegalopolis, a central Peloponnesian city which lay on the border with Sparta. Several of Sparta's neighbours, namely Megalopolis,Elis and many of the Achaians poleis, supported Pyrrhus's invasion as they would profit from the reduction of Spartan influence in the region.[26] While his force was camped at Megalopolis, Pyrrhus receivedambassadors fromMessene,Athens, theAchaian League and Sparta.[27] In response to the Spartans' inquires as to the reasons for his Peloponnesian incursion, Pyrrhus managed to dupe the envoys.[26] He told the Spartans that he had come to liberate any cities still held by Antigonus and that he hoped to send his sons to Sparta to obtain a traditional education at theagoge.[28] However, when the emissaries returned to Sparta, Pyrrhus advanced intoLaconia. He advanced south, following the course of theEurotas River and ravaging the lands of the Spartanperioeci.[29] It may have been at this time that Pyrrhus assigned Cleonymus a series of independent commands as he is recorded as subjugating the city ofAlifeira in Elis as well as sacking Zarax in theParnon region of Laconia.[30] Pyrrhus's perfidy was met with anger in Sparta and ambassadors were immediately sent to Pyrrhus to rebuke him.[31]
The Spartans were caught unawares by Pyrrhus's invasion. Areus had taken the majority of theSpartan army with him toCrete, where he was campaigning on behalf ofGortyn at the request of Ptolemaic Egypt.[32] The result was that the settlement was lightly defended. Arriving at Sparta as night fell, Cleonymus advised Pyrrhus to attack the city immediately. However, the Epiriote declined to as he was fearful of the damage that would be wrought by Gallic troops if they entered the city at night and moreover expected the sparsely defended city to surrender in the morning.[33]
The Spartan council of Elders, thegerousia, suggested that theSpartan women be sent to Crete for their protection. They were dissuaded from doing so byArchidamia, the formerqueen and grandmother of theEurypontid KingEudamidas II who convinced them that the women could assist in the city's defence.[34] In order to guarantee the fighting men some rest, the women and the elderly began bolstering defences. Aware that Pyrrhus had elephants with him, the defenders dug a largetrench and sunkwagons into the ground at its flanks in order to hinder the Epiriote advance.[34] Moreover, messengers were sent both to summon Areus back and to request aid from Antigonus, despite the fact the Sparta and Macedon had traditionally been hostile.[14]Pausanias, the Greek geographer, claims that Sparta received some aid from Messene and the pro-Spartan faction atArgos.[35]
The Epiriotes launched their first assault against the city at daybreak. However, they were unable to get a firm footing because of the trench and were repulsed by the defenders, who were encouraged by the women.[36] In order to circumvent this obstacle. Pyrrhus ordered a 2,000 picked force of Gauls andChaonians commanded by Ptolemy to attempt to go around the trench. Finding their path blocked by the wagons, they began to pulling them out of the ground.[37] Aware of the danger, Acrotatus used a series of depressions to attack this force from the rear and managed to the push the Epiriote flanking group into the trench after inflicting heavy casualties upon them.[37] Unable to make an impact on the defences, Pyrrhus ordered his troops to withdraw to their camp at nightfall.[38]
After receiving a favourableomen during the night Pyrrhus renewed his assault.[38] An effect of the shortage of warriors was that the Spartan women were active in providing the defenders withmissiles and refreshments as well as taking away the wounded.[39] In an attempt to nullify the Spartans' advantage, the Epiriotes tried to fill up with trench with debris and bodies but were prevented from doing so by the Sparta. Responding to this Spartan counter-attack, Pyrrhus personally led a charge against the Spartan lines and succeeded in entering the city, spreading panic amongst the defenders.[38] However, at this point his horse threw him after it was wounded by ajavelin in the belly.[39] Pyrrhus's fall threw hiscompanions into a state of dismay, permitting the Spartans to rally and they managed to slay many of the companions in a barrage of missiles. Despite this, Pyrrhus was taken safely back to his camp.[39]
Prompted by this unsuccessful foray, Pyrrhus order his army to return to its camp. He now expected the Spartans seek terms as the severity of their casualties would make the defence unsustainable.[38] However, Sparta was saved by the arrival of unexpected reinforcements. In the interim, Antigonus had launched another offensive in northern Greece and succeeded in evicting Pyrrhus's garrisons from Macedon (this possibly accounts for the presence of Ptolemy in Pyrrhus's army).[40] Having reclaimed his kingdom, Antigonus moved south into the Peloponnese, probably using the sea route to avoid a confrontation with the Aetolian League.[41] Upon his arrival inCorinth, he sent his generalAmeinias the Phocian with a group of mercenaries to assist the Spartans.[42] The arrival of the Macedonia mercenaries was closely followed by Areus's return from Crete with 2,000 men. Enheartened by the arrival of these reinforcements, the defenders prepared to face Pyrrhus's next assault. The Epiriotes launched an attack in the morning but after this was repelled Pyrrhus became convinced of the futility of the situation and ordered his men to lift thesiege.[43]
Pyrrhus retreated with his army into the Laconian hinterland with the purpose of wintering there before making another attempt against Sparta.[44] However, as his troops were ravaging the surrounding countryside, he received news that Antigonus was marching on Argos from Corinth on his way to trap Pyrrhus in Laconia.[45] Pyrrhus was approached by Aristeas, the leader of the democratic faction in Argos, who sought Epiriote support to counter the pro-Macedonian aristocratic party of Argos led by Aristippos.[45] Accepting Aristeas' proposal, Pyrrhus began his march north to theArgolis.[41]
Pyrrhus's 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's rearguard of Gauls andMolossians.[46] In an attempt to restore the wavering morale of his rear, Pyrrhus sent Ptolemy to assume its command. Pyrrhus hoped that the presence of his son amongst the troops would stiffen their resolve and enable to him to extricate the remainder of his troops from the narrow pass through which they were passing.[44] Ptolemy's position was attacked by a picked Spartan war band under the command of Evaclus. In the ensuing struggle, Ptolemy was slain by the Spartans causing his remaining troops to rout. The victorious Spartans pursued the fleeing Epiriote rearguard until they were checked by some Epiriote infantry.[46]
Upon hearing of his son's death and the collapse of his rearguard, Pyrrhus summoned his Molossian cavalry and charged the Spartans. In the battle that followed, Pyrrhus killed the Spartan leader Evaclus with his own hand and succeeded in annihilating the pursuing Spartan troops.[47] After this skirmish, the Epiriotes continued their march to Argos. However, upon reaching his destination, he found that Antigonus had arrived at Argos first and camped to the city's north.[41] The Macedonian presence compelled Pyrrhus to pitch camp atNauplion to the south of Argos.[48]
Pyrrhus attempted to goad Antigonus into fighting a pitched battle on the plain in front of Argos but the Macedonian king was unmoved.[49] The Argives sent ambassadors to both kings, beseeching them to respect the city's neutrality. Antigonus agreed to the Argives' terms and gave his son as a hostage in order to demonstrate his sincerity. While Pyrrhus agreed to retreat from Argos, he failed to give a pledge and as a result was regarded with suspicion.[49]
During the night, Pyrrhus was able to enter Argos. While Pausanias recounts that he did so by force,[50] Plutarch asserts that Diamperes Gate had been left open for the Epiriotes by Aristeas.[51] Hammond opines that it is more likely that Aristeas admitted Pyrrhus into the city.[41] Although Pyrrhus's Gauls were able to occupy the Argiveagora, the rest of the army was delayed due to the war elephants being too large to pass through the gate. In order for them to enter, the towers need to be taken off their backs and reattached once they were inside the city.[52] Furthermore, Pyrrhus left the majority of his army outside the city walls under the command of his son Helenus.[53] This delay gave the Argives enough time to reach their citadel, the Aspis, and seek aid from Antigonus. The Macedonian king responded immediately, advancing towards the city walls and sending a relief force inside under the command of his son Halcyoneus.[54]
The situation further deteriorated for Pyrrhus when Areus entered Argos with a force of 1,000 lightly armed Cretans and Spartans.[55] The Argives, assisted by their Spartan and Macedonian allies, launched a counter-attack on Pyrrhus's Gallic troops in the agora and threw them into a state of panic. Due to the labyrinthine layout of the city and the darkness, both Pyrrhus's advancing troops and those of his opponents become scattered throughout Argos. The result was that Pyrrhus, entering the city at the head of his cavalry to assist the Gauls, was unable to effectively communicate his commands to his soldiers.[56] Realising the difficulty of his situation, Pyrrhus ordered his army to retreat from Argos as day broke.[55]
Understanding that the gates were too narrow for his army to exit in an orderly fashion, Pyrrhus ordered Helenus to tear down part of the wall and to be prepared to fend off any enemy counter-attacks against the retreating troops.[57] However, the instructions brought by the messenger were unclear and instead of organising the retreat, Helenus advanced with the rest of the army into Argos. With the majority of his troops streaming in through the gates, Pyrrhus's line of retreat was blocked off.[57] The disorder was exacerbated when Pyrrhus's largest elephant fell and blocked the gateway and another elephant started running amok after hismahout was felled.[55] The weight of the enemy's assault pushed Pyrrhus and his troops from the agora and compelled them to fight in the narrow street leading to the Diamperes Gate. In the fighting which ensued, Pyrrhus was wounded by a spear wielded by an Argive. As Pyrrhus turned to strike down his assailant, he was hit on the head by aroof tile thrown by his attacker's mother.[53] Pyrrhus was either killed by the force of the tile's impact[41] or, alternately, having fallen dazed from his horse he wasdecapitated by one of Antigonus's Macedonian soldiers, Zopyrus.[58] Pyrrhus's head was brought by Halcyoneus to Antigonus, who expressed dismay when he saw it and upbraided his son for acting in such a barbarous manner.[59] Upon Pyrrhus's death, Epiriote resistance crumbled and Antigonus accepted the surrender of Helenus, giving him Pyrrhus's body for burial.[55]
The expedition into the Peloponnese was a disaster for Epiriote ambitions. Although Helenus was permitted by Antigonus to return to his homeland with the remainder of his army, Epirus ceased to be a regional power.[60] Pyrrhus's son and successor,Alexander II of Epirus was granted generous terms by the Macedonian king. Epirus was able to keep Pyrrhus's conquests ofTymphaea,Parauaea andAtintania in western Macedon. Antigonus realised that an independent Epirus was essential in order to act as a buffer against theIllyrians to the north.[61]
Antigonus emerged from the conflict as the unchallenged ruler of Macedon and the leading power in Greece.[61] After his victory in Argos, Antigonus was able to install his supporter Aristippos astyrant of the city and appointed various pro-Macedonian leaders as tyrants in other Greek cities.[62] His support for tyrants over democratic rulers would lead to growing resentment amongst the Greek cities against Macedon.[63] On his journey north to Macedon, Antigonus succeeded in placing garrisons in the cities ofChalcis andEretria on the important island ofEuboia with the outcome being that he further consolidated his power in Greece.[63] The Spartan-Macedon alliance proved to be transient. Angered by Macedon's supremacy and full of ambition, Areus formed a coalition with several Greek poleis, most notably Athens. In the resultingChremonidean War, Areus was slain by his former ally Antigonus in a battle on the Isthmus of Corinth in 265 BC.[64] The war ended in a defeat that was so crushing for Sparta that it would not rise as aregional power again until the reign ofCleomenes III thirty years later.[65]