*note, I modded some things here and there to help my story*
What is Epeiros?
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Pyrrhos.
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Pyrrhos is Epeiros. Pyrrhos made Epeiros what it was…what it is.
Pyrrhos expanded Epeiros in all directions. The generals of Alexandros feared Pyrrhos. And rightly so, as Pyrrhos emulated Alexandros. Not only was Pyrrhos a great tactician like Alexandros, but Pyrrhos was the greatest soldier. And Pyrrhos was the most able to balance both of these responsibilities.
But now, O reader…Pyrrhos is dead.
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Who in the Hellas, in the World, could defeat Pyrrhos? Only Pyrrhos himself.
Pyrrhos was capricious. Pyrrhos was impatient. Pyrrhos lacked foresight. And the Fates…the Fates hated Pyrrhos. Such ignominious misfortune fell upon such great a man. But Pyrrhos will still be remembered for his deeds. Who else fought with such bravery at Ipsos to impress his then enemy, Ptolemaios Soter? Who subdued the Illyroi to the north? Who took over Makedonia by capturing the hearts of Demetrios’s army with his very presence? Even the sly Lysimachos could not fool Pyrrhos with his guile, when he forged the letter from Ptolemaios Soter. He sent the letter stating “From King Ptolemaios to King Pyrrhos” when Ptolemaios addressed Pyrrhos as “pater filio” (“from father to son”). So Lysimachos used his tongue and purse to remove Pyrrhos from Makedonia, with lies and bribes. And do not forget how Pyrrhos nearly took Italia to help those women of Taras who promised him so much, but gave so little, Yet they still speak of their Spartai descent. They will be dealt with later. But even without their help, Pyrrhos engaged those resilient Romani, and defeated them twice. And Pyrrhos would have continued defeating them no matter if they threw ten more armies at him if he could have kept his focus. But still, did you not see how Pyrrhos drove the Carthaginians from Sicilia? How he took their stronghold Eryx? He would have finished them at Lilibeo had it not been for the restless, ungrateful people who owed him their freedom.
But that is over now…I weep at how that noble man, of the most virtuous character was slain.
A hag, seeing that her son would be killed by Pyrrhos, threw a tile which stunned him, allowing that foul Argive to slay him.
It is the fault of Antigonos.
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It was Antigonos who refused to send Pyrrhos reinforcements in Italia. It was Antigonos who, after being wholly defeated and dethroned, still plotted mischief against Pyrrhos. He took advantage of Pyrrhos’s absence and failure to completely subdue Makedonia. He stirred up trouble in the Hellas, playing politics in Spartai and Argos. Pyrrhos is dead because of him. And let me not forget the first born of Pyrrhos, Ptolemaios.
How cruel are the Fates, that Pyrrhos must witness his son’s death in Spartai before his in Argos. Ah, Ptolemaios. Who else was more akin to Pyrrhos himself. Was Ptolemaios not the one who took Corcya with 60 men? In a naval battle, he took a quinquireme by jumping upon it from a small boat, with only seven men accompanying him, such an energetic and skilled warrior was he. But like his father, he also was capricious. After his death Pyrrhos himself remarked: “his death has come later than I feared, or than his recklessness had merited.”
Yes, Antigonos is the one. And does he really think that because he has done the duty that the gods demand, returning the bodies of Pyrrhos and his son, and sending back Helenos, the youngest of Pyrrhos’s line, who was called from Taras to accompany his father, that he may escape my revenge, that he may quell my anger and sorrow, that he may redeem himself? No, he cannot. I swear upon my father’s soul that I will return the favor upon Antigonos, and that my sons, named after my dead father and brother, will do likewise with his sons. I will never be as great a warrior as Pyrrhos, but I will keep my focus, I will avoid my father’s faults, and I, Alexandros II Aiakides, Basileus of Epeiros, will have my vengeance.
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