"The gods favor the bold" – Ovid

The news reaching Pyrrhos during the rest of that year was not good. His diplomats had asked the Gauls in the lands of the Po river for an alliance against their mutual enemy in Rome, but Catamantaloedis of the Aedui had rejected this request out of hand. An effort to form a similar alliance with the barbarian tribes to the north and east of Epeiros had also foundered, due to the hostility of Dizo per Rekidava of the Getai. And finally, word came that the allied city of Taras in the land of Magna Graecia had fallen to two Roman armies, despite a stout defense by its citizen hoplites that resulted in the death of the Roman consul Lvcivs Cornelivs Scipio. We shall cover the battles of Taras and further diplomacy in future lessons, but for now it is sufficient to consider Pyrrhos's actions in the light of all this bad news.

For in the winter of that year, we are told that Pyrrhos detached half of his army, including all of the Illyrian cavalry, and sent them with his son and heir Ptolemaios Aiakides, with instructions to capture the rich mines to be found in the coastal lands of Illyria. That part of history is true enough, but the real reasons behind this bold move are not generally known. The first reason was that Pyrrhos's army had come close to starvation as it sat outside the walls of Demetrias. Pyrrhos's refusal to directly assault a city often meant that his own supply lines were stretched to breaking point. By halving his force, and especially by eliminating the need to find grain for his cavalry, Pyrrhos eased his supply situation. The second reason was that the cost of maintaining an army in the field had once again drained the Epeirote economy. Pyrrhos had more than enough forces at his command to overwhelm the small Makedonian garrison still remaining in Demetrias, especially because the Athenian army prevented the Makedonians from sending a relief force through the province of Attike. This is an important lesson, my lord: an army that is not fighting is merely a drain on the royal treasury. By sending a portion of his forces to fight elsewhere Pyrrhos could at least justify the military upkeep. The final reason was that Pyrrhos's spies believed the northern mines to be far more developed than they proved to be. In fact it took decades for the mineral wealth to be truly exploited, and until then these provinces offered a meager return of farming and few taxes. This is an economic mistake of Pyrrhos's that we can learn from, but should not discuss in public.

The remaining events of the siege of Demetrias are of some little military interest, although they may be instructive in the ways that war can change a man. For during the long investment the Antigonid commander Kalos Argeades had redeemed himself, showing a calmness and indifference to the siege that provided some meager hope to his starving men. In the third year of the 127th Olympiad (270 BC) he ordered a final sally, sending his garrison of 3,400 infantry into the field against Pyrrhos's force of over 10,000.


Forces present at the Battle of Demetrias, 270 BC

The Epeirote army pinned the oncoming Makedonian hoplites and phalangites in place, and then attacked them from behind with Galatians and skirmishers. For when you have no cavalry to act as a hammer, my lord, infantry must do.


Makedonian hoplites are fully engaged with an Epeirote phalanx, and about to be hit by Galatians

Seeing the death of his troops, Kalos led his bodyguards in a final doomed charge, and the gods of war ensured that once again it was Illyrian spearmen who were to pay for glory with their lives.


Kalos Argeades leads a charge of his bodyguards into waiting Illyrian spearmen

When Pyrrhos counter-charged and slaughtered the bodyguards, only Kalos himself escaped, reverting to his baser character and fleeing the field.


The battle is over, and Kalos Argeades flees the field.

And yet in the final moments of the battle, history records that Kalos marched his noble steed out of the gate once more, knowing full well that he was going to his death on Illyrian spears. Some might consider this a fiction invented to please the Antigonids in the later years when they were our allies, but Pyrrhos's personal papers record the episode and his admiration for the final actions of his opponent. Let this be a lesson to you too, my lord, for if ever you are faced with the same doomed and shameful situation as Kalos found himself in, following his actions would do much to redeem yourself in the eyes of history.


Kalos Argeades rides to his death from the gates of Demetrias.

Thus did Demetrias and the province of Thessalia become part of Pyrrhos's kingdom, driving the Antigonids into the sea as he had promised.


Capture of the city of Demetrias from the Makedonians

The majority of Pyrrhos's casualties were borne once again by the Illyrians, but overall his losses were very light. Additionally, the capture of Demetrias put the Epeirote economy on a sound footing, and Pyrrhos could now afford to maintain two small armies in the field, and to undertake a series of improvements in towns to please his growing population.


Losses at the Battle of Demetrias.

Meanwhile the Antigonids would now be battling Athenai and Sparte, and their battles would be ones of mere survival instead of expansion.


The situation in the Peloponnessos.

In Asia Minor, they were even threatened by the rebel general Alkibiades:


The rebel general Alkibiades threatens the Antigonid outpost of Mytilene