Epirus distinct troops?

[Gregoshi]

There is too much assuming going on here by more than one party. Let's not make assumptions about someone we don't know.

[Red Harvest]

BP,

I agree with Rosacrux on this. Just because you (or me or anyone else) are from a region or ethnic group, does not mean you have a lock on that group/region's ancient history. (And I am not saying you don't already know a lot about it.) I can't think of any area of the Med. back then that did not have periodic warfare with their neighboors. They might be best buddies for 100 years, then spend 10 years trying to kill each other off. The ancient world was one where cities were regularly sacked, the inhabitants massacred or sold as slaves. Greek cities even did this to their *own* citizens when one group gained control over another through some sort of coup. It is hard to imagine such a world compared to the relatively docile one of today. If one starts talking about compassion and the like, the post starts to lose an air of credibility. I'm not saying it is necessarily inaccurate, it is that others will see it as a subjective account rather than an historical one.

It has always been common for nobility to use their armies to install their own allies/claimants on neighboring thrones. That and a suitable marriage and you rapidly establish your own claim to the territory. That''s why securing power often involved hunting down and killing every single possible claimant from the former regime--even one's own blood relatives.

[Strategy]

The Ancient Illyrians were great raiders (much like the Kretans of the same time), and thus rarely had anything resembling peace. They certainly had no compunction about sacking and enslaving their neighbors, and the Epirotes were among their victims (as mentioned, one famous raid enslaved the entire population of the Epirote capital). There also didn't exist any strong central authority; the inability of Queen Teuta to control her "pirates" was one of the reasons for the eventual Roman conquest of the Illyrians.

[Byzantine Prince]

I never said that there were not wars between. Did you read my preveous post. I said that there were no more wars between the Illyrians and Epirotes then within clans in Epirus. Also it is a fact that the then king of Illyria helped install Pyrrhus to the throne not because he would gain something from it but because he fermly beleaved that he was the descendent of the great Achilles(which is fact). And Pyrrhus proved himself alright. He conqured Macedon, Aetolia, northen Peloponese, Sicily, And almost destroyed the Roman Republic. HE is the greatest hero of all and it's all because of the compassion of the king who treated him as he would his own children.
[IMG]
http://www.epirus.de/Geschichte/images/Pyrrhus-route-map.jpg[/IMG]

And another thing: Illyria was almost never a singular state so any wars with greeks were certainly no more then pety rivalries between clans. For example Macedon had enormous wars with Illyrians but that's not to say that it compares to anything even close to the one between Athens and Sparta.

[Urnamma]

BP: you've spouted a lot of B.S... Epirots fought the Illyrians constantly.

You've read one book? One book does not an expert make.

Saying 'trust me, I'm Epirot' is like saying 'trust me, I'm a grad student'...

Both can be wrong about their area of interest.

Try reading some good journal articles on epirus. This might help you.

[Byzantine Prince]

I beleave we have a languge issue here. See you suck at englisha and can't understand a simple sentence while I CAN!!!

So trust me on that, I'm a high school graduate.

[Gregoshi]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe the next phase of this thread is "My dad can beat up your dad" followed by the sticking-out of tongues. Or we can skip all that and I can close the thread - unless we show a little more maturity here. I'd rather not close the thread because then I'd have to go find my keys...

Why don't you all stop comparing how many books you've read on the subject or stating how ill-informed the other is, and start supporting your side of the issue. Provide a link, quote a book, suggest a good book on the subject - something other than what is currently going on in this thread. BTW BP, this includes an image of your high school diploma... (just kidding )

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.