Greek Texts & Translations

Helenus on his death passed on the kingdom to Molossus, son of Pyrrhus, so that Cestrinus with volunteers from the Epeirots took possession of the region beyond the river Thyamis, while Pergamus crossed into Asia and killed Areius, despot in Teuthrania, who fought with him in single combat for his kingdom, and gave his name to the city which is still called after him. To Andromache, who accompanied him, there is still a shrine in the city. Pielus remained behind in Epeirus, and to him as ancestor Pyrrhus, the son of Aeacides, and his fathers traced their descent, and not to Molossus.

Down to Alcetas, son of Tharypus, Epeirus too was under one king. But the sons of Alcetas after a quarrel agreed to rule with equal authority, remaining faithful to their compact; and afterwards, when Alexander, son of Neoptolemus, died among the Leucani, and Olympias returned to Epeirus through fear of Antipater, Aeacides, son of Arybbas, continued in allegiance to Olympias and joined in her campaign against Aridaeus and the Macedonians, although the Epeirots refused to accompany him.

Olympias on her victory behaved wickedly in the matter of the death of Aridaeus, and much more wickedly to certain Macedonians, and for this reason was considered to have deserved her subsequent treatment at the hands of Cassander; so Aeacides at first was not received even by the Epeirots because of their hatred of Olympias, and when after wards they forgave him, his return to Epeirus was next opposed by Cassander. When a battle occurred at Oeneadae between Philip, brother of Cassander, and Aeacides, Aeacides was wounded and shortly after met his fate. ^note

The Epeirots accepted Alcetas as their king, being the son of Arybbas and the elder brother of Aeacides, but of an uncontrollable temper and on this account banished by his father. Immediately on his arrival he began to vent his fury on the Epeirots, until they rose up and put him and his children to death at night. After killing him they brought back Pyrrhus, son of Aeacides. No sooner had he arrived than Cassander made war upon him, while he was young in years and before he had consolidated his empire. When the Macedonians attacked him, Pyrrhus went to Ptolemy, son of Lagus, in Egypt. Ptolemy gave him to wife the half-sister of his children, and restored him by an Egyptian force.

The first Greeks that Pyrrhus attacked on becoming king were the Corcyraeans. He saw that the island lay off his own territory, and he did not wish others to have a base from which to attack him. My account of Lysimachus has already related how he fared, after taking Corcyra, in his war with Lysimachus, how he expelled Demetrius and ruled Macedonia until he was in turn expelled by Lysimachus, the most important of his achievements until he waged war against the Romans,

being the first Greek we know of to do so. For no further battle, it is said, took place between Aeneas and Diomedes with his Argives. One of the many ambitions of the Athenians was to reduce all Italy, but the disaster at Syracuse ^note prevented their trying conclusions with the Romans. Alexander, son of Neoptolemus, of the same family as Pyrrhus but older, died among the Leucani before he could meet the Romans in battle.

Pleased with this proposal, and being a man who never lost time when once he had made up his mind, he immediately proceeded to man war ships and to prepare transports to carry horses and men-at-arms. There are books written by men of no renown as historians, entitled “Memoirs.” When I read these I marvelled greatly both at the personal bravery of Pyrrhus in battle, and also at the forethought he displayed whenever a contest was imminent. So on this occasion also when crossing to Italy with a fleet he eluded the observation of the Romans, and for some time after his arrival they were unaware of his presence; it was only when the Romans made an attack upon the Tarentines that he appeared on the scene with his army, and his unexpected assault naturally threw his enemies into confusion.