Pyrrhus, and Other Personages As Paying a Royalty to the Author
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Conditions and Terms of Use PREFACE Copyright © Heritage History 2010 In respect to the heroes of ancient history, who lived Some rights reserved in times antecedent to the period when the regular records This text was produced and distributed by Heritage History, an of authentic history commence, no reliance can be placed organization dedicated to the preservation of classical juvenile history upon the actual verity of the accounts which have come books, and to the promotion of the works of traditional history authors. down to us of their lives and actions. In those ancient days The books which Heritage History republishes are in the there was, in fact, no line of demarcation between romance public domain and are no longer protected by the original copyright. and history, and the stories which were told of Cyrus, They may therefore be reproduced within the United States without Darius, Xerxes, Romulus, Pyrrhus, and other personages as paying a royalty to the author. ancient as they, are all more or less fabulous and mythical. The text and pictures used to produce this version of the work, We learn this as well from the internal evidence furnished however, are the property of Heritage History and are subject to certain by the narratives themselves as from the researches of restrictions. These restrictions are imposed for the purpose of protecting the integrity of the work, for preventing plagiarism, and for helping to modern scholars, who have succeeded, in many cases, in assure that compromised versions of the work are not widely disentangling the web, and separating the false from the disseminated. true. It is none the less important, however, on this account, In order to preserve information regarding the origin of this that these ancient tales, as they were originally told, and as text, a copyright by the author, and a Heritage History distribution date they have come down to us through so many centuries, are included at the foot of every page of text. We require all electronic should be made known to readers of the present age. They and printed versions of this text to include these markings, and that have been circulated among mankind in their original form users adhere to the following restrictions. for twenty or thirty centuries, and they have mingled themselves inextricably with the literature, the eloquence, 1. You may reproduce this text for personal or educational purposes as long as the copyright and Heritage History version are included. and the poetry of every civilized nation on the globe. Of course, to know what the story is, whether true or false, 2. You may not alter this text or try to pass off all or any part of it as which the ancient narrators recorded, and which has been your own work. read and commented on by every succeeding generation to the present day, is an essential attainment for every well- 3. You may not distribute copies of this text for commercial purposes. informed man; a far more essential attainment, in fact, for 4. This text is intended to be a faithful and complete copy of the original the general reader, than to discover now, at this late period, document. However, typos, omissions, and other errors may have what the actual facts were which gave origin to the fable. occurred during preparation, and Heritage History does not guarantee a perfectly reliable reproduction. In writing this series of histories, therefore, it has been the aim of the author not to correct the ancient story, Permission to use Heritage History documents or images for but to repeat it as it stands, cautioning the reader, however, commercial purposes, or more information about our collection of whenever occasion requires, not to suppose that the traditional history resources can be obtained by contacting us at marvelous narratives are historically true. [email protected]. Original Copyright 1854 by Jacob Abbott. 2 Distributed by Heritage History 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS OLYMPIAS AND ANTIPATER ........................................... 4 CASSANDER .................................................................. 11 EARLY LIFE OF PYRRHUS ............................................ 19 WARS IN MACEDON ..................................................... 25 WAR IN ITALY .............................................................. 32 NEGOTIATIONS ............................................................. 39 THE SICILIAN CAMPAIGN ............................................ 47 THE RETREAT FROM ITALY ......................................... 55 PYRRHUS VIEWING THE ROMAN ENCAMPMENT. THE FAMILY OF LYSIMACHUS ..................................... 61 THE RECONQUEST OF MACEDON ................................ 69 SPARTA ......................................................................... 73 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF PYRRHUS ............................ 78 Original Copyright 1854 by Jacob Abbott. 3 Distributed by Heritage History 2010 CHAPTER I two families in the preceding generation—namely, the marriage of Philip of Macedon with Olympias, the daughter of a king of Epirus. Philip and Olympias were the father and OLYMPIAS AND ANTIPATER mother of Alexander the Great. Of course, during the whole period of the great conqueror's history, the people of Epirus, as Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, entered at the very beginning well as those of Macedon, felt a special interest in his career. of his life upon the extraordinary series of romantic adventures They considered him as a descendant of their own royal line, which so strikingly marked his career. He became an exile and as well as of that of Macedon, and so, very naturally, a fugitive from his father's house when he was only two years appropriated to themselves some portion of the glory which he old, having been suddenly borne away at that period by the acquired. Olympias, too, who sometimes, after her marriage attendants of the household, to avoid a most imminent with Philip, resided at Epirus, and sometimes at Macedon, personal danger that threatened him. The circumstances which maintained an intimate and close connection, both with her gave occasion for this extraordinary ereption were as follows: own and with Philip's family; and thus, through various results The country of Epirus, as will be seen by the of her agency, as well as through the fame of Alexander's accompanying map, was situated on the eastern shore of the exploits, the governments of the two countries were Adriatic Sea, and on the southwestern confines of Macedonia. continually commingled. The kingdom of Epirus was thus very near to, and in some It must not, however, by any means be supposed that respects dependent upon, the kingdom of Macedon. In fact, the the relations which were established through the influence of public affairs of the two countries, through the personal Olympias, between the courts of Epirus and of Macedon, were relations and connections which subsisted from time to time always of a friendly character. They were, in fact, often the between the royal families that reigned over them respectively, very reverse. Olympias was a woman of a very passionate and were often intimately intermingled, so that there could ungovernable temper, and of a very determined will; and as scarcely be any important war, or even any great civil Philip was himself as impetuous and as resolute as she, the dissension in Macedon, which did not sooner or later draw the domestic life of this distinguished pair was a constant king or the people of Epirus to take part in the dispute, either succession of storms. At the commencement of her married on one side or on the other. And as it sometimes happened that life, Olympias was, of course, generally successful in in these questions of Macedonian politics the king and the accomplishing her purposes. Among other measures, she people of Epirus took opposite sides, the affairs of the great induced Philip to establish her brother upon the throne of kingdom were often the means of bringing into the smaller one Epirus, in the place of another prince who was more directly in an infinite degree of trouble and confusion. the line of succession. As, however, the true heir did not, on The period of Pyrrhus's career was immediately this account, relinquish his claims, two parties were formed in subsequent to that of Alexander the Great, the birth of Pyrrhus the country, adhering respectively to the two branches of the having taken place about four years after the death of family that claimed the throne, and a division ensued, which, Alexander. At this time it happened that the relations which in the end, involved the kingdom of Epirus in protracted civil subsisted between the royal families of the two kingdoms were wars. While, therefore, Olympias continued to hold an very intimate. This intimacy arose from an extremely influence over her husband's mind, she exercised it in such a important intermarriage which had taken place between the Original Copyright 1854 by Jacob Abbott. 4 Distributed by Heritage History 2010 way as to open sources of serious calamity and trouble for her Of course, the death of Philip, whether Olympias was own native land. the procurer of it or not, was of the greatest conceivable After a time, however, she lost this influence entirely. advantage to her in respect to its effect upon her position, and Her disputes with Philip ended at length in a bitter and upon the promotion of her ambitious schemes. The way was at implacable quarrel. Philip married another woman, named once opened again for her return to Macedon. Alexander, her Cleopatra, partly, indeed, as a measure of political alliance, son, succeeded immediately to the throne. He was very young, and partly as an act of hostility and hatred against Olympias, and would submit, as she supposed, very readily to the whom he accused of the most disgraceful crimes. Olympias influence of his mother. This proved, in fact, in some sense to went home to Epirus in a rage, and sought refuge in the court be true. Alexander, whatever may have been his faults in other respects, was a very dutiful son. He treated his mother, as long of her brother.