OTD 2339 years ago: Pyrrhos, the baddest Greek not named Alex or Phil is born

Just under 4 years after the death of Alexander, Pyrrhos (Pyrrhus) or Epirus is born in 319 BCE:

(Those friendly would talk of how beautiful a man Pyrrhos was. His enemies talked about him having a grotesque appearance with a snarl and of his upper jaw being one long tooth!)

The stories of baby prince Pyrrhos being stole away, by a few loyalist to his family, across a raging river as enemies were hot on their heels looking to murder the infant are the stuff of legend.


Or the story of when his caretakers finally get Pyrrhos to the neighboring Illyrian king Glaukias, he was hesitant of taking care of the boy, knowing this would make him an enemy to Casander, little Pyrrhos toddled over, unphased by the king and his surroundings, and grabbed onto the king's leg. With this act and at his queen's behest King Glaukias was moved and decided to protect 2 year old Pyrrhos. Again, stuff of legend.
But when your father is king of Epirus and cousins with Alexander the great's mom, Olympias (making Alexander Pyrrhos's second cousin once removed), you have a pretty good chance of becoming legendary yourself. And that's just what Pyrrhos did.


Of course what he is remembered for most is either Hannibal's declaration that he was the second greatest general of all time, after Alexander, or for the time after one of his battles against the Romans that he had forced them off the field but suffered many casualties, when congratulated by one of his generals on the victory to which he is said to have stated:


Pyrrhos would ultimately die a very very silly death when a woman, in a town he was, overtaking, threw a tile from above on his head knocking him unconscious long enough for either one of his enemies or one of his own confused soldiers, who didn't recognize him, to cut off his head!
Along the way he had some unique and fascinating coins. Here are a few of my favorites:

Pyrrhos (of Epiros)
287-285 BC and 274-273 BC. Æ 18mm (3.17 g, 8h). Uncertain Macedonian mint. Macedonian shield with monogram of Pyrrhos in central boss / BAΣI and Pyrrhic monogram incuse, Macedonian helmet; labrys below; all within oak-wreath. SNG Alpha Bank 971. VF, green patina, a little porous. Very rare
Former: Savoca


Pyrrhos (of Epiros). 287-285 BC and 274-273 BC. Æ Unit (17mm, 4.75 g, 7h). Uncertain mint in Macedon. Monogram of Pyrrhos on boss of Macedonian shield / Macedonian helmet; BAΣI below; all within oak wreath. W. Weiser, “Ein neues Kupferstück des Pyrrhos als König der Makedonen” in SM 144 (November 1986), –; AMNG III –; SNG Alpha Bank 970; BMC Thessaly 38-9. VF, green patina.
Savoca Sept 2021
Extremely rare issue without monograms. Coins of the Epeirote king Pyrrhos are known from many different mints, following his exploits around the northern Mediterranean. His two short tenures as king of Macedon, though, did not produce a very robust coinage. His rare issues are all bronze, and all have the same obverse type – his monogram on the boss of a Macedonian shield. The reverse type is also standard, a Macedonian helmet within an oak wreath, and the legend BAΣI below the helmet. Almost all of the known examples, though, have a monogram between the alpha and sigma in the legend. The present variety, without monogram is only known from the Alpha Bank and BMC specimens. None are present in any other published private or public collection. Purchased from Savoca Sept 2021



Pyrrhus
EPIRUS. AMBRAKIA. Kings of Epirus., 297-272 BCE AE (5.15g, 20 mm). Obv .: Head of Zeus left Reverse: lightening bundle in oak wreath between B and Pyrrhus monogram. SNG Cop. 102; BMC 44; HGC 3.1 271. Green patinated
Ex: Savoca



Pyrrhus
(278-276 BCE) Sicily, Syracuse, AE 23mm 10.25 gr, head of young Herakles left, wearing lion's skin, rev. Athena Promachos advancing right w/owl to right of foot (SNG ANS 852), attractive smooth green patina, good very fine



SICILY, Syracuse
Pyrrhos. 278-276 BC. Æ Litra 21mm. Head of Herakles left, wearing lion skin; [cornucopia behind] / Athena Promachos right; wreath to left.

If you'd like to know more about Pyrrhos, read a book! I can't be sitting here typing his stories all day for free, can I?




So, please share all of your Pyrrhic coins, stories of the great man or anything that helps keep this thread from coming undone!

 

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...may not pay well, but lots o fun! ..here's my Pyric Sicily model.....killed by an angry mother who threw a roof tile upon his head(death from above..the old fashion way)

 

Thanks for the write up, Ryro

 

That's an excellent lineup of Pyrrhos coins, @Ryro! My only one is a Macedonian issue, which I like for the clear Pyrrhos monogram on the obverse:

 

Great coins @Ryro and a great post too. I really like the Macedonian shield coins, haven't seen them before. Of all the Diadochi I've thought he was the most colorful. And talk about an ignoble death, done in by a roofing tile. It reminds me of the way a medieval chronicler described the death of Richard I of England: "the Lion by the Ant was slain." And since you mentioned books, I'll recommend this biography of Pyrrhus since I don't have any coins to share.

Also have to congratulate @ominus1 @Andres2 and @Severus Alexander on their nice coins of Pyrrhuss. Maybe one of these days I'll have to join the club.

 

Roman Republic
AR Heavy Denarius / Didrachm
275-270 BCE (Rare)
17.7 x 20.7 oblong strike, 7.3g
OBV: ROMANO, laurel head of Apollo l
REV: Horse galloping r, star above
Crawford 13/1; Sear 23

These were struck as a response to Pyrrhus' invasion of Italy at the behest of Tarentum. He was King of Epirus 306-302 BCE and 297-292 BCE; King of Macedonia 288-285 BCE and 274-272 BCE; and King of Syracuse 278-276 BCE... Known for the term "Pyrrhic Victory" during his battles with Rome. Even though the battles were won by him, the Romans inflicted such losses on his armies that he could not ultimately sustain war with them

 

Etruria 3rd C BCE AE 18mm 4.76g Hd African r Elephant r letter below SNG Cop 48 HNI 69 SNG Paris 138-140 SNG Morcom 44 RARE
(Probably commemorating Pyrrhos' - NOT Hannibals' - elephants fighting the Romans...)

 

The boy-riding-dolphin type of Taras (= Tarentum, on the inside of the heel of Italy's boot) is very well known and comes with many varieties. This variety has a connection to Pyrrhus.


20-19 mm. 6.52 grams, of "Tarentine standard".
Struck 280-272 BC.
Horseman right, spearing downwards, shield and two extra spears
Dolphin rider right with bow and arrow, elephant below, TAPAΣ almost off the flan at 10:00-11:00.
Hoover Handbook I (Magna Graecia) 881, Sear Greek -- but close to 370, HN 999, Côte 363-5. SNG Cop 873.
This reverse has a connection to history. Pyrrhus, King of Epirus was invited to lead the Tarentines in their war against Rome, which we now know as the Pyrrhic War, 280-275 BC. He was the first to use war elephants in Italy, hence the elephant on the reverse.

Many boy-riding-dolphin coins weigh distinctly more, c. 7.8 grams, but this one is on the reduced standard of coins minted during the war.

 

Just to avoid confusion, the reduced standard continued after the war too. Here's one that HGC (following Evans?) dates to 272-240, during the period of "Roman alliance" (i.e. do what we say, Tarentum, or we will clobber you again):

6.31g. Interestingly, this coin shares a "ΔΙ" on the reverse with yours. (Magistrate?) I don't know how certain the dating is, perhaps mine's a war issue too?

 

Excellent coins all around!
And thanks for the recommend @Eric the Red I'll be reading that one.
My favorite read on Pyrrhos is from Jacob Abbot and was written nearly a couple hundred years ago... and be read I mean listen (it was free on audio books.com's app for us lovers of all things Pyrrhos)


Here's a couple more MSCs of mine from the man:

 

Awesome collection, @Ryro !


Syracuse Sicily Pyrrhus 278-275 BCE AE 24mm 9.2g HeraklesHd - Athena Promachos SG1213 LE584 Left



Syracuse Sicily Pyrrhus Epirus 278-276 BCE AE Litra 11.4g 23.3mm Herakles Nemaean Lion scalp - Athena Promachos tbolt shield SNG Cop 813, SNG ANS 852 Left

 

Here's my only Pyrrhos coin, a Macedonian one (since that's the main era I collect).


KINGS OF MACEDON. Pyrrhos (of Epiros), 287-285 BC and 274-273 BC. (Bronze, 17 mm, 4.42 g, 5 h), Pella. Macedonian shield with monogram of Pyrrhos on boss. Rev. BAΣI Plain Macedonian helmet within oak wreath. AMNG III/2, -. HGC 3, 272. SNG Alpha Bank 970. Ex Nomos.

This is the text of a blob I recently wrote about it (non-numismatic audience).


Today, I’m posting something completely different. This is a coin of mine from Pyrrhos. Have you ever heard the word “Pyrrhic victory?” Yes. That’s him. This coin, made of bronze, is approximately 2300 years old and was minted when he controlled part of Macedonia. His logo is in the center.

One of the greatest generals in history, ranked by Hannibal as #2 behind Alexander the Great but before himself, this guy had to pick a fight with everyone. He started under the famous Diadochi Antigonos Monophtalmos – or Antigonos “One Eye”, so named because he lost the other eye in battle. Pyrrhos fought alongside Antigonos and his son Demetrios Poliorketes (meaning “The City Besieger” after his famous sieges of Athens and Rhodes) and Antigonos remarked that Pyrrhos would be one of the world’s greatest generals “if he survived.”

Demetrios and Pyrrhos later had a falling out when Pyrrhos’s wife left him for the former. She said she couldn’t live with barbarians, and for some reason Pyrrhos took offense. After several rather unsuccessful wars against Antigonos, Demetrios, and Lysimachos – another powerful Diadochi – Pyrrhos decided to take a Italian vacation.

Of course, if you’re a war mongering general then your vacations aren’t like ours. You see, the south of Italy was being annoyed by these pesky things called Romans, so Pyrrhos headed there with a bunch of war elephants to teach them a lesson. Twice he defeated Rome, though at high costs to his own troops (Pyrrhic victory). His war elephants in particular terrorized the Romans, who had never seen one before. Pyrrhos considered marching on Rome itself, but due to the rapid mobilization of the Romans and the fact that he had more paid mercenaries than troops, he decided to change his vacation plans.

Next, he travelled to Sicily, mainly because he wanted to finish the trifecta by pissing off the Macedonians, Romans, and Carthaginians. Yes, shortly before Rome and Carthage were to engage in a famously long war, Pyrrhos took both of them on. Initially successful in Sicily, the locals began to tire of him since he was a bit of a jerk. When they joined in with Carthage, Pyrrhos had to find a new place for war.

Hmmm…where could a war-starved general go next? Ah, yes. He invaded Sparta. Unfortunately, one of his old nemeses – Antigonos Gonatas (the son of Demetrios) lent his support and caused Pyrrhos to get bogged down in the city. There, Pyrrhos met his end at the hands of an old lady who dropped a brick from above when it seemed certain Pyrrhos was going to cut down her grandson. He was one of the greatest generals the world has ever seen, but he should’ve known not to mess with a grandma.