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| Toynbee "Pirro_2" |
Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, born 318 B.C., died 272 B.C.; he claimed
descent from Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles and great-grandson of
Aeacus. In 280 Pyrrhus crossed over into Italy at the invitation
of the Tarentines to help them in their war against the Romans. In
his first campaign he defeated the Romans, and advanced to within
24 miles of Rome: but, being unable to compel them to accept terms
of peace, he withdrew to Tarentum. In the next year (279) he
gained another victory over the Romans under the consul P. Decius
Mus, but suffered such heavy losses that he retired from the war
and crossed over into Sicily. In 276 he once more landed in Italy,
but in the following year was defeated near Beneventum by the
consul Curius Dentatus, and was compelled to leave Italy and
return to Epirus. He met his death a few years later during the
siege of Argos, being killed by a tile hurled by a woman from a
house-top (272 B.C.).
He is probably (though several of the old commentators hold that
Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, is the person intended) the Pyrrhus
placed by D. among the Tyrants in Round I of Circle VII of Hell,
[Inf. xii. 135]
[Pirro_1:
Tiranni]; Pyrrhus is mentioned by the Emperor
Justinian (in the Heaven of Mercury) in connexion with the
exploits of the Roman Eagle,
[Par. vi. 44]
[Aquila_1]: Cicero's mention of him in his account
({Cic. De fin. ii. 19}) of the patriotism of the Decii, the
third of whom lost his life while fighting against Pyrrhus,
Mon. II. v. 16
[Deci]; his descent from Aeacus, his speech to the Roman
envoys as to the ransom of the Roman prisoners (quoted from Ennius
by Cicero, {Cic. De off. i. 12}, and thence, without
acknowledgement, by D.), and his contempt for gold,
Mon. II. ix. 7-10
[Eacide:
Ennius]: his discomfiture by Fabricius,
Mon. II. x. 7
[Fabrizio].
©Oxford University Press 1968. From A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante by Paget Toynbee
(1968) by permission of Oxford University Press