*For a full background, see Plutarch's Biography in volume 1 of his "Lives".
Every king and would-be king of the successor states emulated Alexander. Pyrrhus of Epirus (319 - 272 BC) was said to have been the most spitting image. Hellenistic emulation can be richly understood in the context of a quote from Marx, in the pages the his Eighteenth Brumiere, "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce."
Alexander wore the mask of Achilles, dragging him up from depths of foggy prehistory. He did so in a manner reminiscent of Odysseus when he conjured the fallen warrior from Hades with the offering of spilled blood. This emulation served the purpose of glorifying the Hellenic conquest of long-coveted horizons, of the beginning of a new phase in civilization. The emulation of the successors, though, was superficial in every way; they styled their hair and cocked their heads in a similar fashion as the late king, but there was no substance to the act. These kings - Bonapartist adventurers all - were representatives of social instability; a sign of weakness parading as strength.
Their Alexandrian masks were a parody of past events. Pyrrhus was the most representative man of this age: the gentleman mercenary. Plutarch, a main source for information on the Epirot's life, relates that Antigonus thought him the greatest living soldier "provided he live long enough". His mercurial nature, military prowess, and audacity endeared him to foes and allies alike; in one famous incident, he undermined Demetrius' authority over his mercenary forces by his reputation alone, winning the battle before a shield had been struck. The sometime-king's career was marked by exceptional military prowess, an unmatched ferocity in battle, and an ability to inspire. In the end, he was the Alexander of decline.
The allied army, said to be more than 30,000 strong, smashed into the Romans at Heraclea and eked out a victory. After wintering in Campania, the two armies met once more in a two-day bloodbath at Asculus, a battle so famously brutal that the outcome has been immortalized in the phrase "Pyrrhic victory". The uneasy truce that followed, coupled with the loss of an irreplaceable layer of his troops, caused the Epirot to search for a new, more lucrative opportunity.
Opportunity came from Sicily. He was able to intervene on behalf of the Greek cities in one of their many wars with the Carthaginians. Sicily had long been a war zone, split between the two great Greek and Punic zones of influence. Revolution and intestine struggles between different camps in the property owning class had plagued the cities throughout the 3rd century and foreign intervention (Corinth) along with the constant threat of war from Carthage left the rich cities exhausted. Roaming bands of mercenaries terrorized the countryside and tyrants lorded over the aristocratic families. This kind of chaos was the natural habitat for a condottiero.
Syracuse and Leontini, the most powerful states on the island, offered him kingship and others quickly followed. He led the Greeks against the Punic cities in the West, distinguishing himself by acts of personal bravery, and the Carthaginians sued for peace - he refused any terms. But his fortunes quickly changed. Seeing that the allied Greeks were abandoning him, he left again for Tarentum. After one last bloody contest with a Roman legion, he cut his loses and returned to the mainland where intervened in Peloponnesian affairs until his death in battle.
His behavior was characteristic of the type of glory-seeker who dominated the Greek world. His army, supplemented with a large number of soldiers of fortune, was a volatile weapon and required booty and victory to assure their loyalty. His position as king was just as volatile, always threatened by rival adventurers. Alexander had the luxury of commanding a core of soldiers who could withstand sustained hardship, something that his successors nearly always lacked. Demetrius' hardened core of veterans who followed him to the end of a long road of reverses is a notable exception. A violent death while seeking a quick, profitable victory was the logical end of a regime sitting on such unsteady foundations.
Every king and would-be king of the successor states emulated Alexander. Pyrrhus of Epirus (319 - 272 BC) was said to have been the most spitting image. Hellenistic emulation can be richly understood in the context of a quote from Marx, in the pages the his Eighteenth Brumiere, "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce."
Alexander wore the mask of Achilles, dragging him up from depths of foggy prehistory. He did so in a manner reminiscent of Odysseus when he conjured the fallen warrior from Hades with the offering of spilled blood. This emulation served the purpose of glorifying the Hellenic conquest of long-coveted horizons, of the beginning of a new phase in civilization. The emulation of the successors, though, was superficial in every way; they styled their hair and cocked their heads in a similar fashion as the late king, but there was no substance to the act. These kings - Bonapartist adventurers all - were representatives of social instability; a sign of weakness parading as strength.
Their Alexandrian masks were a parody of past events. Pyrrhus was the most representative man of this age: the gentleman mercenary. Plutarch, a main source for information on the Epirot's life, relates that Antigonus thought him the greatest living soldier "provided he live long enough". His mercurial nature, military prowess, and audacity endeared him to foes and allies alike; in one famous incident, he undermined Demetrius' authority over his mercenary forces by his reputation alone, winning the battle before a shield had been struck. The sometime-king's career was marked by exceptional military prowess, an unmatched ferocity in battle, and an ability to inspire. In the end, he was the Alexander of decline.
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| Pyrrhus |
Western Adventures
Alexander claimed the rich East, but Pyrrhus made the most spirited attempt at that other great frontier, "the Golden West". In 280 BC, he crossed the Adriatic Sea with a large Greek army, including elephants, at the invitation of the citizens of the south Italian Greek city of Tarentum, at war with Rome. Plutarch tells the ominous tale of a Tarentine citizen who, making a spectacle of himself in the assembly, said that others should follow his lead and enjoy their liberties because things will change when Pyrrhus comes to town. Indeed they did. he turned the city into a barracks and conscripted the reluctant propertied class into arms. The decadent ruling class was not used to answering to condetierri like their new general and many abandoned their city.The allied army, said to be more than 30,000 strong, smashed into the Romans at Heraclea and eked out a victory. After wintering in Campania, the two armies met once more in a two-day bloodbath at Asculus, a battle so famously brutal that the outcome has been immortalized in the phrase "Pyrrhic victory". The uneasy truce that followed, coupled with the loss of an irreplaceable layer of his troops, caused the Epirot to search for a new, more lucrative opportunity.
Opportunity came from Sicily. He was able to intervene on behalf of the Greek cities in one of their many wars with the Carthaginians. Sicily had long been a war zone, split between the two great Greek and Punic zones of influence. Revolution and intestine struggles between different camps in the property owning class had plagued the cities throughout the 3rd century and foreign intervention (Corinth) along with the constant threat of war from Carthage left the rich cities exhausted. Roaming bands of mercenaries terrorized the countryside and tyrants lorded over the aristocratic families. This kind of chaos was the natural habitat for a condottiero.
Syracuse and Leontini, the most powerful states on the island, offered him kingship and others quickly followed. He led the Greeks against the Punic cities in the West, distinguishing himself by acts of personal bravery, and the Carthaginians sued for peace - he refused any terms. But his fortunes quickly changed. Seeing that the allied Greeks were abandoning him, he left again for Tarentum. After one last bloody contest with a Roman legion, he cut his loses and returned to the mainland where intervened in Peloponnesian affairs until his death in battle.
The Man of His Age
As I have previously claimed, the Hellenistic Age was characterized by Bonapartist regimes. These came either in the guise of local tyranny or Macedonian kingship and always represented the rule of the sword over society. I will discuss the model of Hellenistic society more thoroughly in a future post, just bear with me for now. The rise of these regimes displaced the Greek propertied class from their political position and ended the domination of the polis. In their place stood cliques of gangsters and adventurers who squeezed the ruling class financially while humiliating them politically. Warfare took center stage in politics and economics alike; the kings financed their enormous campaigns with loot and treasuries siezed by the same wars. Mercenaries and pirates found regular employment and even seem to have used their clout to demand a ten-month campaign year. Fortunes changed quickly and always by the sword.
Pyrrhus was a violent adventurer and a high-stakes gambler, certainly no Alexander. It was in this guise that the Greeks finally made their bid for Italy, and no sum of mercenaries or elephants could have changed the outcome: Pyrrhus, despite his ferocity, was the model figure of the rot at the core of the Greek social structure; a healthy Roman ruling class could still muster the strength of the citizens to meet such a threat.
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