A Greek theatre, a first in the Ionian Islands

 As a matter of course, we expect about every Greek city to have a theater. This is, however, not the case on the Greek islands – until now. 

The Ionian island of Lefkada, situated along the west coast of Greece, lies about halfway between Corfu (ancient Corcyra) and Patras and has surprised every archaeologist with the presence of a large theater. 

In the 7^th century BC, many Corinthians set off to establish new colonies, such as Syracuse in Sicily, and some settled in Lefkada. This island is best known for its white cliffs, where the poetess Sappho jumped to her death in despair rather than facing an impossible love. 

Thanks to its strategic position along busy maritime routes, the city-state reached high cultural and economic prosperity. Archaeological research exposed sections of the city wall, residential structures, the harbor, and, more recently, remains of a theater on the northeastern slope of Koulmos Hill. 

[Picture from Greece Is]

Excavations started seriously in 2017, and soon the entire theater was exposed. It was established that it was built in the 4^th century BC and consisted of 21 rows of seats arranged around the orchestra. Originally, it could seat 3,500 spectators, but later extensions created space for over 10,000 visitors as more seats were added above an inserted diazoma. 

The latest excavation gave a good insight into the preserved sections of retaining walls (north and south), the seating area, the orchestra, and the stage itself. Many decorative elements have been revealed, as well as three beautifully carved thrones decorated with lion legs, dolphins, birds, sirens, and more. These were intended for priests or other city officials.

The fate of the theater was closely tied to that of Lefkada, which gradually declined in Roman times. As the city was abandoned at the end of antiquity, the theater’s stones were reused for later constructions elsewhere. 

Alexander’s missed voyage to conquer the West

Alexander always planned ahead, far ahead even. He was a true genius juggling many problems, projects, and strategies (see: Eyewitness accounts of Alexander's life). 

His most significant projects, or at least their outlines, were put on paper, as we may conclude from the to-do list the king left upon his death, as mentioned by Diodorus. We have no reason to believe Alexander’s ambition was a utopian dream. After all, conquering the then-known world in less than ten years is a superhuman achievement. Nobody before or after Alexander succeeded. Nothing could stop Alexander – except his own death. 

It has been generally accepted that Alexander aimed to conquer the western Mediterranean, and the idea is consistent with his character. However, Diodorus’ text may be a list of ideas rather than real plans, as we all would imagine. 

Besides his plan to build colossal temples and a mausoleum for his father, there was the project to build a thousand warships, larger than triremes, in Phoenicia, Syria, Cilicia, and Cyprus. This construction had already started while Alexander was in Babylon and alive. He planned to conquer Carthage. On the way, along the coast of Libya, he would create a string of safe havens and shipyards. Eventually, this strategy would lead him to Iberia and Magna Graecia, including Sicily, where many Greek colonists had established themselves centuries earlier. 

In the end, the Romans attacked the Carthaginians in Sicily in the First Punic War, 60 years after Alexander’s death. A second war shifted their terrain to Iberia, which was largely occupied by the Carthaginians (see: Carthage Antique, des origines jusqu’à l’invasion Vandale). We can only guess how Alexander would have handled the confrontation, especially since the power of Carthage was different in his days. 

On his way to Carthage, Alexander would need to secure the hinterland to protect his newly built harbors along the North African coast. To this effect, he conceived the construction of a road as far as the Pillars of Heracles (Gibraltar). The project materialized 2,500 years later when Mussolini built a 2,000 km-long highway, the Litoranea, running from Tunisia all the way to the Egyptian border (see: Cyrene, founded by the Greeks). We may wonder whether this was Alexander’s megalomania or far-sightedness. 

Greek immigrants searching for fertile lands and a better life had already colonized a significant part of the western Mediterranean. Around 600 BC, the Phocaeans (from modern Foça), who fled Asia Minor after a siege by the Persians, established themselves in southern France, where they founded the city of Massalia, modern Marseille. By 575 BC, these settlers founded regional colonies in Agde (Agathe Tyche), Antibes, Nice (Niké), and Monaco. 

With time, these colonists went further inland and spread all over Provence. The city of Arelate, modern Arles, occupied a strategic position where goods traveled up and down the River Rhone after they had been transhipped from Massalia. Most of those settlements are best known by their Roman names: Orange, Vaison-la-Romaine, and Glanum, although their origin was much older. 

A photographer friend of mine, Andrew Squires, explored Provence. His vision was to create images of the region, including Glanum, that translate the remains into what it once was. He published a splendid work of art as an iBook (with Apple) under the name Provence Mysterious. 

The Phoceans from Massalia, about the same time as they expanded in Provence, created circa 550 BC the trading post of Emporion, Roman Ampurias, and Rhoda, modern Rossas in Spain. Both cities, connected by a long sandy beach, served as stopover ports in the Greek expansion in the western Mediterranean. Geographically speaking, Emporion occupies the southwestern end of the Golfe de Lion, opposite Massalia. 

The first colonization of Magna Graecia happened earlier than elsewhere in that part of the Mediterranean. It started in Cumae, founded around 740 BC by emigrants from Chalcis and Kyme. Spartans emigrated to Taras, later named Tarentum. It was soon followed by new colonies established by the Achaeans in Metapontum, Sybaris, and Croton. In 733 BC, Greek settlers from Corinth arrived on the small island of Ortygia and founded Syracuse.

In the 6th century BC, Athenian settlers founded Thurii. Around 580 BC, colonists from Gela (Sicily), Crete, and Rhodes founded Akragas (Agrigento). 

Many of these initially Greek colonies became influential cities in their own right, creating their own towns. A good example is Sicily, where the new colonies fought the Carthaginians, the Romans, and each other, seeking their own ideals (see: Syracuse rivaled Athens to be the most powerful city). 

In 535 BC, Phocaean refugees established the colony of Elea, home of the Eleatic School created by the philosopher Parmenides (see: Magna Graecia, the forgotten Greek legacy). In 433 BC, the colony of Tarentum founded Herakleia, and the Achaeans founded Poseidonia, Roman Paestum. 

These relentless fluxes of Greek emigrants were no secret to Alexander and his contemporaries, meaning he was well aware and informed about the western Mediterranean – something we tend to forget! 

An excellent example of the high skills and wealth in the western Mediterranean is the so-called Riace bronzes retrieved off the coast of Calabria ( see: More about Magna Graecia: a testimony from Calabria). Archaeologists disagree on whether they represent warriors, athletes, or gods. Consequently, they are called “Riace A,” created between 460 and 450 BC, and “Riace B,” between 430 and 420 BC. Let’s keep in mind that these statues are the kind of artwork that existed a century before Alexander. 

Although extensive, the above-mentioned list of Greek colonists in the western Mediterranean is far from complete but long enough to prove their impressive presence. They often were caught in the expansionist attacks of the Carthaginians and, alternatively, of the Romans. Alexander would have to face both sooner or later. With his seasoned Macedonians, he would have created a Greek/Hellenistic world instead of the Latin one that Rome imposed on Western Europe. How different our world would have been!

Notion in Asia Minor

In antiquity, the coast of Asia Minor was a string of famous and powerful cities and towns, each with its own history. Some are only slowly revealing their presence and their treasures. 

One such relic is Notion, located roughly 50 kilometers from Izmir. One day, driving back from Izmir to Ephesos, I skirted the peninsula's entire south coast, passing cities like Teos and Claros. However, my intention was to stop at Clazomena, Colophon, and Notion. Life is such that it deviates us from our initial plan. It so happened that I frequently stopped to take in the vistas leading me from promontories into deep bays - a landscape from the beginning of time, I thought. As a result, I never made it to Notion … 

[Picture from Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan]

I may not have missed much because the first archaeological surveys started in 2014. Mapping Notion revealed a city laid out conform to the Hippodamian plan sitting on two promontories overlooking the Aegean Sea. Inside the remains of sturdy fortification walls, research exposed beside the ever-present Agora, a Theater, a Bouleuterion, a Heroon, a Temple of Athena, and a large housing district. Notion flourished from the 2^nd century BC until the 1^st century AD, after which it was abandoned in favor of Ephesos which became the major center of commerce in Roman times. 

The city’s origin goes back to at least the 6^th century BC when it was part of the Persian Empire like the rest of Asia Minor. Inevitably, it got involved in the Graeco-Persian Wars of the 5^th and 4^th centuries BC and was conquered in turn by Athens and Persia. 

During those uncertain times, it is thought that Notion was occupied and/or defended by “barbarian” mercenaries. This is documented through the hoard of Persian gold darics found under the floor of one of the houses. The coins were probably buried there to be recovered later on. The daric with its particular face featuring the figure of a kneeling archer was the equivalent of a month’s pay for a mercenary foot soldier. Based on their style, these darics were probably minted during the 5^th century BC in Sardes, which lies about 100 kilometers to the north. 

Darics rarely surface in Greek or Hellenistic cities and to find such a collection buried in a jar is astonishing. 

I remember seeing my first Darics in Sicily at The Medagliere, the strong room of the Archaeological Museum in Syracuse. It was quite a shock because I knew the coins only from pictures and was not expecting to find them here. On the other hand, their presence raised the question of how they had reached Sicily – probably carried west by early colonists from mainland Greece who settled in Magna Graecia. 

Life surely is full of surprises.

Plato and Atlantis

Plato wrote 35 Dialogues but two of his late Dialogues, “Timaeus” and “Critias”, are quite unique as they relate the history of Egypt to around 9,000 years before his time! That is where and when Atlantis is mentioned. Timaeus was a philosopher and astronomer from Locris in southern Italy, and Critias was an Athenian politician. 

Atlantis is, was, and will be very controversial. Yet, Plato’s tale is all we have to go by. As in every story or legend, there is always a base for some truth. To bring the Athenians in contact with Atlantis sounds far searched, but there is hope for the skeptics. 

In February 2022, Sotirios Sofias of the National Technical University of Athens published a very revealing study on the matter under the title “Atlantis: A real continent and not fiction according to the dialogues Timaeus and Critias of Plato”, which I will try to summarize hereafter. The author has analyzed the original ancient Greek text as recorded by Plato to match it with Google Earth's screenshots - with surprising results. Please remember that Plato was a pupil of Socrates (see: Plato, more than a philosopher). 

Critias, during a meeting with Socrates, Timaeus, and Hermocrates (general of Syracuse), describes the visit of Solon of Athens to Egyptian priests around 600 BC. On this occasion, the priests honored Athens in all its glory including the city’s victory over the people of Atlantis. The Atlanteans, they continued, lived on an island beyond the Pillars of Heracles and had conquered all the islands of the Atlantic Ocean and many others in the Mediterranean Sea, including Egypt. Yet, all the countries revolted against the aggressive Atlanteans, led by the Athenians, who were victorious. Atlantis suddenly disappeared after a terrible natural catastrophe. 

Modern technology shed a new perspective on Atlantis when in 2009 Google Earth revealed the outlines of a submerged formation about 600 kilometers northwest of the Canary Islands. The main feature appears as a manmade grid, which matches Solon’s “square” or “plain”,  the capital Atlantis as recorded by Plato.

Studying these images, Sotirios Sofias found that all the measurements of Atlantis noted by Plato are consistent with those visible in the Google Earth pictures. The stunning underwater square, whose sides are 140 kilometers long, is divided by channels following a perfectly recognizable Hippodamian plan. The water from the surrounding mountains flowed through the city’s canals to serve its needs in fresh water and as a transportation system for the Atlanteans. 

This city and the island of Atlantis disappeared after a severe cataclysm, destroying Athens at the same time, and the city's glory was forgotten. The large island of Atlantis sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, five kilometers deep! 

After an in-depth study of Plato’s text, Sotirios Sofias established that Atlantis was sitting on a super volcano similar to Yellowstone National Park in the US including the same kind of hot springs and therapeutic sources. Both sites have more in common than one would imagine as Critias describes a landscape resembling modern Yellowstone's beauty. He praises the fertile soil of Atlantis with its abundance of trees, fruit plants, and the variety of tamed and wild animals that populated the island! The island was also known for its minerals like gold, silver, copper, tin, etc. The inhabitants of Atlantis did not know they lived on top of a volcano, very much as the people of Pompeii did not know that the mountain on their horizon was a volcano.

The global cataclysm mentioned by Critias was, in fact, the eruption of this supervolcano in combination with the violent rotation of the earth's axis. Plato attributes this event to a meteorite or comet (which he calls Phaethon) that hit the earth. It caused the destruction of Atlantis, Athens, and all the nearby coastal cities and islands. The Egyptian priests told Solon that their country was saved thanks to the Nile. This is how the ancient texts of Atlantis were spared for 9000 years! Solon’s notes on Atlantis survived and were passed on to Plato via his uncle Critias. 

Plato clearly mentioned that the city was protected on the North side by high mountains. Google Earth has indeed located three submerged mountains of 4,000-4,500 meters that have moved 75 degrees counter-clockwise after these violent forces of nature occurred, erasing the island from view and memory. 

Another controversial subject is the shape and size of Atlantis. Solon mentioned that the island was narrow and extended from the coast of Spain to the present-day Antilles. It included islands like the Azores, which are the mountain peaks of the submerged Atlantis mentioned above. Critias provides details stating that the island's eastern end was opposite the Pillars of Heracles (Gibraltar), at Gadiriki (modern Cadis in Spain).  At the opposite end, it almost automatically takes us to the Lesser and Greater Caribbean Antilles and the Americas. 

Based on the measurements of Critias as compared to the geographic layout of Google Earth, Atlantis had an elongated shape like a banana. It was 4,500 kilometers long and 760 kilometers wide in its center. The western end of the island was only 1,000 kilometers away from the coast of South America, i.e., the distance an ancient ship could cover in one week. 

This reminds me of the news that made headlines several years ago about artifacts of Phoenician origin discovered in South America. Highly improbable, it was thought, and the wildest speculations followed! Presently, in light of the shape and size of Atlantis, the find is not outlandish at all! Sailing from the Mediterranean across the Atlantic Ocean along the south coast of Atlantis was extremely convenient as the ships could stop at so many ports on their way! When Atlantis disappeared, this communication route vanished and all memory of this once so-powerful kingdom was erased at the same time. 

Now there is the story of Atlantis everybody is familiar with a series of successive circles around a central island. Based on Critias’ account, this central island had a diameter of 1,000 meters. It was surrounded by two circles of land and three of water. This is the location of the Palace of Atlantis. The ditch around the central island was connected with a 9,500-meter-long canal to the sea. The total diameter of these combined circles was 5,000 meters! Hard to imagine! 

The Palace of Atlantis was the residence of the Major King. Critias noted that it was of astonishing size: 200 meters wide and 200 meters long, standing 100 meters tall. It was bigger than St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Atlantis was divided into ten kingdoms, each with its own king, subordinate to the Major King, the direct descendant of Atlas, son of Poseidon, and founder of Atlantis. Solon said that the god was held in high esteem by the Atlanteans, as quoted by Critias: “They placed golden statues, the god (Poseidon) to be upright in his chariot, holding the reins of six winged horses, and this complex was so tall that it almost touched the top of the roof of the temple. Around him, seated on dolphins, there were a hundred Nereids along with innumerous other statues around, dedicated to exceptional individuals.” 

All the above takes me to Alexander, as I so often speculate about his knowledge of the world when he set out to conquer Asia. He, and his selected circle of friends, had been tutored by Aristotle, a pupil of Plato. In this light, history deserves to be rewritten. We should be aware that besides Alexander, all of his Companions and later generals and kings in their own right, were aware of a world much larger than we generally assume!

[All details with clear drawings and maps are made available by Sotirios Sofias in his study Atlantis: A real continent and not fiction according to the dialogues Timaeus and Critias of Plato]

Plato, more than a philosopher

Plato is a highly fascinating figure. Not only was he a student of Socrates, but he also taught Aristotle, who, in turn, passed his knowledge on to young Alexander. 

Plato, born in 427 BC, received the best education of his time. Although we know him mainly as a philosopher, he was educated in martial arts and horse riding, besides mathematics and music, painting, and drawing. 

When about the age of twenty, he encountered Socrates teaching on the Agora of Athens, and he realized that philosophy was a more worthy goal to pursue. 

Socrates hardly wrote anything down. We know him from Plato and Xenophon, who are not always in agreement. Socrates preferred talking, or rather asking questions, to the point of embarrassing and irritating his audience. 

Plato followed his master until the Athenians executed him on the charge of impiety in 399 BC. He then left Athens and traveled to other philosophical centers, such as Megara and Syracuse in Sicily, and later to Egypt and Cyrene. He became a student of Pythagoras, Euclid, and Heraclitus, and concentrated on the religion and metaphysics of Egypt. 

Before the Museum of Alexandria was founded, the center of knowledge was in Heliopolis, where priests studied philosophy, astronomy, and theology. Many Greeks, like Homer, Pythagoras, Plato, and Solon, consulted the Library that contained the history of Egypt going back thousands of years. For us, Egypt's ancient history is lost in the mists of time… How much was (still) available in Plato’s days? Probably far more than we can imagine. 

In the 380s BC, Plato returned to Athens, where he started the Academy. The philosopher educated his followers in a shrine of olive groves, sacred to the Greek hero Academos, and called it, therefore, Academia. Plato’s school would continue to thrive till the early 6^th century AD when it was shut down by Emperor Justinian. This Byzantine emperor was determined to erase paganism for good and impose Christianity instead to regain control over the Western Roman Empire. 

Plato is best known for his Dialogues and his Letters. He contributed hugely to our Western culture and religion, although few people realize his impact on monotheistic religions like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. He was the first philosopher to mention and underscore the soul's immortality. For that reason, his work was not destroyed but accepted by the Christian religious leaders. Plato also stressed the importance of ‘objective truth’ in order to live well. 

As a result of the recent advanced imaging diagnostic techniques to read the carbonized papyri from Herculaneum (see: Reading the papyrus scrolls from Herculaneum), scholars have discovered more details about Plato’s life, of which very little is otherwise known. By virtually realigning the bits of burnt papyrus, they were able to restore the continuity of the text and obtain more information. 

The scroll revealed that Plato was sold into slavery on the island of Aegina, south of Athens, either in 404 BC when Sparta conquered the island, or in 399 BC upon the death of Socrates. It was previously and erroneously accepted that this event took place while he resided at the court of Dionysios of Syracuse in 387 BC. 

We also learned more about the final hours of Plato. While battling a fever, he listened to flute music played by a Thracian slave girl. He was still very lucid as he had the strength to criticize the girl’s lack of rhythm. A perfectionist to the end? 

Plato died in 348/347 BC, and it is now understood that he was buried in the garden of his Academia of Athens. This is very telling since the Academy is considered the world’s first university, which he founded next to the Mouseion. 

Deciphering the papyrus scrolls is a lengthy process that may well require many more years. Who knows what more we will learn?

Planetarium of Archimedes?

A fragment from a complex mechanism was discovered by chance near Olbia, Sardinia, and it soon became clear that the dented gear wheel showed similarities with the mechanism of Anticythera. This fragment, however, was made of a brass alloy unknown otherwise at the time. 

[Kircher's reconstruction of the sphere of Archimedes]

Thanks to the detailed writings of Cicero in the 1^st century BC, we know that Archimedes constructed a Planetarium (Orrery). The celestial globe is mentioned by Ovid in the 1^st century BC and by Claudian, a 4^th-century Latin poet associated with the court of Emperor Honorius in Mediolanum (Milan). 

When, in 212 BC, the Romans sacked Syracuse, Consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus brought to Rome a device that was built by the famous mathematician. It represented the motion of the Sun, Moon, and the planets reproduced on a sphere. In short, a modern Planetarium. 

It was Gaius Sulpicius Gallus, who reported the story as he had seen the object personally and knew how to operate it. Cicero was amazed that Archimedes had been able to generate the motion of the individual planets starting from a single rotation. The Planetarium was placed inside a glass sphere. This corresponds to what Archimedes wrote in a now-lost treatise On Sphere-Making detailing the construction of the Planetarium. 

Livy, who died in 17 AD, wrote that before the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC, Gallus, an astronomer himself, used the Planetarium to predict a lunar eclipse on the night before the battle. The news was shared with his Roman legionnaires to prevent them from panicking, but the Macedonians freaked out. 

A first reconstruction based on the section of the gear wheel found near Olbia revealed that it counted 55 dents in total. Noteworthy is the shape of the dents, which is not triangular as in the case of the Anticythera mechanism but slightly curved as used in our modern gear wheels. This shape proves to be more efficient and allows a higher precision. In antiquity, these wheels were created manually and the craftsmen had to do without the use of our modern measuring and cutting tools, which emerged only a few centuries ago. 

Marcus Claudius Marcellus, owner of the Planetarium, was sent off to Spain to fight the Iberic Celts in 152 BC. It is reasonable to assume that Marcellus took the Planetarium with him – a sign of his status – and that his ship was wrecked in the region of Olbia, crashing the Planetarium. 

The Planetarium has been dated between the end of the 3^rd century BC and the mid-2^nd century BC. It thus predates the Anticythera mechanism from the 1^st century BC generally ascribed to Archimedes. However, the analog computer may well have been reproduced based on Archimedes’ description.

It must have been one of the marvels from Hellenistic times, many of which still remain to be discovered!

[the section found near Olbia is thoroughly discussed in this YouTube]

An introduction to Pyrrhus of Epirus

It was quite a surprise to stand face-to-face with Pyrrhus in Albania. It happened at the entrance to the Skanderberg Museum in Kruje, where his life-sized bust stood right next to the imposing relief figure of Skanderbeg, Albania’s hero. 

Pyrrhus of Epirus was a great-nephew of Olympias and cousin of Alexander the Great – not a small introduction. He was born in c.319 BC – not the right time to be the heir to the Molossian throne of Epirus. He got caught up in the fiery dispute between the sons of Cassander and Thessalonica, and, reigning briefly as a minor, he had to flee his homeland. He joined the court of Demetrios I (Poliorketes) as an exile, and in 301 BC, aged 18, he fought at the Battle of Ipsus. 

As a pawn in the War of the Diadochi, Demetrios, to befriend Ptolemy, gave him Pyrrhus as a hostage. That’s how Pyrrhus arrived in Alexandria. Well, it was not the worst place to grow up, and Pyrrhus most certainly took advantage of the situation, not unlike what Philip II had done at the court of Thebes. He made his way in Egypt and eventually married one of Ptolemy’s daughters, Antigone. 

Four years later, in 297 BC, with Ptolemy’s support, Pyrrhus returned to Epirus and began taking control of his own life. He started expanding his kingdom by annexing Illyria. His ambitions were not small, for when Antigone died, Pyrrhus made three diplomatic marriages to live peacefully with his neighbors. His first wife was Lanassa, the daughter of Agathocles, tyrant of Syracuse. Her dowry was the islands of Leucas and Corcyra (modern Corfu). The next bride was the daughter of King Audoleon of the Paeonians living north of Macedonia. His third marriage was to Bircenna, daughter of the Illyrian King Bardylis II. Demetrios Poliorcetes as king of Macedonia, it should be said, had married Pyrrhus’ sister. 

By 288 BC, Pyrrhus turned against Demetrios and succeeded in getting the Macedonian army on his side. With Lysimachos as his new ally, they jointly ruled over Macedonia. Only for a while, though, since Lysimachos still had his mind set on all of Macedonia and expelled Pyrrhus. 

Once more, Demetrios and Pyrrhus made peace, which was again short-lived. When in 286 BC, Demetrios invaded Asia Minor, ruled by Lysimachos, the latter asked Pyrrhus to invade Thessaly to attack Demetrios from Greece. Pyrrhus soon defeated Antigonus Gonatas, Demetrios’ son, who surrendered Thessaly to him to make peace. 

Pyrrhus’ empire now included half of Macedonia, larger Epirus, and Thessaly. Yet, he still wanted more and eyed Magna Graecia, including the wealth of Sicily. His opportunity arose when Taras (modern Taranto) called for his help to repel an imminent Roman attack. Pyrrhus led his army across the Adriatic Sea, including 20 war elephants. He was victorious at Heraclea (modern Policoro, southwest of Metaponto) in 280 BC and a year later at Ausculum (modern Ascoli Satriano south of Foggia). 

At this point, Pyrrhus decided to stay in Italy, offering his help to Syracuse. He successfully lifted the Carthaginians’ siege in 278 BC and, in return, was proclaimed King of Sicily. The Medagliere, the strongbox room at Syracuse’s Museum, proudly exhibits coins of King Pyrrhus. 

His moment of glory would not last either because of the renewed threat from Carthage, ending Pyrrhus’ siege of Lilybaeum (modern Marsala) in a disaster. The people of Syracuse then decided not to continue the war. The Carthaginians defeated Pyrrhus in 275 BC on his return to Syracuse. 

At the end of that same year, Pyrrhus sailed back to Epirus, which, in his mind, offered new opportunities as his son, Ptolemy, tried to expand the kingdom. The next campaign took Pyrrhus to Argos in the Peloponnesus, where caught in a narrow street, he was killed by a woman who threw a tile from the housetop. 

This was not the death a man like Pyrrhus would have planned. He had fought in so many battles, always leading his men. He had been schooled by Demetrios Poliorketes, who had walked in the footsteps of Alexander and his father, Philip. He was not meant to die such an inglorious death. 

In the 2nd century AD, Pausanias witnessed a memorial to King Pyrrhus at Argos, integrating a panorama ‘carved in relief.’ The king was buried in his capital, Ambracia (a colony of Corinth in Epirus). 

Pyrrhus may have led a glorious life, but the Macedonians resented him because he let his Gauls plunder the tombs of the Macedonian kings at Aegae – an unforgivable crime!