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!

Exploring the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki

It is not common knowledge that many mighty Macedonian kingdom relics are kept at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. Grave goods from all over Macedonia and the many tombs discovered in the suburbs of Thessaloniki are on display.

Treasures ranging from delicate gold sheet ornaments found on funeral garments to numerous gold earrings, pendants, necklaces, rings, fibulae, bracelets, and coins await the unprepared visitor. The most remarkable artifacts are the exquisite gold wreaths of olive, ivy, myrtle, and oak leaves. Looking closely, we'll discover the tiny figure of Heracles or his typical knot. When a crowd of people walks around, these little flowers and leaves tend to tremble; imagine the effect they have when worn live! 

The wealthiest finds come from the so-called Derveni Tombs, some 10 km NW of Thessaloniki. One of these tombs yielded twenty silver vases, many alabaster and bronze vases, terracotta vessels, some of which were gilded, and iron weapons, including a pair of bronze greaves. But the pièce de résistance is the richly decorated bronze crater generally referred to as the Derveni Crater, which is worth exploring in detail.

The Derveni Crater stands 90 cm tall and weighs some 40 kg. It is not made of gold, as one would assume at first glance, but of a bronze alloy containing about 15% tin, which produces its unique golden sheen. Different metals were used for the figures and other decoration elements, and inlays of silver, copper, bronze, etc. The motives are a mere hymn to the god Dionysus, who sits naked next to Ariadne and familiarly rests his leg on his wife's thigh. Behind the newlywed couple stands a panther, the animal sacred to the god. Around the crater and surrounding the couple, we recognize satyrs and maenads in their orgiastic dance. Two more maenads, a resting Dionysus, and a sleeping satyr, are all sitting cozily on the shoulders of the vase. 

Vine and ivy branches, palm leaves, and acanthus in different metal colors among tame and wild animals are depicted on the bands above and under the relief of the godly couple. This crater dates from between 330 and 320 BC. It was made either by a sculptor from the Chalcidice trained in Athens or by a bronzesmith from the Royal Court of Alexander.

It is one of the pieces that truly stands for the wealth and beauty that existed at the Macedonian palaces and surrounding Alexander.

Some more vessels and jugs from these graves are labeled bronze, although they shine like gold. Such a high standard of art! An excellent iron pectoral from Pydna also has a thin gold sheet, unlike the Macedonian ones exhibited elsewhere.

This gold medallion represents Queen Olympias wearing a chiton and a light himation to cover her hair, and is worth the visit altogether. The medallion's reverse depicts a sea monster, half bull, half fish, with a nude woman sitting on its back. The figure could well be the Nereid Thetis, mother of Achilles – clearly inspired by Alexander's admiration for Homer's tales. It appeared during the games held in honor of Alexander at Beroea in 225-250 AD. This medallion is part of the hoard of twenty such pieces found in Abukir, near Alexandria, in 1902. 

Three other medallions are part of the Berlin Bode Museum collection. It is pure joy to admire these priceless portraits of Alexander, one with Nike and another with a diadem. Eleven of the other medallions went to the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, Portugal; the one depicting Emperor Caracalla, a great admirer of Alexander, is at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, USA. It is the only existing picture of Olympias, although it is probably idealized.

Beyond this precious and unique collection of Macedonian gold, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki holds another rare treasure: Europe's oldest surviving papyrus, also found at Derveni. Since the roll to which it belongs dates to around 340 BC, the papyrus is contemporary with Philip II and Alexander! The bits of papyrus belong to a philosophical treatise, a commentary on an Orphic poem concerning the birth of the gods, probably written in Attica around 420-410 BC. 

It certainly pays off to venture downstairs, where the Tomb of Agios Athanasios occupies a privileged room. However, that story has already been covered (see: The Macedonian Tomb of Agios Athanasios in Thessaloniki).

[Picture from Thessaloniki Travel]

There is, of course, far more to discover in the sections about the Kingdom of Macedonia and Thessaloniki, the Metropolis of Macedonia, that fit in the broader Alexander context. Most noticeable is, for instance, a lovely head of what could be young Alexander from the 2nd century AD. The inscription mentions "Thessalonica daughter of Philip, Queen" from 150-200 AD. It means Alexander's half-sister. Also, a fascinating relief dedicated to Hephaistion from Pella, 320-300 BC  (see: Another effigy of Hephaistion?). Besides, there is a wide assortment of sarcophagi, funerary steles, inscriptions, statues, mosaics, and architectural elements from all over Macedonia and from Thessaloniki, like the columns from the Temple of Aphrodite (see: Thessaloniki's Temple of Aphrodite).

Please, do include a visit to this magnificent museum next time you are in the area – or hop a plane if you happen to be in Athens, for instance. It is worth the extra mile!

[Click here for more pictures from the Archaeological Museum in Thessaloniki]

Thessaloniki continues writing history

Thessaloniki as such did not exist in Alexander’s days. The city was founded eight years after his death by Cassander, the eldest son of Antipater, Regent of Macedonia. Those were turbulent years and on his deathbed Antipater appointed Polyperchon as his successor instead of his own son, Cassander. That did not go down well with Cassander who simply murdered the old general. Well, we know that he mercilessly murdered all those who were in his way to the throne of Macedonia. Olympias, Alexander’s mother was assassinated in 316 BC. Roxane, his widow, and young Alexander IV, his legitimate heir to the throne, were poisoned upon his orders some six years later. About the same time, Heracles, Alexander’s son by his mistress Barsine was eliminated also.

The thirst for power clearly went to Cassander’s head and to legitimize his position inside the Argead Dynasty, he took Thessalonica , Alexander’s half-sister as his wife and self-proclaimed himself as king of Macedonia. As such he ruled from 305 till 297 BC and Thessalonica  gave him three sons, Philip, Antipater and Alexander. The city of Thessaloniki was named after her.

Because of its location, it soon became and still is one of the most populous and wealthy cities of Macedonia. When the Romans conquered Macedonia in 168 BC, it developed into an important hub on the Via Egnatia that connected Europe to Asia and prospered thanks to its spacious harbor. Consequently, it is not surprising that most of the remains of Thessaloniki  date from the heydays of the Roman Era.

Of course, there are testimonies left by the Ottomans who ruled from 1430 until 1912 when the city got involved in the Balkan War and gained its independence. The fire of 1917 devastated two third of Thessaloniki’s historic center, leaving 77,000 people homeless but exposing the Forum and its adjacent Odeon in return. Eventually, the city was rebuilt on a grand scale with little or no consideration for its antique legacy.

For the past ten years or so, Thessaloniki  is building a metro line through the city standing right on top of its antique levels, archaeologists have their work cut out. 

For these metro works, the underground of major streets has been exposed, especially parts of the ancient Via Egnatia and the Decumanus Maximus. Many stretches like the old commercial heart of the city have survived in amazingly good conditions.

In an ideal world, a metro station could be combined with an underground museum. This is a great idea as locals and tourists could enjoy a close up look at the glorious past of Thessaloniki  but skeptics declare that the two are not compatible as it is, for instance, impossible to move antique roads.

Smaller artifacts labeled as movable finds count 300,000 pieces, 50,000 of which are ancient coins. Plans are to exhibit at least part of these finds in two completed metro stations, probably Panepistimio and Papafi stations.

The metro should be completed by 2020 but repeated discussions about archaeological salvage and preservation regularly bring the works to a standstill. Besides, many local shopkeepers and residents are fed-up with the ongoing inconveniences and all they want is to be put out of their misery.

Who will win this battle?

[Picture of the Decumanus Maximus, Venizelos Station (Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

Is the Mother of Alexander the Great in the Tomb at Kasta Hill near Amphipolis?

Andrew Chugg just has published a third analysis about the Tomb at Amphipolis in an effort to tie it to Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great.

Here he elaborates his earlier theory about the snake basket on the head of the caryatids and about their dress (see: Additional scrutiny of the Caryatides of Amphipolis by Andrew Chugg), referring to ancient writers and similar depictions from antiquity.

[Picture from The Greek Reporter]

Andrew Chugg’s argumentation is that after Olympias was murdered, her relatives would have felt it their duty to give her a proper burial, to which Cassander must have agreed. Cassander was married to Thessalonica, Alexander’s half-sister and daughter of Philip II, and as such, she might have exercised some pressure on her husband. And then there was Cleopatra, by now Queen of Epirus, Alexander’s sister and daughter of Philip II and Olympias, who could have been involved in the burial. Olympias had many rich and influential relatives who might have been more than willing to build her tomb. Chugg goes even as far as involving Roxane and her son by Alexander as well since both were kept at Amphipolis for another seven years after Olympias’ murder. Funeral rites were sacred in ancient Macedonia, and Cassander knew that, as well as all the generals previously fighting alongside Alexander, meaning that Cassander may not have had much of a choice.

The author does not accept the idea of this being an abandoned cenotaph built for Alexander since, in such a case, the painstaking job of sealing the access walls and filling the chambers with tons of sand would make no sense.

Those wanting to unravel Andrew Chugg's ideas can consult his full story in The Greek Reporter.

More Treasure Finds from ancient Macedonia

It is wonderful news that, in spite of its poor financial state, excavations in Greece are still ongoing. To my greatest satisfaction, the most recent discoveries are coming from the Vergina area, ancient Aegae.

The pieces recovered from five different tombs are very refined, and one of them could have belonged to King Cassander, the bloody ruler of Macedonia who took the Macedonian crown after killing Alexander’s mother, wife, and son(s). Himself being the son of Antipater, Alexander’s regent while campaigning in the east, Cassander married Alexander’s sister Thessalonica, establishing the Antipatrid dynasty. 

Another quite important tomb shows a large underground room whose walls are decorated with garlands of ivy and flowers. Based on the impressive ceramic objects and an iron sword found in this tomb, it can be dated to 420-410 BC and could well belong to King Perdiccas II, one of Alexander’s ancestors, who died in 413 BC.

Yet another Macedonian tomb was discovered showing Doric columns and a façade that is similar to that of the tomb that supposedly belongs to Alexander IV, the son of Alexander the Great.

[Attic lekythoi and Funeral mourning representation found at the Royal Necropolis of Aegae, Vergina. Pictures from Archaeology News Network, Credit: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ/ΥΠΠΟ/STR]

In total twenty tombs were excavated ranging from the 4th to the  3rd century BC . Although these burial sites have been plundered in the past, they still yielded some impressive artifacts.

Further to the south, in ancient Corinth, a hoard of 51 Macedonian gold coins has been found in a cavity in the rocks. The coins featuring Philip II were minted in Pella and Amphipolis in Macedonia, while those showing Alexander the Great come from Amphipolis in Greece, Miletus and Tarsus in Asia Minor, Salamis in Cyprus and from Sidon in Phoenicia. The hoard was concealed shortly after 330 BC when Alexander was still in Asia and a Macedonian garrison was posted in Corinth to protect the isthmus.

[Picture from Pinterest fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net]

Thessaloniki's Temple of Aphrodite

The city of Thessaloniki was officially founded in 315 BC by Cassander and is now the second largest city of Greece, with most of its past buried beneath modern buildings. From time to time, however, new remains are being discovered. 

Thessalonica was a half-sister of Alexander the Great, i.e., the daughter of Philip II by Nicesipolis of Pherae, whom he married to secure Thessaly. She was taken as a bride by King Cassander of Macedon in 315 BC, who named the city after her. Cassander, we know, was a son of Antipater who served as regent in Macedonia while Alexander was marching through Asia. Although Cassander belonged to the group that was educated by Aristotle in Mieza, he did not accompany Alexander and did not share in his glory, much to his chagrin. But Cassander was not really appreciated by his father either, Antipater, who did not allow him to lie on the couches with the men at his dinner parties but put him on a low stool because he never had killed his own boar as required by tradition. After Alexander’s death and Antipater dying from old age, Cassander crowned himself King of Macedonia and, to support his legitimacy to the throne, married Thessalonica, who was of real royal blood.

The marriage cannot have been a happy one, but that was of no importance in antiquity. Cassander’s life was not happy either, and his reign was led by fire and sword. He besieged Pydna in 317 BC to capture Olympias, Alexander’s mother, and had her executed. Roxane and young Alexander IV, Alexander’s wife and son were later on also put to death upon Cassander’s orders.

[Picture from Popular Archeaology]

But, to return to modern Thessaloniki,  an ancient temple, first located in the 1930s and entirely forgotten, was exposed when an apartment block was being torn down. In the backyard of this building located in the modern municipality of Thermaikos were the poor remains of his temple half hidden under lots of garbage and wild-growing trees. Apparently, it belonged to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and dated from the late Archaic period, built in the 6th century BC. Some statues and other artifacts had already been moved to the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. However, the original seven meters high columns never could be re-erected at their full length under the low ceiling. But now the temple is threatened to disappear after the demolition of this apartment complex and the plans to build new housing on the very spot. 

The underlying sanctuary could be saved if the land were expropriated by the Central Archaeological Council, but the present owner refuses expropriation. It is a well-known situation in Greece where urban development is fighting against cultural preservation. For the aficionados of Greek culture, the temple is a symbol of national pride and very much part of Greece’s rich history. For modern builders, these antiquities hamper the city’s development and modernization.