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 PYRRHUS t PYTHAGORAS 119 her daughter Antigone, and was furnished by the king with a fleet and troops to recover Epirus. He found Neoptolemus in possession of the throne, and the two agreed to hold it in common; but presently, to prevent his own destruction, Pyrrhus put Neoptolemus to death (about 295). He now interfered in the quar- rels of Antipater and Alexander, the two sons of Cassander, and took the part of the latter on condition that he should receive Acarnania, Amphilochia, Ambracia, and some Macedonian districts. He then placed Alexander on the throne of Macedon, but the latter was soon de- throned by a powerful neighbor. Pyrrhus came and restored him to his kingdom. Soon after- ward Demetrius, to whom Alexander had also applied for aid, put him to death and made himself king in his place. Hostilities soon arose between Pyrrhus and Demetrius, who had formerly been close friends. In 291 Thebes revolted from Demetrius ; and while the Mace- donian king was engaged in the siege of that place Pyrrhus marched into Thessaly, but was forced to retire. Thebes fell in 290, and De- metrius invaded Epirus in 289, leaving Pan- tauchus in j^Etolia with a large force. Pyrrhus, advancing to meet Demetrius, but taking a dif- ferent route, entered ^Etolia, encountered Pan- tauchus, vanquished him in single combat, and routed his army. The next year he invaded Macedonia, and marched as far as Edessa, but was driven back, and soon after concluded a peace with Demetrius, who was now anxious to regain his father's dominions in Asia. Here- upon Seleucus, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus en- tered into an alliance, which they persuaded Pyrrhus to join, to attack the Macedonian king in his European dominions. Demetrius fled, and his kingdom was divided, a large share of Macedonia falling to Pyrrhus ; but the Mace- donians soon drove him out again, and put themselves under Lysimachus. In 281 an em- bassy from the Tarentines implored Pyrrhus to come over to Italy and assist the Greek in- habitants against the Romans. He set out in 280 with an army of 20,000 foot, 3,000 horse, 2,000 archers, 500 slingers, and a number of ele- phants ; but a great storm scattered the fleet, and Pyrrhus arrived at Tarentum with only a small part of his army. There, while waiting for the dispersed ships to come in, finding the inhabitants indisposed to take their proper share in the war, he compelled them to enter the army, closed their theatres, and soon showed himself their master as well as ally. Failing to negotiate with M. Valerius La3vi- nus, the Roman general, Pyrrhus met him on the river Siris (now Sinno), and won a victory with the loss of a large number of his best troops. " Another such victory," he is re- ported to have said, "and I must return to Epirus alone." He now sent Cineas to Rome, offering peace on condition that the indepen- dence of the Italian Greeks should be recog- nized, and that the Samnites, Lucanians, Apu- lians, and Bruttians should regain the pos- sessions they had lost in the war. The Ro- man senate rejected the terms, and Pyrrhus marched to within 24 miles of Rome, plun- dering the country as he went; but the ar- rival of the Roman army from Etruria com- pelled him to retire. He took the field again in the spring of 279, and gained a hardly won victory at Asculum. Few of his Grecian troops were now left ; and, unable to obtain reinforcements from home, he was willing to conclude a truce in order to drive the Cartha- ginians from Sicily. Previously the Roman consuls Fabricius and ^milius had sent back to Pyrrhus a servant who had deserted and promised to poison his master, and in return for this Pyrrhus released all the Roman prison- ers. He now passed over into Sicily, and at first was so successful that the Carthaginians agreed to assist him against the Romans on condition of peace. He rejected this offer, but failing in an attack upon Lilybfeum returned to Italy in 276. His fleet was attacked by the Carthaginians, and 70 of his ships were de- stroyed. In 275 he was routed near Beneven- tum by Curius Dentatus, and obliged to return to Epirus. In 273 he invaded Macedonia, of which Antigonus Gonatas, the son of Deme- trius, was then king, and for the second time gained possession of that country. At the in- stance of Cleonymus, who had been excluded from the Spartan throne, he marched into Laconia in 272 with 25,000 foot, 2,000 horse, and 24 elephants. He arrived before Sparta at the close of day, but deferred the attack until the following morning. During the night the Spartans fortified themselves so strongly as to be able to hold the city until relieved by reinforcements. Taking up his winter quarters in Laconia, Pyrrhus was in- duced to interfere in the affairs of Argos, and in a conflict in the streets of that city he re- ceived a slight wound from a javelin. He was about to cut down the Argive who had attack- ed him, when the mother of the man hurled from the roof of a house a large tile which struck Pyrrhus on the back of the neck. He fell from his horse and was killed by soldiers of the enemy. Pyrrhus was regarded in sub- sequent times as one of the greatest generals that had ever lived. He wrote a work on the art of war, and his commentaries are quoted by Dionysius and Plutarch. PYTHAGORAS, a Greek philosopher, founder of a philosophical, religious, and political asso- ciation in southern Italy, born in Samos about 580 B. C., died probably in Metapontum about 500. He was the son of Mnesarchus, an opu- lent merchant, and according to some accounts was a disciple of Pherecydes of Syros, and of Thales and Anaximander. He is said to have spent 30 years in travel for the purpose of collecting all attainable knowledge, especially the esoteric doctrines of priests concerning the worship of the gods. Egypt, Arabia, Phoeni- cia, Judea, Babylonia, and even Gaul and In- dia, are among the countries in which he is said