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Quiz about Eagle King of Epirus
Quiz about Eagle King of Epirus

Eagle King of Epirus Trivia Quiz


Pyrrhus of Epirus, the very first truly foreign invader of Rome, and the very first of what would be many climactic clashes between the Macedonian Phalanx and the Roman Maniple.

A multiple-choice quiz by BakedPotato. Estimated time: 8 mins.
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Author
BakedPotato
Time
8 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
292,134
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
20
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
12 / 20
Plays
498
- -
Question 1 of 20
1. According to Plutarch, Pyrrhus's childhood had only just begun when his father was deposed as King of Epirus. Where did Pyrrhus end up spending most of his childhood? Hint


Question 2 of 20
2. Despite having been on the losing side, which battle solidified Pyrrhus as a highly capable military commander in 301 BC? Hint


Question 3 of 20
3. After being released from Egypt as a hostage to the Ptolemaic Empire, Pyrrhus found Epirus under the rule of one Neoptolemos. What was Pyrrhus's response? Hint


Question 4 of 20
4. While Demetrios took control of Macedon, Epirus's wife, who was Demetrios's sister, died. Inevitably, this led to war between the two men and their nations. In their first march to war, what event occurred that avoided a direct battle? Hint


Question 5 of 20
5. When a man began to insult and harangue Pyrrhus publicly, Pyrrhus refused to have the man banished. According to history, when asked by his friends why, how did Pyrrhus respond? Hint


Question 6 of 20
6. Why did Pyrrhus's invasion of Macedonia fail? Hint


Question 7 of 20
7. Disillusioned by the corrupt behavior of their king Demetrios, the Macedonian army was seething with discontent and talk of mutiny. At the same time, Pyrrhus had exploited this to invade southern Macedonia in 286 BC. What was Demetrios's response? Hint


Question 8 of 20
8. After conquering Macedonia, Pyrrhus kept his Macedonians in constant war against the remnants of Demetrios's faction while making a pact with Lysimakhos of Thrace to partition Macedon. By 283 BC, Pyrrhus had lost Macedon and returned to Epirus. What caused this? Hint


Question 9 of 20
9. Rome's expansionism began to spill over into the southern Italian Greek city-states, and Tarentum was pressured again and again by Roman expansionism. What one event in particular pushed the Romans over the edge towards open war? Hint


Question 10 of 20
10. What did Meton of Tarentum warn the Tarentines about Pyrrhus as they sought his assistance? Hint


Question 11 of 20
11. Pyrrhus met and defeated the Romans at the Battle of Heraclea with heavy losses himself. What single event very nearly cost him the battle? Hint


Question 12 of 20
12. Why did Pyrrhus not march on Rome after Heraclea? Hint


Question 13 of 20
13. Pyrrhus sent his friend Cineas to give gifts to the Roman senators and their families, before delivering a great speech to the Senate which very nearly persuaded them to capitulate. Who famously delivered a speech which persuaded them otherwise? Hint


Question 14 of 20
14. Pyrrhus was supposedly so impressed by the austerity of this Roman senator, and his refusal to let Pyrrhus's display of his war elephant persuade him to accept a gift of gold or to try and persuade Rome to sue for peace, that he released his Roman prisoners without condition. Hint


Question 15 of 20
15. Which battle waged was the one which has become synonymous with the term "Pyrrhic Victory" and was supposedly the battle in which Pyrrhus claimed, "Another such victory and I am lost!"? Hint


Question 16 of 20
16. After his narrow victory at Asculum, Pyrrhus was again distracted from his Roman campaign by the prospect of conquest where? Hint


Question 17 of 20
17. What caused Pyrrhus's defeat in Sicilia? Hint


Question 18 of 20
18. At the battle of Beneventum, Pyrrhus's army was greatly disillusioned with Pyrrhus for having gone to Sicilia. In the process of engaging the Romans, the Romans managed to split Pyrrhus's army in two, forcing a more even-sided battle than the previous two waged by Pyrrhus on Rome. What was the turning point in the battle which ultimately doomed Pyrrhus? Hint


Question 19 of 20
19. Attempting a third invasion of Macedon, what caused Pyrrhus to become hated by the Macedonians? Hint


Question 20 of 20
20. Again and again Pyrrhus abandoned his campaigns in search of newer ones. From Macedon in 274-273 BC to Sparta in 272 BC, Pyrrhus finally met his end as he was killed besieging this city in 272 BC. Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Sep 22 2024 : colbymanram: 8/20
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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. According to Plutarch, Pyrrhus's childhood had only just begun when his father was deposed as King of Epirus. Where did Pyrrhus end up spending most of his childhood?

Answer: Illyria

Glaukias, King of the Taulanti, took Pyrrhus in until he was a young teen. Pyrrhus then returned to take the throne of Epirus.
2. Despite having been on the losing side, which battle solidified Pyrrhus as a highly capable military commander in 301 BC?

Answer: The Battle of Ipsus

Pyrrhus was brother-in-law to Demetrios I of Macedon, son of Antigonos Monopthalmus (the One-Eyed), one of Alexander's original generals and successors (Diadokhoi, or Diadokhos singular). Antigonos was in control of Asia Minor, Judaea, and Syria. The combined forces of the Seleucid Empire and the Kingdom of Macedon managed to defeat Antigonos.
3. After being released from Egypt as a hostage to the Ptolemaic Empire, Pyrrhus found Epirus under the rule of one Neoptolemos. What was Pyrrhus's response?

Answer: Acceptrd joint-rule due to Neoptolemos's alliances with neighboring warlords

Pyrrhus had an army accumulated from Egypt, but Neoptolemos had neighboring states friendly enough to him to provide assistance in case of invasion. So Pyrrhus accepted joint rule with Neoptolemos. Pyrrhus bided his time until enough of the Epirote people had grown to hate Neoptolemos before killing him and claiming sole power of Epirus.
4. While Demetrios took control of Macedon, Epirus's wife, who was Demetrios's sister, died. Inevitably, this led to war between the two men and their nations. In their first march to war, what event occurred that avoided a direct battle?

Answer: The two armies missed one another on the march, ending up in each other's opposite's territory

Pyrrhus had missed Demetrios's army, but instead encountered a smaller army left to garrison Macedonia under Pantaukhos. Pantaukhos challenged Pyrrhus to a one-on-one duel, which Pyrrhus narrowly won. Pantaukhos's men pulled him out before he could be killed, causing the Epirotes in exultation to attack the Macedonians, and take 5,000 prisoner.

Many of the old Macedonian soldiers greatly admired Pyrrhus, remarking that he looked and acted just as Alexander the Great had.
5. When a man began to insult and harangue Pyrrhus publicly, Pyrrhus refused to have the man banished. According to history, when asked by his friends why, how did Pyrrhus respond?

Answer: "It is better to have him here, saying these things, than rambling all over the world with them."

Pyrrhus had a reputation for being benevolent, and always returning kind favors. It is said Pyrrhus was grieved less over the death of a friend than for the fact that he had died before Pyrrhus could repay him for an old debt.
6. Why did Pyrrhus's invasion of Macedonia fail?

Answer: Many of the Macedonians who began to join Pyrrhus on the way deserted him

While Demetrios fell sick in Epirus, Pyrrhus ran roughshod over Macedon, until his Macedonian subjects began to desert. Both sides did not want to become embroiled in a major conflict after the little success both men had seen, and so a treaty was signed making peace between the two.
7. Disillusioned by the corrupt behavior of their king Demetrios, the Macedonian army was seething with discontent and talk of mutiny. At the same time, Pyrrhus had exploited this to invade southern Macedonia in 286 BC. What was Demetrios's response?

Answer: Take the disillusioned soldiers south with him, so they would be forced to fight a foreign invader rather than desert north to Macedonian commanders

Unfortunately for Demetrios, Pyrrhus was not so foreign an invader as he supposed, and rumors of Pyrrhus's benevolence had reached Macedon (helped in part by some of Pyrrhus's agents). This caused most of the Macedonians to immediately defect to the Epirotes as soon as Pyrrhus rode before them. Pyrrhus conquered Macedonia without a fight.
8. After conquering Macedonia, Pyrrhus kept his Macedonians in constant war against the remnants of Demetrios's faction while making a pact with Lysimakhos of Thrace to partition Macedon. By 283 BC, Pyrrhus had lost Macedon and returned to Epirus. What caused this?

Answer: Lysimakhos and Thrace betrayed Pyrrhus, turned many Macedonians against Pyrrhus, and captured Pyrrhus's supplies

Pyrrhus had made a treaty with Demetrios after his defeat. Demetrios went to Syria for conquest, and Pyrrhus began a war with Demetrios's subjects in Macedon. Once Demetrios was defeated in Syria, Thrace sprung on Pyrrhus, seizing their supplies and spreading rumors and lies and bribes to cause Pyrrhus's Macedonians to revolt.
9. Rome's expansionism began to spill over into the southern Italian Greek city-states, and Tarentum was pressured again and again by Roman expansionism. What one event in particular pushed the Romans over the edge towards open war?

Answer: A Roman delegation was mocked and ridiculed by drunken Tarentines during a Bacchanalia, and a Tarentine defecated on one of the ambassadors

A Roman delegation was sent to Tarentum after a small Roman fleet was sunk by the Tarentines. It was the middle of a large festival in the city, and many people were drunk. The Tarentines abused and assaulted the embassy, and one particularly tall Tarentine is reputed to have defecated on one of the ambassador's clothes.

The ambassador is reputed to have said that his toga would be washed with the blood of Tarentum.
10. What did Meton of Tarentum warn the Tarentines about Pyrrhus as they sought his assistance?

Answer: Pyrrhus would not tolerate the Tarentines' easy living, and expect them to prepare for war

Meton reportedly pretended to be drunk, so as to command the attention of as many Tarentines in the town square as possible, before warning them to live it up while they could, for Pyrrhus would expect them to change their way of life if he were to help them. They ignored Meton and sought help from Pyrrhus anyway. Pyrrhus agreed but forcibly closed the public entertainment areas.
11. Pyrrhus met and defeated the Romans at the Battle of Heraclea with heavy losses himself. What single event very nearly cost him the battle?

Answer: He was injured in combat, and gave his armor to Megakles, who was then slain in full sight of much of his army

Pyrrhus was struck down in the midst of the battle by Roman cavalry. Megakles, a man of similar build and appearance to Pyrrhus, was given Pyrrhus's armor to ride out and inspire the men. Instead, he was killed, and the Roman cavalry began to display Pyrrhus's helmet throughout the battlefield.

It wasn't until Pyrrhus rode out bare-headed for his men to see that the Epirotes took heart again, and began to fight more fiercely.
12. Why did Pyrrhus not march on Rome after Heraclea?

Answer: The Romans had almost immediately replaced their losses from the battle, while Pyrrhus had not

One crucial aspect of Roman success was the rapid speed with which new soldiers could be brought up and trained. What they lacked in the skill of seasoned Greek and Macedonian veterans, they made up for in superior tactics and almost fanatical levels of morale.

As soon as the Consul Publius Valerius Laevinus's army was routed at Heraclea, they met up with Consul Tiberius Coruncanius's army some miles away from Rome, and had their ranks replenished. Pyrrhus was shocked by this.
13. Pyrrhus sent his friend Cineas to give gifts to the Roman senators and their families, before delivering a great speech to the Senate which very nearly persuaded them to capitulate. Who famously delivered a speech which persuaded them otherwise?

Answer: Appius Claudius Caecus

Appius Claudius "Caecus" (the Blind) was an old man by this point who had lost his sight and had to be carried to the Senate house by his servants, though as he said, he wished he had lost his hearing as well, as he ridiculed and abused the Senators for considering talking peace with Pyrrhus, after having bragged so proudly in the past on how they could have defeated Alexander the Great.

The Senate was moved by his speech, and told Cineas they would not talk terms with Pyrrhus until he had left Italia with his army.
14. Pyrrhus was supposedly so impressed by the austerity of this Roman senator, and his refusal to let Pyrrhus's display of his war elephant persuade him to accept a gift of gold or to try and persuade Rome to sue for peace, that he released his Roman prisoners without condition.

Answer: Gaius Fabricius Luscinus

Gaius Fabricius "Luscinus" (the One-Eyed) was reportedly famous as a good soldier and honest man who was very poor. He was sent by the Senate to negotiate the release of Roman prisoners from the battle of Heraclea. Pyrrhus was so impressed by this and his remarks over dinner that night that he released the prisoners without conditions.
15. Which battle waged was the one which has become synonymous with the term "Pyrrhic Victory" and was supposedly the battle in which Pyrrhus claimed, "Another such victory and I am lost!"?

Answer: The Battle of Asculum

Pyrrhus waged the battle of Asculum in the same way as he had done at Heraclea, with evenly matched sides fighting it out on an even battlefield. It wasn't until Pyrrhus unleashed his elephants against the Roman flanks that the Roman lines broke. The Romans had prepared for the elephants with wagon-like contraptions that would attempt to scare the elephants with sharp objects, loud noises, and fire.

It didn't work.
16. After his narrow victory at Asculum, Pyrrhus was again distracted from his Roman campaign by the prospect of conquest where?

Answer: Sicilia

In what was becoming customary for Pyrrhus, he abandoned his venture half-completed and targeted Sicilia, with the ultimate aim of fighting and defeating Carthage, accumulating great wealth and trade possibilities for Epirus in the process.
17. What caused Pyrrhus's defeat in Sicilia?

Answer: His behavior grew more authoritarian and oppressive, and his Sicilian allies turned on him, leaving him stranded, which forced to sue for peace with Carthage

As with the Tarentines, Pyrrhus was exercising a heavily militant authoritarian hand on the Sicilians. Unlike Tarentum, however, his Sicilian allies were more numerous and powerful than the Tarentines, and due to the island's close proximity of conflicting cultures (Italiot, Greek, and Carthaginian), Pyrrhus's subject tribes could find easily willing tribes willing to help them turn themselves over to Carthage to thwart Pyrrhus.
18. At the battle of Beneventum, Pyrrhus's army was greatly disillusioned with Pyrrhus for having gone to Sicilia. In the process of engaging the Romans, the Romans managed to split Pyrrhus's army in two, forcing a more even-sided battle than the previous two waged by Pyrrhus on Rome. What was the turning point in the battle which ultimately doomed Pyrrhus?

Answer: His elephants, new, young and inexperienced, panicked and turned on Pyrrhus's lines

Pyrrhus was soundly defeated. Although some sources claim Pyrrhus actually won the battle as he had the previous two, he had lost too many men and could no longer carry out a campaign against the Romans. Out of 20,000 Epirotes he had brought with him to Italia, he went home to Epirus with just about 8,500 left alive.
19. Attempting a third invasion of Macedon, what caused Pyrrhus to become hated by the Macedonians?

Answer: His Gallic allies looted Macedonian graves

While Pyrrhus still had loyal friends and allies in Macedon, he became universally despised by most Macedonians as his Gallic allies and mercenaries began to loot Macedonian graveyards, while Pyrrhus did nothing to stop them. Failed in this invasion, Pyrrhus aimed to "liberate" Sparta from the rule of Antigonos II of Macedon after being called upon to settle an internal dispute.

Instead his army began to loot Laconia.
20. Again and again Pyrrhus abandoned his campaigns in search of newer ones. From Macedon in 274-273 BC to Sparta in 272 BC, Pyrrhus finally met his end as he was killed besieging this city in 272 BC.

Answer: Argos

According to some sources, an old woman from atop a building threw a roof tile down on Pyrrhus, catching him in the back of the neck as he rode past on his horse. This kept him stunned long enough for an enemy soldier to behead him. Antigonos gave Pyrrhus a proper burial and compensation to his family.

Thus ended the life and career of Pyrrhus of Epirus, named the "Eagle" of Epirus by his people, and despite his great skill and charisma and genius, he never stuck to a single campaign long enough to see it through.

Ultimately, Plutarch sums up the life of Pyrrhus perfectly in this quote:

"Whatever Pyrrhus won, he lost by going on to new adventures, like a lucky gambler who does not know when to stop. What he won by great actions he lost by vain hopes. Because of his desires for new conquests, he lost what he had already won. On and on he went, building new ambitions on the ruins of old ones, and never finishing what he started."
Source: Author BakedPotato

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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