BC290-271 Pyrrhus of Epirus
In the twenty years from 290-271 BC Pyrrhus of Epirus (pictured) waged the Pyrrhic War against Carthage and Rome.
Rome controlled most of the Italian peninsula having defeated the Samnites, the Etruscans and the Gauls and between 280 and 275 BC, Pyrrhus of Epirus waged a campaign against Rome in an effort to curtail its emerging power over the Greek cities states in southern Italy.
During his Italian campaigns, Pyrrhus received envoys from Sicilian cities asking for military aid to remove the Carthaginians. Pyrrhus agreed, and initially his Sicilian campaign against Carthage was a success. Carthage sued for peace, but the Roman Senate refused unless Carthage was willing to renounce its claims on Sicily.
Pyrrhus set his sights on conquering Carthage itself, and began outfitting an expedition from Sicily but his ruthless treatment of the Sicilians -- and his execution of two Sicilian rulers whom he claimed were plotting against him -- caused so much animosity that Pyrrhus withdrew from Sicily and returned to deal with southern Italy.
Pyrrhus's campaigns in Italy were inconclusive, and he eventually withdrew to Epirus. For Carthage, this meant a return to peace, but for Rome it meant complete domination of Italy. Pyrrhus's failure to defend the colonies of Magna Graecia meant that Rome could quickly overpower them. By the middle of the third century BC, Rome controlled all of the Italian peninsula.
In Rome itself, the greatest victory of the people came in 287 BC when the decisions and legislation of the plebeian assembly became not only binding on the plebeians, but on the entire Roman citizenry. These reforms were purchased without any civil war or internal bloodshed; they would not resolve the class struggle, but they certainly prevented civil war.
In 281 BC Ptolemy II Philadelphus was Pharaoh of Egypt (he ruled until 246 BC). His kingdom also ruled Israel. During his reign, the Septuagint translation begun in Alexandria, and it was a period that saw the beginning of the Pharisees party and other Jewish Second Temple sects such as the Sadducees and Essenes.
Rome controlled most of the Italian peninsula having defeated the Samnites, the Etruscans and the Gauls and between 280 and 275 BC, Pyrrhus of Epirus waged a campaign against Rome in an effort to curtail its emerging power over the Greek cities states in southern Italy.
During his Italian campaigns, Pyrrhus received envoys from Sicilian cities asking for military aid to remove the Carthaginians. Pyrrhus agreed, and initially his Sicilian campaign against Carthage was a success. Carthage sued for peace, but the Roman Senate refused unless Carthage was willing to renounce its claims on Sicily.
Pyrrhus set his sights on conquering Carthage itself, and began outfitting an expedition from Sicily but his ruthless treatment of the Sicilians -- and his execution of two Sicilian rulers whom he claimed were plotting against him -- caused so much animosity that Pyrrhus withdrew from Sicily and returned to deal with southern Italy.
Pyrrhus's campaigns in Italy were inconclusive, and he eventually withdrew to Epirus. For Carthage, this meant a return to peace, but for Rome it meant complete domination of Italy. Pyrrhus's failure to defend the colonies of Magna Graecia meant that Rome could quickly overpower them. By the middle of the third century BC, Rome controlled all of the Italian peninsula.
In Rome itself, the greatest victory of the people came in 287 BC when the decisions and legislation of the plebeian assembly became not only binding on the plebeians, but on the entire Roman citizenry. These reforms were purchased without any civil war or internal bloodshed; they would not resolve the class struggle, but they certainly prevented civil war.
In 281 BC Ptolemy II Philadelphus was Pharaoh of Egypt (he ruled until 246 BC). His kingdom also ruled Israel. During his reign, the Septuagint translation begun in Alexandria, and it was a period that saw the beginning of the Pharisees party and other Jewish Second Temple sects such as the Sadducees and Essenes.
Labels: BC290, carthage, etruscans, gauls, ptolemy ii philadelphus, pyrrhus of epirus, samnites
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