A great general and king of the Greek city of Epirus. He twice attempted to conquer of all of Macedonia, but failed each time. He was a second cousin of Alexander the Great, and most likely intended to replicate the feats of his relative and form a lasting empire.
In 280 BC, he agreed to attack the Romans at the request of Tarentum, a Greek town in southern Italy. With a large force, which included 20 elephants, Pyrrhus won several battles against the Romans. In each battle, however, only the intervention of his best troops and the fear caused by the elephants managed to win the field against the determined Romans. Although victorious, his losses were far greater than he could endure. After one such battle, Pyrrhus is quoted as saying, "One more such victory and we are defeated."
In 278 BC, Pyrrhus left Italy to fight the Carthaginians in Sicily, where he fared much better. The Romans, however, began the offensive and attacked Tarentum in his absence. Fearing that Tarentum would fall and he would be trapped on Sicily, Pyrrhus returned to Italy and attacked the Romans once more. By now, the Romans were more prepared to deal with Pyrrhus' Macedonian tactics and were able to defeat his forces in battle. Pyrrhus was forced to retreat to Greece, leaving with the quote, "What a battlefield I am leaving for Greece and Rome!"
Pyrrhus was later killed while fighting in the city of Sparta. While walking along a street, a woman hurled a stone down upon him, which struck him in the head.