Pyrrhus Campaign

The Pyrrhus of Epirus Campaign is a historical campaign introduced by The Eagle King DLC. It is the first and so far only official scripted campaign scenario released for Hegemony III. "Follow the historic invasion of Italy by Pyrrhus of Epirus as he sails with his army of phalangites and war elephants to defend the Greeks against Rome and Carthage. (Not recommended for first time players)"

- In-game Description

Overview
The historical campaign is based on the Pyrrhic Wars of 280-275 BC, in which Pyrrhus of Epirus invaded Italy and later Sicily to defend the local Greek city-states against Roman and Carthaginian expansionism. A series of objectives and scripted events will loosely recreate the historical dynamics, but the player is free to tackle objectives in the order they prefer and may ultimately achieve greater successes than Pyrrhus historically did.

Some of these objectives reward victory points, and must be completed in order to officially win the scenario, the others are optional.

"-280 BCE-

For half a millenium, the Southern coast of Italy had been controlled by colonies of the great Greek city-states.

Known collectively as Magna Grecia, their most important centre was the Spartan-founded city of Taras.

But while Greek attention was focused on wars in the east, centuries of Roman expansion had brought the borders of the growing Republic to their doorsteps.

No longer the great powers they had once been, the Tarantine led Greeks called for aid from their homeland to defend against the Roman aggressors.

Their request was heard by an ambitious young king from the northern Greek Kingdom of Epirus.

With dreams of becoming the next Alexander, Pyrrhus the Eagle King gathered an army from across the Greek world and sailed for Italy.

But in his rush for glory, Pyrrhus chose not to wait until the winter storms were over ..."

- Introduction Text

Starting Conditions
The starting territories of factions on the map are substantially altered from the main Unification Sandbox, owing to the campaign being set in a later historical period.

The Gallic Boii and Senones have invaded the north of the map, with the Boii having entirely assimilated the North Etruscans and the Senones having assimilated the three northernmost cities of Picenum. The Etruscan Veii, Clevsin and Velathri factions are merged into a single Etruria faction.

In southern Italy, the Sybaris faction has been destroyed and replaced by the Thurii faction which inherits 2 of Sybaris' cities. The territories of the Locris, Kroton and Bruttii factions have been somewhat altered, with the Bruttii faction gaining the most ground overall.

On top of this, the Republic of Rome faction (an altered version of the normal Rome faction) has entirely assimilated the Volsci faction as well as the city of Veii, and additionally controls (but has not assimilated) the territories of the Sabines, Umbri, Senones, Marsi, Frentani, Dauni, Peuceti, Thurii and Rhegion, as well as some of the cities of the Etruria faction, putting them at a total of 56 controlled cities. They additionally control some garrisoned camps among the Lucani, and a split-off faction known as the Allies of Rome controls 2 garrisoned camps east of the city of Taras.

In Sicily, Carthage has invaded from the west and has fully assimilated the city of Lilybaion, additionally controlling the Elymoi, Selinous and large parts of the territories of the Himera and Syrakousai factions, for a total of 14 controlled cities. The Mamertines have also invaded, in the northeast, assimilating three cities from Zancle and Himera and controlling the western three cities of the Sikeloi. Syrakousai is the only other independent faction on the island and has assimilated the easternmost city of the Sikeloi and the last remaining city of Zancle, but has lost the southern part of its territory to Carthage.

In addition, some of the cities have been renamed to reflect historical changes as follows: The player plays as the Epirus faction, starting with no cities but a shipwrecked army in Iapygia, between Brentesion and Egnatia. This army consists of the general Pyrrhus, as well as damaged brigades of Hypaspists, Peltasts and War Elephants. The player will be able to enlarge their starting army by rescuing other shipwrecked brigades and seize control of Taras by following the first few scripted objectives.

Background
After winning the Third Samnite War of 298-290 BC, Rome continued to be at odds with the Samnites, Lucani and Bruttii of southern Italy, bringing them in close proximity to the Greek sphere of influence in Magna Graecia. The Greek city-state Thurii appealed for Roman protection against Lucanian aggression in 286 or 285 BC, with the Romans succesfully intervening in the conflict and destroying the Lucanian threat on the city. This alarmed the Greeks at Taras, who accused Thurii of breaking an earlier treaty by appealing for intervention from Roman foreigners rather than their fellow Greeks, and went on to attack and plunder the city of Thurii.

Tensions between Taras and Rome reached a head when Taras attacked and sank some Roman ships sailing in Tarentine waters in 282 BC, leading to an outbreak of war between the two in 281 BC. Rome immediately sent an army to pillage the countryside of Taras, which then sent an appeal for help to Pyrrhus of Epirus, promising that the latter would be assisted by a large army of Tarentines, Lucani, Samnites and Messapii if he invaded Italy.

First Campaign in Mainland Italy
As depicted in the in-game campaign, much of Pyrrhus' invasion fleet may have been scattered while crossing into Italy, and Pyrrhus had to spend time reassembling his scattered forces. He then seized control of Taras, forcing the population to go through severe military exercises. The local Greeks felt that Pyrrhus was acting as an invading tyrant rather than an ally, and some, such as those of Rhegion, opted to ally with the Romans and accept Roman garrisons instead.

In 280 BC, the same year as Pyrrhus' arrival in Italy, the Romans sent a large force under Publius Valerius Laevinus to attack Lucania and then Taras. This force was defeated by Pyrrhus in the Battle of Heraclea, which was won largely thanks to his War Elephants and Thessalian Cavalry. Pyrrhus then marched straight on Rome, being reinforced by Lucanian and Samnite forces along the way. His army may have come as close as 20 miles to Rome before Pyrrhus decided to retreat and set up his winter quarters in Campania, because the Romans refused to capitulate while his army was overburdened with plunder taken from Latium and in danger of being outmaneouvred in the heart of enemy territory.

In 279 BC, Pyrrhus decided to turn his attacks to Roman-owned territory in northern Iapygia. He captured several cities before fighting the Romans in the Battle of Asculum. Historical accounts vary regarding the outcome of the battle, with one account stating that the Romans won. The most accepted version of events is that Pyrrhus won, but sustained such heavy losses that he felt unable to continue his campaign against the Romans, as "one other such victory would utterly undo him". It is from this battle that the term "Pyrrhic Victory" comes.

Campaign in Sicily
The Greek colonies of eastern Sicily had been locked in a recurring conflict with the Carthaginians of western Sicily for centuries, and had recently suffered reversals, which were further exacerbated when a band of Campanian mercenaries known as the Mamertines went rogue in the 280s BC and carved out a state for themselves in the northeast of the island.

Frustrated in his attempts to defeat Rome, Pyrrhus decided to abandon his campaign on the mainland and respond to an appeal for help from Syrakousai. The Mamertines and Carthage attempted to prevent Pyrrhus' crossing, but Pyrrhus managed to land at Katane in 278 BC. Pyrrhus took control of the Sicilian Greeks and was able to capture nearly all of the Carthaginian-owned cities on the island, such as Eryx, Panormos and Ietas, and was able to reduce several Mamertine-owned strongholds as well. However, he was forced to give up his attempted siege of the Carthaginian headquarters at Lilybaion after 2 months, finding the fortifications too strong to assault and being unwilling to get bogged down in a years-long siege.

Pyrrhus decided to continue his war against Carthage by invading Africa instead. In order to man a large invasion fleet, Pyrrhus began forcing many of the Sicilian Greeks into service. Tensions between Pyrrhus and the Greeks began to rise, and came to a head when Pyrrhus had several leading men of Syrakousai executed on false treason charges. Pyrrhus lost control over his Greek allies, who chose to side with Carthage and the Mamertines rather than put up with more of Pyrrhus' despotic behavior.

When the Samnites sent an appeal to Pyrrhus for help against the Romans, he took the excuse to abandon Sicily in 276 BC without having realized his planned invasion of Africa.

Second Campaign in Mainland Italy
Pyrrhus lost many ships to a Carthaginian naval attack while saling back to Italy, and suffered further losses in a land battle against the Mamertines who had followed him into the mainland. Pyrrhus then looted the Greek city of Locris, including the famous temples of Persephone and Aphrodite.

In 275 BC, Pyrrhus moved into Samnium to defend the Samnites from Roman attacks. Many of Pyrrhus' former allies did not move to assist him, embittered by Pyrrhus' earlier abandonment of the war in favor of his campaign in Sicily. Pyrrhus clashed with the Romans under Manius Curius Dentatus in the Battle of Beneventum, but was finally defeated this time. He then retreated to Taras and, from there, back across the sea to Epirus.

Aftermath
The Carthaginians quickly managed to retake their lost territory in Sicily, while the Romans continued the war against Taras, which Rome managed to capture in 272 BC. In the following years, Rome solidified its control over the Samnites, conquered the Lucani, Bruttii and Messapii, and made allies of many of the remaining Greek city-states in mainland Italy, effectively conquering Magna Graecia. Rome would come into conflict with Carthage over Sicily shortly after, leading to the First Punic War of 264-241 BC.

After his failed expedition in Italy, Pyrrhus struck east and successfully conquered most of Macedon in 274 BC. He then invaded the Peloponnese in 272 BC, but was repulsed during a siege of Sparta and later killed during the Battle of Argos.