I almost didn't do this episode, cause it comes a little too close to the well-trodden ground I'm trying to avoid by doing this podcast. But it wouldn't be a well-rounded military history variety show if I didn't work in some ancient Greece here and there, right?
As a military history hobbyist, one of my longest-running backburner project is a list ranking the great generals of history. Ever since I did my work on my master's, I've really come to realize the ahistorical nature of this little project. It would just never be a serious work of history; there's no way to objectively rank individuals that's not completely arbitrary. But it IS fun, and I fiddle with it every now and then.
Pyrrhus of Epirus is a guy who has a reputation for being an amazing general, when I think he was very much...not...that. Just based on any sort of analysis. And I think my case is summed up pretty well in this episode.
Anyway, below are some maps and my list of sources. See you next week!
SOURCES
Anson, Edward M. Alexander's Heirs: The Age of the Successors. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014.
Champion, Jeff . Pyrrhus of Epirus. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Books Limited, 2009.
Cole, Myke. Legion versus Phalanx: The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World. Oxford: Osprey, 2018.
Everitt, Anthony. The Rise of Rome: The Making of the World's Greatest Empire. London: Random House, 2013.
Plutarch; John Dryden trans. Lives of the Noble Graecians and Romans. New York: Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2006.
Sekunda, Nicholas. The Army of Pyrrhus of Epirus, 3rd Century BC. Oxford: Osprey, 2019.
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