Illyrian invasion of Epirus

{{Short description|Illyrian invasion against the Molossians (385 BC)}} {{Infobox military conflict | conflict = Illyrian invasion of Epirus | width = | partof = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | date = 385 BC | place = Epirus | coordinates =  | map_type = | map_relief = | map_size = | map_marksize = | map_caption = | map_label = | territory = | result = {{blist|Alcetas I restored to the throne of Epirus|Spartan intervention and Illyrian withdrawal from Epirus<ref>{{harvnb|Malkin|1998|p=247}}</ref> after a short raid<ref>{{harvnb|Malkin|1998|p=247}}; {{harvnb|Howe|2017|p=103}}</ref>}} | status = | combatants_header = | combatant1 = Illyrians | combatant2 = Molossians | combatant3 = | combatant1a = Supported by: Syracusans | combatant2a = Supported by: Thessalians Macedonians Spartans | commander1 = Illyrian king Bardylis Dionysius I Alcetas I | commander2 = Pro-Spartan Molossian dynast Agesilaus II | commander3 = | units1 = | units2 = | units3 = | strength1 = Unknown number of Illyrians 2,000 Syracusan soldiers | strength2 = Unknown | strength3 = | casualties1 = Unknown | casualties2 = 15,000 Molossians killed | casualties3 = | notes = | campaignbox = }}

An '''Illyrian invasion against the Molossians in Epirus''' occurred in 385 BC. Illyrians, led by king Bardylis,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tsetskhladze |first1=Gocha |title=Greek Colonisation An Account of Greek Colonies and Other Settlements Overseas, Volume Two · Volume 2 |date=2008 |publisher=Brill |page=501 |isbn=978-90-474-4244-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bO55DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA501}}</ref> were supported by Dionysius I of Syracuse who was aiming to expand his influence in the eastern Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea, and by Alcetas I of Epirus who was expelled from his land by the Molossian pro-Spartan party and exiled in Syracuse.<ref>{{harvnb|Malkin|1998|p=247}}; {{harvnb|Castiglioni|2007|p=174}}; {{harvnb|Lane Fox|2011|p=225}}; {{harvnb|King|2017|p=57}} {{harvnb|Howe|2017|p=103}}.</ref>

== History == In 385 BC, Alcetas of Epirus was a refugee in Syracuse for unknown reasons. The tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius, wanted a friendly monarch in Epirus, so he sent 2,000 Greek hoplites and 500 suits of Greek armour to help the Illyrians, who at that time were led by king Bardylis, for their battles with the Molossians in Epirus. Attackers killed about 15,000 Molossians.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Luttenberger |first1=Mark |title=Philip II of Macedon: A New Age Begins |date=2019 |publisher=Page Publishing |page=41 |isbn=978-1-64584-235-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ii23DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT42}}</ref> Alcetas was restored to the throne, but the Illyrians didn't stop there. They continued pillaging throughout Epirus and parts of Greece. Dionysius joined them in an attempt to plunder the temple of Delphi. Then, Sparta, supported by Thessaly and Macedonians, intervened under Agesilaus, and expelled the Illyrians and the Syracusan warriors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Diod.+15.13.1&redirect=true|title=Fifteenth book|last=Diodorus|first=Siculus}}</ref>

== See also == *Illyrian warfare

== References == {{Reflist}}

== Bibliography == {{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}  *{{cite book|last=Castiglioni|first=Maria Paola|title=Religion and Power in Europe: Conflict and Convergence|chapter=Genealogical Myth and Political Propaganda in Antiquity: the Re-Use of Greek Myths from Dionysius to Augustus|editor-last=Carvalho|editor-first=Joaquim|publisher=Edizioni Plus|year=2007|isbn=978-88-8492-464-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jR98-Ata0CkC}}  *{{cite book|last=Howe|first=T.|chapter=Plain tales from the hills: Illyrian influences on Argead military development|editor-last1=Müller|editor-first1=S.|editor-last2=Howe|editor-first2=Tim|editor-last3=Bowden|editor-first3=H.|editor-last4=Rollinger|editor-first4=R.|title=The History of the Argeads: New Perspectives|publisher=Wiesbaden|year=2017|isbn=978-3447108515|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_S_swEACAAJ}}  *{{cite book|last=King|first=Carol J.|date=2017|title=Ancient Macedonia|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415827287|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lJ0uDwAAQBAJ}}  *{{cite book|last=Lane Fox|first=R.|author-link=Robin Lane Fox|chapter=399–369 BC|title=Brill's Companion to Ancient Macedon: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 BC – 300 AD|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill|year=2011|isbn=978-90-04-20650-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjLPBsB2dIkC|editor-last1=Lane Fox|editor-first=R.|pages=209–234}}  *{{cite book|last=Malkin|first=Irad|title=The Returns of Odysseus: Colonization and Ethnicity|location=Berkeley|publisher=University of California Press|year=1998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8eORbgLB6a4C|isbn=9780520920262}} {{ref end}}

Category:Illyrians Category:Wars involving Sparta Category:385 BC Category:Wars involving Macedonia (ancient kingdom) Category:Wars involving Epirus (ancient state) Category:380s BC conflicts