Crown and Blood
Pyrrhus of Epirus, a descendant of Achilles, is forced into exile as a child after his father’s kingdom is overthrown. He is taken in by King Glaukias of Illyria, where he is raised among warriors and trained in battle.
At seventeen, Pyrrhus returns to Epirus, defeating his rival Neoptolemus and reclaiming his throne. But he is not content with ruling a small kingdom—he dreams of conquering Macedon and proving himself as the next great warrior-king.
He marries Lanassa, daughter of the Sicilian tyrant Agathocles, but their union is a political alliance rather than love. As Pyrrhus wages war against Cassander of Macedon, his obsession with war grows, causing a deep rift between him and Lanassa.
After Cassander's death, Pyrrhus seizes parts of Macedon but fails to hold it due to constant betrayals and shifting alliances. His next great challenge arises when Rome threatens Magna Graecia. He answers a call for aid from the city of Tarentum, seeing it as his chance to defeat the rising Roman Republic.
In Italy, Pyrrhus wins battles at Heraclea and Asculum using war elephants, but his victories come at a terrible cost. Despite his military genius, Rome refuses to surrender, and his forces are slowly drained.
Meanwhile, Lanassa leaves him for Demetrius of Macedon, betraying him after years of neglect. Pyrrhus, blinded by war, does not chase after her, choosing conquest over family.
After a final defeat at Beneventum, Pyrrhus is forced to abandon Italy, returning home weaker than before. His people no longer trust him, and his kingdom is on the brink of collapse. In desperation, he wages one last campaign in Greece, attempting to seize control of Argos.
During the Battle of Argos, he is betrayed by Lanassa, who, watching from a rooftop, throws a tile at his head, stunning him. A soldier seizes the moment and kills him.
In the afterlife, Pyrrhus faces Rhea, the mother of the gods, who tells him he chased Achilles’s glory but achieved nothing. As punishment for his blind ambition, he is turned to stone, his name remembered not as a king, but as a tragic warning of the cost of endless war.
After Pyrrhus fall, his son, Alexander II of Epirus is exiled but returns to reclaim his throne. Facing Macedon, Rome, and betrayal, he fights desperately to save his kingdom. Defeated and captured, he is chosen by Themis to resist Rome’s growing empire. Escaping captivity, he abandons his crown to become a prophet of rebellion, waging war from the shadows. His fight is far from over.