person

Pyrrhus of Epirus

Pyrrhus

also: Pyrrhi, Pyrrhus

King of Epirus (319-272 BC) and celebrated general who fought Rome 280-275 BC; reputed author of a treatise on the art of war (tactica). Cited jokingly in Fam. 9.25 as one of the military authorities Paetus had supposedly been reading.

Reading notes

Ad Familiares 9.25 §1 the books of Pyrrhus and of Cineas
Pyrrhus, king of Epirus and famous adversary of Rome, was reputed to have written on the art of war, and his minister Cineas to have epitomized military and tactical treatises. Cicero jokes that Paetus -- a stay-at-home Epicurean gourmet -- must have been studying these masters to issue him such strategic 'instructions.'
On Divination §2.116 this answer was given to Pyrrhus
The notoriously ambiguous oracle ``Aio te Aeacida Romanos vincere posse'' (you the Romans can conquer / the Romans can conquer you), supposedly given to Pyrrhus of Epirus. Cicero argues the verse is an Ennian fiction.
On Duties §3.86 the war with Pyrrhus
Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, invaded Italy in 280 BC. When a deserter offered to poison him, the consul Fabricius sent the man back, refusing to win by crime against a worthy enemy.