The King Who Pushed Through His Own Army to Fight Alone…

Ajouté : 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]In 289 BC, two armies met in Ilia in northern Greece. In the middle of the battle, the Macedonian general stepped out and challenged the opposing sides king to a 1v one jewel. The king accepted. He pushed through the front of his army mid battle and stood there waiting to face his opponent. The general's name was Pantokus and the man he challenged was none other than King Pius of Papyrus. Plutarch in his life with Pyus describes Pantocus as the best of all Demetrius's captains. Demetrius was the king of Macedonia at the time, but Pius was not a man to be trifled with. And Plutarch tells us that he had devoted the whole of his intellect to the art of war, that he was the only king of the age in whom there could be traced any likeness to the great Alexander. Soldiers from both sides watched as the two men faced down. Blue Tag records that Pius who yielded to none of the kings in daring and prowess and wished that the glory of Achilles should belong to him by right of valor rather than a blood alone advanced through the foremost fighters to confront Pantous. It is said that Pius was a direct descendant of Achilles and it's clear he was conscious of living up to that lineage and he wanted to earn comparison through what he did in battle rather than just the name alone.

[00:01:07]Plutarch describes the jewel to us. He writes, "First they used their lances, then came to a close fight and managed their swords both with art and force.

[00:01:14]Pierce receiving one wound but returning two for it, one in the thigh, the other in the neck, repulsed and overthrew Pantocus, but did not kill him outright as he was rescued by his friends. The duel might have been over, but the battle still raged around them. The pirates, seeing their king win, were inspired by him. They flooded forward and broke the Macedonian line entirely.

[00:01:33]They pursued the retreating Macedonians, killed many of them, and took 5,000 prisoners. single duel between two commanders seems to have inspired the Apirates and helped swing the battle in their favor. Now, funny enough, rather than be embittered by the loss, the Macedonians were all inspired by Pyus.

[00:01:49]Plutarch notes that it caused the steam and admiration of his valor and great discourse of him among those that saw what he did and were engaged against him in the action. They thought his countenance, his swiftness, and his motions expressed those of the great Alexander, and that they beheld here an image and resemblance of his rapidity and strength in fight other kings merely by their purple and their guards, by their formal bending of their necks and lofty tone of speech. Pius only by arms and in action represented Alexander.

[00:02:18]After the battle, they gave him a new name. They called him the eagle. And when they told him, he replied, "By you I am an eagle, for how should I not be such while I have your arms as wings to sustain me?" The Macedonians who had fought against Pius that day walked away with a defeat. But a profound admiration for the man who had inflicted that defeat upon them. No great surprise then when Hannibal Barker was asked by Scipio who he thought the greatest generals were, he named Pius of Epyrus, second only to Alexander himself.