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The Battle of Pandosia was fought in 331 BC between a Greek force led by Alexander I of Epirus against the Lucanians and Bruttians, two Southern Italic mountain tribes. The Italic peoples soundly defeated the invading Greeks and killed Alexander during the battle. == Background == Alexander had arrived in Southern Italy with his army in 334 or 333 BC. He desired to emulate the conquests in the east by his nephew, Alexander the Great, in the west. A call for help from Tarentum, which was at war with the Bruttians, provided the occasion for the expedition. Ancient historians also allege that Alexander was warned by the oracle of Zeus at Dodona that he should beware of the river Acheron and the city Pandosia. Alexander assumed the oracle meant the river and city in Epirus. This encouraged him further to leave for Southern Italy, so he would be as far away from the river and city in Epirus as possible. He won a war with the Bruttians and the Lucanians in Southern Italy and captured several cities. Justin mentions he made alliances with Metapontum, the Pediculans and Rome. Livy writes the alliance with Rome was made after Alexander had driven the Samnites into Lucania, marched into Lucania from Paestum and defeated the Samnites and Lucanians in a pitched battle. The campaign against the Bruttians and Lucanians was followed by two separate campaigns against Brundisium and the Apulians (known to the Greeks as the Daunians). Justin does not mention the cities Alexander conquered, but Livy is more specific. According to him, he took the Tarantine colony Heraclea from the Lucanians; Sipontum which belonged to the Apulians; the Bruttian towns Cosentia, Terina and several more Messapian and Lucanian towns. He sent three hundred noble families back to Epirus as hostages. However, the Bruttians and the Lucanians raised reinforcements from their neighbors and declared war on him again. Metapontum must have been one of the cities he captured from the Messapians, for otherwise an alliance with the city would not have been possible. Michael P. Fronda argues the mention of an alliance with Metapontum is curious and implies conquest rather than liberation from the Messapians. Tarentum probably would have welcomed the seizure of Metapontum and Heraclea initially because it gave them an opportunity to extend their dominion over those two cities. Later on the relations between Tarentum and Alexander clearly became strained however. Strabo writes that Alexander tried to transfer a panhellenic festival from Heraclea to Thurii out of enmity with Tarentum. Furthermore, he claims the defeat of Alexander at Pandosia was blamed on Tarentum. Ian Spence thinks he probably no longer received support from Tarentum when he was at Pandosia. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Pandosia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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