Bircenna

Bircenna
Queen of Epirus
Reign c.292 BC -c. 272 BC
Spouse Pyrrhus of Epirus
Greek Βιρκέννα
Father Bardylis II

Bircenna (Ancient Greek: Βιρκέννα; ruled c. 292 – 272 BC) was an Illyrian princess and later an Epirote queen.

Bircenna was the daughter of Bardylis II of the Dardanian Kingdom.[1] Bircenna was one of the five wives of Pyrrhus of Epirus; she married him around 292 BC.[2][3] Pyrrhus married Bircenna for diplomatic reasons and to increase his power in southern Illyria as he was an ally of Bircenna's father. Bircenna had a son named Helenus, who at an early age accompanied his father in his ambitious campaigns conducted in the Italian peninsula.[4] Lanassa, one of the wives of Pyrrhus, left him because she claimed that he took better care of his 'barbarian' wives.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Ancient Library - Bardyllis
  2. ↑ The Cambridge Ancient History By F. W. Walbank, A. E. Astin, M. W. Frederiksen
  3. ↑ (Plut. Pyrrh. 9.)
  4. ↑ Plutarch, "Parallel Lives: Pyrrhus", § nine
  5. ↑ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 22.8.2
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