WI:Pyrrhus of Epirus not killed at Argos/victory at Sparta

[Archon of Thessaly]

Pyrrhus of Epirus was, while almost certainly not a "great" king in terms of stability and good governance, was certainly one of the greatest-if not the greatest-of the Diodotchi kings that succeeded Alexander the great. Even after his eventual defeat by Rome ( and some would even argue that Benevitum in 275 BC wasn't a defeat,) he was still able to crush his rival Antigonus Gonatas at Aoos river and conquered Thessaly, most of Macedon and large parts of Greece.

knowing that the only way he knew to raise money to pay his army was by more wars and by gathering loot and tribute, and so together with some Gauls he invaded Macedonia, now ruled by Demetrius' son Antigonus Gonatas (273). Pyrrhus soon defeated Antigonus, leaving him with just a few coastal cities. Pyrrhus was now invited by Cleonymus of Sparta to intervene in his struggle with the other Spartan king, Areus (272). Pyrrhus led an army of 25,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry plus 24 elephants into the Peloponnese but was unable to take the city of Sparta. It is then that he met an ignoble fate.

"The most important Peloponnesian city after Sparta was Argos. The two chief men, Aristippus and Aristeas, were keen rivals. As Aristippus was an ally of Antigonus, Aristeas invited Pyrrhus to come to Argos to help him take over the city. Antigonus, aware that Pyrrhus was advancing on Argos, marched his army there as well, taking up a strong position on some high ground near the city. When Pyrrhus learned this, he encamped about Nauplia and the next day dispatched a herald to Antigonus, calling him a coward and challenging him to come down and fight on the plain. Antigonus replied that he would choose his own moment to fight and that if Pyrrhus was weary of life, he could find many ways to die.
The Argives, fearing that their territory would become a war zone, sent deputations to the two kings begging them to go elsewhere and allow their city to remain neutral. Both kings agreed, but Antigonus won over the trust of the Argives by surrendering his son as a hostage for his pledge. Pyrrhus, who had recently lost a son in the retreat from Sparta, did not. Indeed, with the help of Aristeas, he was plotting to seize the city. In the middle of the night, he marched his army up to the city walls and entered through a gate that Aristeas had opened. His Gallic troops seized the market place, but he had difficulty getting his elephants into the city through the small gates. This gave the Argives time to rally. They occupied strong points and sent messengers asking Antigonus for help.
When Antigonus heard that Pyrrhus had treacherously attacked the city, he advanced to the walls and sent a strong force inside to help the Argives. At the same time Areus arrived with a force of 1,000 Cretans and light-armed Spartans. These forces attacked the Gauls in the market place. Pyrrhus, realising that his Gallic troops were hard pressed, now advanced into the city with more troops, but in the narrow streets this soon led to confusion as men got lost and wandered around. The two forces now paused and waited for daylight. When the sun rose, Pyrrhus saw how strong the opposition was and decided the best thing was to retreat. Fearing that the gates would be too narrow for his troops to easily exit the city, he sent a message to his son, Helenus, who was outside with the main body of the army, asking him to break down a section of the walls. The messenger, however, failed to convey his instructions clearly. Misunderstanding what was required, Helenus took the rest of the elephants and some picked troops and advanced into the city to help his father.
With some of his troops trying to get out of the city and others trying to get in, Pyrrhus's army was now thrown into confusion. This was made worse by the elephants. The largest one had fallen across the gateway and was blocking the way, while another elephant, called Nicon, was trying to find its rider. This beast surged against the tide of fugitives, crushing friend and foe alike, until it found its dead master, whereupon it picked him up, placed him on its tusks, and went on the rampage. In this chaos Pyrrhus was struck down by a tile thrown by an old woman and killed by Zopyrus, a soldier of Antigonus."

What if Pyrrhus had won at Argos? What if Helenus has understood his orders and not advanced into the city? And what if Antagonus was killed? What would the long terms be for the macedonian throne? Would Pyrrhus continue his self-destructive campaigns and ruin Macedon? Would his prolonged life enable his sons to be more successful? How long would his empire last after his death?

 

[SlyDessertFox]

I would put him in the top 5 (I place Antigonus at #1). Anyway, didn't he have marriage ties to the Ptolemies? If given the chance, I can easily see Pyrrhus taking advantage of any chance he can to snag the Ptolemaic throne.