[3] These victories proved to be very costly to Pyrrhus and he diverted his attention to Sicily, where the Greek states on the island were appealing for his help against Carthage.

[4] Despite defeating the Carthaginians and occupying most of the island, Pyrrhus' behaviour alienated him from his Greek allies and he was forced to abandon Sicily and return to the Italian mainland.

Firstly, he bore a grudge because his countrymen had overlooked him in favour of his nephew, Areus I when determining the successor of the Agiad throne.

[11] The size of Pyrrhus' expedition indicates that he viewed aiding Cleonymus as an opportunity to extend his hegemony into the Peloponnese and securing Sparta as an ally.

[13] An alternate theory is that Pyrrhus undertook his invasion of the Peloponnese as a means of cutting off any support that Antigonus was still receiving from the southern Greek poleis.

N. G. L. Hammond speculates that Pyrrhus' army marched down to Pleuron on the Aetolian side of the Gulf of Corinth and crossed from there into the Peloponnese.

[14] Pyrrhus appears to have received support for his invasion from some of Sparta's neighbours, namely Elis, Megalopolis and some Achaian cities which would profit from reduced Spartan power.

[15] Pyrrhus asserted that his aim in invading the Peloponnese was to liberate the cities still held by Antigonus and to send his sons to Sparta to be educated in the agoge.

[18] After the withdrawal of the ambassadors, the Epiriote army advanced into Laconia followed the Eurotas River south and started to ravaging the territory of the Spartan perioeci.

[15] Arriving outside Sparta in the evening, Cleonymus advised Pyrrhus to attack immediately to take advantage of the dearth of defenders.

Pyrrhus decided against launching an immediate offensive as he feared the destruction that would be wrought by his Gallic soldiers if they were to enter the city at night.

The defenders were aware that the Epiriotes had brought elephants and to counteract them, the older men and women dug a trench parallel to Pyrrhus' camp with wagons sunken into the ground at the flanks to hinder the enemy's advance.

They were encouraged by the women who had remained and by the sight of Chilonis, who had placed a halter around her neck, declared that she would commit suicide rather than return to Cleonymus if Pyrrhus captured the city.

This manoeuvre evoked panic amongst the Gauls who were compelled to abandon their attempt to enter the city and had to turn around to confront the attack to their rear.

Due to the lack of manpower, the Spartan women were active in offering missiles to the defenders as well as taking away the wounded and providing food and drink to those who required it.

[28] To nullify the advantage of the Spartans' position, the Epiriotes began filling up the trench with materials which they were bringing to the front line as well as the bodies of their slain comrades.

Upon hearing of Pyrrhus' intention to conquer Sparta, Antigonus Gonatas had dispatched his general, Ameinias the Phocian, from Corinth with a group of mercenaries to relieve the Lacedaimonians.

[31] Pyrrhus intended to spend the winter in Laconia, possibly with the purpose of launching a fresh attack on Sparta and sent his army to begin ravaging the surrounding countryside.

At this point, Pyrrhus received an emissary from Aristeas, a prominent citizen of the major Peloponnesian polis of Argos, seeking his assistance to overthrow the regime of Aristippus, which was supportive of Antigonus and the Macedonians.

By setting ambushes and occupying important positions along the Epiriote line of retreat, the Spartans were able to inflict significant casualties on Pyrrhus' rearguard of Gauls and Molossians.

[32] In an attempt to counter the panic and crumbling morale of his rear which was engaging the Spartans, Pyrrhus sent his son Ptolemy to take command.

By doing this, Pyrrhus' hope was that his son's presence would rally the rearguard and give him enough time to extricate the rest of his army from the narrow pass through which they were marching.

In the ensuing melee, the Epiriotes were set upon by the Argives as well as Antigonous' Macedonians and a body of Spartans led by Areus, which had been brought into the city by Aristippus' faction.

In a bid to further his own royal ambitions, Areus influenced Sparta to join a coalition of Greek poleis and fought Macedon in the Chremonidean War.